6481

Yeah, but I’m not talking about D3 destroying world society - but the trend in itself, which could potentially lead to a problem with providing services/goods/whatever to society.

I just think it’s the kind of thing you have to consider way before it happens, to be able to control it - once it becomes too widespread.

At least, I don’t think it’s wise to just let it happen and do nothing.

6482

I am seeing a lot of “Borderlands has more interesting items”. I did play Borderlands but lost interest about half-way through the game so I don’t have a strong recollection of the items. But what made them unique vs D3? I thought they were similar in the sense of having a list of stat increases/changes just like D3.

Though I agree I rarely find an upgrade I don’t ever look at an items level. I just scan it quickly if its blue and see if any of the “compare” fields are green. If all are green I will then look at it more closely. If its a rare I look at it a bit more closely again. If I cant use it but it has interesting stats (primary+vitality for example) I AH it.

For context I have spent most of my D3 time in HC mode which is a different beast. Especially on the AH front. The blacksmith is actually worthwhile at higher levels though still too expensive. So looking forward to the crafting price changes.

6483

Are we still talking about Diablo 3 or the finance industry?

I imagine if there is money to made in the D3 RMAH it will be simple reselling or future price speculation, but I doubt someone would be able to make a comfortable living out of it.

6484

/agree. I think people who are arguing that it unbalances the game somehow seem to be envious of the idea of someone else having a better item than them. The “its 99% an MMO” is a smoke screen to cover that up.

I hazard to guess most people spend most of their time playing solo or with a small set of friends. And that trend will continue to get worse as players slowly attrition away over time.

So yeah, shoot lasers out of your eyes at 100% IAS. I am OK with that.

6485

I’m one of those who claim Borderlands item design is more interesting, so I can give my two cents.

Actually, I wouldn’t say Borderlands “items” were more interesting - but specifically Borderlands weapons.

In Borderlands, each weapon type had a personality in terms of unique procs and effects. Every weapon type provided a specific flavor and style that meant a lot in terms of how you approached combat. A sniper rifle is COMPLETELY different from a combat rifle - and one sniper rifle could be completely different from another sniper rifle, based on what effects and procs it had. It made weapon hunting incredibly fun.

Sadly, the character mechanics of Borderlands are super simplistic - so it’s only the weapon design I’m talking about.

Hellgate took this concept even further - and I consider it the game with the most interesting item design. That game had a HUGE amount of issues - but the items were just fantastic.

Now, in D3 - they’ve made the skills themselves the primary entertainment factor - and they’ve made them all (or most of them) scale directly with a given percentage. This is how they’ve approached the “all builds should be viable” design paradigm, and I get that. Ultimately, I think it’s a failure - because I don’t think a game is more entertaining when everything you choose is equally powerful. It makes your choice meaningless - and what’s worse, it means you will just choose based on playstyle - and you will never change it up.

The only reason anyone changes build/playstyle in D3 right now, is to be able to defeat the harder difficulty levels. It’s not because they WANT to play differently.

Well, that’s what I postulate. At least, eventually - people would find a build that suited their playstyle best - and it would never change, and they would never ever need to make another of that same character.

That’s incredibly bad for longevity and for keeping the game perpetually interesting. It’s fantastic for the short-term experience - and I have no doubt that’s what the testers/designers said to the developers when going through the iterative process. They were annoyed with skill points and they just ended up “playing the system” - so that was thrown out.

But an internal iterative process is, by nature, limited and can really only be short-term - as any change will not be tested for months or years.

That’s why you need one or a few people with genuine vision for a great design - and that’s what I don’t think Blizzard have. I think they have fantastic craftsmen and super experienced developers - and they know how to polish and they know how to appeal to a wide audience.

But I don’t care for their long-term design paradigms or their lack of imagination when it comes to intricate mechanics. Not since so many key members left around WoW vanilla release.

Truly, the game is just “meh” for me at this point - and I’m a huge fan of the genre.

6486

Not even remotely. Borderlands weapons had all kinds of madcap options like shotguns firing missiles, never having to reload, extra elemental damage that actually mattered (unlike in D3 where it’s just flavour), etc

Basically some of the guns could be very much out of the ordinary.

