Diablo III Updates for May 2nd

Blizzard have announced a number of details surrounding the upcoming launch of Diablo III, including the availability of the real-money Auction House for Kiwi players.

User-selectable Regions
Players from New Zealand will be able to play on servers from any of the game's three regions, which switching between them a matter of changing a menu option in-game. However, there are a few things to be aware of:

1. Your friends lists are locked to a region. If you switch regions, you will not be able to talk to those friends without switching back or adding them again in the new region.
2. You can only talk to people via the in-game chat system, including your friends, who are playing on the same region.
3. Characters and items are also region-locked, and you cannot transfer them between regions.
4. You cannot change your "home" region. Based on where your Battle.net account is set to, your home region determines which real-money auction house you'll have access to.

The regions announced so far break down as follows:

1. The Americas - For players in the US, Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia.
2. Europe - For players in the European Union, Eastern Europe, Russia, Africa, and Middle Eastern countries such as Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
3. Asia - For players in South Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

People who just buy a copy of the game at retail in New Zealand (or digitally, via Battle.net) will default to "The Americas" without having to choose a setting.

You can find out more about Global Play on the Battle.net blog.

Real Money Auction House
Diablo III supports two different kinds of "massively multiplayer" auction houses: one that uses the in-game currency (gold) and one that uses real money.

Blizzard have updated the frequently asked questions (FAQs) for the service, including detailing how it will work for gamers in New Zealand. Some interesting points:

1. You can only trade on the Real Money Auction House in "The Americas" region, no matter what region you choose from the in-game menu (see "User-selectable Regions", above)
2. You can choose to trade in either USD, AUD, CLP (Chilean Pesos), MXN (Mexican Pesos), or ARS (Argentine Pesos). NZD is not an option.
3. You can have a maximum of ten items for sale on both the in-game currency auction house and the real-money auction house
4. There is a flat fee of US$1 or AU$1 per individual item sold, or 15% for stackable items (like currency and other components or consumables)
5. The service will support PayPal for Kiwi gamers, however electing to use this option (instead of having the money deposited into your Battle.net account) will attract a further fee of 15%
6. If you plan on your Battle.net account balance exceeding US$100 through sales on the auction house, you will be required to attach a Battle.net Authenticator to your account.

You can find out detailed information about the auction house system in the comprehensive FAQ or check out a complete guide to the service here