Blizzard Entertainment apologized for issues surrounding the launch of Diablo III and said that it would delay the launch of its real-money auction house until everything was back in order.
Already frustrated by the game's requirement for a persistent online connection, Blizzard angered many after it was forced to take down the game's servers for maintenance the day of the launch. Gamers turned one of the error codes, "Error 37," into an Internet meme.
"To that end, we'd also like to say that we've been humbled by your enthusiasm – and we sincerely regret that your crusade to bring down the Lord of Terror was thwarted not by mobs of demons, but by mortal infrastructure," Blizzard wrote in a note of apology late Wednesday night, Pacific time. "As many of you are aware, technical issues occurring within hours after the game's launch led to players experiencing error messages and difficulty logging in. These issues cropped up again last night for the Americas and Europe servers. Despite very aggressive projections, our preparations for the launch of the game did not go far enough."
While Blizzard said that the game's servers were now operating smoothly, two issues remain unresolved: achievements, where some players began to notice early on that achievements were either not being earned properly, or not being saved between multiple logins; and the real-money Auction House.
Other games have featured "auction houses," where in-game items can be traded or bought in exchange for other virtual items, or virtual currency. But few feature actual economies that are tied to the real world, including Linden Labs' Second Life, as well as the Entropia Universe, both of which use virtual currencies that can be transferred into hard currency, such as dollars.
For Blizzard, however, the auction house within Diablo III is the company's first step toward trading virtual items for real-world dollars. Gamers also have the option of participating in a separate Auction House where only virtual currency is used.
"In order to make sure everything is continuing to run as it should, we've decided to move out our target launch for the real-money auction house beyond our original estimated date of May 22," Blizzard wrote. "We'll post further updates on that in the near future."
In the real-money auction house, for equipment such as weapons and armor, Blizzard will charge $1 for each U.S. player who successfully sells the item. (Other currencies will be charged somewhat similar amounts, such as £1 for U.K. players.) For commodities such as crafting materials, gems, gold, and other "stackable" items, a 15 percent transaction fee will be deducted from the total sale price, Blizzard said.
For more, read analyst Jeff Wilson's 40 Minutes with Diablo III, Geek.com's Journey through Diablo III's Act 1 and check out PCMag's unboxing of the Diablo III Collector's Edition.
For more from Mark, follow him on Twitter @MarkHachman.
