Blizzard Launches World of Warcraft Remote Auction House

Post by darkjedi @ 02:55pm 19/05/10 | 38 Comments

Blizzard promised it and here it is! The WoW Armory app for iPhone has been updated to allow remote access to your Realm's Auction House, meaning that you can buy, sell and monitor activity all from the palm of your hand.

Whilst it's fully free during the launch period, once this offer ends it'll set you back USD$2.99 a month for full access - Which includes the ability to buy and sell. There'll be a free alternative that lets you browse the Auction House and keep track of your character's gold, but the full features require dropping cash.

World of Warcraft Remote Auction House

Now you can access the World of Warcraft Auction House from your web browser or mobile device. Browse the Auction House for free, or with a subscription to the new World of Warcraft Remote service, you can:

* Bid on and buy out auctions with real-time results.
* Create auctions from items in your bags, bank, or mailbox.
* Collect gold earned in your auctions.

For those who don't have an iPhone or iPod Touch and want to use it, they've also got a web-based version of the remote Auction House located here. promoted forum item

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Latest Comments

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existence
Posted 03:00pm 19/5/10

$3 a month, what a f*****g complete and utter joke

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Raven
Posted 03:01pm 19/5/10

$3 a month, what a f*****g complete and utter joke

A joke which will still net them at least $1m/month.

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darkjedi
Posted 03:12pm 19/5/10

A joke which will still net them at least $1m/month.

^^^ This.

Like the Mount they put up for sale, this isn't for everyone and doesn't really give you anything special beyond the ability to play the AH whilst not logged in. For those who enjoy playing the Auction House however, this is all sorts of awesome (for the record, this isn't something I'll be subscribing to).

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alandalf
Posted 03:18pm 19/5/10

This made me lol.

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gamer
Posted 03:21pm 19/5/10

Apart from the cashcow aspect...

I don't see how this benefits the game in any way?

That's very unusual for blizzard...

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darkjedi
Posted 03:22pm 19/5/10

Convenience for one, along with it being a feature people had been asking for on the WoW forums for a while. Otherwise it doesn't do much of anything else.

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Nerfbringer
Posted 03:26pm 19/5/10

I think this would be awesome, when I used to play WoW the auction house and being able to get in and sell at the right time was half the fun. Though blizz definitely seems to have gone the way of milking rather than my rosy eyed memories of their original aims for great gaming.

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Twisted
Posted 03:26pm 19/5/10

Interesting to see how other companies implement this sort of external interface to their games as opposed to CCP with Eve. CCP have an awesome API and their new web portal (first release being the in game calendar and mail system via the web portal) will ultimately let do everything you can do in a web browser that you can do inside the game except actually undock fly around and blow stuffs up :)

Blizzard seem to be continuing down the line of leaching more cash monies from their customers...who are thick :)

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glynd
Posted 03:31pm 19/5/10

the only thing you have pay for is the actual interaction with the auction house. checking the AH, getting updates on your bids, etc will remain free.

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gamer
Posted 03:35pm 19/5/10

I think there is more then meets the eye here guys... blizzard might think this is a serious oppertunity to reduce the amount of lag in major cities and the amount of stress/load placed on the actual 3d game server.

I think there would be pretty big technical advantages that really pushed this over the line for blizzard (as well as financial).

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darkjedi
Posted 03:40pm 19/5/10

Just talking this over with guys here and realised something potentially scary. In theory if a hacker manages to get your password, even if you've got an Authenticator attached to the account, they could log into this service on an iPod Touch/iPhone and list all of the items in your bags for sale cheap, then have a character in-game buying them as each auction goes up.

Reason it's scary is that the Armory app doesn't require you to enter an Authenticator key to log in and interact.

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reso
Posted 04:05pm 19/5/10

Reason it's scary is that the Armory app doesn't require you to enter an Authenticator key to log in and interact.

That is surprising, considering the Authenticator on the iPhone has the ability to copy the code to the iPhone's clipboard.

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ara
Posted 04:11pm 19/5/10

KA-CHING

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Sc00bs
Posted 04:13pm 19/5/10

i want to own blizzard and be driving around in a gold bentley :(

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Reverend Evil�
Posted 05:06pm 19/5/10

$3 a month, what a f*****g complete and utter joke

$3 is chicken feed and they're not holding a gun against your head to do it. If anything it's a good thing. If you've got stuff for sale moar people will see it.

