Power Word: Gold Diablo

Diablo III Gold-Making! 6.12.12 AM - New Patch? RMAH?

2012-06-21T22:05:00.000-07:00

YouTube: Diablo III Gold-Making! 6.12.12 AM - New Patch? RMAH? by Jim Younkin

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Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.30.12 PM - AH Flipping Galore!

2012-06-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

Part 1: Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.30.12 PM (Part 1) - AH Flipping Galore! by Jim Younkin

Part 2: Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.30.12 PM (Part 2) - AH Flipping Galore! by Jim Younkin

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Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.28.12 PM - Auction Practice

2012-06-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

YouTube: Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.28.12 PM - Auction Practice

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Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.25.12 AM - Farming Items/AH Practice

2012-06-07T23:35:00.000-07:00

YouTube: Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.25.12 AM - Farming Items/AH Practice by Jim Younkin

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Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.24.12 AM - Farming/AH Practice

2012-06-03T09:52:00.002-07:00

YouTube: Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.24.12 AM - Farming/AH Practice by Jim Younkin

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Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.23.12 AM - Item Farming/Auction Practice

2012-06-01T09:22:00.000-07:00

YouTube: Diablo III Gold-Making! 5.23.12 AM - Item Farming/Auction Practice by Jim Younkin

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Diablo III Patch 1.0.2 Notes - Auction House

2012-05-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

Below are theitems from Diablo III Patch 1.0.2 Notes related to the Gold Auction House.

"Auction House

The auction log in the Completed tab will now display a player's activity (bids, buyouts, sales, etc) in the proper order
When placing a new bid over a previous bid on the same auction, players will now be provided with the correct warning message: "Raising your maximum bid on an Auction you are already winning raises your current bid to just above your previous maximum bid. Are you sure you want to continue?"
Players will now receive an error message if they attempt to purchase an item after the 50 item limit has been reached in the Completed tab
The "Physical Damage" Preferred Stats option for rings has been renamed to "Bonus Minimum Physical Damage"
The "All Damage" Preferred Stats option for weapons and armor has been removed and replaced with bonuses of specific damage types
Items which have been purchased from a vendor and equipped by the player can now be sold on the Auction House
Listing items on the Auction House from a different character than the one currently selected should no longer cause item display issues"

Most of the above changes seem to be aimed at increasing Auction House stability which it needs very badly.

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Diablo III Gold-Making 5.20.12 AM - Monk Gold Farming on Nightmare

2012-05-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

YouTube: Diablo III Gold-Making 5.20.12 AM - Monk Gold Farming on Nightmare by Jim Younkin

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Diablo III For Profit 5.17.12 PM - Auction House Action

2012-05-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Part 1: Diablo III For Profit 5.17.12 PM (Part 1) - Auction House Action by Jim Younkin

Part 2: Diablo III For Profit 5.17.12 PM (Part 2) - Auction House Action by Jim Younkin

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The Journey Begins - My First Diablo III Sales

2012-05-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

The above successful Diablo III auctions may not look like much to some people but to me they are the small beginnings of my Diablo III auction house learning process.

What makes these item sales so special? I was able to sift through my collected Magic and Rare items and first off choose which not to vendor/destroy and after that decide which of the items left would actually net me a hefty profit.

At the moment a "hefty profit" is anything over 5000 gold. Now I'm not finished with Nightmare (on final act) ut even so I've been able to make some decent item sales by spending a bit of time analyzing and searching for similar items on the Auction House until I hit upon items that seemed to be selling for over 5k.

This is only the beginning but so far I've enjoyed the experiences of not only farming these items but also figuring out which to sell and for what.

How has the Diablo III Gold Auction House been treating you so far?

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Diablo III For Profit 5.16.12 PM - Learning the Ropes

2012-05-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

Part 1: Diablo III For Profit 5.16.12 PM (Part 1) - Learning the Ropes by Jim Younkin

Part 2: Diablo III For Profit 5.16.12 PM (Part 2) - Learning the Ropes by Jim Younkin

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Diablo III For Profit 5.16.12 AM - Learning the Ropes w/ Jason

2012-05-19T14:18:00.001-07:00

Part 1: Diablo III For Profit 5.16.12 AM (Part 1) - Learning the Ropes by Jim Younkin

Part 2: Diablo III For Profit 5.16.12 AM (Part 2) - Learning the Ropes by Jim Younkin

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Diablo III 5.15.12 PM - D3 Launch With Jason

2012-05-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

Part 1: Diablo III 5.15.12 PM (Part 1) - D3 Launch. Monk Gameplay! by Jim Younkin

Part 2: Diablo III 5.15.12 PM (Part 2) - D3 Launch. Monk Gameplay! by Jim Younkin

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BETA MONK ACTION!

