Real Money Auction House

[Beet]

Good god no. I would quit WoW for good if it EVER had a RMAH. It's bad enough there will be one on D3, but its at least understandable since D3 is free to play online. WoW however is not. Man its making me gag just at the thought.

[Windfury]

What does a raid leader currently force you to purchase via the normal AH? What would an RMAH do to stop you from buying those same items on the normal AH?

Seriously, I think your image of an RMAH is a bit twisted and backed by a dash of paranoia. You're adding things like Tier sets or something in there... D3's RMAH is totally 100% player driven by drops - which is kinda the point, it's player-generated content that Blizz doesn't have to create.

If WoW had an RMAH - it would, at most, be all the things from the current AH. At the least, it would be just vanity items and gold. Unlike Diablo, you probably could not purchase a full set of the latest season's PVP gear from the RMAH as they're all soulbound.

There's always plenty to pick up from the AH as it currently is. Current BoEs that might be upgrades to your own gear, gens, enchants, whatever, it'd would vary from guild to guild. I don't have an issue with that, I'm happy with that being the expectation in groups I raid with. Doing that is part of the game to me, but doing an extra couple of hours at work a week to pay for that with real money is not so much a game or fun and to me changes the nature of what I'm doing.

You have no more idea of what they'd allow to be listed than I do. If you look at the news today it's going to be possible to pick up an Ashes of Alar on the Black Market AH, so why is it so farfetched to think a real money AH would involve an expansion of the range of things that could be sold? Blizzard isn't going to put it in just because they're so nice, they'll want to make money out of it themseves, and allowing more things to be tradeable/saleable is one way to easily achieve that once the system is in place.

As far as how it could work you're entirely speculating. You have no more idea than I have of how it would work. You say that I wouldn't be forced to use it, but alternately I can say what if the only auctions selling what I need are on it? This is the wow market, monopolies are common and I'm sure there are people who would buy out something to list it entirely on the real money ah and so on, it's not that remote a possibility that that would occur.

When it comes down to it I'm not comfortable with people bypassing aspects of the game according to the size of their wallets. I like that there's a relatively level playing field and I like being rewarded based on skill. Having to meet a player set financial requirement before skill comes in to play just doesn't seem right, that's not what games are about to me.

[lolanni]

When it comes down to it I'm not comfortable with people bypassing aspects of the game according to the size of their wallets. I like that there's a relatively level playing field and I like being rewarded based on skill. Having to meet a player set financial requirement before skill comes in to play just doesn't seem right, that's not what games are about to me.

I agree. I detest spending real money to buy advantages in video games. That's just not fun for me. I want a game to be about the gameplay, and not about my wallet. I play a lot of games on my iPad, and micro-transaction games are a terrible scourge; I'd rather just pay more in the first place. WoW is kind of getting into micro-transactions with buying pets and mounts online, but you don't need those and they don't give you an advantage.

Sure, if there was a real money AH I could just not use it, but then again the people who already buy up all the gems on the AH and re-list them could just as easily re-list them on the real money AH, leaving me with the scraps. No thanks. I'd rather play a different game.

[mvaliz]

You have no more idea of what they'd allow to be listed than I do. If you look at the news today it's going to be possible to pick up an Ashes of Alar on the Black Market AH, so why is it so farfetched to think a real money AH would involve an expansion of the range of things that could be sold? .

Actually yes, yes I do have a better idea than you. The reason is simple...

Blizzard has stuck to their guns that you will NOT be able to purchase soulbound stat gear in-game advantages with real money in WoW.

This idea could NOT apply to Diablo III as EVERY ITEM is based on stat-gear. There's nothing you CAN'T get that's pure vanity/fun.

Throughout all the history of WoW, of the pet store's introduction, of the Sparkle Pony and mounts introduction, the Guardian Cub being a sneaky way of "selling gold", ect... everybody has said they're going to sell in-game weapons and items... NONE of those things were stat-based and offered any in-game advantage (particularly towards raiding) and so far Blizzard has stuck to their guns.

You tell me to look at the Black Market that's revealed, and I again see NO IN-GAME ADVANTAGE to any of those items. Ashes of Alar is a mount... Bracers are outdated level 60 T3... the Riding Turtle? Seriously?

And, again, the Black Market is NOT necessarily going to be their version of the RMAH. They haven't gone that far yet with uploading exclusive items to "bid" on with real money... and, again, Black Market is pure vanity - NO INGAME ADVANTAGES are given here.

I honestly don't see blizzard completely re-working their entire Soulbound system just to allow gear to be sold on an RMAH. There's PLENTY of other crap to sell in WoW that offers no statistical advantage to a raider.

[Windfury]

Actually yes, yes I do have a better idea than you. The reason is simple...

Blizzard has stuck to their guns that you will NOT be able to purchase soulbound stat gear in-game advantages with real money in WoW.

You mean like they stuck to their guns about their promises to never ever allow pve to pvp transfers, to never ever allow faction changes, and never ever allow name changes?

Oh wait, they broke all those when it became profitable for them to do so.

Are you seriously telling me you expect them to respect another 'never ever' promise when there's money in it for them?

The hurdle is getting the real money AH system in place ingame. Once it's there you can't seriously expect them not to capitalise on it. And they've shown plenty of times they're happy to break promises when the price is right.

Regardless I'm fairly certain I already stated that it would be enough of an issue with the current system with BoEs. Gems for example are something people are required to use and at the same time vulnerable to a monopoly. It would be incredibly easy to force the entire gem market onto a real money ah if you wanted to on most servers, thus forcing people to pay real money for stat increases.

[Deleted]

Only if they removed subscribtion fees.

[BenBos]

The "real money auction house" is why I wont be buying Diablo III. Such things are fine in a free game, but a 60$ AAA title should not have ancillary monetization attached to it. In game adds, buying equipment, micro-payments etc are all fine if the game cost reflects these elements. But I dont feel like paying full price if the game maker is going to try and make extra money from me as I play.

The only thing is that RMAH allows PLAYERS to drive the economy.

SELLING virtual goods for the first time in an on line RPG is something competely different than buying in lame designers cash shops.

So ... you only tell HALF the story. Players able to sell virtual items and ignoring this makes you suspect even.

---------- Post added 2012-05-13 at 08:41 AM ----------

Within 3 years all MMORPG's from Blizzard will have a free play option and Real Money Auction House economy driven by players.
The Real Money Auction House... stands MILES above the lame competition with their cash shops and ... only buy to play gear from NPC's ...

And I like that. You spend as much as you want or MAKE money even.

Playing WOW for FREE will make the servers explode.