A feature almost destroyed Diablo 3 – now players are demanding it back in Diablo 4

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Today, Diablo 3 is considered a great success and many players still enjoy playing it. Some of the features are so good that they have already found their way into Diablo 4 or, according to fans, should definitely be included. One of them is now being discussed controversially: the auction house. Veterans are warning against this wish for good reason.

What kind of feature is this?

  • The auction house in Diablo 3 allowed players to easily buy and sell items, initially for gold or real money, but later only for gold.
  • The idea is quite simple, even other ARPGs use the system. In Last Epoch, for example, the auction house is tied to a faction and is only open to players of that faction.
  • Diablo 4 has player-to-player trading, but no auction house. One user would like to see it, but Blizzard removed the feature for a good reason.

    • This is how bad the auction house was: The goal of the auction house in Diablo 3 was to give players quick and easy access to items and to combat frustration when their “God Roll” doesn’t drop again.

    Trading has been happening since Diablo 2 anyway, but via external sites. Diablo 3 should keep trading in the game to make it safer and more controlled – and still make some money. This has caused a number of problems:

  • It was too easy to get good items – This was already planned, but was considered an “acceptable risk”, as the head of Diablo 3, Jay Wilson, says in an interview (via purediablo).
  • Trading eventually got out of hand, so much so that some items were sold for three times the gold cap. The reason for this was botters and exploiters, for example.
  • In the end, all of this led to players no longer having fun with the game. Instead of earning items, they bought them, used them once, and then stopped.

    • After just 2 months, the feature had caused so much bad mood that Diablo 3 was almost constantly criticized.

    Blizzard finally pulled the emergency brake and first abolished the real-money auction house, and then shortly afterwards, before the release of Reaper of Souls, completely removed the feature.

    Diablo 4 will soon have its first expansion, Vessel of Hatred:

    Trailer for Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred gives insight into the story of the expansion

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    “You remove the dopamine”

    In one of the larger threads on Reddit, a player is now calling for an auction house in Diablo 4 and is receiving support from hundreds of users. Players see the feature as an opportunity to participate in trading without social interaction.

    The game’s economy is already broken, so they might as well just introduce an auction house. But there is at least one very clear warning from a veteran:

    Are you sure? Really think about what you want and what impact it will have. An in-game auction house would change the way you play. You would only get upgrades 99% of the time from the auction house, every secondary character would be equipped there. It would become the standard way to equip.

    GSEBVet on Reddit

    This removes the fundamental part of the game, which is fighting through dungeons and feeling joy when a drop occurs. This is exactly what concerns players the most at the moment: the loot is so good that everyone wants to share their dopamine with others.

    The idea may sound good at first, but it is the first step towards the downfall of the game. Not only would everyone only buy instead of looting, the demand for gold in exchange for real money would also increase, resulting in more botters.

    Blizzard has already had bad experiences with this exact problem with Diablo. Bots and exploits have already led to the game’s economy being completely destroyed in Diablo 2. The result is a ring that is now shrouded in legend: What exactly is the “Stone of Jordan” and why is it so important for Diablo?

    mmod-game