2012-05-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

Part 1: BETA MONK ACTION! (Diablo III not MoP) 4.21.12 PM (Part 1) by Jim Younkin

Part 2: BETA MONK ACTION! (Diablo III not MoP) 4.21.12 PM (Part 2) by Jim Younkin

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Diablo III Evil is Back TV Spot

2012-04-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

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Diablo III Beta Co-Op with @psxanarchist. 4.19.12 PM

2012-04-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Part 1: Diablo III Beta Co-Op with @psxanarchist. 4.19.12 PM (Part 1)

Part 2: Diablo III Beta Co-Op with @psxanarchist. 4.19.12 PM (Part 2)

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Battle.net Balance Service Goes Live

2012-02-07T09:42:00.002-07:00

Just a quick note that the "Battle.net Balance" service that some of us will be using to buy and sell items in Diablo III has gone live. As it is not people can choose to add money into the service and then use that money to buy things like Blizzard games, game time etc. In the future we will use it in Diablo III.

This may mean that people can conceivably buy/sell items in Diablo III and use the real-world currency in their Battle.net Balance account to pay for World of Warcraft Expansions and more importantly World of Warcraft game time.

This is pretty huge. You could conceivably never have to pay for another month of game time ever if you're able to make enough money buying and selling Diablo III items. Interesting. Very interesting. Read the full official Blizzard blog post after the jump.

Battle.net Balance is now live! As we announced previously, Battle.net Balance is a new feature that gives players an alternate way to purchase Blizzard digital products and services directly through their Battle.net accounts. Players are now able add to their Battle.net Balance using a variety of payment methods, and then use that balance toward Blizzard Entertainment products and services such as World of Warcraft game time; paid services, such as realm transfers and character name changes; digital versions of select Blizzard games, including Diablo II and StarCraft II; and in-game pets and mounts. In the near future, players will be also able to use Battle.net Balance for the digital World of Warcraft Battle Chest and WoW digital upgrades. In addition, with the upcoming launch of Diablo III, players will have the option to use Battle.net Balance to buy and sell items in the game’s currency-based auction house.

For more information, check out the Battle.net Balance FAQ, or head to the Battle.net Balance page in Account Management to manage your balance.

I find it interesting that Blizzard is building multiple ways for players to pay for their Blizzard games. In a way this is sort of like melding two separate games into one meta-free-to-play game. You play Diablo III to earn enough items to sell for real money to pay for your World of Warcraft subscription.

Whether you're playing Diablo III or World of Warcaft, Blizzard keeps you playing (and paying) in their world.

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Diablo 3 For Profit Renamed "Power Word: Gold Diablo"

2012-01-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

While there is still very little happening in the Diablo III gold-making space we thought we'd take this chance to bring the blog more in-line with our other Power Word: Gold blogs.

In doing so we have revamped the look as well as renamed the blog from "Diablo 3 For Profit" to "Power Word: Gold Diablo".

We have also created a new URL for the blog which can now be found at diablo.powerwordgold.net. In addidion we have updated our RSS feed so be sure to subscribe to that. Our twitter account (@D3ForProfit) will remain unchanged.

That's all for now. Watch this blog as more information about the Diablo III economy and real-currency auction house becomes available.

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Steve Jobs, 1955-2011 - My Example Of Excellence For Over 13 Years.

2011-10-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

Apologies for going a little off topic but we all lost a shining example of excellence today.

On the Apple website announcing Steve Job's passing was the following: If you would like to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences, please email rememberingsteve@apple.com.

Below is what I wrote to Steve.

Steve,

I came to really know and love Apple right after you had come back to the company. The iMac was so much more than any other computer I'd seen in my life. It was just "right". Since then you continued to build product after product that inspired my and changed my life.

More than anything you showed that excellence is possible if only you believe and are dedicated to making the absolute best product you can.

My life will forever be changed by your example and I hope to live up to that example.

You will be missed but not forgotten Steve.

