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Are Blizzard looking for a slice from the $3 Billion currency transaction market

IllyssiaIllyssia Member UncommonPosts: 1,507

Well, with Blizzard set to move into currency transaction market, initially with Diablo, but later if it were sucessful I would guess into other titles where item transactions also  occur, it is worth pondering how much money there is for this and will it be a success for gaming.

Fact...

A world bank report found that the practise was worth £3bn in 2009 – that's surely an enticing figure for game publishers looking to squeeze all the income they can out of their multi-million-dollar productions.

http://boingboing.net/2011/04/07/world-bank-gold-farm.html

3 Billion is no chicken feed and it gives you an idea of how large this market/problem is, in most mmo titles gold and items can of course be purchased from farmers, largely based in less developed countries arround the world.

I guess the question to most is where Blizzard are going with this new direction. Sure it can make a lot of money, but is not the price of the game and/or sub enough for them? Is perhaps the real currency transaction market for online gaming too tempting a target for the Blizzard corporate management, and perhaps other companies, to ignore.

Certainly this is a very debated topic now in the global news media....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/aug/01/diablo-3-real-money-auctions

 

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Comments

  • FadedbombFadedbomb Member Posts: 2,081

    They forgot to mention that the more than 98% of that 3billion is based around China && Korea. They also forgot to mention that MOST of that currency transaction is from people buying in-game gold for various MMOs, and has NOTHING to do with Diablo2 item exchange.

     

    Good Job Blizzard, this is how you fall. Hoards of gamers are now flocking to cancel their Diablo3 preorders because of you. I walked into my local Gamestop for information about Diablo 3 preorders, and that I'd like to cancel mine. Low & behold they've had 11 people from my area (out of 26 preorders?) cancel in the past 2 days. I was the 12th, and certainly won't be the last :D!

    The Theory of Conservative Conservation of Ignorant Stupidity:
    Having a different opinion must mean you're a troll.

  • BoltonsquadBoltonsquad Member UncommonPosts: 403

    Originally posted by Fadedbomb

    They forgot to mention that the more than 98% of that 3billion is based around China && Korea. They also forgot to mention that MOST of that currency transaction is from people buying in-game gold for various MMOs, and has NOTHING to do with Diablo2 item exchange.

     

    Good Job Blizzard, this is how you fall. Hoards of gamers are now flocking to cancel their Diablo3 preorders because of you. I walked into my local Gamestop for information about Diablo 3 preorders, and that I'd like to cancel mine. Low & behold they've had 11 people from my area (out of 26 preorders?) cancel in the past 2 days. I was the 12th, and certainly won't be the last :D!

    Why would you cancel a preorder for 1 aspect of the game that you dislike, but have no clue how it will turn out. The Real Money auction is a brilliant idea with Blizzard only taking a small cut of the items you sell.

    If you don't want to spend real money you don't have to, also the real money auction is work in progress and may not even make it into the live version of the game.

  • NadiaNadia Member UncommonPosts: 11,798

    I hate the realcash auction house that D3 will support

     

    but at the same time, those canceled pre-order could have also been from the news there will be no offline gaming for D3

    - no internet, cannot play D3

  • MumboJumboMumboJumbo Member UncommonPosts: 3,219

    Blizzard Announces F2P MMORPG!

     


    So Blizzard just announced some more details about its upcoming F2P MMORPG, Diablo 3, but left out one big detail: It's an F2P MMORPG.

     

    See, that's a big detail, because the previous Diablo games have been single-player action games with a multiplayer component. So it's no wonder players expected Diablo 3 to be the same.

    But it's an F2P MMORPG, don't be tricked into thinking otherwise.


    • Do you have to play online connected to their servers? YES.

    • Is the game largely multiplayer with plenty of instanced solo content, though your friends can come join you any time? YES.

    • Is the game supported by in-game microtransactions though auction house purchases and the sale of cosmetic items? YES.

    • Do you pay a monthly subscription fee? NOPE!

    • Mods? Pfft. Who's ever heard of modding an MMORPG? Of Course NOT!

    Read on...

