Diablo® III

Warning: This post may cause some viewers to have utter hatred for me because I am so full of myself and love quirky/sarcastic/satirical comments. I believe in this idea 100% and beg that if anyone has a better solution to gold inflation after reading my post that they post it in a reply (No, banning botters is not a better idea since it isn't possible to detect and ban all botters instantly). I will back your idea even more than I back my own idea which I believe is absolutely foolproof.

If you want to skip to the important part, scroll down to the section called The LOTTERY!!

The Problem:

Many of you (let's be honest, most of you) have noticed that since Diablo III's release date gold prices have inflated into the the tens of millions when it comes to good gear on the auction house. Commodities are also inflated, but not in such an alarming way such as the current "great" gear available for purchase in the auction house.

Let's have an example. Say Timmy (or Tammy) the Demon Hunter finds an Ilvl 63 rare 1 handed sword with stats like 1053 damage, 120 strength, 120 vitality, 60% critical strike damage, and 8.5% critical hit chance. Because Timmy/Tammy is such a greedy jerk, s/he wants to sell the sword for amazing profit instead of giving it to a friend or saving it for his/her Barbarian. Right now, based on the auction house's average price for such an amazing item, Timmy (or Tammy) would be able to sell this item for around 350 million gold.

How many of you can afford an item for 350 million gold? Probably less than I can count on one hand. How many of you can afford an item for just 35 million gold? Yeah, me either. Here is where we come to the problem, most people can't afford the item, but there are a few out there who have hundreds of millions of gold which have a sort of monopoly over items and rarely spread the wealth with players who are less fortunate. But it isn't just this small group of people which are causing inflation, it is also the large group of gold farming botters which rake in hundreds of millions of gold and then either sell it to players at cheap prices, or use it as a way to manipulate AH prices.

The Original Solution:

Due to the influx of a currency that is literally unlimited in how much can be obtained, prices on the AH inflate like weather balloons that reach the Ionosphere. So how do you keep this unlimited currency in check? Why gold sinks of course! High repair costs are a great example! Or a bad example seeing as how it causes almost no trouble to the players with hundreds of millions which NEED the gold sink, but makes the poorer players suffer and lose even more gold.

Gold sinks are how unlimited currency disappears, like in a magic show. Not the magic show that just hides the item in some secret box, but like a magic show that literally assimilates the item out of existence. The item is gone forever and will be replaced by another item someone just dug up and always will dig up because they are unlimited and spawn from nothing.

I'll get on with it!

WARNING, A MAIN POINT APPROACHING AT 60-WORDS-A-MINUTE SPEED!

In short, gold sinks are needed to keep prices in check. If there aren't enough gold sinks to keep up with the item creation, the market inflates and poor assimilation magicians commit assimilationicide due to depression.

The Why Behind It

But Frewdonist, we already knew that stuff you dummy. You are probably gonna suggest something stupid like higher repair prices or some sort of nerf. Go back to your basement and stare at the ceiling you worthless trash.

Shut your dirty little mouth! My idea isn't something so plain and unintelligent! It is something I will vehemently defend because I believe it is THE solution!

Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, I will present my idea in loving fashion.

What is a lottery?

My personal experience says that it is a waste of money that rarely ever turns out to be anything worth something. I usually lose money! The only thing that keeps me coming back is the nagging in the back of my mind that says, "KEEP TRYING MAN! YOU WILL EVENTUALLY WIN AND BY DOING SO CONQUER YOUR PATHETIC INFERIORITY COMPLEX THAT IS CAUSED BY THESE COLORFUL CARDS!"

A lottery is literally a waste of money the majority of the time and only pays out to a very lucky few. However, even against huge odds, people spend their precious money on something that has very little chance of actually giving them something in return. That is EXACTLY why it is the perfect solution for a game with limitless currency to waste!

QUICK, DO A BARREL ROLL! ANOTHER MAIN POINT IS COMING IN FAST!

A lottery is a perfect currency sink because people like to purchase something low priced that is an easier way to get lots of money even if it is a very low chance.

