We're quickly approaching the release of Diablo III on May 15, and Blizzard is filling in details for its controversial Auction House system. The two-sided system, gold and real-money, will be released separately. The gold auction house will be available on release, and the real-money system one week later.

The auction systems will be similar to your typical MMO, where you can buy and sell with relative ease. Auctions last for 48 hours, where players can bid in 5% increments, set a maximum bid and engage automatic bidding, or purchase outright with the "Buy Now" option. Real-money auctions are a little more complicated, when you account for fees:

For Equipment (weapons, armor, accessories, and other unique items)                                                   

• Transaction Fee (Gold Auction House): 15% of final sale price
• Transaction Fee (Real-Money Auction House): $1.00 USD per item / $1.00 AUD per item
• Transfer Fee (when sending proceeds to PayPal or other authorized payment-service provider): 15% of amount being transferred

For Commodities  (gems, materials, dyes, pages, recipes, and other non-unique items)                                         

• Transaction Fee (Gold Auction House): 15% of final sale price
• Transaction Fee (Real-Money Auction House): 15% of final sale price
• Transfer Fee (when sending proceeds to PayPal or other authorized payment-service provider): 15% of amount being transferred

Users will have a maximum of 10 allowable auctions in both the gold and real-money auction houses, though commodities will stack and only take up one slot. Blizzard is hoping the cap will limit the amount of junk on the AH, encouraging players to make available only the finest of goods.

As an aspiring real-money trader, personally I find the fees a little excessive. I expect a majority of weapons and armor to sell for only $1-$2, which means Blizzard will be taking a ridiculous 50-100% take on most items sold. Selling highly sought out items in between the $10-20 range will be the most profitable, or perhaps stacks of high-level commodities.

Additionally, Blizzard has detailed their "Global Play" system, which allows you to make a character in any global region. Friends in Europe? How about South Korea? Switch your region and make a new character at any time. You can't switch a character's region, access your region-based shared storage, or use the real-money auction house in anything but your home region, but good on Blizzard for giving us the option at all.

For an extensive FAQ on the intricacies of the auction systems check out Blizzard's website. Diablo III will be available starting May 15.