10 Ridiculous Design Decisions In Video Games

4. The Auction House - Diablo III

Ah, remember Diablo III's infamous Auction House?

Initially, it was an attempt to clamp down on third-market selling of Diablo items and create a safer space for players to buy and sell their wares.

There were two marketplaces - one operating with in-game gold and the other with real-world money - but it quickly became clear that being able to buy that sweet, sweet loot at the Auction House massively de-valued the core Diablo experience.

Diablo is, at its core, all about battling for hours in order to hoover up rare loot, and so allowing players to buy it with a few clicks in Diablo III made the series' core gameplay loop feel relatively hollow - if not entirely meaningless.

Players using real money could effectively conduct their game from the Auction House without having to do much fighting, and there was a clear incentive to study the meta of the Auction House more than the actual systems of the core gameplay.

Thankfully Blizzard removed both versions of the Auction House from the game less than two years after its release, though sadly, the damage was very much done for most fans. Presumably it won't be making a re-appearance in Diablo IV...