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While Diablo 3 is currently holds the status of closed beta, we will soon surely see a release of the Diablo 3 demo. This is likely to occur shortly after the release of the game as in past games, Blizzard has included vouchers to allow people who buy the retail version of the game to invite their friends for free for a limited time.

Obviously, the Diablo 3 demo will be limited in scope and it is rumored that only 1 class will be playable. As to which class that might be? That is anyones guess! It will most probably be the class that is user friendly to new players to encourage them to purchase the game. Game demos have changed a lot over the past few years and Blizzard have been the ones to push new changes into the demo scene.

It’s also probable that players will be level capped and only able to visit selected areas. No real money AH will be included in the demo nor will players be able to whisper their friends or buy/sell gold and items like players do in the World of Warcraft. In all likelyhood, once a player tries the D3 demo, they will purchase the game once the demo has expired. It’s probably safe to say that the demo to retail will have a high conversion rate.

The demo will be available for download as a digital version and it’s possible that Blizzard will include a copy of the demo on CD or DVD as they did with their previous games. Look our for the demo shortly!

I read an interesting article today titled “10 Unforseen Consequences of the RMAH” and I thought I’d take the time to respond to each concern as I disagree with most and will cover more of this in my upcoming d3 ah guide which will be available once the game launches.

1. Money Laundering.

While there may be a few isolated incidents, I don’t feel that money laundering will be a big issue for the Diablo 3 auction house as it has not occurred in mass scale in other online titles where an RM AH exists (such as Second Life, Eve Online). One can also look to online poker and see that while there has on occasion been a money laundering incident, it’s very rare. Blizzard will no doubt have already given this much thought.

2. Lawsuits of Purchases Made by Misclicking.

We’re yet to know if any purchases have a cooling off period or if all sales are final but it’s fair to state that misclicks won’t be a legitimate excuse when purchasing as the UI simply won’t allow players to make such a mistake.

3. Account Theft Leading to Jail Time for Stealing Real Money.

Account theft is nothing new and because online games are available to players across the globe, the risk of jail time is incredibly small. In fact, I don’t know of any instances where a player has been jailed due to account theft. Also, account theft is often perpetrated by gold farmers in countries such as China, making it extremely difficult to prosecute. Blizzard is pushing preventative measures such as the authenticator to thwart such account theft attempts.

4. Needing a 1099 from Blizzard Activision for RMAH Earnings.

Needing to declare income from video games is hardly a problem; if you’re making such a large amount of money buying and selling in virtual markets, this is an indicator of player success! Most gamers won’t make any more and therefore won’t need to submit a 1099. It’s also important to note that many players are not from America.

5. Griefing During Multi-Player (PVE) Leading to Lawsuits.

Blizzard has always informed players that the game experience can and will change when playing online. Griefing is simply part and parcel of playing the game and there has yet to be any lawsuit which has set a precedent for such in-game behavior.

6. Lawsuits Over Nerfing of Content and Loot Values

Just like 5., there are no records of players successfully suing a game publisher for changing game content. Loot values will be determined by the market and are sure to change in price over time in both a positive and negative fashion. Furthermore, engaging in the RM AH isn’t necessary to play the game.

7. Having to Track RMAH Fees and Investments as Tax Write Offs.

Going back to 4., if a player has a tax problem due to their profits from the RMAH, it’s likely they are a successful AH trader and making money is rarely a problem for anyone.

8. An Army of Terrible Diablo 3 Guides (This was a given, but thankfully you will have Diablo 3 Gold Secrets!).

Gold guides have been available for more games than just Diablo 3. World of Warcraft is well known for having some great gold guides and some very bad ones but at the end of the day, it is up to the discerning player to decide if the ebook they have purchased is of any real value. Most ebooks do contribute something positive to the playerbase.

9. Foreign Governments Outlawing the Game (Could happen already in South Korea!).

Blizzard are sure to make changes to the content of the game (regionalization) in order to sell to such a large market in South Korea and will be expected to abide by any laws. This is the same for any game company and not just Blizzard.

10. Parents Rejecting Credit Card Charges Made by Their Children.

Before you can buy/sell on the real money auction house in Diablo 3, you will need to accept the terms and conditions which state that Blizzard is not responsible for purchases made by children unbeknownst to their parents. Parents will need to take an active role in monitoring their credit card if they decide to allow their children to make purchases and Blizzard are sure to give fair warning of the risks involved before any first purchase can be made.