  • TheLizardbonesTheLizardbones Member CommonPosts: 10,910


    Originally posted by Fadedbomb
    They forgot to mention that the more than 98% of that 3billion is based around China && Korea. They also forgot to mention that MOST of that currency transaction is from people buying in-game gold for various MMOs, and has NOTHING to do with Diablo2 item exchange.
     
    Good Job Blizzard, this is how you fall. Hoards of gamers are now flocking to cancel their Diablo3 preorders because of you. I walked into my local Gamestop for information about Diablo 3 preorders, and that I'd like to cancel mine. Low & behold they've had 11 people from my area (out of 26 preorders?) cancel in the past 2 days. I was the 12th, and certainly won't be the last :D!


    People cancel preorders all the time, for no reason at all. People have the choice (and should have the choice really) to do so. It's one of the few things we actually get to decide for ourselves.

    That said, "Yes", Blizzard wants a chunk of that market, and "Duh", why wouldn't they?

    Blizzard is going to make a mint off of D3, and then they are going to generate a lot of income from the cash market*. The best part is they are not holding any content hostage behind a pay wall, and they will not be selling any game changing items to players. It is (imo) the best possible way to have a F2P/B2P game generate monthly income.

    * If they don't, it'll be because the game play looks and sounds less exciting than Torchlight. It won't have anything to do with the cash AH.

    I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.

  • virrevirre Member Posts: 68

    Originally posted by MumboJumbo

    Blizzard Announces F2P MMORPG!

     


    So Blizzard just announced some more details about its upcoming F2P MMORPG, Diablo 3, but left out one big detail: It's an F2P MMORPG.

     

    See, that's a big detail, because the previous Diablo games have been single-player action games with a multiplayer component. So it's no wonder players expected Diablo 3 to be the same.

    But it's an F2P MMORPG, don't be tricked into thinking otherwise.


    • Do you have to play online connected to their servers? YES.

    • Is the game largely multiplayer with plenty of instanced solo content, though your friends can come join you any time? YES.

    • Is the game supported by in-game microtransactions though auction house purchases and the sale of cosmetic items? YES.

    • Do you pay a monthly subscription fee? NOPE!

    • Mods? Pfft. Who's ever heard of modding an MMORPG? Of Course NOT!

    Read on...

    How can it be a F2P game if you need to buy it? That goes against everything a F2P game stand for! And what cosmetic items can I buy from Blizzard, havent read anything about that...

    EDIT: Read Patrick Miller's comment on the blog if you are interested in reading more about this blog's subject, he made a good reply to the blog, I agree with him and not Simon Ludgate. For anyone interested in reading more that is.

  • FusionFusion Member UncommonPosts: 1,398

    Was only a matter of time when the greediest game company in the world joined the bandwagon.

    http://neocron-game.com/ - now totally F2P no cash-shops or micro transactions at all.
  • grratchgrratch Member Posts: 49

    I don't know the details of it, but if you can buy items/gold from blizzard directly via auction house (like a cash shop). I will not be playing that game or any game that supports that model. It is turning B2P into freemium except you have to pay for the game initially as well? wtf is that. I don't play games for pay to play.

     

    You also have to consider the ramifications this will have on their market. If players can buy gold then the economy will be constantly artificially inflated. Before video game economies were limited to what the player base could farm but if someone can just drop 100 bucks and buy some gold, the general price of items are going to drastically increase as well making it extremely difficult for players who don't purchase gold to buy regular items.

  • HaegemonHaegemon Member UncommonPosts: 267

    Originally posted by grratch

    I don't know the details of it, but if you can buy items/gold from blizzard directly via auction house (like a cash shop). I will not be playing that game or any game that supports that model. It is turning B2P into freemium except you have to pay for the game initially as well? wtf is that. I don't play games for pay to play.

     

    You also have to consider the ramifications this will have on their market. If players can buy gold then the economy will be constantly artificially inflated. Before video game economies were limited to what the player base could farm but if someone can just drop 100 bucks and buy some gold, the general price of items are going to drastically increase as well making it extremely difficult for players who don't purchase gold to buy regular items.

     

    You aren't buying anything directly from Blizzard though. It's just like EBay.

