GL1zdA wrote on Nov 10, 2013, 17:45:
I don't think they designed the loot system around the AH.

Have you played the console version? It's pretty apparent after even just a chapter or two that the loot for PC isn't anything comparable because you're meant to "trade" for it (use the AH).

Just as a comparison, when my LAN party of 4 people played through D3 at release, we found 2 unique items in the entirety of the game; both were underleveled for where we were when we found them. In the console version, by the end of Act 2 I had 5 unique items equipped on my character, all level appropriate, combined with the random-stat yellow rare gear that I'd found that was also all level appropriate. I was better geared at level 24 on my console character than my level 42 character I had on PC was when I went back to check simply because my level 42 character still had a bunch of level 15-20 gear for lack of finding anything better that was right for my class/level.

Beat normal on console, you're ready for Nightmare. Beat Nightmare, you're ready for Hell. No re-grinding chapters for loot or gold or in most cases just buying the gear on the AH to progress.

There's really no comparison or question as to whether or not D3 was designed around the AH for its loot system, it absolutely was.