When I read about D3 offering an auction house which allowed players to buy and sell in-game items with real money, the first thing I thought was that they were trying to cutout all the businesses from D2 that traded in runes, items, and pre-leveled characters. The second thing that I thought of was a scenario where my character would be running around wearing rags wielding a tree branch, then selling everything that he finds to put gas in my car.
Will other games follow suit? Will this type of opportunity open up virtual-to-real businesses to the average gamer? The notion of trading on virtual merchandise to make or supplement a real world living isn't anything new. Gold farmers have been doing it for years, though it generally requires more than just a single person to actually see profits from it.
I guess the answer to some of these questions will depend on how popular D3 ends up being. If the first two games are any indicator, it'll probably be extremely popular. The PC Gamer article mentions there'll be a few free auction listings per week, so I'm sure most players will try their hand at selling things. What happens then? Will players be facing a constant set of decisions whenever they find an item? Keep? Sell?
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