I_Am_Weasel: The new Balance system can be used to buy World of Warcraft game time (although you can't set up a recurring subscription with it), in-game pets and mounts

in game pets? IN GAME PETS!?

You suck, humanity.

A Pet Battle system not unlike Pokemon will be introduced with the next expansion. Or was already shipped with the last expansion. I stopped paying attention, really.

FTFA: there are potentially region-specific expiration dates for Balance funds.

Expiration dates? On the money I put in my account? (well, not me, because I'm not so mentally challenged as to use this idiotic system).

I_Am_Weasel: The new Balance system can be used to buy World of Warcraft game time (although you can't set up a recurring subscription with it), in-game pets and mounts

in game pets? IN GAME PETS!?

You suck, humanity.

What's really sad is they aren't even useful pets like, say, a hunter pet. No, they're your typical Paris Hilton mutt in a handbag pets that may sometimes make a noise or run around or something and that's it. People pay for that kind of stuff...

Now, granted, IIRC there was a charity event at one time where the reward for donating was a pet (or mount, or both). Assuming that is isn't a scam where like 10% actually goes to the people in need, that kind of stuff is nice since it doesn't cost Blizzard anything tangible yet generates income for charity.

But can you buy hats?

I_Am_Weasel: The new Balance system can be used to buy World of Warcraft game time (although you can't set up a recurring subscription with it), in-game pets and mounts

in game pets? IN GAME PETS!?

You suck, humanity.

in game vanity items are one of the big sellers for free to play and premium games. Ditto for things like armor dyes, to make everything all nice and matching.

Aside from the fact that this whole online RL$ system sounds incredibly shady, who is even anticipating D3 anymore? I was REALLY looking forward to it, like, 5 years ago. Then I was kinda interested. Then I saw videos a year or two ago. It looks like a dog. I'm sorry. Maybe it'll still be fun, but given what I've seen about the game, given the way Actiblizzard has been acting the past few years.... That's just not a product/company I want to associate with. I will be passing.

/I'd much rather play TL2

Just another reason why I won't be buying Diablo 3.

I_Am_Weasel: The new Balance system can be used to buy World of Warcraft game time (although you can't set up a recurring subscription with it), in-game pets and mounts

in game pets? IN GAME PETS!?

You suck, humanity.


Yeah, when you can pay $5 a month to read these words I'm crapping onto your screen.

ZAZ: Can you buy an in-game girlfriend? Or more than one? Imagine a screen full of Amazon NPCs that dress like Wonder Woman and obey your every command.



Once you get around her horns, wings, tail, and hoofs, she's a pretty good fark.

There's been a great disturbance in the Force. It's as though a million IRS agents cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

bittermang: I_Am_Weasel: The new Balance system can be used to buy World of Warcraft game time (although you can't set up a recurring subscription with it), in-game pets and mounts

in game pets? IN GAME PETS!?

You suck, humanity.

A Pet Battle system not unlike Pokemon will be introduced with the next expansion. Or was already shipped with the last expansion. I stopped paying attention, really.

It's been done already


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

scottydoesntknow: Once real money has been funneled into Battle.net Balance, it cannot be converted back into cash. Blizzard does state that in some regions, players will have an option to get cash back on Diablo III auction sales via PayPal. The company also mentioned that there is a cap on how much any player can have in his or her Balance account and that there are potentially region-specific expiration dates for Balance funds.

I see people abusing this. Not sure how, but it will happen.

Gold mining sites will offer a better exchange rate (real money-to-fake money) than Blizzard. It will turn into a giant money laundering scheme.

Soooo Steam Wallet? I'm OK with this

LouDobbsAwaaaay: Holy farking shiat, Blizzard. You can't get your money back out once it's in, AND it has an expiration date? I think I'll be too busy playing Skyrim a third time to ever bother purchasing D3.

this

*Cha-Ching!* & Mooooooooo

/Obscure?
//Or just too complex

Looks like Blizzard has taken a page from the MF Global playbook.

Link

I see somebody at Blizzard has been reading Reamde.

Do you still need to have an internet connection if you want to play Diablo 3?

Diablo III may not be out yet, but that's no good reason not to be filling up your virtual coffers for the day that it hits the streets!

And then later in the article...

Once real money has been funneled into Battle.net Balance, it cannot be converted back into cash. Blizzard does state that in some regions, players will have an option to get cash back on Diablo III auction sales via PayPal. The

I'd say that's a pretty good goddamn reason.

I_Am_Weasel: in game pets? IN GAME PETS!?

