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Originally Posted by Free Ben Hur!
**sigh**
To my knowledge there is no other game that operated with a real money auction house.
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Eve could be considered one.
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Originally Posted by Free Ben Hur!
It was / is a realistic expectation that this feature would be a permanent fixture of the game for those that chose to use it.
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Sure was. But that wouldn't make the gear you bought on it and continued to buy on it any less obsolete when the next carrot was attached to the stick.
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Originally Posted by Free Ben Hur!
It's no sweat off your ass if you choose not to use it. Blizzard gladly took a piece of every real money auction and have at least some obligation on that basis alone.
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Obligation to what? Not make expansions have better gear? Make grinding and questing meaningless cause you spent money? They don't have any such obligation. If you have ever played even just one game in the Diablo series, you should have known that using real money to buy gear was a fool's venture. You paid money for something that someone else assigned value to. Someone who had no control over what came out next. Like any real world auction house, the people running it took their cut. Blizzard at no point said "This #### that you buy from this guy will always be epic." And at no point was Blizzard the one selling you these items. You might have a gripe if that were the case, but it isn't. Some guy sold some gear and you bought it. Blizzard just took their finder's fee for connecting you two.
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Originally Posted by Free Ben Hur!
The idea that the AH was nixed to enhance the game play for those that mostly did not use it is actually pretty amazing and something they should have considered at the time they built the game.
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Blizzard wanted to try something new. It failed. They nixed it. Rectifying errors is something Blizzard has always been exceptional at.
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Originally Posted by Free Ben Hur!
I understand that expansions change the dynamics and that game play, toon strength, gear attributes, etc. will be adjusted with patches and so on.
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Then how can you possibly be upset that this has happened? All they've done is taken the ability for you to waste money on the game. You should be happy.
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Originally Posted by Free Ben Hur!
That said, removal of the AH and the ability to trade loot is not nibbling around the edges. It's a fundamental change in the structure of the game that is to the detriment of anyone who spent real money or wanted to play at advanced levels quickly instead of putzing around forever trying to find very good / great gear.
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How? It levels the playing field in a game where they want to have competitive PvP as well as balance. No one will participate if they find out it requires real money to get there. Can you imagine how fast WoW would have died if Arenas were based off who spent more real money? LoL requiring money to unlock certain items being available in the store?
And from a questing point of view, if you just did it to get good quick then why are you playing Diablo? The point of the game is the grind. The Mephisto runs in D2 are some of my favorite memories in gaming. It's the point of the game. To grind more, get good gear to grind more. It's a stupid, mind-numbingly enjoyable circle.