With gratitude,
-Jim Younkin

While the ache I feel in my heart for the loss of Steve will take a while to pass the fact that even right up until the end he was leading by example will be something I will remember for the rest of my life.

PayPal Announced as Diablo III Payment Service Partner

2011-09-14T13:58:00.002-07:00

While it should come as a surprise to almost no one Blizzard announced that they will be using PayPal as their "payment-service partner" for Diablo III real-world currency transactions. (See "PayPal for Diablo III and Battle.net" on the Diablo III Blog.)

Full details after the jump.

The Diablo III announcement blog post was short and sweet.

We're pleased to announce that in most regions, PayPal will be our payment-service partner for the Diablo III auction house, allowing players who trade with real-world currency the ability to cash out the spoils of their battle-torn adventures via a PayPal account.

PayPal will also soon be added in several regions as a payment option on Battle.net, providing another convenient and secure payment method for digital purchases of Blizzard products and services.

We’ll share region-related specifics, as well as further details on everything mentioned above, in the near future. Stay tuned!

While this does mean that we ow know which service Blizzard will be using what I'm reall curious about is whether we will be able to switch from "Blizzard cash" type of transactions to the "cash out" PayPal type on a per transaction basis or whether we are stuck with one or the other.

It seems to me that the ability to keep a certain amount of money in your Blizzard "wallet" to do buying and selling if items with with no additional fees would be advantageous only doing PayPal transactions on items we wanted to cash out and take the hit on transactions fees.

We hopefully will know more as time goes along. (Now where is my Diablo III beta invite Blizzard!)

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How the Real-Money Auction House Will Affect Diablo III - Comic by Dorkly

2011-08-12T13:47:00.001-07:00

This Diablo III comic (by Dorkly.com) made me laugh. I think it captures the feelings many in the gaming community are having about the currency-based auction house being introduced in Diablo III.

View the original at Dorkly.com.

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Rob Pardo Talks About The Currency-Based AH in Diablo III

2011-08-04T11:46:00.004-07:00

Below are a few quotes from Blizzard's Game Design EVP Rob Pardo about the new currency-based auction house in Diablo III. Quotes were taken from the article entitled Blizzard Reveals Real Money-Powered Diablo III Auction House over at Gamasutra. (Emphasis ours.)

Then for the big news. Pardo began by discussing the importance of trading items in Diablo, how it had been done online in Diablo II: via manual exchanges, forum posts, or IRC, and "shady third party sites full of gray market stuff." He said, "We can make it better."

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 him, 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.

More quotes after the jump.

Pardo was swift to mention that it's not an official "Blizzard Store," but a clearinghouse for players to have an open market to facilitate the trading of in-game items with each other. 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.

He then outlined initial details of transactions. 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.

Pardo intimated that if Blizzard didn't take the steps to bring e-commerce in-house, someone else would step in and profit from it. "Players want this... We could take a harder stance, but with Diablo, we think [the Auction House] will end up being a good thing," he said. The fact that in-game bartering and selling had "become a metagame of its own," in his words, was another motivator for launching the new feature.

When asked if he had any concerns about Diablo III's auctions turning into widespread item speculation, he hinted that the regional breakup of currency would play a factor. "In WoW auctions, you're looking at a few thousand people cornering the market, whereas Diablo's regionalization makes it tougher to speculate. But we'll monitor it closely." He also compared his idea of user-driven item pricing to the iPhone App Store, in which inflated app prices self-corrected as buyers dictated what they would pay for applications.

When asked about the regional breakdown of the shop, Pardo said, "The primary reason why we're doing the Auction House per [real world] currency is for usability, and in some cases, with legality -- it's the easiest way to do it... There are going to be so many items in each auction house in every currency that there shouldn't even be need to shopping around in different currency houses."

He also fielded an inquiry as to how much the implementation of the Diablo III Auction House influenced the design of the game.

"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," Pardo said.

One of Pardo's final responses involved the question of how Blizzard would gauge the game's success, be it in higher numbers of auctions or in hours logged playing the game.

"I would find it to be successful if they're having fun doing [either]," he said. "That's always the trick when it comes to the Auction House -- or I could talk about any of the major game systems in WoW.

"What we want is that people can spend their time having the most fun doing whatever it is that they want in the game. What would be bad is if people wanted to play the game with their friends, but instead felt compelled to spend all of their time competing in the Auction House, and that's something that we want to avoid."

