We Fly Spitfires – MMORPG Blog

"Sorry honey, but I just spent this month's mortgage gearing up my Wizard"

I have to say that I’m quite looking forward to Diablo 3’s Real-Money Auction House (RMAH), not because I intend to buy or sell anything through it (although I can’t say that I won’t) but because I think it’s going to be fascinating to see how its introduction affects players and online gaming in general. See, I reckon Diablo 3 is going to sell by the bucket load and make Blizzard a mountain of cash, a mountain that will turn into Everest itself one they start raking in revenue through the RMAH, so much so that I’d bet real money (see what I did there?) that the feature becomes a staple in every online game to come from now on.

Of course, I don’t think we’ll be seeing real-money auctions springing up in every online FPS or MMO or what not overnight but I have little doubt that it will happen slowly and surely. Just like 10 years ago the idea of a cash shop in a MMO or a free-2-play subscription model would’ve sounded inconceivable, I honestly believe in five years time almost every game with online capabilities, and most certainly all MMORPGS, will have some sort of real-money trading system. There’s just too much cash to be made out of it.

In fact, I’d even be willing to bet that Titan, Blizzard’s forthcoming MMO, will feature a Diablo 3 style RMAH when it’s released and I also wouldn’t be surprised if World of Warcraft ended up with one within a couple of years. Not that I have any particular objection to the concept but I suppose it does leave a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth to think that developers have always argued against third party gold-selling companies because they enabled an unfair advantage over everyone else in-game. In truth, it seems like they more object to the idea of someone other than themselves profiting from their material.

Which is fine actually. After all Diablo and Warcraft are Blizzard’s intellectual property and no one but they have the right to profit from their hard work but let’s just not pretend is about morals when RMAHs and purchasable pets and $25 sparkly ponies would say otherwise. Same goes for SOE and Turbine and everyone else out there that sells in-game equipment that gives players an advantage over one another.

But I’m digressing.

How these forms of real-money auctions will affect the gaming genre aside, I’m going to be very curious to see how it impact players and real-life society. Won’t it be interesting to see if the players who are able to generate lots of gold or credits in games like WoW or EVE are able to replicate it in something like Diablo 3? And this time actually cash in for real money rather than just online kudos? And how will it affect grouping and player interaction when everyone’s battling over loot drops not because they need the item but because it’s worth a lot? Whilst I’m sure Blizzard have already thought of a clever way of dealing with it, I have a feeling people might not like players rolling on items they don’t need just to earn a quick $5 or so.

And then there’s the big question about how this form of cash generation will fit in with real life. What if the Diablo 3 RMAH takes off so much that some people are actually able to play enough and farm items enough to create a credible income? Will it be taxable? And how will the government ever be able to track down people who are claiming they don’t have a job when in actuality they are earning a viable living through video games?

So I’m looking forward to Diablo 3’s RMAH. Not because I really want to be tempted into buying virtual swords or armour but because I have this funny feeling it’s going to change the face of online trading for a long, long time to come.

-Gordon

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Related Posts

1. Everquest Had It Right (And Why I’m Looking Forward To Diablo 3 So Much)
2. WoW Remote Auction House App Beta Impressions
3. Remote Auction House Review
4. Why’s It All About Money Now?
5. Remote Auction House Goes Live (And Rips Off Europe In The Process)

I have no idea what's going on in this screenshot

I’ve never been a big fan of raiding in MMOs and it’s certainly something that I talk about fairly regularly. For me, raiding offers a pretty disjointed experience, counter intuiative to the whole leveling game in itself. Indeed, just like we now have games like League of Legends that offer what equates to essentially full-time PvP battlegrounds, maybe we should have completely separate games for raiding instead of trying to tack them onto a leveling game?

Perhaps I’m a ‘traditionalist’ in the way that I like my MMOs to be about leveling up and questing or fighting through static content. Not to say that I don’t appreciate the appeal of raiding, I do, and if it’s something you like then who I am to disagree. In fact, although it’s not for me, I can fully understand the thrill and enjoyment people get from activities such as competitive raiding and the like.

