Blizzard's inclusion of a contentious real-money auction house in Diablo III made nabbing items easier, but many players feel the gear-centric end-game and a simplified skill tree leaves their characters defined only by what they wear. In a forum post today, Blizzard Community Manager Grimiku stated the studio will continue addressing these complaints until everyone is satisfied.
"We know that (for many players) it's much more rewarding to gear up from items that you find while playing normally than it is to necessarily go through Auction House, and we're working to make improvements in that area," Grimiku wrote. "There are a lot of ways we could attempt to reach that goal, and choosing the best one(s) to go with is not always a fast process."
Yes, Diablo III is all about stopping a demonic cataclysm threatening to engulf the world in darkness, but it's also about forgetting all of that whenever a nearby treasure chest creaks open with a golden glint. Pleasing everyone is certainly a significant challenge for the team, which recently saw the departure of Director Jay Wilson for a different project at Blizzard. Still, the upcoming expansion is probably the best chance we have to see major mechanic changes from Big Blue.