So a few thoughts about what we read here from Pardo. Apparently the auction houses may be linked by currency meaning that all auctions for US Dollars will be lumped together and all auctions for Euros will be lumped together etc. If this is true it will make it really hard to game the system when the entire US player population is selling in one giant auction house.

Another thing I picked up on was that the auctions will be anonymous which we read in the official Blizzard info given earlier. This will make it really hard to identify any sort of competition simply because we will never see who is selling what and therefore will have the price alone to go by. I also wonder if Blizzard (or any 3rd parties) will be building any sort of auction house data export similar to what we have in World of Warcraft with sites like The Undermine Journal and AHSpy. It seems there are some real-money implications for information such as that and it's influence on the markets (speculation etc.)

The last item I thought stood out was that there will be a 24-hour "cooldown" period (a duration previously unspecified in the official Blizzard info) for reselling items. I wonder why this would be. Could is be Blizzards way of allowing themselves a window to investigate potential abuses of the system similar to the one-hour delay of delivery of gold for successful auctions that was implemented in World of Warcraft. I'd be interested to hear what you all thought the reasoning for the 24-hour cooldown was.

I'm fascinated with the possibilities and implications of the currency-based auction house in Diablo III and will continue to bring you the best info I can about it as we continue to learn more.

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First Images of Currency-Based Auction House User Interface

2011-08-03T11:15:00.003-07:00

Below are the first images we have of the currency-based auction house user interface for Diablo III. Other than there being dollar amounts instead of gold amounts it pretty much looks like what you'd expect from a in-game auction interface.

It is exciting to see those dollars in there and know that those could be dollard going into our own pockets (less Blizzard's "nominal" fees ofc).

Currency-based Auctions Search (Image Source: MMO-Champion) Click to enlarge.

More images after the jump.

Currency-based Auctions Bidding (Image Source: MMO-Champion) Click to enlarge.

Currency-based Auctions Selling (Image Source: MMO-Champion) Click to enlarge.

Currency-based Auctions Create Auction (Image Source: MMO-Champion) Click to enlarge.

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Blizzards Main Reason for Currency-Based Auction House: Fighting 3rd Party Sellers?

2011-08-02T21:25:00.000-07:00

In an post entitled "OPINION: Diablo III auctions a smart move against gold farmers" for MCV Dominic Sacco goes over what he sees as one of Blizzards main reason for choosing to go with a currency-based auction house in Diablo III.

"Blizzard may never stop gold farming and those who use in-game bots to level up characters quickly. But by embracing this business Blizzard has not only retained a tighter grip on the buying decisions of its players, it’s taken one giant step towards blocking out the black market entirely."

Head over and read the full article to hear more about what Dominic has to say about the currency-based auction house.

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Introducing Our Diablo III Profit-Pedia - Official Info On The Currency-Based Auction House

2011-08-02T16:37:00.002-07:00

Below is the first information we've put into our Diablo III Profit-Pedia. The Profit-Pedia is a resource for information and links related to the real-world money auction house for Diablo III.

Official Diablo III Information Sources.
-Official Twitter: @Diablo
-Official Diablo Facebook
-Official Diablo YouTube
-Diablo III on Battle.net
-Diablo III Community Site
-Diablo III Forums at Battle.net

Read more official information after the jump.

Official information about the Diablo III currency-based auction house.

Diablo III Auction House Overview excerpts (from the Blizzard Entertainment Events page). (Emphasis ours.)

We’re introducing a powerful auction house system that will provide a safe, fun, and easy-to-use way for players to buy and sell the loot they obtain in the game. Items can be sold and purchased using real-world money or in-game gold.
The Choice Is Yours - Use of either the real-money or gold-based auction house is completely optional -- that decision can be made on a per-item basis, and both versions of the auction house are functionally the same. In addition, players have the option to simply sell the items they obtain to in-game vendors for gold. They can also trade items to other players through a direct character-to-character trading system in the game in exchange for gold, other items, or just an overwhelming sense of goodwill.
Players Only - Blizzard does not plan to post items for sale in the auction house. The driving purpose of the auction house is to provide players with a fun additional in-game option for what they do with the items they obtain in the game. Items sold in the auction house will be posted by players and purchased by players.
Safe and Sanctified - The real-money auction house provides players with an easy-to-use, Blizzard-sanctioned way to collect money for items they obtain while playing Diablo III. It also helps protect players from the scams and theft often associated with questionable third-party sites by providing a secure, completely in-game method for purchasing and obtaining the items they want for their characters.
Faster Than A Seven-Sided Strike - Sellers can post items for auction from any of the Diablo III characters on their Battle.net account, or from their shared stash (extra inventory space accessible with any of the characters on their account), without logging out. And after a buyer has won an auction, the item will become immediately available to be equipped and put to good use in the ongoing struggle against the forces of the Burning Hells.

