Just like everything needs Dunkin in the real world, in Diablo Immortal world, Eternal Orbs hold a similar power. However, the power is jeopardized since the players are once again manipulating the mobile action RPG’s microtransaction economy. The important point is that Blizzard has announced that it will not ban the players from buying thousands of illicit orbs from resellers. As a result, the Diablo community is facing unrest, with players backlashing against the decision.
A player spoke up on Reddit: “This is BS. If I had known there would be no ban, I woulda just bought 3rd party [too].”
Diablo Immortal is a free-to-play, loot-based dungeon crawler. However, a serious contender in the game’s competitive landscape will have to purchase Eternal Orbs to competently grind its endgame. As a result, many pro players have invested thousands of dollars in orbs. However, recently, some players found their orb hoards turned into orb debts when Blizzard removed third-party reseller purchases.
For those new to the Diablo realm, Eternal Orbs are used as paid currency in the game to fuel its endgame progression. A player has to shell out orbs to do everything in the game, from obtaining platinum to creating better gear to making activities drop rarer loot. While you can earn them in multiple ways while playing the game, the orbs are mainly purchased with real money. Since orbs are necessary to build a stronger Diablo character, players hunt for available discounts.
You will find various discounts readily available in the Diablo Immortal shop. For instance, for $1, players can get 60 orbs. They can also get 6,000 orbs and a bonus of 1,200, which is $20 worth of savings. However, it is the third-party reseller sites that offer the best discounts, offering troves of Eternal orbs at huge discounts. Search “buy cheap Eternal Orbs” on Google, and IGVault.com will be the first site it returns. It claims, “Cheap & Safe Diablo Immortal Orbs and Other Items.” A single listing sells 7,200 orbs starting at $80.
Although some resellers may claim they are selling gift cards at a discounted price, most people understand that these services are used to make money from stolen credit cards. They don’t have to use your information to charge Amazon or Walmart. Instead, they can make money by acting as a middleman and making microtransactions. Diablo Immortal players have complained for weeks about orb resellers becoming more prominent.
Blizzard finally acted on the complaints a few weeks ago. PCGamesN reported that some of Diablo Immortals’ largest free-to-play “whales” had a huge negative balance after Blizzard revoked their illicit orb purchases in masse. Shia, a top player, showed a screenshot reflecting a balance of orb debt at -2491,025, roughly $35,000 in value.
While some players are happy to see the playing field leveled, others are furious at the new message from Blizzard Customer Service (via Gamesradar), which indicated that they won’t ban the players in question.
“Having negative orbs on an account will not ban the Diablo Immortal account,” A rep reposted on the game’s subreddit, “Gameplay limitation will apply to the account while the balance is negative, though, so certain features will not be accessible until the orb balance reaches positive again.”
On the one hand, these larger debts are serious, and every involved player is out what they paid for the cheap Eternal orbs. The cheapest orbs have now become the most expensive ones in Diablo Immortal. However, Blizzard has not yet issued a blanket ban on players using third-party marketplaces. So, players are accusing the orb debtors that they have found ways to get around the current limitations of their account to continue playing the game.
A player used Reddit to speak up on the subject, “I really don’t care if they get fully banned, But they should not be allowed to circumvent their limits by using party finder or forming their own groups, and they should especially not be allowed into battlegrounds, wars or rite.
Another player wrote, “So why would regular, legit pay players want to spend any more money at all?? There’s no consequences for these players, so why wouldn’t everyone use these 3rd party sources.”
This situation has become messier due to Diablo Immortal’s pay-to-win business model.
Blizzard gave a statement on September 7th, “We want to ensure a fair playing field for everyone in Diablo Immortal: part of this effort involves taking action when we see players participate in fraudulent purchases,”
These fraudulent purchases mainly exist because you can’t be the top Diablo Immortal player if you don’t spend a lot of money in-game. Reportedly, Diablo Immortal continues to make $1 million per day, which is highly lucrative for the stakeholders.
