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Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

arstechnica.com

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Re: Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

#131

Post by hobs »

tieTYT wrote: post #35
fooqux wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sort of done of D2, but I've found Torchlight 2 to be an excellent replacement for Diablo. No auction house, and it fixes the most annoying parts (IMHO) of D3 and D2: weak, boring bosses and weak skills, respectively. I played a ton of D2, but I always was disappointed that, with the exception of gimmick builds which could barely make it to Nightmare, you were limited to one or two viable builds for each characte…

I haven't played D1/2/3 but I've played torchlight 1-2. I don't like TL2. For some reason when I play TL2 I'm very aware that the next thing I'll be doing is the thing I'm already doing. Playing the game feels pointless. Yes, I'll have better gear but the bad guys will be stronger so "so what?" The skills I'd get for leveling up seemed pointless too. I can pick between an attack that explodes this way or that explode…

Yeah, I avoided that feeling at first, but I think its a bit of the art style being a little too cartoonish. I know its stupid, but when I see hack and slash + cartoons I just start thinking of browser games.

In torchlight I think they needed to work a wee bit harder on differentiation of the characters and places you visit. I couldn't name one character from torchlight 2. (And I am on act 2.5)

Re: Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

#132

Post by thisisnotatest »

scragg wrote: post #43
josh2600 wrote: post #8

So, I have a bit of a personal episode here I'd like to share. I played a lot of Diablo 2, more than I care to admit, and so the launch of Diablo 3 was a really big deal to me. I pre-ordered it on day 1, I pre-installed the game weeks before launch and I read every piece of information about the game. When the game came out, I initially loved it; just an absolute pleasure to play. It was great, until I found the auct…

I played for a bit, not as much as you. Couldn't they have made items "bind on equip" and/or "bind on pickup" similar to WoW instead of dropping the AH all together? Seems like dropping the AH will just create 3rd party marketplaces and trading instead.

I had the idea of limited-transfer items. For example, an item can be bound to three characters; once the third character picks it up, it's non-transferable. This would let me give my friend the bow I don't need, or even sell something once, but items wouldn't be infinitely fungible any more.

Re: Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

#133

Post by stormbrew »

Guvante wrote: post #77
vehementi wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't help that every level 60 demon hunter is literally identical except gear. I can take your guy and put on my gear and continue where I left off.

Please don't associate the diversity of builds with the difficulty in changing builds. You have plenty of choices for spec in D3.

Yes, you have maxed DPS + maxed DR and a skill loadout you change on the fly as well as.... wait what were the other builds again?

Re: Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

#134

Post by tieTYT »

hobs wrote: post #131
tieTYT wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't played D1/2/3 but I've played torchlight 1-2. I don't like TL2. For some reason when I play TL2 I'm very aware that the next thing I'll be doing is the thing I'm already doing. Playing the game feels pointless. Yes, I'll have better gear but the bad guys will be stronger so "so what?" The skills I'd get for leveling up seemed pointless too. I can pick between an attack that explodes this way or that explode…

Yeah, I avoided that feeling at first, but I think its a bit of the art style being a little too cartoonish. I know its stupid, but when I see hack and slash + cartoons I just start thinking of browser games. In torchlight I think they needed to work a wee bit harder on differentiation of the characters and places you visit. I couldn't name one character from torchlight 2. (And I am on act 2.5)

Your second paragraph is very relevant to my feelings. "Same actions, new background" is pretty much how I felt when playing. I think I may have gotten to act 2.5, too.

Re: Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

#135

Post by b0rsuk »

josh2600 wrote: post #8

So, I have a bit of a personal episode here I'd like to share. I played a lot of Diablo 2, more than I care to admit, and so the launch of Diablo 3 was a really big deal to me. I pre-ordered it on day 1, I pre-installed the game weeks before launch and I read every piece of information about the game. When the game came out, I initially loved it; just an absolute pleasure to play. It was great, until I found the auct…

I like the way Tei from Rock Paper Shotgun forums put it:

"Diablo 3 is not PvP or PvE, it's PvAH."

Re: Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

#136

Post by cheald »

brownbat wrote: post #53

The prevailing opinion is that the AH killed the fun of hunting for rare drops, and it should be abandoned. Over time, I've found games that involve grinding for rare drops resembling more and more the psychology of slot machines.[1] It's hard for me to be sympathetic to people who claim the fun thing is now too easy, because it doesn't involve as much mind-numbing work. If your game only works with a slot machine me…

The Skinner Box is a well-known and understood psychological data point. The problem is that if you undercut the joy of pressing the reward button, all the reinforcement conditioning goes into teaching your audience that your game is Not Fun, rather than teaching them that "just one more run" will grant them the thing they want.

The problem with the AH and its accompanying miniscule drop rates is that it quantified things too solidly. You can't do "just one more run" with the hope of getting your item. You know that your chances of getting your item on your own are virtually nil, and you can calculate that you need to do 634 more runs to earn the currency needed to buy the item you're looking for.

People get addicted to gambling because of the endorphin rush you get when you win big. Blizzard killed the "win big" and reduced it to going to a 9-5 job to earn a paycheck to eventually buy that big screen TV you want.

Re: Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

#138

Post by talmir »

tieTYT wrote: post #134
hobs wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I avoided that feeling at first, but I think its a bit of the art style being a little too cartoonish. I know its stupid, but when I see hack and slash + cartoons I just start thinking of browser games. In torchlight I think they needed to work a wee bit harder on differentiation of the characters and places you visit. I couldn't name one character from torchlight 2. (And I am on act 2.5)

Your second paragraph is very relevant to my feelings. "Same actions, new background" is pretty much how I felt when playing. I think I may have gotten to act 2.5, too.

I finished the game.. I wont spoil the end, but it felt very anti-climatic.

More a "Oh, I am fighting the end boss? I didnt realize..." rather than a "Oh cool! I'm about to fight the end boss! Better get ready!"

Re: Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

#139

Post by talmir »

I see what they say are the reasons for closing it down.. But here is what I am hearing between the lines:

"So guys, we are closing down the auction house! We are not really breaking even anymore between the cost of running the auction house (servers, maintenance, etc) and the profits we get from sold items so we are closing it down and hiding it behind a smokescreen of 'we are totally doing it for the player, lol'. Oh yeah, its still always online so lulz I guess. Please buy our expansion!"

Re: Diablo 3 to permanently remove its auction houses in March 2014

#140

Post by BillyMaize »

josh2600 wrote: post #8

So, I have a bit of a personal episode here I'd like to share. I played a lot of Diablo 2, more than I care to admit, and so the launch of Diablo 3 was a really big deal to me. I pre-ordered it on day 1, I pre-installed the game weeks before launch and I read every piece of information about the game. When the game came out, I initially loved it; just an absolute pleasure to play. It was great, until I found the auct…

I also loved Diablo 1 and 2, but did not like the gameplay of Diablo 3 at all as it felt too simplistic. The thing I was worried about, however, was seeing the auction house being successful and this kind of nonsense becoming mainstream. It is bad enough we have day 1 DLC, special preorder offers which give overpowered items, and special currencies which buy the best items. But being able to simply throw money at a game to be good at it? What is the point in playing the game? Players should have to play the game and be good at it to earn/unlock items and achievements and this experiment shows that players don't want to be able to rush themselves through it because it is the experience that counts, not the end goal.
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