[pc gamer] diablo III may not see launch in (south)korea

[IonusX]

a real money auction house is threatening blizzards most lucrative market (korea) from accepting it on its shelves. the korean gambling control group has seen the existance of an auction based system with real money in d3 has gambling and more importantly the promotion of gambling onto youth. as a result they are considering restricting sales to adults only and/or not letting it on shelves legally.
that could be huge blow to blizzards profits from the game. as korea is a HUGE pc gaming market and has routinely forked over thousands to blizzard.. heck starcraft is a SPORT over there..
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/01/05/real-money-auction-house-puts-diablo-iiis-korean-release-in-jeopardy/

 

[Kalmah]

Real money auctions in D3 is the worst thing to come anyways. That aspect alone makes almost not want to buy the game when it's released.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Auction with real money in a diablo game? WTF.

 

[Ns1]

Real money auctions in D3 is the worst thing to come anyways. That aspect alone makes almost not want to buy the game when it's released.

Depends who is making the $$$. If its going to players with blizzard taking a cut then fuck might as well start up a d3 resale company.

If blizzard is taking 100% then WTF

 

[Grooveriding]

Was really excited for this game. D2 is my favorite and most enjoyed game of all time.

All the hyping they did just to push back release and now take forever to announce shit, plus, it looking like the hold up is this cash grab auction house bullshit has really soured me on the game.

Debating getting my $100 CE pre-order deposit back and not playing the game. Blizzard is starting to piss me off with their marketing BS and I don't like wow anymore at all, another game with design elements intended to make them more money that affect gameplay.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Real money auctions?!?!?

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

 

[Aikouka]

They could just disable the real money auction house for South Korea. The loss of buying gear (for real money, using gold is still an option) is probably not that big of a deal.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

They could just disable the real money auction house for South Korea. The loss of buying gear (for real money, using gold is still an option) is probably not that big of a deal.

I imagine the sum of money they're going to receive over the auction house is going to be immense.

 

[Gothgar]

That's unpossible

 

[RobertPters77]

I wish they'ed do the same to valve with tf2.

 

[Aikouka]

I imagine the sum of money they're going to receive over the auction house is going to be immense.

They'll receive nothing (from the Koreans) if South Korea bans it! Well, they'll actually probably find a way to get the game anyway, but they'll have to know whatever language it is in, because I assume the Korean translation is only included in Korea? (Not too sure about that though)

 

[aigomorla]

actually im waiting for the US gov. to start busting them.

Any type of exchange or auction with real money needs to be regulated... its almost similar to a real gold auction if you think of it, only the gold is virtual.
Do you guys honestly think Ebay isnt regulated? Think back what happened to online poker even.

Adding a cash option was not a smart move, yes its a profitable one, but im sure its going to open a new can of legal issues namely the SEC.
These guys in case u didnt know:
http://www.sec.gov/

Its also a way to launder and wash cash which is why i have a good feeling the cash option wont be in for very long.
Ummmm buying is OK... its the reverse transaction which will lead to the can of legal worms.... its a currency exchange in way.

I imagine the sum of money they're going to receive over the auction house is going to be immense.

yes i also figure that.. which is why i have a feeling the our own government will soon come crashing in on them.
The SEC probably has no clue what Diablo3 is until they get word about the reverse cash auction house.... meaning converting back into real cash.

 

[Barfo]

Don't live in Korea so don't really care.

 

[Visaoni]

... as korea is a HUGE pc gaming market and has routinely forked over thousands to blizzard.. heck starcraft is a SPORT over there..

Not just over there anymore, but alright.

They still have a pretty good grip on the professional scene though, but not like it once was.

 

[Anubis]

lol it would be awesome if the US govt chimed in and they had to remove it from the game

 

[TidusZ]

Actually that wouldn't be very awesome at all. I don't need the government to wipe my ass when I go to the washroom tyvm.

If you don't like the real money auction house just don't use it. Whether or not it is in the final game items are still going to be bought and traded for real money.

 

[darkewaffle]

Dunno why people are so up in arms about this. You're welcome to use gold after all.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Dunno why people are so up in arms about this. You're welcome to use gold after all.

Gold is not going to be freely interchangable with the money. So no you're not free to use gold.

 

[QuantumPion]

I don't see how Diablo's RMAH is any different from freemium apps where you have the option to spend money but are not at all required to. I also don't see how it is gambling either because you are not paying money at regular intervals for a chance to win money. You are paying for a game - the random drops are free.

It would be like a casino where you pay $50 to get in, but slot machines are free to pull the lever as much as you want as long as you can stand to sit there. Not really gambling since everybody "wins", it's just a matter of how much time you put in compared to others. Furthermore your winning is not someone else's loss. There is no house, the only way you get money is by selling items which have a value to someone else that is willing to pay for. The buyer gains the perceived value of the item. You gain money - therefore it's not gambling. It's farming.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

It would be like a casino where you pay $50 to get in, but slot machines are free to pull the lever as much as you want as long as you can stand to sit there. Not really gambling since everybody "wins", it's just a matter of how much time you put in compared to others. Furthermore your winning is not someone else's loss. There is no house, the only way you get money is by selling items which have a value to someone else that is willing to pay for. The buyer gains the perceived value of the item. You gain money - therefore it's not gambling. It's farming.

Except to compete with the hard core farmers to get goods that are worth money (people aren't going to pay for the shit rares from lower difficulties you found a long the way) you're going to have to pay money and Blizzard is going to take a cut of that. To assume you're going to be able to compete with farmers casually is pretty silly.

 

[HumblePie]

Gambling is the chance of getting a reward for putting money up, but there is also a chance of losing all money put up with no reward. An Auction is not that dynamic. You put money up for a chance for a reward, but if you don't get the reward you get your money back with no chance of money lost with no reward.

Someone over in Korea is high on something.

 

[ibex333]

Dont care about all this shit... All I care about is when this damn game will come out already! Seriously.. It's been forever and I am tired of waiting. I really hope they at least release it before Dec 21st, 2012. Sick of hearing all this "when it's ready" BS.

 

[darkewaffle]

Gold is not going to be freely interchangable with the money. So no you're not free to use gold.

That's essentially why it's going to work. Blizzard isn't selling items or gold, it's providing a medium for player transactions that simply accepts multiple currencies.

The way I believed it was working was the player would set a price for an item in gold or USD and based on essentially an 'exchange rate' the item would then be purchasable. I don't think you could successfully separate it into two auction houses, people just wouldn't use it. You'd have everyone trying to 'buy for gold' and trying to 'sell for dollars'. I think one way or another it needs to be a solution that integrates the two.

 

[Josh123]

I wish they would cut the damn feature out of the game and release the game already.

 

[DeathReborn]

Isn't the "Real Money" Auctions why they are forcing you to be online 100% of the time in D3?

Hopefully it does fall foul of regulators & they drop such nonsense. We need to to stop more companies going the Ubi route.