What's Wrong with a Player-Run Economy Again?

#0 - July 10, 2008, 5:42 p.m.

Everyone seems to be worried Blizzard won't give us a currency or that they'll make sure there isn't any trading with BoE/BoP.

What's the problem with the way Diablo II did it? I'm not just saying my opinion, I'm asking the question: what were the problems with Diablo II's player-run economy and what do you want Blizzard to do?

So in my opinion, I like the idea of a player-run system. It seems much more fun to me. Sure, having a set currency like in WoW is simple, but I feel like it sucks the fun out of bartering (which is a reason I loved Diablo II). In WoW you can simply have a lot of gold but in Diablo II you can be your own self-sufficient merchant, peddling your wares across the Diablo world. I remember getting a +1 Summoning Skill Level charm and trading it up to three Ist runes and a Ber. Fun! With a set currency I'm afraid trading isn't going to exist like this and it will merely be a matter of picking the future cow level clean of items and then buying something off of someone.

Bashiok

#13 - July 10, 2008, 8:02 p.m.

One of the largest issues with a bartering system is that it prevents any ease of entry into the system for players. I have an item and I think it's probably worth something, but I have no idea what its worth and no easy way to find out. You have an item I want, but I have no idea what you may want for it or if I'm going to get a fair trade for it. You may throw a bunch of acronyms at me, get frustrated I don't know what I'm doing, and then leave. That's not going to be a positive experience for either of us, and neither of us get what we want out of it. With a stable economy and currency, there's at least a common language that anyone can understand regardless of their game knowledge.

Bashiok

#17 - July 10, 2008, 8:09 p.m.

Q u o t e:

So, can you speak on whether gold going to be worth something in Diablo 3, or if the developers are planning to continue the item-based currency method?

We want gold to be worth something in Diablo III, yes.

Q u o t e:
Bashiok,

Since you are here posting, could you by any chance let us know if BoE or BoP items are being tossed around in discussion about D3? Or ask it in the episode of BlizzCast you have planned? I think it is something that all Diablo fans would like to know. It is very important since the loot is such an important factor of the game.

I posted about that here: http://www.battle.net/forums/thread.aspx?fn=d3-general&t=171345&tmp=1#post171345