    EBay doesn't generate that decomissioned nuclear sub, rubber band ball, or any of the other stuff on their site. They just act as a brokerage house, monitoring the transaction so people can engage in the virtual garage-sale without risking their financial information.

    This market has existed just in Diablo games at least since '00. D1 showed signs of it starting, but then after the late-90's gold rush of UO character farming/selling, any game with a solid online component found itself with a grey market to deal with.

     

    Besides, nothing about the auction house sounds like it'll ever physically prevent you from playing the game.

    Want better loot? Don't wanna pay cash for it?

    Play the game and farm, because you'll either get the item, or get enough gold to see if you can find it on the non-cash market, or find enough stuff with enough value where you can just sell it all for the cash yourself.

     

    Or did I completely miss something that unless you list X items beyond the weekly free listings and shell out cash, you won't be alliowed to login, create a game and play. Because I've been reading a lot on this, and absolutely nothing about the cash-AH was even remotely close to implying that...

    Lets Push Things Forward

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    Support games with subs when you believe in their potential, even in spite of their flaws.

  • AzrileAzrile Member Posts: 2,582

    For people who never played D2, or can´t understand what is going on.

     

    1.  In D2,  the ingame currency was garbage.  It was impossible to buy anything with it.  The way Diablo is set up just makes an ingame currency pretty meaningless

    2. In D2, a TON of people used 3rd party websites to sell items for real money.   It was far beyond gold-selling sites and stuff like that.  Because the ingame currency was meaningless, these trading sites became almost mandatory

    3. Obviously when you have an outside site handling that much business with no regulations, there was a ton of scamming.

    Blizzard is NOT selling items in Diablo.. instead, they are creating an ingame Ebay for players to sell items back and forth.

    This is more about Blizzard trying to fix a very serious problem with the last version of Diablo.   Of course, on this site, Blizzard is Diablo and can do nothing right..

    ... and my god, I hate being the English police.. but read your title..   " Is Blizzard looking for...."

  • KalafaxKalafax Member UncommonPosts: 591

    Just to put in my two cents, I played D2 for many years, and never once encountered people buying items, or bought items myself, the whole reason to play the game is to farm the same levels over for better gear. Gear that doesnt do anything for you in the game really but make you farmt he same stuff, better, now, why would anyone spend money on this? Its not like D3 is gonna be different, your still gonna have a limited amount of stages that you'll be repeating on different difficulting waiting for good items to drop to make your chracter more powerful so that you can feel better about yourself. This Cash shop lets you guys items to make your character awesome right off the bat....so....whats the incentive to continue playing at the point?

     

    I'm interested in the single player cause I've always liked the story of the game, but the whole idea of not even being able to play single player offline is retarded. And no, I never have modded or cheated or anything for this game, why would you? its such a simple game its not like you have alot of stuff to do in the first place, its like playing EvE with an unlimited wallet, just plain boring.

     

    This game is not an MMO, it is a playform game with multiplayer capabilitys, anyone who thinks otherwise is just fooling themselves, I'm not falling for this bs about blizz just trying to stop scamming and crap, because only those who tried to cheat ever had to deal with that stuff, and if your trying to cheat you honoestly deserve it.

    If your wondering why people arnt gonna play not that they have this Cash Shop its easy, the point of the game is to get great items and make a powerful character, when anyone can get on with cash, and buy great items to make their character extremly powerful, it just makes anyone who worked for their stuffs accomplishment mean nothing, and thus why even play?

    Mess with the best, Die like the rest

  • AxehiltAxehilt Member RarePosts: 10,504

    Originally posted by virre

    Originally posted by MumboJumbo

    Blizzard Announces F2P MMORPG!

     


    So Blizzard just announced some more details about its upcoming F2P MMORPG, Diablo 3, but left out one big detail: It's an F2P MMORPG.

     

    See, that's a big detail, because the previous Diablo games have been single-player action games with a multiplayer component. So it's no wonder players expected Diablo 3 to be the same.

    But it's an F2P MMORPG, don't be tricked into thinking otherwise.


    • Do you have to play online connected to their servers? YES.

    • Is the game largely multiplayer with plenty of instanced solo content, though your friends can come join you any time? YES.