Diablo III Auction House FAQ - "General Info" excerpts (from the Blizzard Entertainment Events page). (Emphasis ours.)

...With Diablo III, we’re introducing a powerful auction house system that will provide a safe, fun, and easy-to-use way for players to buy and sell the loot they find in the game, such as weapons, armor, and runes. Two different versions of the auction house will be available in Diablo III: one based on in-game gold, which players acquire through their adventures, and one based on real-world currency.
What’s the difference between the gold-based auction house and the currency-based auction house? - The gold-based auction house uses in-game gold for purchases and sales. With the currency-based auction house, players will be able to conduct these transactions using actual currency from an authorized payment method or from funds that have been added to their Battle.net account. Players can choose to participate in whichever version of the auction house they prefer, on a per-transaction basis.
How does the auction house system work? - ...When posting the item, the seller picks whether it will be sold in the gold-based auction house or the currency-based auction house. The item is then held by the auction house system until the listing expires or a purchase is made. Items that are not sold are returned to the seller’s shared stash, and items that are sold are delivered to the winning bidder’s shared stash. In either case, the auction house system will deduct a nominal fixed transaction fee from the seller, the amount of which is determined by whether or not the item was sold (see below). For the currency-based auction house, players will have a few different options for how to pay for item purchases and receive funds for item sales, as discussed elsewhere in this FAQ. There may be differences in how this system will work in different regions of the world. We’ll provide further details at a later date."
How is the transaction fee determined? - A nominal fixed transaction fee will be deducted from the seller for each item listed in the auction house. This fee consists of a fixed charge to list the item, which is assessed whether or not the item is successfully sold, and an additional fixed charge that is assessed only if the item is sold. Because the listing portion of the fee is charged even if the item doesn't sell, it will be in the seller’s interest to list items he or she believes other players will be interested in, and to do so at a competitive price. Specific details related to the transaction fee for the currency-based auction house will vary by region and will be announced at a later date. Please note that we plan to waive the listing portion of the fee for a limited number of transactions per account. In other words, for these transactions, the seller will only pay a transaction fee if the item is successfully sold, and that fee will not include the listing charge. We’ll have further details on this as well at a later date.
Why are you creating a currency-based version of the auction house? - Our goal with all of our games is to ensure players have a highly enjoyable, rewarding, and secure experience. Acquiring items has always been an important part of the Diablo series, but the previous games have not had a robust, centralized system for facilitating trades, and as a result players have turned to inconvenient and potentially unsafe alternatives, such as third-party real-money-trading organizations. Many of the transactions between players and these organizations led to a poor player experience and countless customer-service issues involving scams and item/account theft, to name a few. To that end, we wanted to create a convenient, powerful, and fully integrated tool to meet the demand of players who wished to purchase or sell items for real-world currency, and who would likely have turned to a less-secure third-party service for this convenience.
How will the currency-based auction house work? - Players will be able to make purchases in the currency-based auction house using a registered form of payment attached to their Battle.net account. As with other popular online-purchase services, players will also have the option to charge up their Battle.net account with a balance of funds that can be drawn from for purchases of any digital product available through Battle.net -- this includes not only auction house items but also things like World of Warcraft subscription time and paid services, to name a few examples. On the flipside, when players sell an item in the currency-based auction house, the proceeds of the sale are deposited into their Battle.net account and can then be used as described above. Note that this process might be different for certain regions; we’ll provide further region-specific details as we get closer to launch.
Can players choose to get cash from currency-based auction house sales, instead of having the proceeds deposited into their Battle.net account? - Yes, as an advanced feature, players will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” would then be handled through the third-party payment service. Note that this process will be subject to applicable fees charged by Blizzard and the third-party payment service. Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house that have been deposited into the Battle.net account will not be transferrable to the third-party payment service account. Not all regions will support this advanced feature at launch. Region-specific details, as well as details regarding which third-party payment services will be supported and the fee that Blizzard will charge for the cash-out process, will all be provided at a later date.
