Diablo 4 to feature microtransactions

[Kumorii]

I'm gonna be that guy and say costs for development and risks have increased while game have roughly been at the same price if not lower. Doesn't surprise me that mtx are almost obligatory.

As always it all depends on how it's implemented.
If mtx results in free content updates bar expansions then I can't complain.

[crusadernero]

JUst how it is these days. People cleary use money on it. Companies like Blizzard gets to haul lots of money and keep working on huge titles. Im betting the time/cost of making these games are rather high today, so sales alone is not enough.

If people suddenly stopped buying this, it wouldnt be there. But alot of people do for some reason. Guess theres alot of ppl out there hating on theyre money.

Maybe the cost of buying a game should be triple of what it is now, with no shop ofc.

[Ariamis]

Related: will also feature actual support. Funny how that works.

Seriously.

If we want a reliably supported and updated game, it has to be sustainable. Monetization justifies additional resources - been the correct business model for almost seven years now; Warframe and PoE have proven it.

[PaladinBash]

Whoa so you can buy cosmetic shit like, I assume, MOUNTS? You didn't think this when they announced mounts? Dude they sell fucking mount skins in Heroes of the Storm. Of course they will in Diablo 4. None of this matters because it's almost certainly buyable with WoW gold, something worth precisely nothing. I can probably buy D4 and a few cosmetics for a million gold, something made boosting monkeys through keys in no time at all with some friends for the average player. Just get 3 mates, sell a timed 10 for a token, take turns keeping the token and run 4 people through and you've all got one. Do this 20 times over how many times you need to and bam, all of you now have Diablo 4. It is that easy and takes no effort or ability. Just make an alt on some random scrub server and offer those boosts. Any fools in 440+ gear can basically 4-man a 10 most weeks without the slightest trouble and carry the monkey with you.

While this exists and is just that easy, Blizzard can throw in however many microtransactions they want because I either don't want them or they can be purchasable with WoW gold through tokens. It is THAT easy to get it.

[ONCHEhap]

Disappointed but not surprised

[Stormspark]

I already put Blizzard on my permanent boycott list (uninstalling all products and walking away) over a year ago. So while this doesn't affect me, I'm not a bit surprised. Honestly it won't make any difference to me if they put gear in paid lootboxes, because I won't be playing it no matter what.

[munkeyinorbit]

I wasn’t very excited after Blizzcon. BS like this might bring me to the point of not even buying the game. I hate giving money to greedy projects.

Sounds like you're the one being greedy. Why would you expect extra work to be free? It's not mandatory and it actually provides benifits.

[Biomega]

Sounds like you're the one being greedy. Why would you expect extra work to be free? It's not mandatory and it actually provides benifits.

This is the key argument. Blizzard basically cultivated some unrealistic expectations with D2, where somehow buying a game once entitles you to engaging, life-changing content updates for free in perpetuity. That's quite obviously unsustainable at any serious level, if you want the content updates to be of any quality at all.

Just look at what happened with D3. It's in maintenance mode with one developer struggling to crank out seasons that barely have anything new in them (though they seem to be investing at least a LITTLE more lately). Is that what you want for D4? Because all that content doesn't just magically appear in the game for free, and a company would be stupid to allocate development for products that generate next to zero revenue. And that's not unreasonable at all. Why someone would think buying a game once somehow entitles you to a never-ending all-you-can-eat buffet of extra helpings of content forever is beyond me.

[Beefhammer]

I don't disagree with any of that - just pointing out the fallacy that these studios somehow need MTX to keep the lights on because the box price is the same. Activision-Blizzard specifically earns billions in profits - there is no need for this - they just want all the money.

While it doesn't refute your point, it is worth pointing out that we have studios like CD Project Red and Obsidian putting out AAA games without forcing online play or adding cash shops. The industry isn't entirely without ethics.

And that really has nothing to do with it if they do not meet their expected profit margins.

I know how it looks but, again, it's non gameplay altering cosmetic shit. Anyone saying it effects gameplay is just lashing out to do so. Just because you care how others look doesn't mean it has an impact on gameplay.

[PedroloGeo]

Sounds like you're the one being greedy. Why would you expect extra work to be free? It's not mandatory and it actually provides benifits.

Greedy because based in other games practices they will be selling a single model for 1/6 the price of the full game. If making a full game for 60$ is very rentable, the margin of benefits of a single model sold for 10$ is enormous.

[Revamp Man]

This isnt true. As soon as you add even paid cosmetics, the quality of the game and servers go down instantly. It runs on bare minimum to save as much money as possible.

You are probaly better of playing Grim dawn and its expansions.

Source?

I don't buy cosmetics or anything except for when I have enough gold lol

[exochaft]

This is the key argument. Blizzard basically cultivated some unrealistic expectations with D2, where somehow buying a game once entitles you to engaging, life-changing content updates for free in perpetuity. That's quite obviously unsustainable at any serious level, if you want the content updates to be of any quality at all.

Just look at what happened with D3. It's in maintenance mode with one developer struggling to crank out seasons that barely have anything new in them (though they seem to be investing at least a LITTLE more lately). Is that what you want for D4? Because all that content doesn't just magically appear in the game for free, and a company would be stupid to allocate development for products that generate next to zero revenue. And that's not unreasonable at all. Why someone would think buying a game once somehow entitles you to a never-ending all-you-can-eat buffet of extra helpings of content forever is beyond me.

