[WoRBot]

Today Blizzard announced the next major feature for the World of Warcraft Armory.  It's one many players have been requesting or dreaming of for quite some time: the ability to access and take advantage of Auction House functionality outside of the game -- either through the WoWArmory.com website or via the iPhone and iPod Touch applications.

An interesting thing to note about this new service, as it's being called by Blizzard, is that portions of it will be premium-only -- details of which are still to be announced.  This looks like we could be seeing the first monthly fee-based Armory feature coming to light.

Check out the announcement below, and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

Quote

Quote from: Bornakk (Source)

Since the launch of the World of Warcraft Armory, we've been regularly releasing updates and new features designed to help players stay connected to the game even when they're not logged in. Today, we wanted to give you a heads-up about a new service now in development that will let players access the Auction House directly through the Armory website or Armory App for iPhone or iPod touch.

While there are still plenty of details to be worked out, we're designing the service to offer auction functionality similar to what's available in-game. Players have been requesting -- and we've been hoping to implement -- a feature like this for a long time, and we're excited that the Armory and the game have evolved to a point that makes it possible.

This is a fairly complex service to develop, due in large part to its unprecedented integration with the game, so we don't have an exact release date yet. It's important to note here that certain elements of the service will be premium-based, which we'll go into more detail on once the service functionality is finalized. As with all of the services we offer, we plan to integrate the Auction House and Armory in a way that won't disrupt the gameplay experience, and we won't release it until it meets the quality standards that we've set for our other features and services. You may be seeing bits and pieces of the Auction House service pop up in the test builds we use for the public test realms as we go through the process of internal testing. We'll have more info to share with you here and at http://www.WorldofWarcraft.com as we get closer to release.

[lora]

Thats a bit ridiculous.

[mascotte]

Well there goes the "paying extra doesnt benefit you ingame" theory..

[Leviathonlx]

mascotte said:

Well there goes the "paying extra doesnt benefit you ingame" theory..

It doesn't directly benefit you and we don't know what parts will cost extra.

[mascotte]

Leviathonlx said:

It doesn't directly benefit you and we don't know what parts will cost extra.

I consider faster listings/searches/more listings in a timeframe etc a benefit.
What else can they charge the service for while keeping people interested enough to purchase it?

Sure, my examples are still a far stretch from buying gold/armor etc but its getting closer to that.
A benefit is a benefit, regardless howmuch it improves your actions.

[clemm]

Ya, I'm sure this won't be exploited or anything... I can see someone setting up a bot and ya.

[Cameron]

Premium based? I pay a monthly subscription! Yet another step in the downward spiral *Sigh*

[Chrono]

Blizzard is trying to maximize their profits while the WoW boat still floats

[Jartin]

Premium based seems unfair. Its basically buying gold. The people who buy this "premium" service will, in a round about way, end up with more gold in game. Way to go Blizzard.

[Leviathonlx]

I think there is way too much doomsaying here considering we know almost nothing about how much this service will give and what the premium service will actually give.

[mascotte]

Leviathonlx said:

I think there is way too much doomsaying here considering we know almost nothing about how much this service will give and what the premium service will actually give.

Name a AH armory service you would be willing to pay a (monthly) fee for that wouldnt impact/improve your AH earnings and thus your character
Thats the question at hand from my pov.
And if its not good/nice enough, no-one would buy it.
These nice things quickly turn into a must have to compete (Same goes for addons tho).

So yeah, i agree, the info we have is very limited.
But that might very well be the idea behind this info release, to see the reaction on the concept.

[rhorle]

mascotte said:

Name a AH armory service you would be willing to pay a (monthly) fee for that wouldnt impact/improve your AH earnings and thus your character
Thats the question at hand from my pov.
And if its not good/nice enough, no-one would buy it.
These nice things quickly turn into a must have to compete (Same goes for addons tho).

So yeah, i agree, the info we have is very limited.
But that might very well be the idea behind this info release, to see the reaction on the concept.

Who says it is a monthly fee? Premium could simply refer to mobile apps having to buy it for a dollar or two. While anyone can get it for free from the website. People need stop assuming things and pre-judging an idea based on assumptions.

[Xentropy]

They said elements of the service would be premium based, not the software. Service to me implies ongoing maintenance costs. At any rate, there's no way to completely eliminate botting through a website the way you can in a game, so you can say goodbye to being able to "play the market" better than bots scanning the entire AH for deals every second of the day, 24 hours a day. Those occassional mistake postings of a full stack of frost lotus for 100g will sell before any non-bot sees it.

End result will be something to the effect of--
Pro: Far more regulated prices due to higher volume trades. Fluctuations will even themselves out and par pricing will show up above/below which you'll never find anything.

Con: Reduced or eliminated ability for someone without a bot to get any "good deals". Just buy it when you need it for the going rate and forget about "playing" the market.

[Kody]

rhorle said:

Who says it is a monthly fee? Premium could simply refer to mobile apps having to buy it for a dollar or two. While anyone can get it for free from the website. People need stop assuming things and pre-judging an idea based on assumptions.

It will either be a small monthly fee for access to certain in-game features on the website, or a very tiny per-use fee -- sort of a real life listing price.

[katuka]

I refuse to believe that they are money makers before game developers, but things like this makes me wonder :S

[Cameron]

katuka said:

I refuse to believe that they are money makers before game developers, but things like this makes me wonder :S

Of course they are. A business is a business.

[Thaoss]

Sucks to be one of the few who don't have an Iphone as well.