world-of-warcraft-armory
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The Daily Grind: How do you like side applications?
If you're playing World of Warcraft, increasingly, you have options available to keep you playing the game even if you're logged off. With several apps running off the Armory and the recent announcement of a planned Auction House access feature as a premium, there's almost no reason to log in at all. Unless you want to level up, quest, roleplay, raid, PvP, explore... okay, there's plenty of reason to log in, but there are more options than ever to let you handle matters inside the game while not even close to your computer. It's not unprecedented by any means, as both Fallen Earth (coming soon) and Champions Online also offer applications for the iPhone to help take care of the game's management functions while you're away from your computer. With the continued advent of more functional mobile devices and more robust web environments through services such as Facebook, games can offload many of the more tedious bits of gameplay into applications players just run through quickly on a break at their day job. What do you think of the increasing trend? Are you happy to have the option to take care of administrative tasks when not near your computer, or do you see it as intrusive and unnecessary?
Anti-Aliased: I've got nothing to hide
So, it's late night on Wednesday night, I just got done watching Top Gear, and I need something to write about. Lucky for me that Blizzard has given me the perfect topic -- MMO privacy. Thanks to a new development in their World of Warcraft Armory program, privacy advocates are up in arms and I've got a topic to discuss. For all those of you who may be late to the game, Blizzard is adding RSS feeds to the Armory. Basically, the Armory will now report on the exact time you do an "Armory worthy" activity, such as boss kills, achievements, item pickups, and more. People can subscribe to your RSS feed, so then they know exactly when you do something in World of Warcraft. This has, of course, sent privacy advocates into a tailspin of anger. There's no opt-out button for the Armory, so your playing style in World of Warcraft is going to be exposed whether you like it or not. The topic has even spawned a 59+ page thread on the European forums! So what's my take on it? Well, I'm glad you asked. Here at Anti-Aliased, I've got nothing to hide.
Testers wanted for new iPhone Armory application
Elad Shahar, a student at University of Massachusetts Lowell, has developed a web interface that will allow you to search the Armory on your iPhone or iPod touch's MobileSafari. He's released a new version today, polished to the point where he's looking for people to help him test the application and to offer ideas and suggestions. iArmory lets you do the searches you'd expect -- by player or guild -- and serves up results in a clean, Apple-like format that's designed especially for the iPhone's screen. The one catch is that the Armory has been stripped of its images, including items, tooltips, and fancy borders. What you get is a simple text display of the information you searched for. You can see images of the interface on Elad's website, Omen of Clarity. So, if you are, you know, hip enough to own an iPhone or an iPod touch (which I'm, uh, not), and you are reading this post (which means you probably play WoW), then get your Armory-lovin' self over to Omen of Clarity's contact page and volunteer your services as a tester. Git, I said!