While I don't want to devolve this into a political thread as there are separate forums for that sort of thing, I will say the misguided expectations you describe are heavily present in political discussions today when it comes to want people want/"need" and understanding that nothing is free and has a cost. It's not surprising that such silly expectations have begun to creep over into gaming culture, as the parallels are rampant. With this thread's topic specifically, instantly equating microtransactions to something negative or "evil profits" is a sign of that creep.

Yes, Blizzard is making a profit, but it's exactly because they're making a profit that they can make and release future games/expansions at all. Blizzard does not have to make games for us at all. If they wanted to, they could just close their doors, shut down all their servers, and there's nothing we could do about it. Similarly, we do not have to buy their games at all if we choose, we're not forced to do so. Therefore, it is in Blizz's best interest to simulatenously generate revenue by releasing content that they know people want and will pay for... otherwise they're out of business.

When applying this reasoning to microtransactions, they only exist because it's a service people are willing to pay for and use. If everyone hated microtransactions as system, no one would use them and they would disappear and games like PoE would cease to have updates and servers. However, how a company implements microtransactions and what they're selling are exceedingly important. If you can't play the game without microtransactions, then the scheme seems shady. Blizz has shown through multiple IP's and different systems that they are not implementing microtransactions to nickle-and-dime their player base as all their games are completely playable without spending any money on microtransactions. In fact, their prices tend to be cheaper than other games (a la PoE, where you can spend $30 to $64 USD for one pair of cosmetic wings alone), likely because they make a profit overall.

As a slight aside, have people even considered what they get from purchasing a Blizzcon ticket? For $50 USD, you get a bunch of cosmetic items across multiple games with your ticket that could easily cost hundreds of dollars in other games as well as the ability to attend Blizzcon (or watch with the virtual tickets). If Blizz really wanted to fleece people, they've had ample time and occasions to do so. If the D4 microtransactions suddenly shoot up to prices astronomically compared to other Blizz IP's prices and/or they make us buy baseline functionality that without makes D4 not playable on top of the base game cost, then people can start grabbing their pitchforks as that would be completely uncharacteristic of Blizz.

[Jahaga]

I'm not sure why it's "All or nothing" for some of you. They said they'll sell cosmetics, not power. Said cosmetics are 100% optional and you'll still have full access to the game without them. Jump on a different wagon.

[Promethieus]

ect ect

Just for the future, it's "etc", short for "et cetera".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera

[munkeyinorbit]

Greedy because based in other games practices they will be selling a single model for 1/6 the price of the full game. If making a full game for 60$ is very rentable, the margin of benefits of a single model sold for 10$ is enormous.

So you are greedy. You admit that there are huge benifits to buying a model but you want it for free. This isn't the Soviet Union.

[Malacrass]

This is the key argument. Blizzard basically cultivated some unrealistic expectations with D2, where somehow buying a game once entitles you to engaging, life-changing content updates for free in perpetuity. That's quite obviously unsustainable at any serious level, if you want the content updates to be of any quality at all.

Diablo 2 had no frequent updates once it's expansion released. There was one major patch that included more actual "content", if you can call it that. That was it. There is no cultivated unrealistic expectation, no one ever expected more free content for Diablo 2. Not the masses, at least. People were happy with ladder resets and that the servers are still running.

Diablo 4, on the other hand, will have frequent expansions according to a recent interview, and I assume they wont be free. And they shouldn't be, no one is asking for handouts.

It's the double and triple dipping that triggers, not necessarily the MTX itself.

And no, at this point this is a rare approach that only the absolute top dogs of the industry can get away with, and I'm actually unsure if the Diablo brand is still strong enough to get away with it.

Granted, we don't know to which degree they intend to triple dip. It's possible that they will resort to MTX only after a year or two, and then make the base game free or offer it at a reduced price (to stabilize the playerbase, which in turn increases MTX sales).

Of course, if the game is phenomenal, like D2 during its time, then they can do whatever they want. Just like they did with WoW.

[La]

I'm not sure why it's "All or nothing" for some of you. They said they'll sell cosmetics, not power. Said cosmetics are 100% optional and you'll still have full access to the game without them. Jump on a different wagon.

Probably because they're ignorant. Either that, or they're die-hard D2 fans that, even if D4 was perfect and exactly like D2, they'd still complain it isn't D2. Buh buh buh D2 wouldn't have cosmetics. Optional cosmetics kill games!!!!

Some people are just really dense. They see something and only see the bad in it, even if that bad isn't likely to do anything but effect the game in a positive way. FuCkInG GrEeDy AcTiViSiOn WiLl JuSt ReLEaSe CoSmEtIcs AnD noT EvEn AdD ContEnT

[Donald Hellscream]

Its not ideal, but I don't get worked up over cosmetic microtransactions, if player power was to be available for real money thats an entirely different beast that I very much don't want.

[Sastank]

Reeee optional things a BUSINESS puts in their game for MONEY. REEEEEEEEEE
Cancel the game. Cancel Blizzard. Activision bad. Free Hong Kong.

Did I do it right, reddit? I mean MMO-C.

I pray for the day people find more important things to stress over in their lives lol.

0 impact on gameplay. When they offer skill books that give +2 to a skill then sure, complain. But cosmetics are a part of like....all games. They do nothing and should mean nothing to you.

[trapmaster]

Blame shareholders ect ect blah blah.

If it’s just for cosmetic items than no problem but if it’s for items than a big fat nooooo.

There we go!!! AS LONG it's COSMETIC! WE FINE! IF IT COMES WITH ITEMS... CYA REFUNDABLE