Sorry, but I think the author is spending too much time in an alternate reality, lol.  I can't see anyway that D3 could take people away from WoW.  It's a completely different play style (and not a good looking game by modern standards, imo).  If people are leaving WoW it would be for other new MMOs like SWTOR or Tera Online which have competitive styles, not for D3.  If WoW players like D3 they play it and WoW (or another MMORPG).

And if Blizz really is stupid enough to bring a real world cash auction house to WoW, you can pretty well expect to see WoW fall from MMORPG status to just another niche MORPG game.   The majority of people are not going to pay a subscription and pay rw cash for gear.  Turning WoW into something seen by players as Pay2Play and Pay2Win game would be idiotic.  It would certainly make Mists the first expansion I don't buy and guarantee I won't renew the 7 year subscription I let expire in January.  (And I certainly didn't let it expire for D3)

I doubt Diablo 3 has much effect on WoW. Of course there is a certain amount of WoW players who also plays D3 (the annual pass success alone is proof of that), but I do not believe many will cancel WoW to play D3.

Personally, I've played through D3 normal, and that's the end for me. i have no interest in playing it over and over again. The game is too repetitive for that. I know a lot of players aims to beat D3 at highest difficulty, but I also know there are many like me - done and moving on / back to whatever they were doing earlier. Several D3 players also left the game early, simply because the game disappointed them. So quite a lot of players are done with D3 already, only a week after the release. Also, on my WoW server (Anachronos, EU), I can't say I have noticed less ppl after the release of D3, at least there's no exodus, so to speak.

RMAH in WoW? Maybe, maybe not. If it gets successful in D3, be sure that other companies will copy it. But I doubt we'll see it in WoW the next couple of years.

Btw, I don't think MoP will cause "a massive rise in WoW players again " as said in the article. I have the impression that people were far more hyped about Cata than MoP. Could be wrong, of course, but that's what I think.

As a WoW and D3 player, I see myself alternating between the two. I don't see why it has to be one or the other. Sure, it is a bit hard to be logged into both at the same time, but... overall, WoW players playing D3 have not necessarily left WoW...

The thing I definitely do not want though is an RMAH in WoW. I never plan to use the AH in D3, but I do use it in WoW. Adding in a real money component would render the current AH obsolete. I am not willing to pay real money for something like 20 rugged leather. I am more than happy to pay ingame gold for it though.

WoW is mostly uses a BOP (Bind on Pickup) loot system, all the good loot is BOP, before Blizzard adds a RMAH to WoW they would need to change this... I really don't see that happening.

Originally posted by expresso

WoW is mostly uses a BOP (Bind on Pickup) loot system, all the good loot is BOP, before Blizzard adds a RMAH to WoW they would need to change this... I really don't see that happening.

I think you need to update your knowledge about wow loot. There are a few differences from earlier. For instance, if no one rolls need on certain loot (yes, epic too), the winner get it WITHOUT it being bop, it will be boe. There are loads of such equips being sold ingame. Not to mention, certain VP items (right now: wrists + feet) are boe, not bop. These are just examples of stuff that would guaranteed end up on a RMAH if wow got it now.

However, the new upcoming loot rules in MoP may change this. For example, some loot (maybe all in dungeons?) will require you to roll BEFORE the items is revealed. Meaning, if you win, you will always get something for your class. Don't know if random boe loot will still exist after this.

I don't want a RMAH in WoW, but if Blizzard wants to, it wouldn't be hard to implement it. A lot more stuff would be boe if that happened, no doubt, but if D3 RMAH is successful, it won't be a surprise if greed wins.

Originally posted by gaeanprayer

"The big question is…when will this system be implemented in WoW? There are no real plans, but it is impossible to ignore the fact that if the real money auction house is a success, there is a good chance it will come to World of Warcraft in some way."

 

And that's exactly why it's dangerous. If it's successful, it's a system that won't just stay in Diablo, and all those people with their heads up their asses "Just don't use it blah blah" all throwing common sense and principles to the wind just to get to play a video game that, let's be honest, doesn't reflect the 12 years that went into it, will be the same people bitching in the forums that all MMOs are now P2W. And I will point and laugh, because people create their own monsters, as they always have.

        Well its 100% the fault of the playerbase if it does succeed......THey can have all the auction houses they want, but if the players dont buy anything it wont work....The problem is the players always buy things and the companies know its a huge cash cow......Just think of all the money BLizzard lost out on by not doing this in Diablo 2......I remember seeing stuff for it constantly on Ebay and selling for big dollars.

Honestly my group of gamers are just about done with d3... and we all have full time jobs...

Inferno is not fun... it was easy enough we exploited the junk out of it .. making it kinda fun. But even then it wasn't a ton of fun... its worse now with classes and magic armor nerffed. More people = stupid scaling (its easier to solo or at the most duo everything ... i mean liek real easy in inferno... 4 man groups = no fun at all). Furthermore it is missing d2 end game .. killing lots of mobs .. on a scale ie act 1 is easy, 2 hard, 3 harder, for even more so that you needed better and better equipment to handle such areas... now the best equip hardly matters. normal mobs are a joke and elites are hard... but just boring(too much hp all of them one shot... its just a giant kite and micro, thats the only playstyle).

