The announcment that the forthcoming Diablo III will have an auction house system catches my eye because we’re talking an auction house here that can result in cashing out real money from the game. The currency based system will be optional and if players prefer they will be able to trade with inworld gold instead, but it will be seen as an interesting development in the gaming world, micro transactions and the ability to cash out have been a strong driving force behind Second Life, seeing this system extended to a game is interesting, from the FAQ:
Can players choose to get cash from currency-based auction house sales, instead of having the proceeds deposited into their Battle.net account?
Yes, as an advanced feature, players will have the option of attaching an account with an approved third-party payment service to their Battle.net account. Once this has been completed, proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house can be deposited into their third-party payment service account. “Cashing out” would then be handled through the third-party payment service. Note that this process will be subject to applicable fees charged by Blizzard and the third-party payment service. Also, any proceeds from the sale of items in the currency-based auction house that have been deposited into the Battle.net account will not be transferrable to the third-party payment service account. Not all regions will support this advanced feature at launch. Region-specific details, as well as details regarding which third-party payment services will be supported and the fee that Blizzard will charge for the cash-out process, will all be provided at a later date.
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