The LOTTERY!!

"Are you serious man? How is Blizzard gonna implement something so stupid? You want everyone to buy a scratch-off and see if they win more gold or something?

Not exactly, my good simpleton! Instead of buying cards in order to win more gold, they will buy ITEMS in order to win better items!

"Lolwut?"

Unidentified items!

You mean those stupid items that people plague trade chat with wanting to sell them for like 100k each? OMGWTFBBQ MAN!?

Shut up and read my post!

The LOTTERY!! (No, it doesn't have to be in all caps like it is screaming at you) is something I believe MUST be implemented to the Auction House in order to decrease gold inflation exponentially and return prices where they should be!

What is the LOTTERY!!?

My idea for the LOTTERY!! is a system for eliminating gold from the game by playing on chance. The chance at good or bad gear to be precise!

LOTTERY!! Info 1: A new section of the AH would be created named "Lottery". (Or UNID Auction. I like my name better.) It will be a GOLD ONLY section of the auction house because real money already has value. Inflation doesn't have a chance in the RMAH.

LOTTERY!! Info 2: In this new section of the AH, only items that have yet to have been IDed will be sold. Any item level will be allowed, however, there will be a few restrictions that guarantee that this gold sink will work.

LOTTERY!! Info 3: There is a BUYOUT LIMIT for all items place into the LOTTERY!! section of the AH that has to do with item level. Also, there will be a bid for each UnIDed item that starts at 1000 gold and stops at buyout price. Legendaries may or may not be allowed to be put into the LOTTERY!!, if they are, their maximum buyout prices will need to be increased and I have no idea what the butter zone for legendaries would be. Below this, I will post the list of item level and its corresponding buyout price.

Item level 63 - 75,000 maximum buyout
Item level 62 - 50,000 maximum buyout
Item level 61 - 35,000 maximum buyout
Item level 60 and below - 25,000 maximum buyout

All items have a starting bid of 1000 gold that lasts the standard 36 hours.

BUT WHY AND HOW WOULD THIS WORK TO DECREASE INFLATION!?

Why and How:

Gold sinks are needed in order to keep inflation from causing everyone grief except for those with hundreds of millions of gold.

UnIDed items are being sold quite frequently through the trade channel for about 100k each. People buy UnIDed items because 100k is a lot less than the 100 million the item could turn out the be worth that is on the AH right now. Sure the chances of getting that 1 in a million item are low, but people enjoy spending less gold to take a chance!

In order to prevent farmers from making too much gold selling the UnIDed items which would destroy the original purpose of the gold sink, a maximum buyout is needed. I believe 75,000 gold for an Item Level 63 is the butter zone that gets the farmers enough money for their hard work, and lottery buyers enough bang for their buck.

Why would this increase gold's value and decrease inflation? Because gold will begin to disappear due to the nature of this section of the AH. If someone spends 75,000 gold to buy an UnIDed Ilvl 63 item, he has a 90% chance to get an item that is horrible, a 9% chance to get an item that is sellable on the AH for at least some of his money back, and a 1% chance that it is AMAZING and worth millions. What happens to the 90% of items that turn out to be junk? THEY GET VENDORED OR SALVAGED! This creates a MASSIVE gold and item sink that will quickly drain gold from the economy of Diablo III as people play and lose the lottery the majority of the time.

The prices of the gold AH will decrease rapidly because people would much rather take a chance a buy an UnIDed Ilvl 63 item for 75,000 gold instead of an unimaginable 75 million gold. As fewer and fewer great items in the AH sell, the prices will drop exponentially and stay that way because there is a perceived "better" way and cheaper way to get upgrades.

As people spend gold on this massive gold sink, gold will once again become valuable.

AMAZING items will still be worth millions of gold, just not at an unaffordable amount for nearly everyone.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
No one wants to spend hundreds upon hundreds of hours playing to find gear to turn up empty-handed and no closer to progressing because they need millions of gold to continue. However, if they have incentive to farm because they know ANY item they find can sell, they will farm and will feel rewarded! Do you understand why I was so excited by this idea now!?

