Bind on Account, or '''BoA''' designates an item that "binds" to the account of the character who first picks it up. These types of items can usually could be passed between different characters on the same account(presumably by using the shared stash), but could not be traded to another other characters. ([[Bind on Pickup]] and [[Bind on Equip]] are two other common types of item binding, neither of which is used in [[Diablo 3]] or [[Reaper of Souls]].)
The topic [[Reaper of Souls]] employs extensive item binding is a controversial one. Many fans dislike it as it removes most trading , and makes untradeable all legendary and the ability for players to buy or sell or even give away set items. Other fans like it, if not for the BoA itself then for what it enables in a game. The logic is that if an item is boundall crafting materials and crafting plans, then it can be more powerful or common than it would be otherwise, since the binding will keep it from spreading throughout the entire game and making every character the sameMarquise and higher quality gems.
* '''Trading Exception''': Set and Legendary items (but not plans or materials) can be traded for 2 hours after they are found, but only to players who were in the game when the item was looted.
==Binding in Diablo 3 and Reaper of Souls==
There was no item [[binding]] of any kind when Diablo III launched. ==Fan Reaction==
Binding Fans were generally supportive of the item binding changes when first entered announced, since the game with the [[Infernal Machine]] special eventlogic was that item binding = much higher drop rates. Binding has become more controversial since Reaper of Souls' launch, when all [[materials]] as many fans claim to create it miss trading and the legendary [[Hellfire Ring]] itself were Bind on Account. Additional BoA materials (agitate for some forms of trading, even if only through [[Demonic EssenceClans]]) and crafting recipes were added or in a later patchother limited fashion.
Binding became much more prevalent shortly before Reaper of Souls when [[D3v2]] came in Patch 2.0.1 and added BoA to all newly-found legendary items. At that point older items could still be traded or sold though, as could gems and materials and crafting recipes, and gold could be used in the Auction House until it shut down a week before Reaper of Souls.
Reaper of Souls brought in the real BoA state of affairs. It continued making all legendary items BoA, including crafted items, and it added BoA to any rare item that was [[enchanted]]. All gems and materials and new-found crafting recipes were also BoA, and biggest of all, so was gold.
Thus in Reaper of Souls players had essentially zero trading; only white and blue items and rares that had not been enchanted could be exchanged, but with gems and gold all account bound, there was no viable form of currency. Not that currency was needed since legendary items and crafted items were the best gear, and those were all BoA anyhow. (The only exception was the ability to give legendary items to other players who were in the game when the item dropped, but only for two hours after the game ended. "Give" but not "trade" since everything the other player might have used to make a fair trade was account bound.)==Item Binding Timeline==
There was no item binding when Diablo 3 launched, as the developers felt trading and a free flow of items in the economy was an integral part of the game. This topic was much-debated pre-game (see section below) with some fans arguing that item binding allowed for more or better quality items to exist, while other fans wanted self-finding bonuses.
Item binding continues to be much debatedfirst appeared in Diablo III in patch [[Patch 1.0.5]], with fans who enjoy in the form of the system defending it as necessary to keep [[drop rateInfernal Machine]]. The special [[keys]]s high and the [[demonic organs]] required to spur assemble the [[self-findingHellfire Ring]]were all BoA, as was the ring itself. Other This forced players wish there was less or no binding to assemble the parts themselves and say they would like made it impossible to buy or trade items... any of the portions, though few say players with powerful characters did sometimes sell [[rush]]es or allow weaker characters to ride along in the game while they'd like to pay killed the [[Ubers]] and earned Infernal Machine ingredients for everyone in the price of a return to Diablo 3 vanilla's much lower legendary drop ratesgame.
==Account Binding During Development==
While the developers had various forms of item binding in the game during development, they ultimately decided against any form of item binding in the game at launch. (And then brought it back months later, in limited form.)==Early Bind on Account Stance==
While the developers mentioned the possibility of BoE or BoA on items in Diablo III, they ultimately decided against any form of item binding in the game.
Game Director Prior to that decision, BoE was expected, while BoA was considered unlikely. The theory behind item binding is that when top level items can be traded, the economy gets glutted and eventually every character has the best of everything, since characters who indulge in huge amounts of item finding (or illegal [[Jay Wilsonduping]] revealed , in the case of Diablo 2) will score enough of that item to distribute them widely. Compare BoA to BoE -- [[Bind on Equip]] which is also known as "soul binding was in ." These types of items bind to the character who first equips them; they can be traded, perhaps only within the works for same account, but once any character actually uses the highest quality item, it is bound to that character permanently. (Characters can dispose of such items for space considerations, but they can not give or trade them to other characters.) ===Blizzard Comments===Jay Wilson addressed this issue in an interview from [[BlizzCon 2009]]. [http://g4tv.com/games/pc/28197/diablo-iii/articles/68225/BlizzCon-2009-Diablo-III-Game-Director-Interview/]
::'''[[Jay Wilson]]: '''We have no “[[Soulbound]]” or [[Bind on Pick-up|bind-on-pickup]], except for [[quest item]]s. We do have bind-on-equip for the [[end game|highest end]] items in the game. We targeted, roughly, any item above level 85. These we will do as bind-on-equip. The reason for this is that we want people to be able to trade them, but we also want to remove the high-end items from the economy. One of the greatest ways that you can do that is with bind-on-equip. What we don't want is to have a situation where you find something on the ground like, “Oh, man. This would be a perfect weapon for my [[Monk]]. Oh, but I just picked it up and now it's on the wrong character.” We don't want that at all.
A few months later CM [[Bashiok]] addressed this issue during a mini-interview in posted as part of Blizzcast #13, in February 2010. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcast-13-is-live/]
::'''Zarhym: '''Will all Bind on Equip or [[Bind on Pickup]] items be [[BoA|bound to account]]? So you can hand them down to your other characters as you find better gear.
When item binding began to creep back into Diablo 3 in patches during 2013, the developers kept it limited to just a few special items. The possibility ==Addition of adding more item binding as a way to create some item churn and remove items from the trading economy was a topic of much discussion, and Blizzard addressed that in July 2013.[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-developer-interview-podcast-part-2]Bind on Account==
<blue>Wyatt Cheng: On the topic of the MysticBoa was added post-release, we are looking at methods despite what was originally said by [[Blizzard]] (keys and body parts for a Mystic to modify an item. Whether that be adding a property, or allowing you to reroll the stats on a property, or allowing you to roll another property, or you like an item except one of the stats rolled low and you want a shot at getting it higher. WE are looking at that, and I lean towards the idea that you’d want that item to be Soul bound. As a side note on the topic of anything having to do with limited trades or reduced functionality. I tend not to be in favor of soft limits on those types of things. That’s because if you’re going to have a limit, you might as well put the limit in there. When you have a soft limit... basically it still retains all the problems you had before, while feeling negative to the person who has it.</blue> In retrospect it's clear that the developers were planning on heavier item binding in D3v2 and RoS[[uber|ubers]], but weren't willing to tip their hands so far in advance. Going forward in Reaper of Soulscrafting plans, the developers have suggested allowing more trading, such as within [[clansmarquise]]gems, or only for characters in a new and the [[LadderHellfire Ring]] season, but they've given no firm commitments to any relaxation of the binding in the game upon launch).
* February 2010: [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcast-13-is-live/ Bashiok on Blizzcast #13].
* February 2010: [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/more-from-blizzard-on-boe-boa/ Bashiok forum post].
* July 2013: [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/diablo-3-developer-interview-podcast-part-2 Wyatt Cheng and Josh Mosquera interview]
