tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post7129181707837234364..comments2023-06-19T10:45:56.724-04:00Comments on Player Versus Developer: ROM Gear Lessons For Diablo III's Auction HouseGreen Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15564045048380177626noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-2316907879629999612011-08-03T16:51:11.097-04:002011-08-03T16:51:11.097-04:00First Anon here!
No I do not play poker and will ...First Anon here!<br /><br />No I do not play poker and will not claim to know anything about it beyond that in its online format it is a game that has an RNG element to it...it also certainly has a skill element to it. Technically so would D3, more "skilled" players would kill more monsters per minute and thus have a higher chance of worthy drops. That said, I know that D3 and Poker are nothing alike.<br /><br />Canadian Lawyer Anon: From my understanding the situation is basically the same in the US; the IRS has the authority to tax game currencies and such but thus far it has flown under their radar. The only reason I think D3 might change that is how big of a player D3 will be. Blizzard games sell extremely well and depending on the cost to post items on the AH it could end up representing a large portion of D3's profit. I'll defer to your experience though and I think you are right that we won't be seeing an online currency section on the tax form any time soon.<br /><br />Another forum I read also brought up the issue of: What happens if your battle.net account gets banned with a large amount of cash on it? I don't know if I missed it in the FAQ but from what I understand Blizz might want to keep that money...perhaps they'll let you "cash out". I know it's a bit tin-foil-hat of me but that could end up being the sort of thing that gets EULA's challenged.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-51427058331867910402011-08-03T11:43:25.254-04:002011-08-03T11:43:25.254-04:00As a practicing lawyer, albeit in Canada, I think ...As a practicing lawyer, albeit in Canada, I think the whole taxation questions are interesting but ultimately non-issues.<br /><br />Currently, the Canadian Tax code has the ability to tax any person on "taxable benefits" which are most often non-cash benefits an employee receives (such as use of a company car, a paid vacation, price security on a home if relocating, etc.). A taxable value can be imputed to the employee. So, if the tax authority wished to be particularly aggressive I believe that online currencies that are purchasable with real currency could already be taxable.<br /><br />The reality is none of these Diablo 3 "benefits" will ever be reported except in the most unusally of circumstances. Few waiters report their tips honestly, which would most likely dwarf the amount of money from Diablo 3. So I don't expect a line on my tax return to be for any online currencies any time soon.<br /><br />Other fictional "currencies" are also addressed in other legal areas in Canada. Every negotiated divorce settlement in our office deals with airmiles, credit card points, Canadian Tire money and the like. Your Diablo 3 gold could easily be dealt with in the same manner.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-88453219336231170532011-08-03T11:16:31.297-04:002011-08-03T11:16:31.297-04:00Is this system effectively online poker with the k...<i>Is this system effectively online poker with the killing of monsters substituted for the random drawing of cards?</i><br /><br />Oh, my. No. <i>No it isn't.</i> You must not be a poker player.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-40560441772373950542011-08-03T07:35:19.414-04:002011-08-03T07:35:19.414-04:00i'm glad someone else sees the taxation implic...i'm glad someone else sees the taxation implications. if in game assets have real world liqudity and are distributed via RNG its very close to gambling.<br /><br />the gaming industry has been relying on endorphin addiction just like gambling industry for years. the only difference up till now was the balance of fun vs money. seems Blactivision wants its peice of the pie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-33614835410916304492011-08-03T01:59:32.615-04:002011-08-03T01:59:32.615-04:00To put on my tin-foil hat and expand on some of yo...To put on my tin-foil hat and expand on some of your other issues about the "bad stuff" that this could cause:<br /><br />Will the IRS suddenly consider your rare drops taxable income? It's not a far cry from online gambling since loot dropping is effectively random and if this turns out to be lucrative for blizzard the IRS is gonna want its share of the pie.<br /><br />To all your raised legal issues; I am currently a law student and "digital" property is basically what got me into it...while I am still early in my education, I am very interested to see if some of these issues come up. Sadly thus far the civil court system has no real understanding of how the technology works so it will turn into a lot of cases of "dueling experts". Though when the Developer starts consenting to real money transactions that brings up some property and EULA issues.<br /><br />Sorry I rambled, interesting times ahead...but I agree, not a good sign for online gaming.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-89284052025662370562011-08-02T21:18:31.904-04:002011-08-02T21:18:31.904-04:00Something people keep forgetting, probably because...Something people keep forgetting, probably because it was announced nearly 3 years ago (nice job Blizzard on keeping us on the hook for info THAT long) is that there can be no loot ninjaing. In multiplayer, each player sees their own loot.<br /><br />ie: Boss is killed, player A sees a hammer and two potions on the ground, player B sees some plate mail and two scrolls. Neither can see or pick up the other loot.<br /><br />http://diablo3blog.blogspot.com/2008/07/new-drop-system-in-diablo-3.html (Video of devs talking about the drop system)Talarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17684944568000522986noreply@blogger.com