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

Gold inflation slowly but surely goes down as people use their money in the massive gold sink.

Farmers will feel that they are rewarded no matter what item they get. They can either identify the item or sell it for a nice amount of gold.

The lottery will provide both a massive gold sink and a massive item sink. As people buy items and identify them, the majority of the items they buy will be horrible and they will either vendor or salvage them which also drives down the costs of commodities!

If done correctly along with the banning of gold farming bots, this will SOLVE the gold inflation issue with little to no fuss!

Players with a low amount of gold will feel as if they have a chance to get a good item for a relatively fair amount of money that they CAN get in an hour or two. Sure most of the items they buy will be terrible, but if they can find that one item that is worth 50x what they payed for it, they will be a happy camper!

Gold prices will eventually be fixed and won't sell for too little on the RMAH in the future as value is restored.

Farming will once again become profitable and rewarding.

Cons:

I guess trade chat will be devoid of people trying to sell UnIDed items, although I could argue that this is a pro.

There will be a few people who are sad because they bought [insert ridiculous amount of UnIDed Ilvl 63s] and didn't get anything worth something so they lost all of their money and such. I imagine this is a better alternative to everyone starting fire storms on the forums because they can't farm enough to progress and proceed to quit.

__________________________________________________________________________
There you have it! I believe in this idea 110% and really do believe it is the perfect solution to high prices and gold inflation. Sure there will still be rich people, but with a gold sink everyone will have a chance at getting rich themselves. You know, a higher chance than farming for an Ilvl 63 and getting nothing but horrible stats AGAIN.

Q & A:

Q: What? No lottery for the RMAH? Why!?

A: There is no need for the RMAH to be balanced for inflation since real money is a limited resource. The maximum buyout on the RMAH would be about $1.25 and everyone would flock to put their UnIDed items on the RMAH. This would destroy the original purpose of the lottery in the first place which is to decrease gold inflation. Gambling is illegal in some places, so there maybe trouble in trying to put this lottery in the RMAH.

Q: Why have a maximum buyout price? Why not let people list the item for whatever price they want?

A: If people were allowed to put the items up for whatever price they wanted, we would lose that crucial butter zone of satisfaction for both parties. The prices of the UnIDed items would just skyrocket with the gold inflation prices and the purpose of the lottery would be dashed. No one would want to spend 150k on several UnIDed Ilvl 63 items because it is too much risk for little chance at reward. We buy $1 lottery tickets because everyone can afford something for $1, they know there is a very small chance that they will get anything back for their $1, but they are satisfied taking the chance because it won't cause them too much pain.

Q: Isn't there a way to tell if the UnIDed item is better than another? What if one weapon has 300 initial dps and the other has 500 initial dps?

A: This is part of the reason I want bidding to be allowed on the items, because the 500 initial dps could of course be better than the 300 initial dps item. However, it still depends entirely on luck and chance. The lower initial dps weapon could have Weapon % as one of the statistics after being identified and may actually be a 900 dps weapon! The 500 initial dps weapon may have statistics like +10 minimum damage, 141-245 holy damage, 100 intelligence, and 67 dexterity rendering it useless. It all depends on chance - or luck - depending on what you want to call it.

Q: Why allow bidding on items? Won't people just buy it out for instant gratification and be on their way?

A: As show above, some items can prove risky to buy. People may not want to spend 75k on a weapon with 200 initial dps so they will bid on the item instead. They will minimize the risk by bidding on the item instead and hope for the best.

Q: What about rings and amulets? The Ilvl buyout prices not work for these right? Because even a Ilvl 56 ring could be amazing!

A: I guess rings and amulets will be the most lucrative of items to buy and sell than right? The lower Ilvl ring could also be utter junk, it all depends on luck or chance!

Q: Why would people take a chance on something that may not even payoff?

