The Diablo III "Real Money" Auction House

Now, this is a controversial subject to say the least... That's why I can't wait to discuss it!

This "Real Money" Auction House in Diablo III has been hyped to all hell recently, since it was announced by Blizzard during the Diablo III press conference.
To summarise, Blizzard announced that like their popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, Diablo III will have an Auction House system featured in it.
But unlike WoW, Diablo III will have not one, but TWO auction houses. One will be solidly built around an in-game gold economy, whilst the other will be able to sell the same things, plus gold for real money.
That is correct, Blizzard are going to implement and support a way of selling gold and items in Diablo III, thus legalising what is currently illegal in WoW and many other MMOs.

Of course, all over the net, people are up in arms about this. Angrily saying things like "Blizzard are cash-grabbing nonces", "This is just going to support chinese gold farmers" and ":OOOOOO MMMMMMOOOONNNNNNNEEEEEEHHHHHZZZZZZ!?!??!?111?".
Usually, I will have a very strong opinion on one side of an arguement. But with this, I am uncertain about what my opinion is on this matter.

Of course I'm going to start with the negatives. I'm British, my whole world is based around negatives. There are places, particularly in China, where people are employed (or sometimes forced) to play video games for extensive periods of time, farming gold and items, and selling them for real-life currency. Earning themselves the name "Gold Farmers". This auction house system is going to provide an easier way for these people to sell their items and gold for money, effectively some people could say (and some people already have) that Blizzard are supporting these offices, and even sweatshops or prisons that will be used to farm and sell the in-game gold.
This could cause a huge upset to the economy. You will either have gold-farmers that post their auctions for extremely low prices, which will not only stop legitimate players from selling their hard-earned items; but will also make players on the other side buy them even more because of the low prices. Kind of like how supermarkets undercut eachother's prices in real life.
Or you could find the overzealous farmer, that tries to play the auction house like most players, and will post his items for the normal price (or just a bit lower) to make a bit more money than posting it lower.
However, Blizzard have indeed implemented ways of stopping both. There are numerous fees that are not only legally required, but required to stop outrageously low price drops in the game's economy. Their are, to my knowledge, three fees in place.

1. A sum of money must be placed on each auction as a deposit. Like in WoW with a sum of gold, and I'm assuming the same will be in the Diablo III gold auction house.
2. A transaction fee is a legal requirement, so when one sells, Blizzard must legally charge one a sum of money on the transaction.
3. Blizzard's (Greedy Grubby Cash-Grabbing) fee. Of course, Blizzard has to make money from this, 3% of the money made from each sale goes towards Activision Blizzard.

 This means that players and gold farmers alike, must be careful when handling the real-money auction house, so as not to lose money by aggresively posting and cancelling. Because if an auction fails or is cancelled, the deposit is lost forever. And if someone posts for an obsurdley low price, they will make minimal money from it, or even make a loss!

Now in any case, no matter what Blizzard do there is going to be gold-farming in Diablo III. That is just a fact. If there is a real-money auction house, there will be a way of gold-farming in game. If there isn't, they'll set up gold sites, do it anyway and make more money from it.
Out of anything infact... the real-money auction house is oddly, not preventing gold-farming, but reducing the profit that these people that we find oh so annoying make from farming for long hours each day.

Now to get to the good stuff.
Take this imaginary man called Jeff. Jeff is 39, has a wife, kids, good job and plays Diablo III. Because of the job and family, Jeff will not have as much time to play Diablo III as the average player. So he will not be able to farm for long hours for the item he craves so much. With the real-money auction house, he can buy the item and have fun with it without all the hassle.
Now take this imaginary kid called Timothy. Timothy is 16, he's finished school, he has rich parents and as a result is very spoilt. He also plays Diablo III. Because of his rich parents, and spoilt personality. He believes anything he wants he can buy. Now this may be true, but this will come to an extent. He will be seen in whatever town he is in walking around in his shiny gear and might even brag of how easily he obtained it. Now Jeff approaches him because he and his friends plan on running an instance and need a Demon Hunter for the group (The class that Timothy plays). Timothy readily agrees to join their group but they find out quickly that he is not as skilled as his gear says he is. He is indeed, a whiney scrub in purples (WoW reference). The instantly kick him out of the group and find someone else. He undergoes the same fate with every other group he tries to get into.
Finally, there is one last imaginary character called David. David is 25, unemployed and plays Diablo III. Because of the current state of the economy in the real world, David finds it hard to find a job. So he spends long hours playing Diablo III. He aquires alot of stuff that wouldn't do him squat in real life, and he finds little use for in the game. So he posts it on the auction house. Eventually, he becomes well-inclined as to the inner workings of this in-game economy with real money. And manages to make himself money from it. Admitedly the money is small compared to what he could make from a job. But what money would he make otherwise?

The real money auction house could not only be a curse on the game, but a blessing as well. Yes it allows easier access for gold-farmers. Yes people with lots of money can easily buy items with minimal effort. But it can also provide a bit of funding towards true players of the game.
If you have a problem with the auction house, you have 2 options. Either buy the game and don't use it, or attempt to boycott the games release.

I am still unsure about what I think about the auction house but I know I am still going to play the game and seek any enjoyment I can from it.

Anyway, that was just my opinion on the matter. The auction house is a controversial concept, and I will continue to discuss it as I find out more about it. I will also be following Markco's new gold guide to see his opinions on the matter and any updates about the subject.

I am Zamros, and this made me feel better.