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Pre-Victoria's Secret concept art from Diablo 3

Update: A lot of this article has been misconstrued either through confusion or in the name of melodrama. To be 100% clear, I’m not condoning sexism or oversexualisation in video games in any way at all. Indeed, if anything, the purpose of the article is to highlight the history of inequality that has existed between the genders and try to answer why it not only happened but still continues today.

For the sake of consistency, I’ve left the article unmodified even though I’ve been sorely tempted to correct areas where I’ve perhaps been unintentionally flippant or insensitive. Still, the post is merely a theory based on some interesting and plausible conjecture and I’d encourage everyone to read it carefully and thoroughly before passing judgement.

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Didn't you know? WoW will turn you into a sociopath

Or so some of the press would have us believe. I don’t know how much it’s being reported in the US but in Europe the media are having a field day reporting that Anders Brievik, currently on trial for the murder for 77 people in Norway last year, played World of Warcraft 16 hours a day for one year solid. It’s the old “video games are evil” debate all over again except this time the Internet is being thrown into the mix too.

Now I can’t say for certain that computer games don’t impact our mental state but I do find it rather depressing how the press leap all over them at every available opportunity, usually representing them with ill-informed facts. Case in point, the article by The Telegraph linked to above describes WoW as a “a virtual world where 10.3 million players attempt to achieve the position of ‘Justicar’”. Justiwah? Since when did a PvP Achievement title the main focus of the game?

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Behold, pet battles! The future of all MMORPGs.

There’s little doubting that the long-term financial success of MMOs is in player retention. Box sales alone don’t count for much and I could easily run off plenty of examples of games that sold well on release then took a nose dive after a month or two and now languish in low popularity limbo. However, when it comes to what matters most, few developers actually seem to have been able to unlock the secret player retention.

BioWare for one looks like it’s suffering and if their latest awful promotion is anything to go by, they seem to be having trouble holding on to players that have hit the level cap. Personally, I’m not surprised. SW:TOR is a lot of fun and the story mode stuff is interesting but ultimately it doesn’t have the long-term hook that other MMOs have (at least for me anyway). The similarity between classes, the limited storylines, the overall lack of things to do… eventually people are going to get bored.

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I hope World of Darkness vampires sparkle in the sunlight, just like in Twilight.

I don’t know much about World of Darkness other than it involves vampires, politics, political vampires and a very loyal, slightly scary fanbase. It’s also, as far as I can gather, nothing like Twilight .

Far too many years ago, when I still a teenager, I remember being quite intrigued by the whole World of Darkness setting even though I understood little of it. All I knew was that it made vampires cool (in a dark and Machiavellian way) and was often enjoyed by Ann Rice fans and Goths alike. In fact, I had the pleasure of meeting some Vampire The Masquerade roleplayers when I was about 17 and they left quite an impression on me. Even to this day I still have a fuzzy memory of pale bosoms, fake blood and some melodramatic banter.

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Another alt bites the dust.

Today I rolled another three alts in WoW. Alts of alts, in fact. Yep, I deleted my level 15 Warlock Goblin alt and started a Warlock Blood Elf alt-alt. I also deleted my Worgen Rogue alt and started a Goblin Rogue alt-alt. Finally, I also created a new Warrior who’s an alt of a level 15 Warrior I have who’s an alt of a level 67 Warrior I deleted who was an alt of my level 85 Warrior main. And if you followed any of that then you surely deserve a place in Mensa.

I’m actually starting to think I have a problem. I had this weird moment this afternoon when I was playing through the Blood Elf starting area for, oh I don’t know, the 100th time, and had a flashback to a vivid memory from about two years ago. In it, I recalled playing the exact same class through the exact same starting area. Two years ago. I’m starting to feel like I’m either stuck in some sort of warped MMO Groundhog Day or my attention span is that of a hyperactive four year old chimpanzee.

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