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gamer
Posted 05:13pm 19/5/10

the Armory app doesn't require you to enter an Authenticator key to log in

You know that from personal experience or you read/heard it somewhere?

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Reverend Evil�
Posted 05:15pm 19/5/10

Yeah, the armory is public. No need for any type of login. Been that way forever.

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Twisted
Posted 06:17pm 19/5/10

I think there is more then meets the eye here guys... blizzard might think this is a serious oppertunity to reduce the amount of lag in major cities and the amount of stress/load placed on the actual 3d game server.

More like they're trying to make more cash...don't be stupid. If they wanted less characters in the auction house they'd make it free to interact with the AH.

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konstie
Posted 06:32pm 19/5/10

So... can this Gold on WoW be turned into real money, or are you just paying real money to "profit" WoW money?

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Thundercracker
Posted 06:43pm 19/5/10

So... can this Gold on WoW be turned into real money, or are you just paying real money to "profit" WoW money?

Pretty much this. You pay for full access to the action house (which is the only way to sell stuff apart from chat), without having to jump in game. In fact, it's better than the game because you don't have to keep shuffling stuff between your bank, bags and the mailbox.

I know a few people that would be interested in this. Some people love playing the AH.

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darkjedi
Posted 06:46pm 19/5/10

You know that from personal experience or you read/heard it somewhere?

Allow me to demonstrate.

First, I open the app and get presented with the login screen:

Once I enter my details and it thinks about it:

I get this screen:

Notice how it isn't prompting me to enter the Keychain from the Authenticator at any point? The shiny new Auction button is there too, just begging me to jump in and start selling my stuff off!

I know I'm making something out of not much, given the effort required to get someone's username/pw and all.. However given the lengths some of these account stealers go to, it's a fair concern. Admittedly they've said there's a 25 transaction per day limit, but look to extend that out a fair bit once the service is up and running smoothly.

last edited by darkjedi at 18:46:00 19/May/10

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Thundercracker
Posted 06:53pm 19/5/10

Yeah their authenticator support can be flaky on systems that aren't the main game clients or the battle.net website.

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Basket
Posted 07:43pm 19/5/10

i was put on this earth.... just for this moment in history

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Methz
Posted 10:49pm 19/5/10

this is pretty sweet. I make all my gold through the auction house nowdays.
Also,the $3 a month would just be spent on other games from itunes anyways,so this isn't an issue.

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quix0tic
Posted 11:03pm 19/5/10

Lives... people who use this, have none - it's pathetic.

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molokoplus
Posted 12:17am 20/5/10

this is just sad

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Nerfbringer
Posted 12:28am 20/5/10

'Rawr games are bad' they say on the gaming forums.

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Methz
Posted 12:44am 20/5/10

Haha, you bothered to waste your third post on a gaming forum saying that ppl who play games/ iphone apps have no life?
I think it is you sir, who have no life.

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taggs
Posted 01:28am 20/5/10

as someone who has played wow on and off since vanilla; i seriously don't understand how (most) people could be mad at this.

all it does is increase the volume of trades in the AH. those who want to pay for the extra access will do so, those who don't won't.

this will make the AH more efficient with prices more accurately reflecting the core or theoretical values as determined by supply/demand.

as a casual player (or any player for that matter) this would mean that prices in the AH more accurately reflect their long-term or theoretical values. this will reduce the volatility in the prices for most, if not all, items. e.g. there's less of a chance you'll go to buy that trade item or purp and find that it's stupidly expensive. on the flip-side there's the same reduced chance that you'll find that same trade item or purp at a stupidly low price.

by the same token this will mean that mispricings in the market will be harder to exploit so that the rents or abnormal returns that some players find by playing the market may be harder to achieve. e.g. the people who buy up all of a specific item then to resell it at a higher price may find their ability to execute such a trade diminished as the market for all goods increases.

i think this would be a net gain to most wow players, at the expense of a few hardcore players/traders.

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Khel
Posted 09:28am 20/5/10

Lives... people who use this, have none - it's pathetic.

