When asked about the regional breakdown of the shop, Pardo said, "The primary reason why we're doing the Auction House per currency is for usability, and in some cases, with legality - it's the easiest way to do it. But we'll monitor it closely." He also compared his idea of user-driven item pricing to the iPhone App Store, in which inflated app prices self-corrected as buyers dictated what they would pay for applications. "In WoW auctions, you're looking at a few thousand people cornering the market, whereas Diablo's regionalization makes it tougher to speculate. When asked if he had any concerns about Diablo III's auctions turning into widespread item speculation, he hinted that the regional breakup of currency would play a factor.
The fact that in-game bartering and selling had "become a metagame of its own," in his words, was another motivator for launching the new feature.
We could take a harder stance, but with Diablo, we think will end up being a good thing," he said. Pardo intimated that if Blizzard didn't take the steps to bring e-commerce in-house, someone else would step in and profit from it. There won't be any limits on item trading, but there will be a 24-hour cooling period before players can resell a purchased item. Should players decide to cash out their items, a currently-unannounced third-party payment provider will handle the transaction and take a percentage of the sale. Should players accept in-game currency, their payment will go toward their e-balance, which covers auction items, WoW subscriptions, and pets. There will be a fee for both item listings and sales. He then outlined initial details of transactions. Players will be anonymous during trades, and there will be restrictions on the buying and selling of goods with real-world currency for those who choose to play in Hardcore mode. Pardo was swift to mention that it's not an official "Blizzard Store," but a clearinghouse for players to have an open market to facilitate the trading of in-game items with each other. Diablo III's iteration allows for auto-bidding and instant buyouts, smart searches based on class, a shared stash, and secure item transfers. According to him, it's based on the World of Warcraft Auction House, but with refinements. dollars and euros, among others) in their respective territories. With the Diablo III Auction House, players will have a fully-integrated marketplace that allows them to buy and sell items, gold, and components with real-world currency (tentatively divided into U.S.
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Pardo began by discussing the importance of trading items in Diablo, how it had been done online in Diablo II: via manual exchanges, forum posts, or IRC, and "shady third party sites full of gray market stuff." He said, "We can make it better." When asked about the publisher's stance on online-only play, Pardo responded, "We understand, and we know that there's a group out there - there are times when I don't have internet either, like when I'm traveling on a flight - but we believe the positives outweigh the negatives." All character data will be stored server-side with Blizzard. He also revealed that as with StarCraft II, a persistent internet connection will be required to play - in both single player and multiplayer modes. Toward the end of a two hour presentation - most of which was spent detailing franchise lore and demonstrating character classes - Pardo dove into details regarding the next evolution of Blizzard's online service.ĭiablo III will continue some of the features incorporated into StarCraft II, including Real ID integration, which offers a persistent friends list and cross-game chat for players to communicate across other Blizzard titles. What he did discuss in depth is the developer's blueprint regarding integration of its service with the game, and also plans to implement an online auction system similar to that in place for World of Warcraft. So it either makes this year, or it falls into next year." While Pardo shared no concrete details on Diablo III's launch, including pricing tiers or release date, he did say, "We're working hard to get to this year, but it's going to be tough. Blizzard Reveals Real Money-Powered Diablo III Auction HouseĪt a Gamasutra-attended Diablo III event held at Blizzard's Irvine, California HQ, game design EVP Rob Pardo discussed the game's integration - including a player-driven, real money transaction-powered economy - and discussed its release date.
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