Is the currency-based version of the auction house optional? - Yes, the currency-based auction house is available as an option for players who wish to purchase or sell Diablo III items for real money. Players are also able to buy and sell items through the gold-based auction house, and they can trade items with each other as well through direct character-to-character in-game trading.
Why would I want to pay real money to buy or sell in-game items? - Acquiring items has always been a core part of the Diablo series' appeal. With the previous Diablo games, many players have shown a great interest in buying, selling, or exchanging items for their characters using real-world currency, turning to potentially unsafe avenues to accomplish this goal. The currency-based version of the auction house provides players with an easy-to-use, Blizzard-sanctioned way to collect money for items obtained while playing Diablo III. In addition, it helps protect players from scams and disreputable third-party sites by providing a secure, in-game method to search for and purchase items posted by other players that are a perfect fit for their character and play style. The currency-based auction house is completely optional. Players who aren't interested in paying real money for items will still be able to rely on items they acquire through their own adventures, and they'll also be able to trade with friends and use the full-featured gold-based auction house.
Can I play on a server without a currency-based version of the auction house? - We want to provide a secure, fun environment for our players to purchase and sell in-game items using gold or real money and have no plans to divide the community. Players are free to participate in the gold-based auction house or the currency-based auction house, or to opt out of using any of the auction houses at all, progressing through Diablo III using only the items they obtain through their own adventures or direct trade with other players.
Does Blizzard plan to post weapons, armor, and other such items for sale in the currency-based version of the auction house? The currency-based auction house is a place for players to purchase or sell items they’ve obtained within the game. Blizzard does not plan to post items that affect gameplay, such as gear or character-enhancing runes, for sale in the auction house.
Does the currency-based auction house signify a shift in Blizzard’s business and revenue model? - We’ve always tailored our business models to match what we’ve felt would be most appropriate and effective for each game and in each region, and that’s the case with Diablo III as well. The item-based nature of Diablo gameplay has always lent itself to an active trade-based ecosystem, and a significant part of this trade has been conducted through unsecure third-party organizations. This has led to numerous customer-service and game-experience issues that we’ve needed to account for. Our primary goal with the Diablo III auction house system is for it to serve as the foundation for a player-driven economy that’s safe, fun, and accessible for everyone.
What’s Blizzard’s cut? - As with other online auction sites and real-world auction houses, our fee structure will vary by region. However, we plan to collect a nominal fixed transaction fee for each item listed in the auction house. This fee consists of a fixed charge to list the item, which is assessed whether or not the item is successfully sold, and an additional fixed charge that is assessed only if the item is sold. The listing portion of the fee, which helps encourage sensible listing prices and discourage the mass posting of items that are very low quality or would be of little interest to other players, will be waived for a limited number of transactions per account. For players who opt to have the proceeds of their auction house sales go to their third-party payment service account instead of to their Battle.net account, Blizzard will collect a separate “cash-out” fee. Specific details regarding these fees will be announced at a later date.
Can we buy gold from the currency-based auction house? - Players will be able to buy and sell gold through the currency-based auction house at whatever the current market price is, as established by the player community.
If I no longer need an item I bought in the auction house, can I relist it in the auction house? - Yes. Once you've purchased an item you can do anything with it that you could if you had acquired it through your own adventures, whether that be using it yourself, or, after a cool-down period, trading it to another character or relisting it on either the gold-based or currency-based auction house. In fact, you can generally do any combination of these things -- for example, you can purchase an item in the auction house, use it for a while, and then relist it or trade it to another character. Aside from certain quest items, there will be very few (if any) items that will be “soulbound” to your character and therefore untradable. Please note that the duration of the cool-down period mentioned above will be discussed at a later date.

Diablo III Auction House FAQ - "Functionality" excerpts (from the Blizzard Entertainment Events page). (Emphasis ours.)

