Remote Auction House Beta
I've spent the last few days testdriving the WoW remote auction house beta and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. It includes an update to the iPhone Armory application as well as an updated web interface.
One caveat is that because the character has to exist on the Armory, there's no support for level 1 AH mules. For now, I'm using my Death Knight as my auctioneer but in the long term I suspect I'll want to level a dedicated mule to 10.
The interface allows you to browse current Auctions on your server, bid and buyout auctions, and create auctions. During the beta there is a limitation of 25 transactions a day that will be raised to 200 with a paid subscription to WoW remote. If you have an authenticator on your account, you will need to have it on hand to use the AH functions of the armory. Interestingly, the iPhone client will allow you to see your auctions and browse the AH and only requires your authenticator to create, bid, buy, or claim your gold. The WoW armory web interface on the other hand requires you to use your authenticator to access any part of the AH.
Summary
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The summary screen provides access to the other AH functions as well as showing you some statistics for your auctions. The gold earned is the total of sold auctions, and resets to zero every time you take the gold out of your mailbox. You'll note the ability to select the Neutral AH - no more parking an alt down in Booty Bay or Gadgetzan to corner the market on faction-specific pets.
Browse
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The Browse function is reasonably self explanatory and works much like the normal AH. One of the enhancements in the armory version is that you can sort by item price, making it far easier to see if those stacks of 20 are a better deal than the individual items listed.
My Bids
Given I only tend to grab items with buyout prices, I haven't used the bid interface at all.
My Auctions
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My Auctions shows Active, Sold, and Ended auctions. For those that have sold, a button appears that allows you to claim all of your gold at once. I don't run a mail mod, so I love this feature.
Create Auctions
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This uses the new AH interface that allows you to post multiple stacking items at once, and price per stack or per item. Items can be listed from your mail, bank, or bags which is extremely convenient. Expired listings can be reposted at the click of a button.
I'm quite excited by this feature. As a very time-limited casual player, the ability to do some wheeling and dealing on my phone while commuting or over lunch is very appealing. It requires a change of tradeskill workflow - I've been buying materials in higher quantities, and holding a week's worth of cut gems, runescrolls, and other hot-selling items on the bank alt. My strongest criticism so far is with the transaction limit. I'm no goblin, but I still very quickly hit 25 auctions in a day. The 200 auction limit is probably more realistic even for a casual player and still close to useless for a real AH goblin.
Usually I only have enough time to relist auctions two or three times a week. Now I'm managing to do it multiple times every day I'm really seeing the difference in how much gold I'm making. Previously I made around 500 - 1000g a week but now I've managed to make 1000 gold in 3 days, without needing to log on at home. I've also been able to spot some great bargains on saronite ore, my main moneymaker, and grab them all remotely from the office.
Being time-poor, I'm always looking for ways to get the most out of the game without needing to play every day. The remote AH looks like a great means to be competitive with the players who are online every day and earning gold, without needing to sacrifice my personal life to do it. I'll definitely be subscribing when the beta ends.