I can't really believe they are admitting that cash shops undermines the gameplay. That it does ruin gameplay was obvious to anybody, but that a company admits it and even better removes it ? I am perplex.
Now we just need the MMO companies to also realize that cash shops are a bad decision for gameplay. But don't hold your breath on that one.
The AH was undermining gameplay in D3 only to the extent that in order to force people towards is, Blizzard fixed ridiculous loot drop rates. If they didn't, there would be very little problem with AH.
*shrug* whatever. D3 is dead; no point beating it.
The AH was undermining gameplay in D3 only to the extent that in order to force people towards is, Blizzard fixed ridiculous loot drop rates. If they didn't, there would be very little problem with AH.
*shrug* whatever. D3 is dead; no point beating it.
It was more like hurting their bottom line.
The RMAH didn´t had the cash cow effect they would like it to be. As within a month after release RMT sweatshops had already totally deflated the entire RMAH to the point that you could buy everything for a couple bucks.
Add to this fact, that the entire game was designed around it, making loot drops in the game idiotic and frustration at best. Completely ruining the gameplay this genre was all about.
People were just leaving in droves since short after release.
And now they announced the first expansion, and it not receiving the excitement among fans they hoped it to be, because of all the above.
They came to the conclusion to remove the AH and RMAH, change the loot system to the same Level as the console Version and then hope to increase the excitement for the expansion and increase it´s potential sales numbers.
So really.... it always comes down to their bottom line.
Unfortunately, I'll still not be playing it. AH or no AH, still doesn't fix a boring story and a game that focuses on re-running the same content over and over. If I wanted that. I'd still be playing WoW.
That is some drastic changes coming and a major cut in their profit as well. We might get the old Blizzard back, you know... the guys doing great games for games and not for investors.
MMOs finally replaced social interaction, forced grouping and standing in a line while talking to eachother.
Now we have forced soloing, forced questing and everyone is the hero, without ever having to talk to anyone else. The evolution of multiplayer is here! We won,... right?
1) RMAH is NOT a cash shop .. that is very different than a cash shop where the devs create the stuff to sell. Here, every item is "earned" by a player first, before it can be sold on the RMAH. (This point is worth repeating, i know it is raised in the topic before).
2) Blizz is not going away from cash shop. They are putting one in WOW.
Lastly, i like D3 much more than WOW, so I am happy.
1) RMAH is NOT a cash shop .. that is very different than a cash shop where the devs create the stuff to sell. Here, every item is "earned" by a player first, before it can be sold on the RMAH. (This point is worth repeating, i know it is raised in the topic before).
2) Blizz is not going away from cash shop. They are putting one in WOW.
Lastly, i like D3 much more than WOW, so I am happy.
1) Droprate slider good|---------------------------------|----| bad controlled by devs. You will see how droprates changes after the removal of cash shop but most likely you dont understand why.
And every game with cash shops shares the same problem.
So, did ESO have a successful launch? Yes, yes it did.By Ryan Getchell on April 02, 2014. **On the radar: http://www.cyberpunk.net/ **
I can't really believe they are admitting that cash shops undermines the gameplay. That it does ruin gameplay was obvious to anybody, but that a company admits it and even better removes it ? I am perplex.
Now we just need the MMO companies to also realize that cash shops are a bad decision for gameplay. But don't hold your breath on that one.
It's not a cash shop. The OP worded the title poorly. It's the auction house (real money and gold) that is being shutdown. Tricky that reading comprehension thingy.
Sorry, there is nothing wrong with my reading comprehension. Don't try to sound like a smart guy if you aren't.
My point is, that there actually is no difference whether you pay with real money for items in the D3 RMAH or with real money for items in a MMO cash shop. Either way you are paying money to NOT play the game. I really have my issues comprehending that game concept though.
Was extremely excited for this game - until I played it.
AH was the first issue, yuck. What a joke.
Second was the horrible story, you guys freaking killed Cain... what?! Not even a good death either.
Third, exit game to go to a new act.. yay. What a waste of time.
Fourth is the worst for me - loot was WAY off for each level/act. I couldnt even have fun at higher levels due to loot that DID drop had the worst stats and the damage was almost always way lower then what I had.
Fifth No PVP. Okay, it will be here in a few months.. kidding! So they had PVP in the game when showing it off at some CON but not on launch nor way after launch. This isnt the Diablo series I remember, this is some extremely dumbed down, less gore version. Actually, in my mind, this game shouldnt of been called Diablo - because it isnt Diablo at all.
LIke a user said above me, it is all about their bottom line. I havent paid for this game and do not intend too. The hatred for this game is justified, glad somebody else let me play their game so I didnt waste the money.
