With all the previous Diablo 3 deals seemingly increased in price, I thought I'll look around to see if there is still a cheap deal for those of you (like myself) that didn't get the pre-orders.
Was browsing at wowhd.com.au and came across this Diablo 3 Standard Edition (so not just the cdkey) for $54.95 delivered in Australia (or add extra 0.95 for insurance).
If anyone finds better, please post it.
Cheers!
I think you can. Just can't sell items in aud later on
There's absolutely no region locking in Diablo 3, though it does allocate your real money auction house based on your battle.net country (Australia gets allocated to the US auction house).
You can choose whichever servers to play on, just like in D2.
To clear it the hell up, once and for all (because I've done this), you can freely switch between any region at any time: The Americas, Asia or Europe.
Only issues are: your Heroes/Characters do not transfer over from different servers (so anything earned on American servers is not accessible on Asian servers for instance) and that at least in the case of Asian servers, which are located in South Korea (this may also apply to European servers), they prioritize Korean IPs over non-Korean ones, so often at times you get shafted with an Error 37 message, indicating high server load.
And a final word of caution, being that all Aussies will be on American servers by default (which have the highest capacity and more players/AH loot), if you already struggle to get acceptable pings (less than 350ms) to US servers for other online games you will find your D3 experience severely hampered and most likely impossible to play on Nightmare difficulty or higher.
The majority will be able to run through the campaign on Normal, but the next 3 difficulties WILL all come down to your ping.
In fact, most Aussies will not be able to fully complete D3 on the hardest difficulty, Inferno, simply due to the latency.
This is a game that requires pixel-precise accuracy with spells and attacks and twitch-reflexes to time your skills/potion at split-second's notice.
How good you are and what equipment you've got has no bearing whatsoever if every action you perform is late.
On higher difficulties with so much crap happening on the screen at once and 40 plus enemies surrounding you, it is nigh-on impossible to stay alive with pings of over 250ms, because the AI is at least 2-5 seconds ahead of you in real-time.
E.g. You attack an enemy that seems right next to you but in actuality has moved 4 or 5 paces. That gives you an idea of it.
It is a serious deal-breaker for some.
On crap days or when the yanks are awake, I simply rage quit because it's no fun rubber-banding back to where you were every 3 seconds and dying 5 seconds after you were killed.
Awesome, thanks for the full review.. :)
thanks for confirming my suspicions Amar89.
i will never get anything under 300ms, so it's pointless for me to get D3 even if I've been waiting for this bloody game for 10 years.
Until there is a proper server located here, I think we Australians are stuffed… we pay too high for software, and we can't enjoy a proper play experience.
If you absolutely had to play Inferno with no latency you could use a VPN to lower that ping.
??? how can a VPN that adds more overheads to network traffic lower pings?
I think that you're referring to lowerping.com yeah?
I'm not sure with Diablo 3, but with WoW there were also some things you could change locally that reduce your lag by about 100ms.
How do you test the ping on the server?
Is this a dealbreaker on buying the EU version of the game, or a dealbreaker on D3 in general?
Because you can still play on the Asian servers right as long as you're willing to wait in queue?
Actually, from circumstantial evidence (i.e. the 15-part Whirlpool thread and the Aus/NZ section on the D3 forums) the Asian servers seem to give a lot of Aussies (particularly on the East Coast) worse ping than the American servers (remember they're West Coast-based), so I'm not sure whether that'll make any impact whatsoever.
We can most likely forget about Oceanic servers for D3 in the like of SWTOR's, the best you can hope for is more server-side maintenance/tweaking to alleviate it.
Which is ironic considering that a huge percentage of players (myself included) had better pings on launch day then they do now, after Blizzard's so-called "maintenance" updates.
I really don't know where I stand on this game in the mean-time because while I'm enjoying it immensely (when it works), the latency is really making me wonder whether I paid full price for half a game essentially.
It's already incredibly difficult to play through Nightmare with a Barbarian (which is quite possibly the weakest and most nerfed class atm) given my current pings, and requires a hell of a lot of farming (which detracts from the fun of it); I just don't see myself being able to finish Hell or Inferno.
I'm hoping this will turn out more or less like the BF3 launch; but Blizzard are being rather unresponsive on the issue.
As a final note, it's not just Aussies complaining about the latency. Many in the US can't get theirs down below 200ms either, which is still not sufficient for trying to complete the game on Hell or Inferno.
If you're still wondering how it can impact an RPG so fundamentally or whether I'm just exaggerating, this post crystallizes it far better than I can:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/5149537781
Thank you for your explanation. I'm just going to buy it from Dick Smith after reading this.
I have read it is region free and the lastest update on that Real Money Auction is that you can still choose.
As read from this link here:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/4362524099#2
"You guys have access to an Australian dollar auction house and a US dollar auction house. It will be up to you which you prefer to use. The advantages being that there are no currency conversation fees if you use the AUD auction house - on the other hand the USD auction house will have a larger player population."