6487

We’re talking about what the world would be IF you COULD actually make a decent living JUST by playing games.

No, I’m not claiming that will be possible in D3 - certainly not for the majority. But it could be the first step to popular game design (quite likely) - and if you want to prevent something really nasty happening in the far future, you should start considering these things when the first steps are taken.

Maybe I’m paranoid or unrealistic - but I can see this kind of thing get WAY out of hand WAY sooner than most people would expect. Human nature is interesting when it comes to the path of least resistance.

6488

I’ve been thinking about this since I first replied and I agree with you. D3 is not likely to be when it happens, but yeah, it’s going to happen. Law moves slow and they need to start now if they haven’t already. I’ll ask.

6489

Why I’m sure authorities will pay ever closer attention to it, it’s not that new; it’s just entertainment dollars. Functionally it’s the same as the “non-productive” and “doesn’t benefit society” work actors do. All they produce is entertainment for someone else, after all.

6490

I’m curious also to see depending on RMAH popularity how it could affect the ongoing discussions regarding taxation of digital products. A number of states already have statutes enacting sales tax on digital goods. If people start making money from selling items on the RMAH will the government get smart to it and look to increase the opportunity for taxation (and revenue) of these transactions.

Also, the specific state sales tax laws depends on the state the transaction is taking place in, so is it the state that the item seller resides in, or just matters what state Blizzard is based out of and it adopts those laws. And then you have completely different digital taxation laws in the US and the EU, so does Blizzard have to be compliant with all of them?

And besides sales tax on every transaction, if you make some money on the RMAH, then by law you have to report it on your income taxes at the end of the year. How many players earning money on D3 will be doing that? This has the potential to be a huge red IRS bullseye… unless of course Blizzard has already looked into this pre-release and taken care of all tax issues for itself and its players using the RMAH.

6491

How borderlands did it was by never taking himself serius, maximizing fun. You want to play offline? Thats ockay, you want to play online? Thats ockay, you advance in multiplayer? You also progress in singleplayer. D3 only have one type of damage that matter, but borderlands had different types, like poison or fire, that acted different and had different weaknes, even inmune mobs. D3 dont have mobs inmune to fire or poison, so wen you get a weapon with poison damage is meaningles. Visually weapons where afrcted by stats. Faster weapons had more bullets shot on screen, mosters had differen dead animations based on the elemental damage. On d3 speed diferences are not noticeable and few kills produce diffeent deads… Only skills produce different obituaries, weapons kill the same way. Both are excellent games.

6492

I don’t understand who is buying the stuff on the RMAH personally.

I can see making rare micro purchases in games, maybe paying a couple dollars for some high level armor or maybe even a bit more for a cool looking social item (pet) you won’t replace, but paying a few dollars for some rare or something this early in the game’s life?

Not to mention the insane ones. Every idiot out there has items listed at hundreds of dollars.

6493

One of my friends has already made $80 from the RMAH. He thinks it’s nuts how much stuff is going for, but is enjoying the fleecing while he can.

6494

All of the worlds wealth stems from the production of commodities. Without that that wealth, there is no money for magic swords. Market forces would ensure that those will always be getting produced, the amount of wich determines how many actors, gamers and poodle haircuts we can afford.

6495

We’re all descended from hair stylists and telephone sanitizers anyway, so I’m not sure what the problem is.

6496

Functionally it’s the same as the “non-productive” and “doesn’t benefit society” work actors do. All they produce is entertainment for someone else, after all.

Yeah – pro athletes too. The market will support what it will support; I don’t see it as a huge deal.

6497

I’m actually hoping to sell enough on the RMAH so I can pay for my wow account month to month. I think selling various yellows at 1.00 a pop will help.

6498

Sorry but no way. Simple supply/demand would prevent this. That would keep jobs in line with societal “needs” for the most part. Do you really believe farming items in PC games is going to crash the economy because so many people would be playing games?!?

6499

I think the objection is that, if governmental entities don’t take an interest in things like the RMAH, then income in virtual space is untaxed. So it amounts to a massive subsidy to virtual employment, with distorting but not apocalyptic effects on the economy.

6500

Well, speaking only for the U.S., wouldn’t already be illegal to make a livable income in the buying and selling of virtual goods, and not report that on your tax returns?