There’s currently a great article over at Diablo 3 Builds which discussing whether or not Diablo 3 will have an open beta period. It’s a good question but you might not get the answer you’re looking for.

It raises a lot of questions about when the open beta might launch and if the current difficulties in Korea are having an impact on the release date and hence, open beta.

That site is also having a competition where you can win a copy of Diablo 3. All you need to do is sign up and post an intro on their diablo 3 build ideas forum. It’s really taking off and there is already some interesting theorycraft for all the 5 classes; Barbarian, Monk, Witch Doctor, Wizard and the Demon Hunter.

There’s currently a great article over at Diablo 3 Builds which discussing whether or not Diablo 3 will have an open beta period. It’s a good question but you might not get the answer you’re looking for.

It raises a lot of questions about when the open beta might launch and if the current difficulties in Korea are having an impact on the release date and hence, open beta.

That site is also having a competition where you can win a copy of Diablo 3. All you need to do is sign up and post an intro on their diablo 3 build ideas forum. It’s really taking off and there is already some interesting theorycraft for all the 5 classes; Barbarian, Monk, Witch Doctor, Wizard and the Demon Hunter.

It looks like Blizzard has finally recieved a game rating for Diablo 3 in South Korea. This problem threatened to delay the launch of Diablo 3 in South Korea and possibly world wide. What is important to note is that the RMAH (real money auction house) feature has been removed from the version that will ship in Korea.

It remains to be seen whether it will be included at a later date or if Blizzard is keeping this issue hush hush and is having difficulty getting approval to enable this feature in the Korean region.

It will be interesting to see if Korean players will have to rely on a gold only economy and miss out on the ability to buy and sell their items for real money. If in fact this turns out to be true, many gamers in South Korea will be searching for the best Diablo 3 gold guide in order to generate income for their character.

In other news, Bashiok has stated that there will be many more beta invites sent out to fans soon. Ask if players can expect prior notification of Diablo 3 beta invites, Bashiok said that generally speaking they do not give any warning and are inclined to just send them out otherwise it would drive people “insane”.

Next, Blizzard is floating the idea of creating an electronic book version of the Book of Cain. At the moment, they are simply exploring possibilities and nothing is for sure yet but players should look for it hitting online bookstores in the coming months.

Lastly, here are 3 recent screenshots from the Diablo 3 beta test that is currently underway. As of early January 2012, the D3 beta is still in the F&F (friends and family) stage although open beta is rumored to begin very soon.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Rumors have been circulating that the release of Diablo 3 will be around February or March 2012 yet Blizzard is yet to confirm or deny a shipping date for this period (although Best Buy did!). Avid gamers are looking forward to the release because for the first time ever, Diablo is going to offer things unseen in the previous 2 titles.

One of the largest changes to the series is the addition of a real money auction house. In Diablo 1 and 2, the RMT market was frowned upon because Blizzard didn’t directly support real money transactions. Because this feature will be built directly into Diablo 3, players can rest assure that the risk of being defrauded out of their account, items and gold is less of a problem than previously when they traded on the black market.

Players won’t be forced to participate in the real money auction house and can still use the gold tradition. Players can check out this Diablo 3 gold guide with ideas on how to farm the most gold in the game.

Another change to the game is that all players will require an Internet connection whether they’re playing on battle.net or single player; this brings it inline to other titles such as Starcraft 2. This change has upset some gamers but the general consensus appears to be that this will be a good thing if it prevents any hacking or botting. Maintaining the integrity of the game is of utmost importance to Blizzard.

Unlike Diablo 1 and 2, Diablo 3 will feature a well rounded PvP arena system that will see players form clans and fight other players. The arena system in Diablo 3 looks very robust and will provide gamers with more replay value than the previous titles.

Due to the well thought out talent system, gamers will be able to theorycraft and come up with a broad assortment of builds. Some great websites are already popping up dedicated to the best Diablo 3 builds for each and every class. There are also some great Diablo 3 build forums available where players can meet with like-minded individuals and discuss the upsides and downsides of a particular build; this is great for those who love to min-max their characters.

Over-all, it’s looking like Diablo 3 is shaping up to be the Game Of The Year in 2012. Stay tuned for more news coming soon!