Free World of Warcraft Mobile Auction House Beta Goes Live

[Tom Goldman]

Free World of Warcraft Mobile Auction House Beta Goes Live

Managing World of Warcraft auctions on the go just became possible thanks to Blizzard's Armory iPhone App.

Blizzard announced in iPhone Armory App [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/97986-iPhone-Planned-as-Portal-to-WoWs-Auction-House]. This new functionality is called the Remote Auction House and went into a free open beta testing phase this week.

To participate in the beta, download the Armory App and fire it up. The Remote Auction House can also be accessed through the here [http://www.wowarmory.com/auctionhouse/].

One little minor thing: once the beta ends, a $2.99 subscription fee will be required per account per 30 days of Remote Auction House use. Without a subscription, players can still browse the auction house and view various aspects involving it such as when they are outbid or when an auction succeeds. A subscription fee is only required to physically interact with auctions.

Blizzard hasn't revealed when the Remote Auction House beta will end yet. The company is also teasing more features like this to be added in the future, writing in the Remote Auction House FAQ [http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&tag=REMOTE&rhtml=true] that it is "considering other services that could help keep players connected to different aspects of World of Warcraft through the web or their mobile devices," and that it "looks forward to sharing more details in the future."

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[Malifact]

Not to keen on the idea of a paid subscription for the app... but meh. It still seems like a pretty cool idea.

 

[Meemaimoh]

I agree - it's not cool that you have to subscribe to this thing as well as paying for your account. I would never buy it unless it was a one-off purchase. Clever idea, though.

 

[ZeoAssassin]

curse you Activision marketing department! leave blizzard alone...anyway while kind of dumb its pretty much harmless for the most part. at least with the in-game pets and mount your getting something out of it. this just seems pointless if your that addicted to playing the AH your going to be playing the game and using mods that help you with that.

 

[Diligent]

Now just imagine if the type of person who would pay a subscription for this would pour that time and energy into investments and the stock market.
To me it seems like it would be an unhealthy extension of WoW play. I've played the game (not currently) and am firmly of the opinion that what happens in WoW should stay in WoW, meaning I don't want to hear about character builds at the pub, I don't want to hear about my work-mates raids, and I most certainly don't want anybody to pull out their I-Phone to show me their latest and greatest auction sale. If somebody does that I'm going to have to kick the I-phone out of their hand and into the sky.

 

[Plinglebob]

curse you Activision marketing department! leave blizzard alone

In all fairness, this is probably entirely Blizzards doing as the ability to check the Auction House while not logged into WoW is something players have been asking for for a while.

 

[Jared]

Well, not totally surprised there.

It is a good idea, and I wish somethng similar for FF11 would come put people could manage the Auction Jouse via remote.

Subscription idea seems a little sucky though, but, suppose they gotta claw profits where they can....

Although I bet alot of people, despite not liking it, will still use it. Just beacause of the concience factor

 

[Marohen]

What, 4k gold for a saronite shiv? 10 gold for what appears to be a SINGLE mammoth cutter!? The real crime is the guy selling this shit!

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Blizzard will be up there with Google at this rate. I can't believe people are still giving them money for all this crap.

 

[solidstatemind]

...aaaaannnndddd let the QQing over how 'evil' Blizzard is begin. Usually by the young and not terribly experienced. And, of course, most of the complainers will conveniently ignore that there is going to be free functionality to this app, and that you only pay if you want to interact with the AH via your phone.

But no, Blizzard wants to be profitable so they can continue to make games, is carefully evaluating such things as demand and potential profitability, assessing what would be a reasonable fee, and ensuring that they don't unintentionally give players a purchased advantage are evil, money-grubbing scumbags, regardless of how cool and fun their games are.

 

[Don't taze me bro]

At first I was like

And then I saw the subscription fee

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

It's a nice idea but having to pay for it on top of your account is stupid even if it is cheap.

also who the fuck would bid 4.3k on a Saronite Shiv >.>

 

[Ghostkai]

All the QQ'ers will forget to mention that:

-Nobody is forcing you to buy it.
-It has a free version. (With less features.)
-It doesn't incorporate the Addons needed for successfully playing the AH market. (so isn't a HUGE advantage for the owners of it.)
-People have been asking for this for a LONG time, and Blizzard are doing this because of demand.

And on a side note, who the fuck buys a Saronite Shiv for 4.3k?!

 

[Taekwondude]

What! It's not enough that you pay a monthly subscription? Now they want you to pay more to access the AH. Whatever next....real money vanity pets? Oh wait lol.

 

[Billion Backs]

Haha, those prices are ridiculous. 4K gold for a crappy blue!?
No problem otherwise.

What! It's not enough that you pay a monthly subscription? Now they want you to pay more to access the AH. Whatever next....real money vanity pets? Oh wait lol.

What exactly is your problem here? This doesn't make it impossible to access AH in game... It only allows people to access it when they're away from their computer, and given regular WoW economy it doesn't really matter.

Nobody is forcing you to pay anything. You get the same content as any other player.

Same thing goes for the vanity pets or that mount... They have no effect on gameplay. If you really want to get something extra and rather pointless, you can pay extra for it.

Quit whining.