    • Is the game supported by in-game microtransactions though auction house purchases and the sale of cosmetic items? YES.

    • Do you pay a monthly subscription fee? NOPE!

    • Mods? Pfft. Who's ever heard of modding an MMORPG? Of Course NOT!

    Read on...

    How can it be a F2P game if you need to buy it? That goes against everything a F2P game stand for! And what cosmetic items can I buy from Blizzard, havent read anything about that...

    EDIT: Read Patrick Miller's comment on the blog if you are interested in reading more about this blog's subject, he made a good reply to the blog, I agree with him and not Simon Ludgate. For anyone interested in reading more that is.

    Yeah that article is pretty bad for omitting the one core definition of F2P: being free to play.

    "What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver

  • SulaaSulaa Member UncommonPosts: 1,329

     

    Really good commentary by TotalBiscuit

     

    I agree with him

  • htiger23htiger23 Member Posts: 113

    Originally posted by Fusion

    Was only a matter of time when the greediest game company in the world joined the bandwagon.

    And to this I say:

    The market exists.  Someone will make the money.  Would you rather it be the game maker or a third party company?

  • CalmOceansCalmOceans Member UncommonPosts: 2,437

    Good lord, after watching Totabisquit. you need to pay money before you can sell an item in Diablo III....so if your item expires after like 2 days, and doesn't get sold, it goes away and you just lost all your money to Blizzard.

    So you can actually lose money on this game without buying anything.

    That's quite.. horrible lol.

  • OziiusOziius Member UncommonPosts: 1,406

    Originally posted by Fadedbomb

    They forgot to mention that the more than 98% of that 3billion is based around China && Korea. They also forgot to mention that MOST of that currency transaction is from people buying in-game gold for various MMOs, and has NOTHING to do with Diablo2 item exchange.

     

    Good Job Blizzard, this is how you fall. Hoards of gamers are now flocking to cancel their Diablo3 preorders because of you. I walked into my local Gamestop for information about Diablo 3 preorders, and that I'd like to cancel mine. Low & behold they've had 11 people from my area (out of 26 preorders?) cancel in the past 2 days. I was the 12th, and certainly won't be the last :D!

    Cancel? I'm going today to preorder D3 - Not everyone likes/dislikes what you do, well, besides those other 11 people. Blizzard will indeed fall now that the 12 of you have pulled your pre-order. 

     

    I can't wait to play.

  • RequiamerRequiamer Member Posts: 2,034

    Originally posted by Axehilt

    Originally posted by virre


    Originally posted by MumboJumbo

    Blizzard Announces F2P MMORPG!

     


    So Blizzard just announced some more details about its upcoming F2P MMORPG, Diablo 3, but left out one big detail: It's an F2P MMORPG.

     

    See, that's a big detail, because the previous Diablo games have been single-player action games with a multiplayer component. So it's no wonder players expected Diablo 3 to be the same.

    But it's an F2P MMORPG, don't be tricked into thinking otherwise.


    • Do you have to play online connected to their servers? YES.

    • Is the game largely multiplayer with plenty of instanced solo content, though your friends can come join you any time? YES.

    • Is the game supported by in-game microtransactions though auction house purchases and the sale of cosmetic items? YES.

    • Do you pay a monthly subscription fee? NOPE!

    • Mods? Pfft. Who's ever heard of modding an MMORPG? Of Course NOT!

    Read on...

    How can it be a F2P game if you need to buy it? That goes against everything a F2P game stand for! And what cosmetic items can I buy from Blizzard, havent read anything about that...

    EDIT: Read Patrick Miller's comment on the blog if you are interested in reading more about this blog's subject, he made a good reply to the blog, I agree with him and not Simon Ludgate. For anyone interested in reading more that is.

    Yeah that article is pretty bad for omitting the one core definition of F2P: being free to play.

    Honestly i tought gamasutra was more serious than that. Neither it is a f2game, neither it is an mmo. The guy is just trolling.

    Check the faq of the official diablo 3 web site if you are not sure :

    http://us.blizzard.com/diablo3/faq/#1_1

  • SulaaSulaa Member UncommonPosts: 1,329

    Originally posted by htiger23

    Originally posted by Fusion

    Was only a matter of time when the greediest game company in the world joined the bandwagon.