So, the guy with a $5 a month TotalFark account that has exactly no real value outside of what you personally attach to it is mocking people who spend a couple bucks on a digital video game enhancement that has no real value outside of what they personally attach to it?

If you don't like the feature, I have a tip for you that works great for me: don't use it. But it's pretty stupid to act smug about it. Some people enjoy those types of things. Why is what they spend their money on for entertainment any worse than what anybody else does?

Freschel: Do you still need to have an internet connection if you want to play Diablo 3?

I guarantee it.

Honest Bender:

Yeah, I *was* excited about D3 as well, but Blizzard, since their merger with Activision, has gone downhill for me. I have been a loyal customer from Warcraft all the way up to Wrath of the Lich King WoW expansion.

I just don't feel like giving them money anymore. Starcraft 2 just didn't appeal to me enough to purchase, and now Diablo 3 is looking more and more "meh", and I still bust out Diablo 2 every once and awhile.

I don't know if D3 is looking "meh" because of game quality, or Blizzards attitude.

This year, You have Mass Effect 3, Bioshock Infinite, Borderlands 2, hopefully XCOM: Enemy Unkown (that will probably get pushed back to 2013 though). Plus Skyrim which will last for a while (especially with mods), and If I had a better internet connection I would be playing Old Republic.

I just don't feel the need to get raped by Acti-Blizzard.

Capping the balance at $200 is stupid. Perfect rolls on top end gear will be worth at least twice that, maybe 10x for the "perfect" random rare. Nobody in their right mind would sell for so little. The 3rd party hack RMT sites aren't going away just yet, b/c of Blizzard's stupidity. Unless the $200 cap was a legal requirement to keep the IRS/DEA/ATF/DOJ/FBI/SEC/NFL off their backs and prevent money laundering. But $200 seems really low for the kind of drop odds on some of this gear, odds that make Las Vegas blush.

*Scoff* My Torchlight 2 battle ferret will kick your WoW pets ass.



(hot)

Freschel: Do you still need to have an internet connection if you want to play Diablo 3?

Yeah, and the beta is pretty much useless if your connect sucks like mine.

Freschel: Do you still need to have an internet connection if you want to play Diablo 3?

Yes, all current reports are that it requires a constant connection for both single player and multiplayer. I assume this also means that single player characters will live on an a Blizzard server, which would have the advantage of preventing people from hacking the character data, especially inventory data, which they probably felt was important with the introduction of a real money auction house.

Genju: I_Am_Weasel: The new Balance system can be used to buy World of Warcraft game time (although you can't set up a recurring subscription with it), in-game pets and mounts

in game pets? IN GAME PETS!?

You suck, humanity.

What's really sad is they aren't even useful pets like, say, a hunter pet. No, they're your typical Paris Hilton mutt in a handbag pets that may sometimes make a noise or run around or something and that's it. People pay for that kind of stuff...

Now, granted, IIRC there was a charity event at one time where the reward for donating was a pet (or mount, or both). Assuming that is isn't a scam where like 10% actually goes to the people in need, that kind of stuff is nice since it doesn't cost Blizzard anything tangible yet generates income for charity.

I had the monk and lil' KT.

One of the nicer things about the in-game pets is that they actually create nice little prizes for guilds because you can gift them - so for instance my guild had a farming competition before Lich cause we new we'd need the potions, etc.. the prize to who put the most in the guild bank was lil KT. since i was laid up unable to walk for a month, i was herbing my ass off.

and i really love having lil KT out during fights :)

evilmrsock: Freschel: Do you still need to have an internet connection if you want to play Diablo 3?

I guarantee it.

It'll likely be required even if you're playing the 1P offline mode and using a physical disc instead of the Steam download.

Remember, this is the same company that requires (or "required," if they've rescinded this policy) you to use your IRL name as your screen name on their forums.

Honest Bender: That's just not a product/company I want to associate with. I will be passing.

And pretty much this. I bought most of their games from Rock n' Roll Racing through Cataclysm and now I just have absolutely no enthusiasm for anything they do.

Over time WoW, or more specifically they way they handle it, pretty much turned my boundless love for the company into seething hatred. Starcraft II is the first major Blizzard release I haven't even considered purchasing in nearly 20 years. Diablo III, MoP, and Titan can all go suck a donkey dick for all I care. Blizzard has become a rat shiat company and they'll never get another dime from me.

/ I do however own ActiBlizzard stock, because if there's one thing you can count on, it's that gamers will gladly crawl through piles of broken glass and shiat to pay out the ass for their fix

I cannot imagine that the whole "unable to convert" back to money would hold up in court. IANAL but I am familiar with the CARD act and I fail to see how this setup is any different from a Gift Card.

