Took long enough to decide or ditching the RMAH.

In my opinion it always was an undead concept : while some people find it practical and cheap, others find it unhealthy and repulsive before all. And it won't die.

Until there is an Offline mode and local LAN like the console i really could care less... I'm done with D3

Sounds to me they want to regain some of their lost customers after ripping them off.
They put up a system that make them get a lot of money even if gamers don't like it then they remove it after they've gained $$$$$$ and people are happy about it.

DRM worked but losing a ton of consumers.

Also the fact that they nerfed or buffed enemies/player characters and alter the drop rate constantly(so we use the real money market more) means we will never get a good constant experience like Diablo 2 did.

Thats my impression as well HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAH
Sucked in to those people big on the Auction House bullcrap :)

Is there any concrete data to support that?

Diablo 2 : 17 millions sales

Diablo 3: 12 millions sales

There's 5 millons costumers lost.

That's what happens when you get rid of the Necromancer. :D

Diablo 2 has had a teeny weeny more time to accumulate sales, no? Or are those figures comparable? For instance, D2 is still sold in my local store...

Videogames turnover rate nowadays are faster than older time thanks to digital distribution and digital media. So it can be compared mostly.

Also D2 is still sold because the game is pretty flexible to its users.

Ridiculous comparison.

Diablo 2: 17 million sales in 13 years, 1,30 million pr. year
DIablo 3: 12 million sales in 1.5 years, 8 million pr. year

On topic, I think this is fantastic news. Kudos to Blizzard for actually having the balls to remove one of the most touted features prior to Diablo 3 launch. With a complete redesign of loot and itemization systems to boot, this is shaping up to be one sweet expansion pack.

Nice to see them realize what a stupid idea it was. Now if they also get rid of the online requirement I might be willing to pay $20 for it. In the meantime I've been meaning to check out some of the mods available for Torchlight 2.

I have one less reason to bitch about Blizzard. Blizzard, I love you. I just don't want Bobby telling you what to do. Remove the online requirement from D3 AND SC2 and you'll have gone a long way to regaining the trust of those who have followed you since the 90's.