For those of you unaware, d2jsp is a multi-game trading website which operates using a currency known as forum gold. Forum gold (called ‘FG’ hereon out) is a digital “points” currency which can be obtained either by trading items to users on the forum in exchange for FG, or by spending real money in exchange. FG never decays with time and it can be earned from items in one game to be spent on items in another (for example, I could sell items in Path of Exile for FG, then take that FG and buy items in diablo 2). The value of FG is dependent on the internal economy of d2JSP, and fluxuates as such (see the recent surge in price of Ber rune due to the overabundance of sorceresses and compare it to the relative prices of Ber runes in previous ladder resets…)
I’m obviously no fan of this website, the notion of a 3rd party currency holding value in economy-based games, and most importantly, losers ruining the integrity of the game due to materialistic greed… but this is outside the scope of this discussion. I’m not here to tell you why D2JSP is a blight on the community, why users who RMT with it should be permanently banned, or how the higher ups on that website do everything in their power to not only manipulate the d2 economy to their personal benefits, but also make an irl profit doing so.
I’m here to explain why d2JSP FUNDAMENTALLY undermines the integrity of Diablo 2 ladder resets, as well as offer a solution which intends to maintain the competitive integrity of ladder resets without the explicit banning of D2JSP.
To start, I will ask: “what is a ladder reset? what are its implications?”
To define a ladder reset is simple: in Diablo 2, a new ladder is a complete economy reset for the purpose of giving all players an even starting point to participate in a competitive leaderboard. Obviously, no 2 Diablo players are created equal (compare people like Mrllamasc to people who have never beaten Hell mode solo in entirely self found gear), so I would like to place emphasis on the words an even starting point… what any given Diablo 2 player does from that starting point is a matter of their skill as a player, and THAT is precisely where the competitive value of a ladder reset is realized: all players begin on equal footing, and then it’s a race to display knowledge, planning, and skill.
A player which has 3 Ber runes in non-ladder cannot, under normal circumstances, take these Ber runes into the new ladder reset and use/trade them. A player which has 3 Ber runes in non-ladder then decides to cash them into FG does, in a way, have the ability to take the purchasing power of those runes into the fresh economy. This is obviously a fundamental undermining of the very purpose of ladder resets described above, as this hypothetical player is able to bring inordinate amounts of spending power into this “fresh” economy.
I want you to imagine 3 players entering a ladder reset: a “casual” JSP user with a handful of FG, a veteran JSP user with 2 decades worth of FG, and a rookie D2 player joining for their first ladder. In this fresh economy, the second player is coming in with a clear and non-debatable economic advantage over the other two players, just as the first player has a clear economic advantage over the third player. While the first player may spend his FG then run into a spot of bad luck and be caught up by a contrarily lucky third player, there is no conceivable way that the first or the third player will EVER be able to compete with the JSP whale who is able to afford to buy GG items as they drop into existence.
The fact that JSP users are able to enter a fresh economy with literal decades worth of accumulated currency undermines the very notion of an economy reset, and as such, undermines the competitive integrity of the ladder.
One response I may get is along the lines of “but speedrunner groups will dominate every ladder regardless of what JSPers are spending, so ladders aren’t competitive anyway!” First off, this is complete nonsense that, if true, suggests there is no reason at all for having ladders in the first place. To properly address this sentiment, we must dive into my solution for the problem of JSP and ladder integrity (and which also poses a solution for the domination of reset groups vs solo players/pub gamers).
The solution here is simple - Give players the option to create “solo-self found” characters in addition to the hardcore and ladder options, and make separate leaderboards for softcore/softcore solo self found/hardcore/hardcore solo self found. By “solo-self found” I mean:
-the player checks an option at creation, just like hardcore or ladder
-the player will be unable to enter games with other players on this character (thus preventing trading)
-this character’s stash is only linked to other self-found characters on the player’s account (just like the current split between softcore and hardcore)
-this character’s progress will be tracked on a separate leaderboard to non-self found characters (just like how softcore and hardcore have separate leaderboards).
And there you have it… this solution (as implemented so successfully by Path of Exile) not only deals with the problem created by JSP currency in a fresh economy, but it would also give players without connections with 7 other tryhards a chance to be competitive on their class’s ladder.
As an individual who has beaten Hell mode on multiple solo self found hardcore characters in D2, I would argue that it is the most “pure” way to play the game, causing the player to rely solely on their ability to play around the items they are able to find themselves.
Naysayers may reply “just play offline mode if you want to solo so bad,” and they would be missing the point. The entire point to my solution is not about playing solo, it’s about maintaining the competitive integrity offered by an economy reset. Without a solo-self found option (and with D2JSP whales being a thing) there simply IS NO EQUAL ECONOMY RESET when ladders reset. My reply to “just play offline” is “why even have a ladder when JSP traders have an advantage that others do not?” Imagine if people were able to go into classic WoW with 1500 gold right off the bat… Now imagine that is more like 15,000 gold+ and that is what it’s like to be a D2JSP whale entering a fresh ladder economy. If the leaderboard and economy resets don’t mean anything, then why in the hell would we even have a ladder reset in the first place?
Either give us Solo Self Found ladders, or don’t bother releasing ladders at all.
tl;dr (too long for my peabrain, so I ignored most of it; give me a summary):
-JSP allows players to enter a fresh economy with external purchasing power
-such purchasing power undermines the competitive nature of the ladder reset
-solo self found ladder would allow for a pure economy reset without the risk of external purchasing power such as RMT or JSP