Blizzard obviously is a smart company. They generally know what's going on, and, for the most part, make the right decisions involving their games. My question is, how did they not anticipate the RL cash shop would have this exact effect on their game? The Diablo series has ALWAYS been about killing monsters and amassing loot. Lots and lots of loot. How could they think allowing players to use real money to buy that loot online would do anything other than degrading the Diablo experience?
Rookie mistake by a company that should know better.
They added the AH because of all the third party sites that were used in Diablo 2. They decided that if you can't get rid of them, you should incorporate what they do well and thus take that type of business out of third party sites' hands, at the very least, making it safer for their Playerbase.
Did it have adverse effects on the game? Yes, but it was still a good idea in many respects.
Oh, I know WHY they did it. I get that. I'm just wondering how they couldn't have anticipated that it would have this exact effect.
Artificially inflating the prices made me quit, it had nothing to do with the AH being there in the first place. I don't know anyone that plays this game anymore because of it.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
The AH was undermining gameplay in D3 only to the extent that in order to force people towards is, Blizzard fixed ridiculous loot drop rates. If they didn't, there would be very little problem with AH.
*shrug* whatever. D3 is dead; no point beating it.
It was more like hurting their bottom line.
The RMAH didn´t had the cash cow effect they would like it to be. As within a month after release RMT sweatshops had already totally deflated the entire RMAH to the point that you could buy everything for a couple bucks.
Add to this fact, that the entire game was designed around it, making loot drops in the game idiotic and frustration at best. Completely ruining the gameplay this genre was all about.
The AH didn't ruin the gameplay for people who didn't abuse it. Also, Blizzard has stated again and again that drop rates were NOT modified because of the AH. Furthermore I've never once even looked at the AH, so when you say it 'ruined gameplay' I quite honestly don't know what the fuck you're talking about. I've never had any problem finding decent loot; but then again I don't just grind for an hour, give up, then go bitch on the forums about perceived shitty drop rates.
BTW most people who think drop rates suck are the ones who go buy awesome gear on the AH, then complain they're not getting upgrades. Of course you're not getting upgrades often, you already bought the best gear!
I should also clarify that I'm not saying the loot system was perfect; adjustments were needed. But it certainly wasn't the big game-breaking issue the vocal minority made it out to be.
People were just leaving in droves since short after release.
Not true at all. There's a very vocal minority on the forums who claim everyone left, when in fact the game has millions of active accounts & over a million unique log-ins per day. More people are playing D3 then ever played D2; the game is by all accounts a success.
And now they announced the first expansion, and it not receiving the excitement among fans they hoped it to be, because of all the above.
There was plenty of excitement. Once again, you're confusing the vocal minority for the majority.
They came to the conclusion to remove the AH and RMAH, change the loot system to the same Level as the console Version and then hope to increase the excitement for the expansion and increase it´s potential sales numbers.
So really.... it always comes down to their bottom line.
Correct, but for all the wrong reasons. They realized that the gold / item farming industry controlled prices to such an extent that any attempt to stabilize the economy would require a large & constant time investment. Given that simply shutting it down would have the effect of placating a good chunk of the whinier element of the fanbase while taking a huge burden off their shoulders, I'm not surprised they went with that option.
Can't wait to see what nearly nonexistent problem people are going to blow out of proportion once the AH is gone.
I get some of your points, but others are assumptions. If the game was doing great this move would have never happened. So alas it might have a million log in's a day but that's like saying a million log in's a day for WoW is great, that would be horrible in the eyes of blizzard.
Compairing blizzard numbers to other games from other companies... yeah they are doing great, but blizzard to blizzard numbers, they are not happy. 10mil sold 1mil play 9 mil quit. you do the math. That is of course if these numbers are even close to accurate. point is , can't argue that there is an issue as this is a huge change the game, no matter how you spin it.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
Was extremely excited for this game - until I played it.
AH was the first issue, yuck. What a joke.
Then don't use it. Problem solved.
Second was the horrible story, you guys freaking killed Cain... what?! Not even a good death either.
Story was a bit lackluster, agreed.
But Cain? You DO realize that the guy was what, a thousand years old? What the heck was he going to do after D3, find that 900 year old vixen of his dreams and go open an antique shop in Westmarch? While the cheesy nature of his death (magic butterflies) irked me, the fact that he was killed didn't bother me at all. People who spend their lives fighting against things such as the Prime Evils don't die of old age.
Third, exit game to go to a new act.. yay. What a waste of time.
What? No you didn't...
Fourth is the worst for me - loot was WAY off for each level/act. I couldnt even have fun at higher levels due to loot that DID drop had the worst stats and the damage was almost always way lower then what I had.
Loot was slightly off, but nowhere nearly as bad as you're making it out to be.