A: Why would people buy a $20 scratch-off card if there is a low chance that they won't get anything for it? Why would people buy houses for low and try and sell the for a higher price? I've explained numerous times throughout this post that people LOVE taking a chance if there isn't to much risk for the reward.

Q: Surely the LOTTERY!! AH will sell out too quickly to be replenished! Crafting is a much more efficient way to make money right?

A: As a matter of fact, crafting will help keep the LOTTERY!! section afloat! It costs money to buy the plans for the crafting in the first place, not only that, but it takes time and money to craft the item. More than 75k at that! The LOTTERY!! will also lower the prices of plans as more people become interested in farming and crafting for profit.

Q: Do you really believe that this will save Diablo III's economy?

A: Not only do I believe that it will save the economy, I believe that it will save the economy in the least painful way possible. As gold inflation decreases and people have the chance to advance into the game without the only choice being to farm for hundreds of hours, people will enjoy the game because they know they have a chance. Replayability will come back and coupled with future fixes and expansions, Diablo III will flourish into a game played by millions for years to come.

If you have made it this far, THANK YOU! Please, if you find any mistakes or have a better way to fix the economy, post it! If you like my idea, like the post and rally behind the idea. Try to get it noticed by posting in the thread.

Blizzard, if you are reading this, I love you guys. I really want Diablo III to be loved and hope this idea can help fix the economic problems in the game. Please, take a chance at the idea or tell me what you think of it!

Also yes, I spent days thinking about this idea and spent several hours typing out this post. Lost half of it because it needed me to log in a gain which causes your entire post to disappear. Sucks, but it was worth it.

Solitary bump because I have bad luck with posting at the right time.

you are some sort of genius

Something about the way you say LOTTERY makes me LOL. But on to your post. Diablo 2 had this. it was the gambling system. Only it was run by the game and not players.

lottery all ready exists in this game

it's called crafting

and nobody uses it

the people who are collecting massive amounts of gold with bots aren't going to play the lottery, so your point doesnt really matter because nobody else has gold unless they're buying it. THE REGULAR PLAYER base does not need a lottery gold sink. It needs an effective crafting gold sink.

07/06/2012 03:30 PMPosted by Dark

you are some sort of genius

Daww, you are making me embarrassed.

07/06/2012 03:33 PMPosted by Sethern

Something about the way you say LOTTERY makes me LOL. But on to your post. Diablo 2 had this. it was the gambling system. Only it was run by the game and not players.

I know that.

But a LOTTERY!! that is run by Blizzard that generates items from nothing won't help anyone. This lottery will create a gold sink because players will be buying and losing item/money.

Right now, based on the auction house's average price for such an amazing item, Timmy (or Tammy) would be able to sell this item for around 350 million gold.

This is where you are wrong. Right now, we can see idiots who are using the GAH as extra storage for things they want to sell in the RMAH. So they put the item on the GAH for an amount they guarantee won't sell.

Then idiots come along and do a GAH search, see the item, and start screaming *INFLATION!!!*.

It's so lame and tiring...and frankly, boring.

07/06/2012 03:20 PMPosted by Frewdonist

Warning: This post may cause some viewers to have utter hatred for me because I am so full of myself and love quirky/sarcastic/satirical comments. I believe in this idea 100% and beg that if anyone has a better solution to gold inflation after reading my post that they post it in a reply (No, banning botters is not a better idea since it isn't possible to detect and ban all botters instantly). I will back your idea even more than I back my own idea which I believe is absolutely foolproof.

this start made me not wanna read what you wanted to say, but when i actually looked through it i pretty much liked your idea and im seeing it work actually too
making 75k a maximum price makes ppl wanna sell it for cheaper in order to get rid of their items anyways
but what im not getting yet is the amount of items and how its gonna get refilled, but thats stuff thats has to be thought of when it gets considered i guess

lottery all ready exists in this game

it's called crafting

and nobody uses it

the people who are collecting massive amounts of gold with bots aren't going to play the lottery, so your point doesnt really matter because nobody else has gold unless they're buying it. THE REGULAR PLAYER base does not need a lottery gold sink. It needs an effective crafting gold sink.

