When a powerful or must-have item is locked behind menial tasks that are drawn out over weeks, sometimes months, in a bid to artificially inflate the game and have it look like a bigger value investment than it really is.Įven before the auction house, trading to get ahead was nothing new for the franchise. These days, one of the biggest complaints in gaming is when a title doesn’t respect our time. Those complaints feel misguided in retrospect. The idea of paying real money for any in-game item rubbed players the wrong way at the time, despite the fact that the game didn’t feature the kind of “pay-to-win” mechanics that plague multiplayer games. The Diablo III auction house was a faster alternative to that chase, though it was regarded as a black market by players. If you don’t, the game feels like a chore. If you have the time, there’s no harm in chasing the dream.

Statistically, the grind for perfect loot could go on forever.

If an item drops and its random stat rolls aren’t perfect for your ideal build, it’s back to the grind you go. All of these are randomly generated after slaying a monster. In any Diablo game, each character class relies on different equipment types, armor sets, and stats to thrive. Image used with permission by copyright holder A real grind But a lot has changed since 2012, and with Diablo IV in the works, it’s time for the auction house to make a return. Within two years, uproar caused the feature to be ripped from the game, with a “smarter” loot system put into place to reduce the need to rely on other players for equipment. The idea of claiming a cut of player’s profits was seen as simple corporate greed stemming from the then-recent merger with Activision, a company known for pushing aggressive revenue streams onto consumers.

For some, it was a bewildering decision from a developer already battling the threat of real-money trading (RMT) in its monolithic MMORPG World of Warcraft.

Why is diablo immortal hated?