Actually, the sort of person who uses this probably does have a life, otherwise they'd be sitting at home in front of WoW instead of out somewhere and having to use their mobile phone to manage their stuff.

I don't have a problem with this, its a cool idea. Its not something I'd ever use, but I can see its benefit. $3 a month is a pretty insignificant cost, and its not like this is an unheard of business model, paying a bit extra for premium features on your account.

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TicMan
Posted 10:41am 20/5/10

It's a cool idea for those that actively play the AH but not something I'd be that interested in. $3/mth is nothing compared to well .. anything really, I just spent $3.40 on a coffee and I do that every morning (OH NOES THE BANK IS BREAKING!@).

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Jim
Posted 10:44am 20/5/10

hehe funny old no-life ticman and his coffee

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Dazhel
Posted 10:56am 20/5/10

Apart from the cashcow aspect...
I don't see how this benefits the game in any way?
That's very unusual for blizzard...

The game? Who said all software related to the game has to be to the benefit of the game?
This benefits Blizzard by keeping people in the game!

Also, The Game.

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quix0tic
Posted 09:58am 21/5/10

"Actually, the sort of person who uses this probably does have a life, otherwise they'd be sitting at home in front of WoW instead of out somewhere and having to use their mobile phone to manage their stuff.

I don't have a problem with this, its a cool idea. Its not something I'd ever use, but I can see its benefit. $3 a month is a pretty insignificant cost, and its not like this is an unheard of business model, paying a bit extra for premium features on your account."

Not really... the person who uses this is most likely the kind of person to use it when they wake up before their computer has booted because every second of their life revolves around WoW, that is why I said it was pathetic... and it still is, if you honestly think it's a fantastic idea for a game that already devours 90% of some peoples lives, to then become part of that other 10% you have issues sir.

And to whoever said something about this being my third post and I have no life - the fact that I've only made 3 posts should elude to the fact that I have better things to do than post on here, I'm sick, deal with it and go sell some more s*** on the AH.

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NoLogic
Posted 10:57am 21/5/10

This is a great app for me - awww s*** I have no iPhone and that in itself is a huge win for the Apple and Blizzard think tanks.

I will get an iPhone just to use this app, no question. I take my laptop to work atm and log on at least 3 times a day to manage my AH items, this will put an end to that.

WoW has how many subs worldwide? 15m .. what percentage will jump on this like me?

F*** they are smart bastages imo :)

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trog
Posted 11:00am 21/5/10

Not really... the person who uses this is most likely the kind of person to use it when they wake up before their computer has booted because every second of their life revolves around WoW, that is why I said it was pathetic... and it still is, if you honestly think it's a fantastic idea for a game that already devours 90% of some peoples lives, to then become part of that other 10% you have issues sir.

I would expect an app like this would actually open up MORE spare non-game time for these people, who now don't have to resort to being in-game to perform actions like this

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Khel
Posted 11:11am 21/5/10

if you honestly think it's a fantastic idea for a game that already devours 90% of some peoples lives, to then become part of that other 10% you have issues sir.

I think the person who lets the game take up 90% of their time is the one with issues, thats not really the game's fault, that just some really poor time management skills. I manage to play WoW and have a life just fine, I think so far this week I've spent maybe 10 hours playing it, I'm sure theres people who play more CS or whatever than that.

And to whoever said something about this being my third post and I have no life - the fact that I've only made 3 posts should elude to the fact that I have better things to do than post on here, I'm sick

Maybe you don't have time to post more because 90% of your time is taken up by playing wow?

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darkjedi
Posted 11:38am 21/5/10

Not really... the person who uses this is most likely the kind of person to use it when they wake up before their computer has booted because every second of their life revolves around WoW, that is why I said it was pathetic... and it still is, if you honestly think it's a fantastic idea for a game that already devours 90% of some peoples lives, to then become part of that other 10% you have issues sir.

You sir, are a troll. However I'll bite.

You're basically making a general assumption that every WoW player fits some sort of stereotype. You know what happens when you assume something, right? I'm sorry if you dislike World of Warcraft and understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea. Sounds like this has hit a bit of a raw nerve though, don't you think?

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