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- Aug 4, 2011
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Well this is an interesting pickle we have here, isn't it?
First let us look at the in-game auction house feature. Blizzard's so-called justification for this feature is to "stamp it down", or in other words take control of the system. Their asserted reasons for doing so seem to revolve around the notion that they're looking out for the customer, which may be partly true, but most likely generally false.
Let us ask ourselves; what's to stop third-party gold/item farmers from providing these "services" outside of your control, in much the same manner it is in Diablo 2, currently. What leads you to believe they're not just going to circumvent your auction house entirely and avoid having to pay any fees? If I were a gold farmer, the last thing I would want is to share a piece of the action, so my incentive would be to not use your "control system" to procure as much profit for my time spent as possible. Whether they implement this system or not, these farmers are going to do it their way.
With that having been illustrated, let us now ask ourselves if Blizzard hadn't already thought about this possible and most likely inevitable outcome? I'd say it would be naive to think that they haven't. So what can we conclude from such a bold move by Blizzard to add such a feature? It's obvious that this is a cash-grab, and nothing more.
They obviously know people are going to sell in-game items, and they want a piece of the action, otherwise there wouldn't be any fees attached. And let's be honest with ourselves, why should there be a fee in the first place? It's an automated system that requires no effort on their behalf.
So here we have Blizzard. They create the game. People sell the items that Blizzard creates using real currency, to which Blizzard takes a piece. Are you starting to get the picture here? They're basically making money out of thin air, much like the US government does. So as long as this game exists, they will take a "backseat" cut from every virtual transaction ever generated through this in-game auction house system, with absolutely no effort on their part, but YOUR effort in fact. You essentially become a virtual employee of Blizzard Entertainment. And all Blizzard has to do to increase their profit margins is to introduce some new, rare and unique items (that take minutes to create) and they can continue to sit back and reap rewards, as long as people are willing to bend over for this deplorable business model.
The incorporated fee attachment for transactions isn't for any sort of server upkeep either, seeing as Diablo 3 will be using the same Battlenet 2.0 system that SC2 runs on, and there's no fee tied to SC2. So any justification for such a notion is completely out of the question.
Secondly, let the player choose if they want to play offline, or online. It's disgusting to think what would come of future games if people allow this to happen. Next you'll be told how to play the game, and what time you can play the game, etc. There are no bounds if corporations get their way, people. Believe that.
Lastly, I love the old Blizzard games. I own every single one to date. But this move is just beyond acceptable, and is clearly subtle corporate takeover disguised as customer service/protection, much like old DRM that were more like viruses than anything else. They only care about their bottom line and if you remove their bottom line then they'll actually start to listen. There are too many spineless cowards in the world who will take any amount of abuse so long as they get their entertainment. I will not be one of them if this system is implemented.
First let us look at the in-game auction house feature. Blizzard's so-called justification for this feature is to "stamp it down", or in other words take control of the system. Their asserted reasons for doing so seem to revolve around the notion that they're looking out for the customer, which may be partly true, but most likely generally false.
Let us ask ourselves; what's to stop third-party gold/item farmers from providing these "services" outside of your control, in much the same manner it is in Diablo 2, currently. What leads you to believe they're not just going to circumvent your auction house entirely and avoid having to pay any fees? If I were a gold farmer, the last thing I would want is to share a piece of the action, so my incentive would be to not use your "control system" to procure as much profit for my time spent as possible. Whether they implement this system or not, these farmers are going to do it their way.
With that having been illustrated, let us now ask ourselves if Blizzard hadn't already thought about this possible and most likely inevitable outcome? I'd say it would be naive to think that they haven't. So what can we conclude from such a bold move by Blizzard to add such a feature? It's obvious that this is a cash-grab, and nothing more.
They obviously know people are going to sell in-game items, and they want a piece of the action, otherwise there wouldn't be any fees attached. And let's be honest with ourselves, why should there be a fee in the first place? It's an automated system that requires no effort on their behalf.
So here we have Blizzard. They create the game. People sell the items that Blizzard creates using real currency, to which Blizzard takes a piece. Are you starting to get the picture here? They're basically making money out of thin air, much like the US government does. So as long as this game exists, they will take a "backseat" cut from every virtual transaction ever generated through this in-game auction house system, with absolutely no effort on their part, but YOUR effort in fact. You essentially become a virtual employee of Blizzard Entertainment. And all Blizzard has to do to increase their profit margins is to introduce some new, rare and unique items (that take minutes to create) and they can continue to sit back and reap rewards, as long as people are willing to bend over for this deplorable business model.
The incorporated fee attachment for transactions isn't for any sort of server upkeep either, seeing as Diablo 3 will be using the same Battlenet 2.0 system that SC2 runs on, and there's no fee tied to SC2. So any justification for such a notion is completely out of the question.
Secondly, let the player choose if they want to play offline, or online. It's disgusting to think what would come of future games if people allow this to happen. Next you'll be told how to play the game, and what time you can play the game, etc. There are no bounds if corporations get their way, people. Believe that.
Lastly, I love the old Blizzard games. I own every single one to date. But this move is just beyond acceptable, and is clearly subtle corporate takeover disguised as customer service/protection, much like old DRM that were more like viruses than anything else. They only care about their bottom line and if you remove their bottom line then they'll actually start to listen. There are too many spineless cowards in the world who will take any amount of abuse so long as they get their entertainment. I will not be one of them if this system is implemented.
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