If the courts decide it IS different, which would be retarded. Then when you bought a gift card you wouldn't buy with with money for money you would go to Macy's (or whatever) buy a 5 dollar card, those 5 dollars would be converted into 5 Macy's bucks that now are no longer covered by the CARD act and they can just expire them in a week (or whatever).

/works in Transaction Services

Also, I have had a huge hole in my life since I quit WoW. I played WoW from W3 all the way up to Lich King and when I saw the biatch King get it on Heroic, I decided I had enough and couldn't start the other story line. I've been playing Left For Dead and COD, but I need a WoW like game to stimulate me...

I don't... however, want it to be SWTOR - I've been thinking Skyrim, but I really like the guild aspects of WoW and don't know of a game that has a similar feeling without being so time consuming - so any suggestions would be great.

Splinshints:
If you don't like the feature, I have a tip for you that works great for me: don't use it. But it's pretty stupid to act smug about it. Some people enjoy those types of things. Why is what they spend their money on for entertainment any worse than what anybody else does?

If these are the same people complaining about DLC, I'll point and laugh as I please.

skilbride: Also, I have had a huge hole in my life since I quit WoW. I played WoW from W3 all the way up to Lich King and when I saw the biatch King get it on Heroic, I decided I had enough and couldn't start the other story line. I've been playing Left For Dead and COD, but I need a WoW like game to stimulate me...

I don't... however, want it to be SWTOR - I've been thinking Skyrim, but I really like the guild aspects of WoW and don't know of a game that has a similar feeling without being so time consuming - so any suggestions would be great.

Also, for what it's worth, I typically played a healing role in WoW, I had one of every class, and my favorite to play at the end was my disc priest, BubbleBox. (Followed by my epic Shammy, Shockbox.) So any similar type of roles would be good.

King Something: evilmrsock: Freschel: Do you still need to have an internet connection if you want to play Diablo 3?

I guarantee it.

It'll likely be required even if you're playing the 1P offline mode and using a physical disc instead of the Steam download.

Remember, this is the same company that requires (or "required," if they've rescinded this policy) you to use your IRL name as your screen name on their forums.

Nobody outside of Blizzard's server farms has the server code. You only have the client (which runs graphics, physics, and audio), while the meat of the game (combat, items, map randomization) is run by the server. Even w/o the real cash, this is a good idea. You have an offline engine, it will get hacked to pieces and the online space will be polluted.

skilbride: I don't... however, want it to be SWTOR - I've been thinking Skyrim, but I really like the guild aspects of WoW and don't know of a game that has a similar feeling without being so time consuming - so any suggestions would be great.

You need to be more specific in what you are looking for. PvE? PvP? Dungeons and Dragons and various other games have gone free to play. If you want a suggestion we need more info about what you are looking for, genre wise, gameplay wise, crafting wise, so on.

Mike_LowELL: Hello? Diablo III, open for business! Who are you to resist it, huh? Come on, my last paycheck bounced! My children need wine!

Have you played it yet? Try it with a crappy/throttled connection.

Gergesa: skilbride: I don't... however, want it to be SWTOR - I've been thinking Skyrim, but I really like the guild aspects of WoW and don't know of a game that has a similar feeling without being so time consuming - so any suggestions would be great.

You need to be more specific in what you are looking for. PvE? PvP? Dungeons and Dragons and various other games have gone free to play. If you want a suggestion we need more info about what you are looking for, genre wise, gameplay wise, crafting wise, so on.

I think that's the other thing I liked about WoW... I liked everything about it. I was in a PVP 2's and 3's team (with my priest), was active in battlegrounds, and I was in an end game guild for raiding, although I enjoyed questing and farming by myself as well. *I even have all those stupid holiday titles on most of my toons.)

Really, as much as I keep telling myself that I can't go back to WoW or any of those types of games, but they seem to be the only ones that combine all those elements so effortlessly. There's always SOMETHING to do in WoW. Always.

scottydoesntknow: Once real money has been funneled into Battle.net Balance, it cannot be converted back into cash. Blizzard does state that in some regions, players will have an option to get cash back on Diablo III auction sales via PayPal. The company also mentioned that there is a cap on how much any player can have in his or her Balance account and that there are potentially region-specific expiration dates for Balance funds.

I see people abusing this. Not sure how, but it will happen.

Better call Sokolov.

skilbride: so any suggestions would be great.

Might want to look into Aion.