[Highlander]

Hi ZiggyD,

Checked out your videos, interesting that you plan to choose a Demon Hunter for Diablo III.

One thing that sprung to mind was how slow you were going (not trying to give you grief) at those early stages. I'm sure if you had a Barbarian with you, you'd be whizzing through.

I think that serves as a good example of why I really do think party play is the key to effective Hardcore play. Sure, it can all be done solo, but if you want to go the path of least resistance, a well designed party will outperform every time.

Hopefully I'll get some time to play with you in-game on HC, although Softcore will be my main game mode as that's where all my other friends will be.

As for the auction house, I know Blizzard said they were reconsidering it, but at last official word I didn't think there was going to be a RMAH for Hardcore, just the gold auction house.

Naturally, through sheer availability, items will be less affordable in Hardcore. Less gold will be available, so prices may not be literally higher, so it's important to draw that distinction. Since gold can be found anywhere with sufficient time as opposed to max gear which can best be found in highly dangerous areas (eg: Anywhere in Inferno), I think those items will still be worth more (in relative terms at least).

Pushing this up even further still, is the ease at which I expect you will be able to farm gold as opposed to items, since gold drops pretty much everywhere and you can control the environment with much more ease.

Interesting food for thought all round.