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New Diablo 3 details reveal DRM, real cash transactions

Blizzard to implement real money system into auction house

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At a recent Diablo III event, a player-driven real money transaction-powered economy has been revealed, as well as an always-online DRM.

Diablo III will continue some of the Battle.net features incorporated into StarCraft II, including Real ID integration, which offers a persistent friends list and cross-game chat for players to communicate across other Blizzard titles. Also revealed is that as with StarCraft II, a persistent internet connection will be required to play - in both single player and multiplayer modes. All character data will be stored server-side with Blizzard.

With the Diablo III Auction House, players will have a fully-integrated marketplace that allows them to buy and sell items, gold, and components with real-world currency (tentatively divided into U.S. dollars and euros, among others) in their respective territories. According to developers, it's based on the World of Warcraft Auction House, but with refinements. Diablo III's iteration allows for auto-bidding and instant buyouts, smart searches based on class, a shared stash, and secure item transfers.

Players will be anonymous during trades, and there will be restrictions on the buying and selling of goods with real-world currency for those who choose to play in Hardcore mode. There will be a fee for both item listings and sales. Should players accept in-game currency, their payment will go toward their Battle.net e-balance, which covers auction items, WoW subscriptions, and pets. Should players decide to cash out their items, a currently-unannounced third-party payment provider will handle the transaction and take a percentage of the sale. There won't be any limits on item trading, but there will be a 24-hour cooling period before players can resell a purchased item.

"Players want this... We could take a harder stance, but with Diablo, we think the Auction House will end up being a good thing," said the Blizzard presenter at the event.

"Did we design the game with auctions in mind? That's an emphatic no. It's all just going in the direction of what we want to do with Diablo. What we set out to do is make awesome items. If you were making Diablo III without the auction house, that's exactly the same goal, it's what you'd want to do as a designer, right? That's what we want to do. This just incentivizes what we already set out to do."

Diablo III is currently in development at Blizzard and is set to release on PC some time in 2012. A beta is scheduled to begin later this year.
 

[Via
Gamasutra]
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