What items can be traded in Diablo III? - Nearly everything that drops on the ground, including gold, can be traded with other players directly or through the auction house system. Aside from certain quest items, there will be very few (if any) items that will be “soulbound” to your character and therefore untradable. We are also planning to allow players to buy and sell characters in the auction house at some point in the future and will have more details to share on that at a later date.
Can I buyout items that I want to purchase immediately? - Yes, the Diablo III auction houses will support a buyout feature as well as standard bids.
How do I pay for items? - For the gold-based auction house, purchases will be made using in-game gold. For the currency-based auction house, players can make purchases using a registered form of payment attached to their Battle.net account. As with other popular online-purchase services, players will also have the option to charge up their Battle.net account with a balance of funds that can be drawn from for purchasing items in the currency-based auction house. Note that this process might be different for certain regions; we’ll provide further region-specific details as we get closer to launch.
How do I cash out from the currency-based auction house? - As an advanced feature, players will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” would then be handled through the third-party payment service. Note that this process will be subject to applicable fees charged by Blizzard and the third-party payment service. Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house that have been deposited into the Battle.net account will not be transferrable to the third-party payment service account. Not all regions will support this advanced feature at launch. Region-specific details, as well as details regarding which third-party payment services will be supported and the fee that Blizzard will charge for the cash-out process, will all be provided at a later date.
Will buying or selling items in the auction house reveal my identity? - No. All player transactions in the gold-based and currency-based auction houses will be anonymous, and neither your real name nor your character name will be revealed to other players.

Diablo III Auction House FAQ - "Region Details" excerpts (from the Blizzard Entertainment Events page). (Emphasis ours.)

Which regions will have currency-based auction house support? - We plan to roll out the currency-based version of the auction house in as many regions as possible with the launch of Diablo III. In regions where the currency-based auction house will not be available, players will still have access to a gold-based auction house. We'll share more details in the future.
If I live in Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia, what server will I play Diablo III on? - As with StarCraft II, players who purchase the Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia version of Diablo III will have their own regional servers, offering lower latency and more action during peak hours. While we encourage players to play on these servers, we recognize that many have longstanding friendships with North American players and would like to continue playing with them. Because of this, we're again giving Australia/New Zealand/ Southeast Asia gamers access to both regions' servers so they can choose where they'd prefer to play.
How does this impact the items I have purchased in the auction house? - Auction house purchases are bound to the servers in the region in which they're bought. Any items acquired on the Australia/New Zealand/Southeast Asia servers, in-game or otherwise, are bound to those servers and are not transferrable to the North American servers (and vice versa). Please keep this in mind when making purchases in the auction house.
What currencies will be available? What currency will items in the auction house be viewed in? Can players purchase items using local credit cards or bank accounts? - Our goal is to make the auction house experience in each region as seamless as possible for players, and we are currently exploring various currency and payment options to help achieve that goal. We’ll provide further details as we get closer to launch.

Diablo III Auction House FAQ - "Gameplay Issues" excerpts (from the Blizzard Entertainment Events page). (Emphasis ours.)

Will I be able to use third-party mods to track auction prices? - For a variety of gameplay and security reasons, we will not be supporting bots or mods in Diablo III, and they’ll be expressly prohibited by our terms of use for the game.
Can Hardcore-mode characters use the currency-based auction house? - No. Hardcore characters will only have the option to buy and sell items together with other Hardcore characters via a separate "Hardcore-only" gold-based auction house; they will not be able to use the currency-based auction house. Hardcore mode is designed as an optional experience for players who enjoy the sense of constant peril that comes with the possibility of permanent death for a character. All of a Hardcore character’s items are forever lost upon that character’s death, so to avoid the risk of a player spending real money on items that could then be permanently lost when the character dies, we decided restrict the use of the currency-based auction house in Hardcore mode. Also, Hardcore mode is intended to provide an additional level of challenge in which players try to keep their characters alive through a combination of skill and luck. Allowing players to access the currency-based auction house with their Hardcore characters would undermine the value of Hardcore-related achievements for everyone because the playing field would not be even. As with other aspects of Diablo III gameplay, we will continually monitor how this system plays out and make adjustments as necessary.
Will players be at a disadvantage in the game if they do not purchase items in the auction house? - All of the items available in the auction house can be obtained in the game. The auction house system is designed to facilitate the exchange of items (items can also be exchanged through character-to-character trades). Diablo III is primarily a cooperative game; while the game will offer some highly entertaining player-vs.-player options, we don't intend to balance items for player-vs.-player gameplay. We feel that a robust and powerful item-trading system will make the co-op experience more enjoyable.
Can I just buy the most powerful items and breeze through the game? - Items will be level-restricted, meaning your character won't be able to use an item until he or she is at the appropriate level for that item.

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