    And to this I say:

    The market exists.  Someone will make the money.  Would you rather it be the game maker or a third party company?

    I would prefer game maker fight with this activities even if that means some third party will make money out of it.

    Beside chinese farmers will still make money out of it. If you think Blizzard had done it becasue of any other reasons than to make money you're naive.

  • ZefireZefire Member Posts: 676

    I like the idea that u can play with real cash and also earn some.

  • htiger23htiger23 Member Posts: 113

    Originally posted by CalmOceans

    Good lord, after watching Totabisquit. you need to pay money before you can sell an item in Diablo III....so if your item expires after like 2 days, and doesn't get sold, it goes away and you just lost all your money to Blizzard.

    So you can actually lose money on this game without buying anything.

    That's quite.. horrible lol.

    You do realize that there is still a normal auction house, right?

    Adding a real money auction house literally does nothing to the game for those that don't want to use it.  They aren't selling items...

    Also, I highly doubt that Blizzard would take away your item if it fails to sell.  Do you honestly believe that a company would intentionally shoot themselves in the foot by pissing off customers like that?

  • htiger23htiger23 Member Posts: 113

    Originally posted by Sulaa

    Originally posted by htiger23


    Originally posted by Fusion

    Was only a matter of time when the greediest game company in the world joined the bandwagon.

    And to this I say:

    The market exists.  Someone will make the money.  Would you rather it be the game maker or a third party company?

    I would prefer game maker fight with this activities even if that means some third party will make money out of it.

    Beside chinese farmers will still make money out of it. If you think Blizzard had done it becasue of any other reasons than to make money you're naive.

    I know for a fact that they did it to make money.  Blizzard is, after all, a corporation.  They are not a nonprofit...Their goal is to make money for their shareholders.

    Believe it or not, but "fighting" said third parties takes considerable time, effort, and money.  Instead of fighting them, Blizzard is essentially eliminating their profits while taking a very minor share for themselves (remember, they are charging a very small amount for auctions, not a percentage).

  • CalmOceansCalmOceans Member UncommonPosts: 2,437

    Originally posted by htiger23

    Originally posted by CalmOceans

    Good lord, after watching Totabisquit. you need to pay money before you can sell an item in Diablo III....so if your item expires after like 2 days, and doesn't get sold, it goes away and you just lost all your money to Blizzard.

    So you can actually lose money on this game without buying anything.

    That's quite.. horrible lol.

    You do realize that there is still a normal auction house, right?

    People can simply buy gold from the other auction house and then use that in the "normal" auction house. This will inflate the prices so much that unless you buy money you will never find upgrades.

  • waynejr2waynejr2 Member EpicPosts: 7,769

    All of those people who are upset and cancelling their preorders should contact various government agencies to get them to look into it.

    Examples, IRS for tracking profits for taxing.  Mention the 3Billion dollars and they might prick up.  IIRC, that reporting people who aren't paying the correct amount of taxes sometimes can get you a percentage of the money recovered.

    Department of Justice:  Taxes for players making profits.  Is the auction house some kind of internet gambling?  You don't know, so they might have to check it out. 

    Congressman:  Use their online website and tell them your issues with it.

    If you are going to do this, at least play hardball.

    http://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2010/QBlog190810A.html  

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  • htiger23htiger23 Member Posts: 113

    Originally posted by CalmOceans

    People can simply buy gold from the other auction house and then use that in the "normal" auction house. This will inflate the prices so much that unless you buy money you will never find upgrades.

    This gold you talk about must have magically appeared in the seller's pockets because, unless I'm mistaken, it was already part of the economy prior to being sold on the auction house.

    The player selling it had to farm it up in the first place.

  • servedoggservedogg Member Posts: 105

    Hell yeah Blizzard wants a chunk of that market, and I'm extremely glad they do.  I would much rather have that money going to Blizzard to fund more amazing games, rather than going to illegal RMT companies funding phishing websites and spambots.

     

    Anyone that thinks this is not better than the alternative is just not in touch with reality.

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