Developer Update: Diablo 3 Two weeks After Launch

[Tyrmith]

If it means that they support the game by doing more then simply running the servers, I'm happy with having the RMAH tbh. All companies are in things to make money, otherwise they're simply running a scam on their investors. Provide a monetary incentive for people to stay interested in the game and provide more content is a good thing imo.

[Lewwyn]

If it means that they support the game by doing more then simply running the servers, I'm happy with having the RMAH tbh. Every companies are in things to make money, otherwise they're simply running a scam on their investors. Provide a monetary incentive for people to stay interested in the game and provide more content is a good thing imo.

Exactly what I was thinking.

[uberfish]

BTW: this matters even more once PvP goes live. Between 2 lvl 60's, one just beaten hell, the other already feeling at home in inferno, whom would you bet your money on? Gear will decide who wins, not skill.

Actually I'd expect this should not be a problem if they implement some basic matchmaking for duels, since there is no random PKing in d3.

Imo playing through Hell without AH is completely feasible, and not all the tactics have been discovered yet. It's possible to avoid pretty much every static boss attack once you understand how they work, and NPC vendors often sell usable weapons if you're having bad luck with those, for example.

[T-hawk]

Yes, that's exactly how it should work! If you're designing this fourth difficulty level that's supposed to be extremely rough, of course it should be designed around player skill level, reflexes and pattern recognition and all that. I fail to see how this is an issue.

That's a great ideal, yes. But the reality is that players in the internet age SCREAM when something is too hard for them -- and stop playing, and stop drawing their friends into the game. You're asking Blizzard to ignore the nature of the internet gaming market.

As for one-shot kills... I'll disagree with you here, at least from my perspective with Diablo 2. You mentioned that you dabbled in hardcore but never really pushed all the way through the game. I did, majorly so: I reached Guardian with twelve characters, all in single-player with no party teammates to carry them. (They did share items.) The threat of a one-shot kill was by far the only interesting part of these endeavors. Any damage short of a kill was literally no threat and no challenge, since the danger could be erased in a split second by a potion or teleport. It's debatable to what degree that counts as player skill, since there's not really much thinking or strategy there, just pure twitch reaction. The presence of one-shot kills is an essential part of the game. Again I'll reference our adventures in Final Fantasy 5: we noticed very quickly that one-shot kills were the only danger, anything else could be erased by an elixir, such that the game would become pretty dull without those threats.

(Incidentally, my experience there with D2 is why I'm not interested in D3. Once you go hardcore seriously, you never go back. Victory in softcore rings so hollow since defeat doesn't mean anything. But playing a hardcore character online exposed to network lag and connectivity is just asking for pain.)

No, the game should not be balanced around the auction house.
...
I guess pure play is now considered a variant unto itself.

Yes, it is.

Where did you come up with this definition of "pure" play?* You're inventing your entirely own method of playing the game, that's at odds with Blizzard's design. Yes, that is a variant! Play that way if you like, but don't expect the game to politely let you through the difficult challenges or even be possible at all.

*That's rhetorical, of course you're applying the concept of Diablo 1 and 2 single-player play to D3. I contend that that's an anachronistic holdover. D3 is meant to be an entirely online shared experience, including items freely flowing between players. (Even without an auction house, that would happen anyway through other means.) D3 gear acquisition isn't meant to work solo, any more than you'd expect to win a League of Legends match playing solo.

[TheArchduke]

If it means that they support the game by doing more then simply running the servers, I'm happy with having the RMAH tbh. All companies are in things to make money, otherwise they're simply running a scam on their investors. Provide a monetary incentive for people to stay interested in the game and provide more content is a good thing imo.

I disagree, are we already at the point that we applaud companies running money scams of games as long as we benefit from the other suckers?

Cause that is what you are saying in essence.


And to the point about making money, just because you can is neither ethical or adds something to a genre.

As an example from the health business. There are patients who need specific drugs to survive. You could make more money off that, too, but you would not.

