Keep cool or cash in?

[galzohar]

I doubt there will be a ladder for D3. It will cause way too much trouble with the RMAH, and besides, they're really trying to game work well without needing a ladder, which I think is a good thing. Make the game live long on its own right, and not because you keep resetting it!

[Karpalo]

This won't happen because, unlike the value of runes in d2, the value of the USD (or Euro or what have you) will remain relatively stable. Your item is probably more likely to drop in real money value over time than it is to go up.

I disagree with this one as well. The longer people play the game the more used they get to the idea of spending money into the game.

One also shouldn't underestimate the emotional attachment. Diablo games are hobbies for min/maxers so they have totally different mentality towards the game. It's bit like tuning a F-1 car. Reducing the lap time get's exponentially more expensive.

[Lebmark]

Filthy rich player can afford to value perfection much higher than his poor counterpart. For example take perf Anni or torch from D2. Bad ones were close to free, mediocre ones did cost something, but perfect one could go for 100 times the value of the mediocre one later on in the ladder. 100 times the value for pretty much cosmetic advantage.

In theory I agree with you, but from watching the Diablo 2 ladder prices carefully, I didn't see this happen in practice. Perfect annis for example didn't raise in price, they stayed stable at their 100 times more expensive than mediocre values for quite a while before slowly dropping... not dropping much though.

I am not sure if the increased demand was being counter balanced by more and more intensive Anni farming, something that probably won't have an equivalent of in D3 for quite a while. You might be right after all but it is not a sure thing.

[capnlarge]

Selling early = high risk, high reward
Selling later = low risk, low reward

Unless you think you can strike the lottery, mathematically, you'd probably be better off making a bunch of smaller transactions when the economy stabilizes imo.

[Karpalo]

In theory I agree with you, but from watching the Diablo 2 ladder prices carefully, I didn't see this happen in practice. Perfect annis for example didn't raise in price, they stayed stable at their 100 times more expensive than mediocre values for quite a while before slowly dropping... not dropping much though.

I am not sure if the increased demand was being counter balanced by more and more intensive Anni farming, something that probably won't have an equivalent of in D3 for quite a while. You might be right after all but it is not a sure thing.

Well in D2's case there were multiple ladders being played already. The high price for perfect ones is heritage from the past ladders. I did get Anni fairly early when the patch it first became available and pricing was something totally different back then.

[Axamas]

The Diablo economy has a linear supply of items, so their value will tend to drop in time. The marginal value is probably logarithmic, meaning it gets harder and harder to get better stuff, though it will eventually be found (and later superseeded). This hints at cashing out as soon as you find something good.

We've seen it happening in D2: good items, like rares/set/uniques, lost value to common stuff like gems or crafting runes as the season progressed.

I agree with this one.
Items are going to be "overvalued" at the beginning, due to rarity and high demand on starting stuff.
And the prices will then lower when people will find more and more items while playing.
(This is not the case for a godly item ofc, but, godly items don't drop that frequently, do they)

So, if I have any strategy at the beginning, it will be :
- sell every item,
- keep and buy every crafting stuff.
And I pray that I'll be able to spot a godly item, if any, among my finds

[semakka]

It very much depends on the item.If it is a lvl 60 "axe of the immortal pwner" i would sell it asap, even tho my current weapon is the "sword of the noob".

However, if i found a lvl 49 "crossbow of the ultimate god" that could potentialy sell for 30$, i would KEPP IT.We don't know how the D3 pvp will work.What if there will be arena for lvl 49, and will be the most used one? That "crossbow of the ultimate god" could sell for 50$ or 100$.However if this will not be the case, i would still wait.If this sells now for 30$ , and in 2 months a number of people start new characters, could sell for the same 30$ or maybe more or maybe less.If it sells for 10$, i would have lost 20$, but this is the risk.

I would actualy bet on a price 3 times higher (90$ in the case of arena scenario) versus a price 3 times lower (10$).Space would not be an great issue, because really, how many pwnage items for lvl 29, 39, 49 or whatever lvl would be for arena i could posibly get? Not many tbh, so, i would keep some type of items and sell instantly other types.

[Lebmark]

Well in D2's case there were multiple ladders being played already. The high price for perfect ones is heritage from the past ladders. I did get Anni fairly early when the patch it first became available and pricing was something totally different back then.

You make a good point. Indeed past ladder prices influenced buyers and sellers. I concede.
Though there is a couple of factors that are at least as important that we don't know yet.

- Variable Drop Rates Over Time which I have dedicated a thread to.

- The introduction of new items by Blizzard. If new more powerful items are introduced often enough, this could effect valuations both buyer and selling would have on current top end item.

[Gothamson]

I for one do not intend on spending a Real Dollar on any item for D3. I realize that the buying and selling of in game goods is popular and fun for some and brings another dimension to a game like this. The issue for me is if people eventually find a way to crack D3, won't that be like printing fake money on the RMAH? The game retains its fun factor for me because I find the items or my group does and gifts it to me, not buying something someone else found and put up on an RMAH. In MMORPGs that limit what kinds of crafting a character can do you almost have to buy materials and items that you can not craft if you want them. Having the same Artisan and Crafter across the board however really makes this unnecessary. The Diablo series is sort of in between an arcade style game and RPG. It will, like it's predecessors, get very repetitive which leaves me to play it a couple times a week in hopes of finding something really cool. If I had everything I wanted I don't think I would play it much.

This is just my take though and what's fun for me. Half or more than half of the buzz for the Diablo series is in its item trading and to each their own if that is fun for you.

[Enlil]

"The issue for me is if people eventually find a way to crack D3, won't that be like printing fake money on the RMAH?"

If this happens I'm sure Blizzard will take legal action against the person/person's involved, its no different than fraud irl.