Latest revision as of 12:43, 8 May 2014

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 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.

Reaper of Souls employs extensive item binding, and makes untradeable all legendary and set items, all crafting materials and crafting plans, and Marquise 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.

Fan Reaction[edit | edit source]

Fans were generally supportive of the item binding changes when first announced, since the logic was that item binding = much higher drop rates. Binding has become more controversial since Reaper of Souls' launch, as many fans claim to miss trading and agitate for some forms of trading, even if only through Clans or in other limited fashion.

Item Binding Timeline[edit | edit source]

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 first appeared in Diablo III in patch Patch 1.0.5, in the form of the Infernal Machine. The special keys and the demonic organs required to assemble the Hellfire Ring were all BoA, as was the ring itself. This forced players to assemble the parts themselves and made it impossible to buy or trade any of the portions, though players with powerful characters did sometimes sell rushes or allow weaker characters to ride along in the game while they killed the Ubers and earned Infernal Machine ingredients for everyone in the game.

Early Bind on Account Stance[edit | edit source]

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.

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 duping, 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." These types of items bind to the character who first equips them; they can be traded, perhaps only within the same account, but once any character actually uses the 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[edit | edit source]

Jay Wilson addressed this issue in an interview from BlizzCon 2009. [1]

Jay Wilson: We have no “Soulbound” or bind-on-pickup, except for quest items. We do have bind-on-equip for the 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.

Most of our focus on Diablo 3 is as a trading game. So, if you take trading out of the item space, you ruin the core of the game. Finding a really great item that is not for you is still a great event because it means you have a bartering tool to get the item that you do want. We definitely want to make sure that that still exists.

Bashiok addressed this issue during a mini-interview posted as part of Blizzcast #13, in February 2010. [2]

Zarhym: Will all Bind on Equip or Bind on Pickup items be bound to account? So you can hand them down to your other characters as you find better gear.

Bashiok: Maybe. It sounds kind of cool. So I asked Jay and some of the other designers about this actually because I wasn’t sure, but Jay’s response was “That sounds awesome!” And he likes things that are awesome. Which is a very Jay Wilson quote. But there could be economic reasons that we don’t do that, there could be gameplay reasons we don’t do that. It’s probably too early to say, but that sounds cool so we’ll have to see.

Bashiok elaborated on this later that same day, when a fan pointed out that BoA could lead to stagnation in the economy, if every account eventually had several of the best items that players could pass around between their different characters. [3]

Totally, which is why I said “But there could be economic reasons that we don’t do that.”

It would probably stagnate the economy… UNLESS, there are other systems in place that could make it attractive for players to essentially destroy their BoAs. So I don’t think it’s without solution at least, but it could get sticky if not balanced or pulled off just right.

Anyway, we’re not really seriously considering BoA items at this point in time.

Binding was finally ruled out in April 2011, by Jay Wilson in an interview with Diablo3.cc. [4]

I’m happy to announce that we recently decided there will be no binding of items in Diablo III. They will be freely traded for the life of the item. The only way we are going to do any kind of binding would be for things that are not progression-sensitive. Like we might say…a quest item. We don’t want you to be able to give to other player to short circuit a quest, but if you find a sword, piece of armor, or gem....anything that you find in the ground, once you pick it up, you can freely trade it... forever.

Addition of Bind on Account[edit | edit source]

Boa was added post-release, despite what was originally said by Blizzard (keys and body parts forubers, crafting plans, marquise gems, and the Hellfire Ring).

References[edit | edit source]

August 2009: Game Director Interview by G4TV.com.
February 2010: Bashiok on Blizzcast #13.
February 2010: Bashiok forum post.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-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 be passed between different characters on the same account, 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]].)
+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 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.
-The topic of item binding is a controversial one. Many fans dislike it as it removes most trading and the ability for players to buy or sell or even give away 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 bound, 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 same.
+[[Reaper of Souls]] employs extensive item binding, and makes untradeable all legendary and set items, all crafting materials and crafting plans, and Marquise 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 first entered the game with the [[Infernal Machine]] special event, when all [[materials]] to create it and the legendary [[Hellfire Ring]] itself were Bind on Account.  Additional BoA materials ([[Demonic Essence]]) and crafting recipes were added in a later patch.
+Fans were generally supportive of the item binding changes when first announced, since the logic was that item binding = much higher drop rates.  Binding has become more controversial since Reaper of Souls' launch, as many fans claim to miss trading and agitate for some forms of trading, even if only through [[Clans]] or in other 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 debated, with fans who enjoy the system defending it as necessary to keep [[drop rate]]s high and to spur [[self-finding]]. Other players wish there was less or no binding and say they would like to trade items... though few say they'd like to pay the price of a return to Diablo 3 vanilla's much lower legendary drop rates.
+Item binding first appeared in Diablo III in patch [[Patch 1.0.5]], in the form of the [[Infernal Machine]]. The special [[keys]] and the [[demonic organs]] required to assemble the [[Hellfire Ring]] were all BoA, as was the ring itself. This forced players to assemble the parts themselves and made it impossible to buy or trade any of the portions, though players with powerful characters did sometimes sell [[rush]]es or allow weaker characters to ride along in the game while they killed the [[Ubers]] and earned Infernal Machine ingredients for everyone in the game.
-==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 [[Jay Wilson]] revealed that item binding was in the works for the highest quality items in an interview from [[BlizzCon 2009]]. [http://g4tv.com/games/pc/28197/diablo-iii/articles/68225/BlizzCon-2009-Diablo-III-Game-Director-Interview/]
+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 [[duping]], 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." These types of items bind to the character who first equips them; they can be traded, perhaps only within the same account, but once any character actually uses the 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.
@@ Line 32: / Line 37: @@
-A few months later CM [[Bashiok]] addressed this issue during a mini-interview in Blizzcast #13, in February 2010. [http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/blizzcast-13-is-live/]
+Bashiok addressed this issue during a mini-interview 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.
@@ Line 52: / Line 57: @@
-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 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]
+==Addition of Bind on Account==
-<blue>Wyatt Cheng: On the topic of the Mystic, we are looking at methods 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.
+Boa was added post-release, despite what was originally said by [[Blizzard]] (keys and body parts for[[uber|ubers]], crafting plans, [[marquise]] gems, and the [[Hellfire Ring]]).
-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, but weren't willing to tip their hands so far in advance.
-Going forward in Reaper of Souls, the developers have suggested allowing more trading, such as within [[clans]], or only for characters in a new [[Ladder]] season, but they've given no firm commitments to any relaxation of the binding in the game upon launch.
@@ Line 67: / Line 66: @@
 * 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]

Difference between revisions of "Bind on Account"