And another post mentioned that the determining factor is where your battlenet account location is rather than where you purchased the game:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/4366250138
I believe you can buy any version of Diablo 3.. there are no restrictions on where you buy it.. However, when you add the cd key to your battle.net account, it will then lock it to that region including the auction house.
Wonder if they'll email the cd key before sending the package? Can you use the key to download it? I have zero interest in physical media
As its physical copy, you will have to open it up and register the key. As to your non-interest in physical media, have a read (or not) and chuck them all in the bin after?
Yeh I meant getting them to do it. After you've purchased of course - so as to save the time it takes to ship.
No they won't. I have already emailed and asked. I am still awaiting my pre-order. It was dispatched from uk on release day last tuesday. They said it would take 3-5 business days.
'expected' 7-10 Days Shipping, if that is working days it could arrive on the 4th June.
Give it a little more time so that you can actually play the game when it arrives.
I have heard the online gaming experience is not winning any fans right now.
My advice is to hurry up and buy it from Dick Smith for $59 before they fix all the good exploits
None of the stores near me has stock in…T_T
and i don't really wanna pay extra 4.95 for shipping
I checked the dicksmith one and yeah its $59 but with a 4.95 postage but it would probably be a better deal if you are planning to purchase other items in dse at the same time (since delivery stays the same as $4.95 for small items! and that would only mean its $4 more then)
The Minority Report Blu-ray for $8.95 seems like a good addition, in order to "save" on postage.
I pre-ordered it from them back when it was $47-ish and it still hasn't arrived. Ships from Europe, and they didn't bother mailing it until after it was released there
I ordered it from them at same price, but my order displayed as backorder, they said the delivery will start at 21/05. hope it is true in this time.
I ordered from them when the game was $47.95 but they had a 15% off sale storewide so I got it for $40.76. I ordered on March 15th, and it shipped the day of release. Still not here yet but it hasn't even been 6 days yet.
dont you wish you have bought the game on release date from DS or BIGW or even EBGAMES when they can price match the cheapers stores?!
but…u not missing out much with the server problems and lags…
I don't believe any of those stores will price match WoWHD as it's online only and it's not Australian.
It takes roughly 2 weeks to get it from here, so don't hold your breath if you're keen to play now.
Not sure what people's thoughts on COTD are (I have heard some poor things?) but this is still worth mentioning I feel: http://www.catchoftheday.com.au/news.php?article=574
Diablo 3 going for $20…
And will be sold out in exactly 10.68 seconds :)
lol, true but for just over a third of the price its worth going for IMO
What time do the deals go live?
I see this deal as one giant DDoS like Amex Connect and MWave where they will take your payment but your order won't go through and it will be up to you to chase it up for a refund.
This site is rubbish. It's coming asking for my email to get it but it won't even let me press enter. The big button is not a link. Very amateur. And slow.
Here's a hint - tick BOTH boxes and then you will be able to "press" the button. I had the same problem at first.
It's despicable that they force you to opt in to their spam just to get on.
i preordered from here and my diablo 3 order got canceled…
It's a great deal for some who can't or don't want/need to play immediately, say uni students with exams coming up or those with laptops crappy enough.
therefore ordered! lol
Formerly known as CDWOW.
I preordered a game from these guys and was informed 1 month after release date it was no longer available, with no other correspondence and only when i chased it up. No refund offered to my credit card which was used, instead store credit to the same amount. I selected another game at a cheaper price which was delivered after a 2 month wait.
It is a good price but personally id be extremely wary purchasing from them.
Food for thought. Enjoy.
Not sure why this is worthy of a post here. This has been their normal price for this game for about 2 years now.
2 years? For a game that hasn't been available for even pre-order for 1 year?
Um, WoWHD have been offering Diablo 3 for pre-order since about 2009.
If you need it instantly you can buy it from Battle.net as a US registered player for $59.99 USD.
Worked fine for me on the weekend - couldnt find stock in the Hornsby district except EB Games who insisted on charging $89.95.
Downsides to doing this?
Will it affect the auction house?
It says $79.99 for me, how do u get $59.99?I have tried to select different region, lowest i can get down to is around $72 usd.
Ive tried that & keep getting pls enter a US address for Tax purposes
For those that bought a copy through battle net did you enter a US address or just made it up?
Example;
6969 Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas
89044
Just make one up.
Also use North Dakota to avoid sales tax.
thankyou both :)
Must remember that one!! :)
I have checked all the local stores, seem to be out of stock = Dicksmith, BigW, JBHifi and HN. And i mean around the area, not just one store. I can't seem to find a digital copy for $60 or below. Anyone can show me where to get a digital copy (CD KEY) for $60 or less?
I just did what Great White Hunter suggested above, and it cost ~$62.50 on my card. So, backordering from Dickies would be around the same price, and they always have fast shipping.
Thanks, but i want to get it and play straight away with the key :). Not pre-order.
Ok, so do what he originally suggested: make a US Battle.net account and buy it for $59.99 USD. Download and play the game, and when you get the time, send Blizzard a support ticket to get your account changed back to Australia, for the Auction House to be in AUD.