You aren't understanding the mean of lottery.

In the lottery, you take a chance and buy an item, identify it, and see if you actually made money.

Crafting costs lots of money in itself and costs more than 75k for an Ilvl 63 item. What with the costs of the plans and commodities.

If you think most people don't even have 75k, then you are gravely mistaken. Heck, they could even spend 50k on an Ilvl 62 if they so desire.

This will work, i currently sell and buy unidentified items and the risk is sometimes worth it. i bought a chest armor piece that would be wort at least 10 mill on the AH for 160k. Sure the items you buy may be trash but the investment is significantly less and it's not that hard to farm 75,000 gold. Bump for blues to see.

no TL,DR?

lottery all ready exists in this game

it's called crafting

and nobody uses it

the people who are collecting massive amounts of gold with bots aren't going to play the lottery, so your point doesnt really matter because nobody else has gold unless they're buying it. THE REGULAR PLAYER base does not need a lottery gold sink. It needs an effective crafting gold sink.

You aren't understanding the mean of lottery.

In the lottery, you take a chance and buy an item, identify it, and see if you actually made money.

Crafting costs lots of money in itself and costs more than 75k for an Ilvl 63 item. What with the costs of the plans and commodities.

If you think most people don't even have 75k, then you are gravely mistaken. Heck, they could even spend 50k on an Ilvl 62 if they so desire.

What you're describing is the crafting system. 0.o

and it's all ready in the game.

are you saying crafting prices should be reduced? that's basically all you're saying.

07/06/2012 03:36 PMPosted by Alethia

Right now, based on the auction house's average price for such an amazing item, Timmy (or Tammy) would be able to sell this item for around 350 million gold.

This is where you are wrong. Right now, we can see idiots who are using the GAH as extra storage for things they want to sell in the RMAH. So they put the item on the GAH for an amount they guarantee won't sell.

Then idiots come along and do a GAH search, see the item, and start screaming *INFLATION!!!*.

It's so lame and tiring...and frankly, boring.

http://i.imgur.com/3062M.jpg

It would take me a few hours to dig up the three items I've seen people sell for 350 million with proof, so I'm giving you the best example I could quickly find.

If you don't believe this is inflation, you have a problem.

lottery all ready exists in this game

it's called crafting

and nobody uses it

the people who are collecting massive amounts of gold with bots aren't going to play the lottery, so your point doesnt really matter because nobody else has gold unless they're buying it. THE REGULAR PLAYER base does not need a lottery gold sink. It needs an effective crafting gold sink.

Also, lots of people use crafting and it's where I've made about 50% of my gold. You just need the initial capital there (and +6 prop 62 plan) for it to be effective.

congradulations were you lucky to find a 6 prop plan.

I've spent 300 hours of farming and only found 4-5 prop plans.

not to mention you still have to get lucky with crafting to get anything worth selling, so no, most people aren't making gold with crafting. obviously some will, most won't.

and this all assumes people want to buy their items on the auction house with gold. many players don't want to go that route. but have little to no choice.

Do you have a mood disorder with Psychotic symptoms?
That was way over the top lol.

You aren't understanding the mean of lottery.

In the lottery, you take a chance and buy an item, identify it, and see if you actually made money.

Crafting costs lots of money in itself and costs more than 75k for an Ilvl 63 item. What with the costs of the plans and commodities.

If you think most people don't even have 75k, then you are gravely mistaken. Heck, they could even spend 50k on an Ilvl 62 if they so desire.

What you're describing is the crafting system. 0.o

and it's all ready in the game.

are you saying crafting prices should be reduced? that's basically all you're saying.

It costs money and takes time to craft items.

An UnIDed auction house is easy to simply click and buy from. People are lazy and willing to spend 75k for and UnIDed item instead of creating their own.

HOWEVER, thanks to the crafting system, the LOTTERY!! section can and will be replenished after items are bought off of it.