As we all know, Diablo III will feature an auction house from which you can purchase virtual items for real world money. You'll also be able to sell your items to other users for their hard-earned cash, and receive real world money in the process.
Apparently some people think it's a bad move for Blizzard, but I don't really share that doubt. And while a Blizzard 'controlled' auction house does not seem so terrible to me, I do think it could really get out of hand.
From what I've read, I don't think the auction house is such a bad idea. I mean, it's not like people weren't selling WoW items/gold on eBay right? So I think it wouldn't be terribleto make it more accessible and more, let's say, "legal". If people want to spend their real world money on virtual items, I don't see a problem; besides, Diablo III's multiplayer is not really a competitive one, so even if someone has better gear it doesn't really affect you that much.
Some people might say that Blizzard might use this opportunity to dominate the auctioning portion of Diablo III - sell powerful items for the lowest price or make the cash-out fees very high, for example - but I doubt they will. Blizzard is waaaaay too smart to screw with their fanbase like that. They are probably the company that would make this kinda auction house accessible, good, and fair.
However...
My biggest concern lies in other game companies. I'm sure Blizzard will make crazy money off of this, and while they are smart enough to be careful with this kinda thing and care for their users, others might not be. There will without a doubt be different companies (*cough* Activision *cough*) that will borrow from this idea, and that will use the auction house solely to squeeze money out of their customers. And it might go reeeeally wrong if this kinda trade system becomes standardized.Think DLC, pre-order bonuses and microtransactions are scary? Just wait what happens if this idea picks up, and game companies start charging you for every tiniest piece of content in the game. "Want this item you can't beat the game without? Sorry, $60 was not enough, gimme another 2 bucks!" or "Want to trade this item with your friend? Too bad, you'll have to pay us a fee first".
To conclude: I don't think an auction house with real money is a bad idea if it's done by Blizzard, but I do think that this idea could really get out of hand if used by companies who don't care as much about their userbase.
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