Umm i already started the game ^_^, just need the damn key! dont want to have to start all over again.
Good luck playing the game and getting anything other than Error 37.
And if you do get past Error 37, a monster more powerful and deadlier than Diablo called Lag is waiting for you, where it will strike you at the most inopportune moment, causing you to lose all your progress and even whatever items you've collected during that time.
;-)
beta download wont work with the full game, same with the characters …
if you've got the starter, then just use the key thinggy, you can upgrade via blizzard, but it's expensive
I know this copy states it's for PC, but I heard somewhere it holds two discs, one for PC and another for MAC.
Can someone confirm whether this deal is catered for Mac users?
I've only got 1 disk from my retail copy from DSE.
Guys you can just register a US battle.net account, then pay with your Australia PayPal account.
And you'll get your D3 digital version for $59.99USD immediately.
better than wait for the back order from DSE,
but your "home" server and RMAH goes to the US region automatically
If you're this late buying Diablo 3, at least try buying it tomorrow at CoTD for $20 before waiting to get it from here.
wow, $20? down from 89 EB/79 online/59 DSE/BIGW, that's a bargain of the year
Before buying this game (even for $20) check out the D3 forum, it is full of fans saying the game is crap.
Every game there gotta be someone saying it's crap, if you all listen to them there's no game you could play.
Really? Aside from the login and lag issues, what reasons are people giving for not liking it?
Once you get to level 60, there is nothing else to do. And there is no pvp.
What were people expecting would happen at level 60?
More things to do??
Besides, I heard it's hard to socialise and show off your stuff ingame.
if there are login and lag issues, other reasons for not liking it is irrelevant.
Mate of mine said he bought it on Sunday from JB who price matched DSE even tho they were out of stock.
DSC and jb hi both had it on back order. Doing the US battlenet trick now.
US battle net trick worked. Payed $60US for it and started playing straight away(pre installed).
Game so far is pretty good. People were expecting a new WOW but with no on-going fees.
How to pre-install the game? I went to battlenet and can't even find it in the downloadable client list.
Did anyone manage to get the $20 COTD deal? The whole site was inaccessible for me during that hour.
Sold out in a few seconds, what a joke.
same here…. nothing
I was logged in then at turn of the hour I had to refresh the browser page
COTD logged me out, tried to log back in took about 5min for the page to reload then I saw all sold out
absolute BS - will NOT be recommending COTD to anyone & will be staying well away in future
Also I think they are collecting email addresses (either to sell on or for advertising purposes) as the first time I accessed the site today I had to enter an email address & agree to their conditions & be put on their mailing list - even though I was already a supposed member
I manage to see the word "SOLD OUT", thats about it :D
But on another note I already bought from wowHD anyway last week just got notification yesterday that it has been shipped,
It's all Smokey mirrors.. they probably had 5 copies to sell, which with postage are probably over $30 anyway. Not bad for 20k site hits+. COTD suck!
D3 rox. That is all :)
fully agree +1
So I finally Download/Install/Buy/Connect my single player game (US account, Paypal $62.45 AUD),
Played for about an hour and loving it, and thinking what is all the fuss about, it seems allright…. then WHAM - 8 Hours of server downtime on the US Servers WTF LOL.
Thought ok I will beat this one and login to the Asia Server, and of course, I would have to start again wouldn't I..
I am sure Blizzard are not making too many friends right now.
Oh well <goes back to PS3 for the night> sigh.
Yeah, I started yesterday, and was keen to play all night.
However, Tuesday night maintaince are just a fact of life for anyone who's ever played a Blizzard game, so my friends tell me.
It's understandable for an MMO, but this is a 1-4 player game and even if you want to play by yourself you can't, which really rubs me the wrong way.
So does lag in a single player game, and server queues.
I only get lag very occasionally, and haven't experienced server queues. I believe that it will get better with time.
@theguyrules
have you tried the higher levels yet?
because if you are not getting lags, a lot of people would be very interested in how you achieve that… and it will definitely help people like myself to make the jump.
Expired…
$66.95 now.
WTF I just go an email from wowhd saying that my order is on back order till JUNE 30!!!! Frkn over a month away!!! That is just ridiculous. Not to mention 7-10 working days for delivery so that means earliest I will get the game is JULY!
That is awful. I would email them back and ask for a refund.
My local Dick Smith is accepting rain checks on D3 for $59.
I would refund but isn't D3 like sold out everywhere? =( how long till your dick smith replenishes their stock?
Same, reply from wowhd end of June. Canceled my order and ordered at Dick Smith (Melbourne CBD). They said end of this week or early next week.
COTD sux, like finding a needle in a hay stack.
I bought a digital copy from Kengamer, $65. Great service and supportfrom those guy, got in ~20 mins, dont mind paying abit more.
Expected to ship early July 2012
What is the version being sold in Australia? Is it SEA like StarCraft II?
Is D3 region locked? Sorry, I'm new at this. If I buy this can I still play with my friends who are on the US server or bought the game here?