PleegWat wrote:This morning (~4 hours ago) I took a look at that too. It runs completely on javascript, with a couple of xml feeds. I've confirmed there is no referrer checking on those feeds, so we can use them to pull roster data.

We're definitely gonna use that in R2. I'll see what I can do in an addon for roster 1x.

YAAAAY! i was coming here to ask or find out this info, because although blizz now gives the roster info i find it isnt as great for tracking all the other stuff that our current rosters do

for me the BIGGEST reason i use roster is in guild management (keeping track of who logs in when, frequency of logins in case old players need to be trimmed, keeping track of when people leave and join the guild! < most important one for me that the blizz armory doesnt do)

But imo if the armory further enhances what you guys offer in current functionality i will be a happy pig!

PleegWat wrote:This morning (~4 hours ago) I took a look at that too. It runs completely on javascript, with a couple of xml feeds. I've confirmed there is no referrer checking on those feeds, so we can use them to pull roster data.

We're definitely gonna use that in R2. I'll see what I can do in an addon for roster 1x.

awesome news!

I just tried it out. I see a "Loading" pop up in the corner but nothing happens.

What would be cool is a scraper app that can be run from a cron job at random intervals that then uploads to one's website. It would need to be very tolerant of timeout issues (including partial data), considering how fragile Blizzard's site is proving to be.

That page on blizz is super-slow too.. I honestly, don't care for it.

Along with Pleegwat, I've spent all day messing with it, and taking a look at the xml feeds, as well as making some of a parser for it.

Right now, there are no plans to put this into Roster 1.x, as roster would most likely break with the lack of information available from this. I, for a short time, was considering making an addon to import this information, but will not due to the possibility of it breaking roster.

Rest assured, that if I can find a reliable way of importing this data without the potential of breaking something, I will do it.

As soon as I heard about Blizzard's Armory site, I rushed here to see if there was any discussion of it being integrated for Roster. I am ecstatic to see that you are already working on ways of doing this.

I am not sure how plausible these ideas would be, but here is my "wish list" of features:

• If profile on Armory is broken (because of site problems, character is too low level, or inactive character) profile defaults back to uploaded info
• Any info missing (either from incomplete data, or just not supplied by blizzard's setup) will automatically default back to uploaded info

I look forward to see what Roster will do with this brand new tool. It may seem buggy and underdeveloped now, but remember it is still in BETA. And it is only one or two days old. LOL.

I can't wait to see what this turns into.

On a side note, Jessy, your Avatar and Signatures are down right sexy. Those are great, and I would love if you could release those as a pack for siggen!

The way I envision this going down, is that on initial guild load, or a button press, it would download guild roster from Armory, add in the data for anyone who hasn't uploaded, and if it's been more than a month since a character uploaded, replace their current data with armory information.

But, since this will be in Roster 2.0, this won't be any time soon. I'll see if I can't start working on an addon, and just fake some information to get this working.

XML feeds would be awsome but not necissary... data mining script ftw.

Sure, you can mine off HTML, but XML is easier.

Anyway, the armory runs on xml feeds itself.

We're definitely looking at The Armory and wonder realistically what it will mean for the fate of WoWRoster, which we have grown to use for our guild. What sort of XML data is being generated by the Armory guild listings and character profile pages?

When you say R1 versus R2, what exactly are these?

Thanks!

R1, we actually refer to as Roster 1.x is the current line of Roster

R2, is a complete re-write of Roster

I foresee that the new Armory won't really hurt the Roster community as it's created and maintained by Blizzard. We all know how Blizzard takes forever to get things right and even then it's still wrong. The armory will be nice when/if it ever gets completed, but nothing will replace the good ol WoW Roster. If anything it will help streamline WoW Roster and make it better than ever.

I would say that the Armory is nowhere near a replacement for roster. There's far too much data left out. Besides - I like having my guild roster on my own website. Unless Blizzard can speed up their system TREMENDOUSLY - I can't see it becoming much more than a way for solo players to check out the character info while offline, or for people to do some tactical research on other players in the arena circuit and such. All that aside - the plugins and other functionality that the current roster system offers is off the chart - I can't see Blizzard setting up writ calculators, missing recipe searches, quest searches, etc. etc. - all tools that myself and my guildies use all the time.

The fact that it runs on XML feeds does afford some interesting possiblities - I like the idea that the feed would fill in some (if not all) of the roster data for characters that cannot or do not upload to the site. About 1/3 of my membership keeps their characters updated - so it'd be nice to see some of that data from those that don't filled in - even if it's not as in depth as a full upload.

All that said - the Armory sure isn't gonna replace MY roster!

Thanks for the great stuff guys!

-Jason
http://www.freeknightsalliance.com

Their layout is fucking crazy.. they have to many awesome designers there..

I see a good chance in ripping the XML feeds and basicly taking alot of their design to make a roster that looks awesome .. but still with possibilities to get xtra data from the luaparser.

There are no plans for a big design overhaul in the 1x line. R2 is a different matter, it doesn't have its own look defined yet and we may steal some ideas from this.