Only 1-2 builds per class, far less then d2 (the tree and items with max skill abilities allowed people to make ok abilities into very good ones... this doesn't exist in this game please pick build 1 or 2 and play (most based on the same abilities save 1-2).

In short d3 numbers are gonna drop and fast faster than most mmos, the game is super shallow , and inferno is totally untested by blizz.

Billz has already shown the team on d3 it has no clue. When the sorcs haxzor op armor was basiclly making them only real viable inferno class ... they nerffed it (good, you could still die easy... ps i be a Witchdr.), but what they should have done is removed the energy cut and just made it decrease damage by like 30-40%. Then some people WOULD STILL USE it to be a quasi tank. even trade off being you don't do dps damage. Nope short sighted and knee jerk just allow most big attacks to 1 shot you still.. oh well. So is the way of short sighted businessmen, for the real game dev.s have obviously left or been kicked out long ago. WD are just in a sad state and we know melee is no where were they should be.

Love, love, love Diablo 3. All the changes they've made (health globes, et al) give this game more of an arcade feel which is exactly what it should be. I love the way multi-player is implemented.... It's just perfect. Regarding your comment on cash shop

"Another massive change that is coming is the real cash auction house (RMAH). This will go into effect soon on Diablo 3 and has the entire video game world talking. It really is Blizzard’s answer to micro-transactions and in many ways it works very well..."

I don't know what was experienced with cash shop in beta, but I do think this has yet to prove itself. Being someone who works more than 40 hours a week I love the concept. I can grind "int he real world" and spend my disposible income on hard to obtain game items. Someone with more disposible free time can grind and sell the items for real cash or cash it out as in-game gold. This is the arcade redefined.  It's beautify it should be a win-win for players and Blizzard (more so for Blizzard with all the transaction fees which are a bit ridiculous for sellers... I do think they should be charging less in transaction fees) I predict monthly subscriptions for games will be a thing of the past within 24 months and this model will be used to lure players in. Again, I'm a supporter. 

Originally posted by jdeats

Love, love, love Diablo 3. All the changes they've made (health globes, et al) give this game more of an arcade feel which is exactly what it should be. I love the way multi-player is implemented.... It's just perfect. Regarding your comment on cash shop

"Another massive change that is coming is the real cash auction house (RMAH). This will go into effect soon on Diablo 3 and has the entire video game world talking. It really is Blizzard’s answer to micro-transactions and in many ways it works very well..."

I don't know what was experienced with cash shop in beta, but I do think this has yet to prove itself. Being someone who works more than 40 hours a week I love the concept. I can grind "int he real world" and spend my disposible income on hard to obtain game items. Someone with more disposible free time can grind and sell the items for real cash or cash it out as in-game gold. This is the arcade redefined.  It's beautify it should be a win-win for players and Blizzard (more so for Blizzard with all the transaction fees which are a bit ridiculous for sellers... I do think they should be charging less in transaction fees) I predict monthly subscriptions for games will be a thing of the past within 24 months and this model will be used to lure players in. Again, I'm a supporter. 

 

 

The game is AWESOME, that is for sure and that is why I curse Blizzard for that Real Money Auction House.

Please have a look at this link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/25/china-prisoners-internet-gaming-scam

Is it the egg that started or te chicken, meaning we cannot know if the gold farming started first or the itemisation gaming model.

The living condittion of those people farming are way under humans rights !! You buy, you oppress, period.

BUT anyhow STOP BUYING INGAME GOLD OR ANY COMMODITY WITH REAL MONEY, for god sake.

Is it beyond belief that from your home sitting in your comfy chear by the clic of a button you actually do evil ?? you endorse that ??

Sorry for that burst but peole need to realise that oppression is under our fingertip.

Just because China is exploiting this system, doesn't mean its a terrible system. I personaly would much rather see a RMAH in place of a subscription fee so long as its done in a way where I can still get by playing it for $15 bucks or less a month... As an avid gamer, I think its fair to say that most of us have our "less interested" months within our chosen MMO and I'd love to see how much money I've spent on MMOs that I didn't even play during certain billing cycles...

This system fixes that for me and similar people. As for D3 specificly, I'd be lying if I said I haven't been playing the hell out of it all week... Its incredibly fun solo and with friends, but I am indeed beginning to feel a bit burned out on the repetitive story and playfields. I cancelled Rift because D3 will hold me over for a spell, but I do aim to play GW2 when its released and I'm sure I won't pick up D3 again until some new content drops for it.

I refuse to play games with RMT in them. I have less and less games to choose from but I will not be part of this garbage. Games are meant to be played for enjoyment, not shopping for digital items.