Perhaps one of the most highly anticipated and welcome changes for Diablo 4, which was introduced at the start of Season 4, is the ability to trade Legendary items. Within a matter of a just a few days, lots of players were eagerly trading God-Tier gear items with multiple GAs for billions of Gold.
More recently, some players have posted comments on the Forums about how the loot grind is actually more fun now because of trading. Even if you’re not lucky enough to get the drop you need for your build, you may get one that’s good enough to trade, and then use the proceeds to buy what you want. In fact, a gamer friend of mine recently sold an item for so much gold that he was able to finance the purchases for all the remaining items he needed for his new Barb.
Nevertheless, when you mention the term Auction House in association with a Diablo game, it immediately brings to mind the Real Money Auction House from the early days of Diablo 3. Back then, the Devs wanted to disincentivize the trading of items by illegitimate means, such as bots, etc. They were left with the choice of either removing trading, or integrating it into the game economy, thus reducing the incentive to use third parties.
As a result, the Auction House was introduced as a means of combating the unscrupulous third-party trading of items. However, after its release, it was clear that the Auction House had made getting items far too easy. Not only that, but massive inflation also quickly became a problem, with some items selling for thousands of dollars of real money. Blizzard’s original goal was to provide a convenient and secure system for trades, but it was found that the auction house undermined the game’s loot-based gameplay.
So, that brings us back to Season 4, where the trading of extremely high-quality items for lots and lots of Gold has caught on like hellfire. Although it’s true that players currently do not have an officially endorsed method for directly purchasing items with real money on third-party websites, they can achieve the same results by swiping their plastic wands to buy Gold and then use that currency to trade for the desired items.
As it stands, most players either post offers in Trade chat or strike deals on sites such as Discord, etc., and then meet up in the game to fulfill their trades. Many players have reported great success with this and they seem inclined to keep things just as they are. However, other players have likewise reported that this method is too time consuming and are advocating for an in-game trading system where they can simply list the items that they wish to sell.
The decision to re-introduce this feature in Diablo 4 would obviously make the process of trading your unwanted items much more straightforward and convenient. At the same time, however, it’s highly likely that we’ll see the return of even more unscrupulous trading by bots, flippers, scalpers, and cartels. So, the question is whether or not the added convenience of an Auction House would be worth the associated surge in illegitimate trades along with the potential for skyrocketing inflation.
The Diablo 4 community is currently mixed on this issue, but the differences of opinion seem to be having little impact on trading volume. As we look forward to the upcoming Season 5 PTR and the changes that it will bring, now is the time to make your opinions known to the Devs about the possible addition of an Auction House. Do you think it would add value to your gaming experience, or is it something that should be avoided at all cost?
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Gazerrick is a staff writer for PureDiablo who focuses primarily on casual gaming interests and lore for the Diablo community. When not hacking and slashing his way through a new Season, he can be found participating in, and presenting at, various pop culture conventions in southern Arizona. You can follow him on Twitter @Gazerrick9000 for even more of his gaming indulgences. A collection of his creative media is also available at Cactus Palm Perspectives.
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I think I would prefer Blizzard spend time on creating more content than the work that would be involved in creating and monitoring an Auction House. I didn’t like it or use it in D3.
Well said. I thought all players would have an equal chance, more or less, to get great gear by using the new systems. However, that really hasn’t turned out to be true and a lot of players are going stright to the trading sites to equip their characters.