This is a good thing, guys!
Once I hit level 60 I quickly realized that there's nothing that matters more than gold. The loot system is way too random, so you'll never gear up very far on your own killing and looting. It's all about the gold and the auction house. Farm up 1 mill gold and you can get some pretty awesome items, which is cool enough, but it changes everything about the game.
I've always stacked Magic Find on my items when playing Diablo 2, and I did the same in Diablo 3 until I realized how pointless it was. I swapped it all out for Gold Find and commenced the farming. After about a week I had managed to get 30+ Paragon Levels and I had bought gear on the Gold Auction House that allowed me to farm MP4-5 solo.
At this point I need a ridiculous amount of gold to upgrade a single item, and by ridiculous, I mean 20-60 millions Gold, or even billions! It takes me the better part of a day just to farm 1-2 mill, so this is just stupid. I thought these people were insane or just stupid kids with no realistic idea of an item's worth, but that was before I checked the Buy Gold option on the Real Money Auction House. I think it was something like 45 mill Gold for 1.5€. It's so disgustingly cheap! And still there are 3rd party goldsellers trying to invade my friend's list every time I log on!
I literally feel stupid for just playing the game, seing how fast and easy people gear up and blow past me. It's like I'm old and infirm, with teenagers racing in circles around me, calling me a gimp and telling me to go buy some real gear. However, I don't care! I simply will not ruin the game for myself, as ALL my friends have! They're not even playing the game anymore because they bought their gear with Real Money, went on to farm MP10 for a few days and then realized there was nothing left to do. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!
The Gold Auction house is only necessary because the loot system is so stupendously random. Imagine if you played a Barbarian and every item that dropped had Strength on it, and no other main stats (apart from Vitality). You'd have a much better chance of getting something worthwhile, you'd have less use for an Auction House and you'd actually have to play the game! Oh, shock or horror! Play the game? Am I crazy?
The entire point of a game such as Diablo 3 is replayability. That's why there's randomly generated levels and loot. It keeps it interesting. But when you can just go to the Auction House and buy everything you want for a pittance of real money or even gold, then you'll be done with the game much faster, and that's the end of replayability.
Now, having said that, I must admit I find it fun to surf the Gold Auction House and look for good deals. It's like a minigame within the game, and it can be a lot of fun. The problem is that the economy has been completely ruined because of various hacks, cheats and then the Real Money Auction House.
Gold should be worth something. On that point I think we all agree. And if the only thing you'll use your gold for it upgrading gems, crafting and repairing gear, then it's not really worth a lot anymore. However, that's what it was like in Diablo 2 and it wasn't all that bad. It kept me focused on playing the game. I think we should give Blizzard a chance to show us what they intend for the future of Diablo 3 before we go on a bender. They might just add some new features like Diablo 2's gamble option, or other stuff that increases the value of Gold again. Granted there would have to be a somewhat improved reward system behind it. Either way, let's just see what they bring to the table.
Item selling and trading will become a pain in the behind, and there will be a lot more spamming as a result of Blizzard taking out the Auction House system. I can see both pros and cons when it comes to the Gold Auction House, but the Real Money Auction House is ruining the game, and I can't believe Blizzard added it to begin with. It's the dumbest move they've ever made, apart from the always-online DRM.
Everything Blizzard has said about why they added the Real Money Auction House is a load of crap. It's a moneymilking scheme and nothing more. Making transactions safe and secure for players? Sure, sure. They just wanted to corner the market on goldselling and such. Get their slice of the cake. Now they've finally realized that it's been hurting the game, so they're finally removing it. It's the best move they've made in the history if Diablo 3. Anyone who can't see that must not have thought it through properly.