[Nystul]

And from another thread, mentioning that the game is balanced around auction house items. If it's not, if it's instead balanced around one character's typical acquisitions, then what happens to characters who do power up from the auction house? They enter god mode. The auction house itself isn't the culprit here; in its absence, items would still flow through offline sales or self-twinking from elder characters or plain old trades. You can deal with this by compressing the gap between readily-available stuff and best-possible equipment, but then again you neuter the incentive and thrill of pursuing and finding the best gear.

This is really a no-brainer. The gap in item power is too big in every single game of this genre. Every single one since someone put artifacts in Angband has gotten into the realm of ridiculous. And it is getting worse and worse. And what is suffering is any kind of subtlety to actually playing the game because the answer to everything is level up and get better gear. But in any case, the people who twink want to be gods, so I guess why not let them ruin their own fun instead of ruining it for everyone else?

[Zed-F]

Because catering to the substantial majority of the player-base who want ever better gear and are willing to pay to get it (both with in-game gold and potentially with real money) means more profit.

Really, it's a business. Look at how Blizzard has designed their end-game -- it's all about making farming as interesting and rewarding as they can think to do. If Blizzard and other video game makers can simultaneously please their core fan-base (which is NOT those people who look more for challenge than for loot) and make more money, as far as they are concerned that's a win-win. Consequently, Blizzard designed the rest of their game around getting people to play online and around encouraging them via their drop system to make use of the AH. They did not design the game to support solo or pure play for very valid reasons, from their point of view, and they aren't particularly concerned about the points of view of those who aren't part of what they consider their core demographic.

Those of us who are so opposed to the idea of easy item trading and consequent item inflation as to be all up in arms about it, and won't unbend enough to even consider using the AH, are not really part of Blizzard's core demographic. If the idea of having an AH and the business and gameplay ramifications thereof are ruining your fun that badly, I'm afraid you're out of luck as far as D3 is concerned and probably as far as future games in the genre go, as MT and RMT are here to stay. Personally I am finding D3 fun enough and the AH insufficiently objectionable to ruin that fun, so I am willing to adapt.

[uberfish]

IMO trading has actually been designed in as a standard part of the game since D2. Most RPGs have customizable quest rewards / modified drop tables based on what you're playing / static mobs with fixed loot / something of that nature. The reason Diablo lacks any of that is because the designers EXPECT you to trade that piece of someone else's class set, for example, for one of yours, or for you to hand it off to one of your other characters. Because you're very unlikely to complete your set in one playthrough.

[Tyrmith]

I disagree, are we already at the point that we applaud companies running money scams of games as long as we benefit from the other suckers?

How are they running a scam? They are doing exactly what they promised they'd do? (insert joke about connection issues here). They're taking something that's already going to happen no matter what they do and doing something useful with it.

Something that could definitely be said is that the barrier to entry to use the AH is too low, it's too easy for people to use, but to say it's a scam is silly imo.

[TheArchduke]

How are they running a scam? They are doing exactly what they promised they'd do? (insert joke about connection issues here). They're taking something that's already going to happen no matter what they do and doing something useful with it.

Something that could definitely be said is that the barrier to entry to use the AH is too low, it's too easy for people to use, but to say it's a scam is silly imo.

Oh, but it is. In the same way that League of Legends is running a money scam, getting more then the average price of a game (60$) out of a game. Hey its free to play but we will get to your money anyway. Topic of the GDC 2011 lecture "How to Use Data to Achieve $500+ LTV from Your Gamers".

Or Civilization V. Content is intentionally cut and then sold as an expansion.
I would have liked to play Babylon, a civ which was ready on day 1.
Or do you seriously believe act V of Diablo is not already developed.

When DLC first came up is was frowned upon. Now it is mainstay and is more and more rationalized.

Your logic of "They're taking something that's already going to happen no matter what they do and doing something useful with it." would result in pharmacies selling heroin because it will happen anyway. You are making it too easy on Blizzard here. But I digress, other companies are far worse. (Like Riot..)