World of Warcraft Auction House Opening In Real World

Non-World of Warcraft players constantly hear about how addictive Blizzard's hit MMO is. Recently they've had to watch it work its way into the lives of their loved ones even when they're not logged in via the introduction of The Armory, an official Blizzard tool that allows you to check out your characters' gear, Achievements, and more through any web browser. With recent news of another big update coming to the Armory, the addiction is about to get more powerful.

A post from a Blizzard employee on the official World of Warcraft forums reveals that the game's auction house will be receiving new out-of-game functionality through the Armory. Essentially, once the service launches, players will be able to access and use the in-game auction house through the Armory website or the Armory iPhone app, letting you take your lucrative in-game business dealings into the real world.

The post stressed that the new service is still being worked on and does not have an official release date set yet. It also noted that elements of the auction service will be "premium-based." Does this mean that players will be charged for each out-of-game auction house transaction that they make? Could Blizzard begin selling stuff through the auction house for real-world money (like they've already done with in-game pets)? We'll have to wait and see.

Until those details come in, though, consider me psyched. I'm looking forward to a time in the near future when I can spend half my days at work browsing the auction house and hunting down great deals.

[Image via Aspect Guide]