Fifth No PVP. Okay, it will be here in a few months.. kidding! So they had PVP in the game when showing it off at some CON but not on launch nor way after launch. This isnt the Diablo series I remember, this is some extremely dumbed down, less gore version. Actually, in my mind, this game shouldnt of been called Diablo - because it isnt Diablo at all.
Less gore? Bodies exploding, baskets of heads spewing their contents about when struck (with an oddly satisfying sound), prominent displays of torture victims bodies' strewn about or still attached to nightmarish devices, enemy dismemberment... this game is FAR gorier than D2 ever was. Open your eyes... although I'm beginning to suspect you never even played the game.
Diablo was never about PvP for the majority of people. While I'd like to see it implemented in a manner satisfactory to people who want it, it wasn't and never will be a major part of the game.
LIke a user said above me, it is all about their bottom line. I havent paid for this game and do not intend too. The hatred for this game is justified, glad somebody else let me play their game so I didnt waste the money.
No, the hate isn't justified at all. D3 is a worthy successor to, and in many ways even surpasses, D3 by a long shot. And it's only going to keep getting better.
Edit: ChainTM, there are almost 6 million active players. 1 million is the number of unique logins per day.
My point is, that there actually is no difference whether you pay with real money for items in the D3 RMAH or with real money for items in a MMO cash shop. Either way you are paying money to NOT play the game. I really have my issues comprehending that game concept though.
Yes. But in one case, someone has to play the game FIRST, before you can pay for his labor. In the case of cashshop, no one has to play the game.
Artificially inflating the prices made me quit, it had nothing to do with the AH being there in the first place. I don't know anyone that plays this game anymore because of it.
What inflated prices?
Things on AH is dirt cheap. THAT is the problem. You can gear up without playing the game much. It make the game too easy. Nothing is expensive until the end game, MP10 beating, gear.
"It ultimately undermines Diablo's core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot.
With that in mind, we want to let everyone know that we've decided to remove the gold and real-money auction house system from Diablo 3."
Wow, this is very surprising. Kudos for Blizzard on having the balls to make drastic changes to their game that sold over 10 million copies. I'm glad they still care about their reputation so much.
I agree. This little piece of news may be one of the most important developments in MMORPG modelling over the last few years.
That is some drastic changes coming and a major cut in their profit as well. We might get the old Blizzard back, you know... the guys doing great games for games and not for investors.
I would laugh at that, but the truth hurts. MMO Publishers are just in it for the money. Almost all MMOs are made for Investors, not Gamers.
At least years ago they sucked so bad at the business side of things that we *thought* they cared about us Gamers. Sometimes innocence is bliss.
I'm on the fence with this one. It will all boil down to the loot 2.0 system. The current loot system sucks, I very rarely find anything I can use and when I do get a drop for my class it has a stat totally irrelevant to my class. I have had to use the AH to upgrade on several occasions due to being so far behind on the gear for my level. If loot 2.0 doesn't fix this, removing the AH will make the game suck even more for me. I know they are saying the new loot system will fix everything but I no longer believe everything that comes out of Blizzard.
"Sean (Murray) saying MP will be in the game is not remotely close to evidence that at the point of purchase people thought there was MP in the game." - SEANMCAD
I think this has more to do with problems porting the game to consoles than "undermining game play". This is what they're feeding the fans because it's what they want to hear.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own. -- Herman Melville
Comments
Holy S*it.
The release date of the real Diablo 3 has finally been set.
SexuaLobster's Grease Portal
I can't really believe they are admitting that cash shops undermines the gameplay. That it does ruin gameplay was obvious to anybody, but that a company admits it and even better removes it ? I am perplex.
Now we just need the MMO companies to also realize that cash shops are a bad decision for gameplay. But don't hold your breath on that one.
The AH was undermining gameplay in D3 only to the extent that in order to force people towards is, Blizzard fixed ridiculous loot drop rates. If they didn't, there would be very little problem with AH.
*shrug* whatever. D3 is dead; no point beating it.
It was more like hurting their bottom line.
The RMAH didn´t had the cash cow effect they would like it to be. As within a month after release RMT sweatshops had already totally deflated the entire RMAH to the point that you could buy everything for a couple bucks.
Add to this fact, that the entire game was designed around it, making loot drops in the game idiotic and frustration at best. Completely ruining the gameplay this genre was all about.
People were just leaving in droves since short after release.
And now they announced the first expansion, and it not receiving the excitement among fans they hoped it to be, because of all the above.
They came to the conclusion to remove the AH and RMAH, change the loot system to the same Level as the console Version and then hope to increase the excitement for the expansion and increase it´s potential sales numbers.
So really.... it always comes down to their bottom line.
I think this move was merely inspired by the lack of profitability due to litigation.
