concerns
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Computerworld on Blizzard's Warden at work
We've covered the topic of Warden in the past, and you've probably already got an opinion on what it does to your computer system. Blizzard runs the Warden program alongside your WoW client, and while it runs it examines what else is running on your system -- if there are any third party programs (either hacks or cheat programs) interfering with the client, it lets Blizzard know, and shuts down the client. The obvious privacy concern here, of course, is that Warden is basically watching what you do outside of the game. And while Blizzard has maintained that the program is simply meant to check for hacks and cheats (they also say that no personally identifiable information is sent back to them, though IPs and other network information definitely are), there's always a chance that Warden could see you doing something you don't want it to. Computerworld's Security section has a nice long article on all of the implications of Warden, especially in one of the more sensitive areas of security: the workplace. While most of us probably won't ever play World of Warcraft at work, there are certainly companies where installing and playing the game at certain times is appropriate. And it's probably in those situations where Warden could be its most dangerous. If you trust Blizzard with your information, then you'll have nothing to worry about. But if you don't know what Warden is sending back, there's always a chance that it could be something more sensitive than you'd like. Of course, there is a hard and fast solution to this: don't play World of Warcraft on computers that have anything you wouldn't want shared with Blizzard or anyone else. As Computerworld concludes, it's a choice-and-consequences kind of thing. Warden is up and running every time you play WoW, for better or worse -- if you don't want it watching what you're doing, the only guaranteed way out is to not play World of Warcraft.
Hockenberry, Maheux respond in exclusive TUAW talkcast interview
On last night's talkcast, the Iconfactory's Gedeon Maheux and Craig Hockenberry joined us to discuss their concerns with the App Store, and they noted that Friday's layout changes are a step in the right direction. "It's another of many steps that Apple's making to make the iTunes infrastructure work better with applications for the iPhone," Hockenberry said. Even so, they explained there's still room for improvement. Hockenberry would like to see a popularity algorithm that takes into account the price of an app along with the number of times its been downloaded. "If you sell ... ten apps at $100 or a hundred apps at $10 or a thousand apps at $1, you're all equal." He also wanted to see a kind of demo system implemented, but knew that would involve more work for Apple. Maheux said he would prefer to see more data about where apps are being sold: on a category page versus a tile on the App Store home page, for example. He also pointed out that having an app displayed on the home page results in an astronomical increase in sales. "All those people who say that ... you can market your way to the top: I completely disagree with them. They don't know what they're talking about. ... Being on the [App Store] front page is all that matters." He said the Iconfactory applauds Apple for responding to developer feedback and improving the App Store. "Anything that starts a dialogue about this stuff is a good thing." The Iconfactory has released two iPhone apps: the popular twitter client Twitterrific, and strategy game Frenzic. You can listen to the interview at our Talkshoe page, or via iTunes. The interview starts at about the 25 minute mark. Don't skip the the first part of the talkcast, though, where Dave, Mel and I discuss Apple's netbook possibilities and the ideal kitchen computer.
GOA addresses WAR's EU issues
Apparently, folks aren't too pleased with the way GOA is handling Warhammer Online over in Europe. If this is news to you, welcome to two months ago. Yet, in their defense, GOA has been working to remedy these concerns and address many of the issues that have been alienating European WAR players since before launch.In a recent forum post, GOA's Community Manager, Magnus, confronted these problems and let players know that they're not only aware of what's going on, but they're working to fix it. This wasn't quite enough for one blogger at Books of Grudges who described their frustration at what they say "smacks of PR." If the on-going issues with GOA have been affecting you lately, check out the Magnus post and the Book of Grudges response. You may find that you share their opinion.
Breakfast topic: Burning questions
Wrath of the Lich King news started off as a trickle. First it was the development of the expansion than the addition of the Death Knight class. Then we had a lot of speculation and evasive answers from Blizzard. Now that the Beta test has been opened up there has been a flood of information. Most of this comes from the observations and mining of players, more so than Blizzard itself. Perhaps the most frustrating part of the WoW experience is waiting for Blizzard to give us information. There are some tidbits that we're all excited to hear. When will we see Wrath go live? Will there be another expansion? Where does Kalgan live, and does he have decent body guards? I'd like to know if there are any plans for additional server types in the future. We always do our best here to get as much information about WoW as possible as quickly as we can. If you had the opportunity to ask your three most burning questions of the game developers, what would you ask?
iPhone apps through iTunes?
Here's another thing you may have heard on last week's talkcast (which again, I'm told, is this close to being edited and posted): we were talking, of course, about the new iPhone/iPod touch SDK, and knocking around ideas for how Apple might implement apps on the iPhone. Someone in the Talkshoe channel suggested something exactly like this suggestion, sent to us by reader Thomas. They'd like to see apps distributed through iTunes, just like podcasts. Choose which apps you want (submitted by their creators to Apple), dock the iPhone, and voila, apps on the iPhone.Not really a new idea, and it is pretty obvious in its implementation (I had the same idea about games for the Mac a while back). I'd love to see it happen. But the problem, of course, is just how open Steve wants to (or can be) with the iPhone SDK. I really doubt we're going to see something freely distributed, and I know for sure that we probably won't see anything that anyone can place unsigned content on. I'd love to see a quick, easy way for anyone to simply publish apps for the iPhone, but from what I've heard, there are so many security holes in the system right now that that's not really a possibility.Jobs clearly wants to fix things (if his iPhone SDK note is to be taken honestly), but unless Apple starts plugging holes fast, I don't see it happening. More likely, I'd see a few trusted developers given SDKs, and asked to create applications of their own which might then be listed on iTunes, for sale or download. Other developers could probably apply, but Apple will likely try to keep control over the whole thing, pulling an application off of iTunes (and possibly even the iPhones themselves) when a problem is discovered.It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. As I said, it would be great to see apps on the iPhone from anywhere and everywhere, but the concern we're hearing is that security is far from tight, and Apple is watching its back as closely as it can.
Spiritual Guidance: Our top class concerns
Every Saturday (usually), Eliah or Elizabeth will bring you their thoughts on the Priest class with Spiritual Guidance. Whether it's keeping your fellow players alive or melting their faces, you can read about it here!Priest is, in all honesty, my favorite class to play. I couldn't quite explain why, except to say that I've tried other classes and none of them resonate with me on the same level that Priests do. However, the class isn't perfect -- I've got to say that there are some legitimate concerns about the classes' abilities. So today we're going to discuss the Priest's top class concerns.