Getting rid of Jay Wilson was the first step in the right direction (may he rot in the fiery inferno of the nine hells)
Now all they need to do is add back the skill trees and I might actually purchase this title.
Simply put: o m g.
That is some drastic changes coming and a major cut in their profit as well. We might get the old Blizzard back, you know... the guys doing great games for games and not for investors.
MMOs finally replaced social interaction, forced grouping and standing in a line while talking to eachother.
Now we have forced soloing, forced questing and everyone is the hero, without ever having to talk to anyone else. The evolution of multiplayer is here! We won,... right?
Two points:
1) RMAH is NOT a cash shop .. that is very different than a cash shop where the devs create the stuff to sell. Here, every item is "earned" by a player first, before it can be sold on the RMAH. (This point is worth repeating, i know it is raised in the topic before).
2) Blizz is not going away from cash shop. They are putting one in WOW.
Lastly, i like D3 much more than WOW, so I am happy.
So Blizzard will remove both auction houses (the RMT and gold one) due to it negatively affecting the gameplay.
I am not convinced, Arenanet disagrees with Blizzard and it looks like Arenanet is doing the right choice given the popularity of GW2.
So yeah, Blizzard failed somewhere else, but the "real money -> items in game" is not the problem, Arenanet proved that.
1) Droprate slider good|---------------------------------|----| bad controlled by devs.
You will see how droprates changes after the removal of cash shop but most likely you dont understand why.
And every game with cash shops shares the same problem.
So, did ESO have a successful launch? Yes, yes it did.By Ryan Getchell on April 02, 2014.
**On the radar: http://www.cyberpunk.net/ **
Sorry, there is nothing wrong with my reading comprehension. Don't try to sound like a smart guy if you aren't.
My point is, that there actually is no difference whether you pay with real money for items in the D3 RMAH or with real money for items in a MMO cash shop. Either way you are paying money to NOT play the game. I really have my issues comprehending that game concept though.
Was extremely excited for this game - until I played it.
AH was the first issue, yuck. What a joke.
Second was the horrible story, you guys freaking killed Cain... what?! Not even a good death either.
Third, exit game to go to a new act.. yay. What a waste of time.
Fourth is the worst for me - loot was WAY off for each level/act. I couldnt even have fun at higher levels due to loot that DID drop had the worst stats and the damage was almost always way lower then what I had.
Fifth No PVP. Okay, it will be here in a few months.. kidding! So they had PVP in the game when showing it off at some CON but not on launch nor way after launch. This isnt the Diablo series I remember, this is some extremely dumbed down, less gore version. Actually, in my mind, this game shouldnt of been called Diablo - because it isnt Diablo at all.
LIke a user said above me, it is all about their bottom line. I havent paid for this game and do not intend too. The hatred for this game is justified, glad somebody else let me play their game so I didnt waste the money.
I had no intentions of buying the D3 expansion
but now I will, after March 18 2014, because I fully support this change
EQ2 fan sites
Artificially inflating the prices made me quit, it had nothing to do with the AH being there in the first place. I don't know anyone that plays this game anymore because of it.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
Can't wait to see what nearly nonexistent problem people are going to blow out of proportion once the AH is gone.
Swedish_Chef, JeroKane,
I get some of your points, but others are assumptions. If the game was doing great this move would have never happened. So alas it might have a million log in's a day but that's like saying a million log in's a day for WoW is great, that would be horrible in the eyes of blizzard.
Compairing blizzard numbers to other games from other companies... yeah they are doing great, but blizzard to blizzard numbers, they are not happy. 10mil sold 1mil play 9 mil quit. you do the math. That is of course if these numbers are even close to accurate. point is , can't argue that there is an issue as this is a huge change the game, no matter how you spin it.
"The monster created isn't by the company that makes the game, it's by the fans that make it something it never was"
Edit: ChainTM, there are almost 6 million active players. 1 million is the number of unique logins per day.
Yes. But in one case, someone has to play the game FIRST, before you can pay for his labor. In the case of cashshop, no one has to play the game.
What inflated prices?
Things on AH is dirt cheap. THAT is the problem. You can gear up without playing the game much. It make the game too easy. Nothing is expensive until the end game, MP10 beating, gear.
I agree. This little piece of news may be one of the most important developments in MMORPG modelling over the last few years.
I would laugh at that, but the truth hurts. MMO Publishers are just in it for the money. Almost all MMOs are made for Investors, not Gamers.
At least years ago they sucked so bad at the business side of things that we *thought* they cared about us Gamers. Sometimes innocence is bliss.
Blizzard flip-flopping on their own shit policies, another shameless cash-grab in the name of 'user experience'. Oh dear.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.
-- Herman Melville
Easy they want people to buy the new expansion. Alot of people quit this game.