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Edited by Zeherah on 11/5/10 12:46 AM (PDT)
So far I'm really liking the look of the new site, but I have some concerns.
1) As the developer of a site which imports characters from the Armory, I'm excited to see support for reforging implemented. But I'm a little concerned that the new page format doesn't seem to default to XML. Is there a way to get the XML version or do I need to manually parse out all the data (which although doable is obviously messier and more prone to error). Will there be an official Blizzard mechanism for remote loading data from armory that might leave off some of the fluff, to make things lighter on load for both ends? 2) The search is kind of neat, but I found it a little annoying at first since I couldn't find out how to do a forum specific search. Turns out there's a little forum button at the top if you have any forum search results but it's easy to miss. Making it more confusing to do forum searches is going to encourage people to not bother and just post without searching so this worries me a bit (god knows we get tons of repetitive questions on the forums). 3) If there's an advanced search that allows some filtering on results (by date, poster, etc.) I can't seem to find it. The search has always been a serious issue with the official forums (I generally find it's easier to locate posts via Google than the built in search) and I was really hoping in the forum update that it would be improved. 4) The advanced display for characters is pretty cool, I like it! 5) This isn't a huge deal, but pets still only display one spec in the character display (I assume the one of whichever spec the hunter was in when they last logged out). It would be kinda cool if you could actually see both specs when you have 2 hunter specs. 6) I'm guessing the current character display is temporary and it'll look more like our characters later? I look kinda funny on my hunter without my trademark braids. 7) I don't have an easy way to check right now if it's supported already, but I hope the new character display will be able to show the random stats on items that can have random stats, especially given it looks like there will be epic items of this type in the coming expansion. I'm sure I'll have lots more feedback later, but this is just what I've noticed from a quick onceover. Great start! Edit: When I went to edit my post I also noticed that the paragraph breaks between my list items above were converted into single line breaks (which squished all my text into a hard to read block). I went back to fix it, but this definitely seems like a bug that I hope can be fixed. |
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Edited by Stahlhammer on 11/5/10 1:14 AM (PDT)
I too would love to see XML source for the new "armory".
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I have been pilfering through the different files and the closest thing I could find to a XML source would be the information that summary.js creates in the main file.
/<
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I'm also curious about whether or not there will be an XML source available somewhere, would be a shame to lose it.
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that's the first thing I went looking for too
really hope they keep providing xml |
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I would also be disappointed to lose XML markup from the Armory. For basic character data and stats parsing the HTML source wont be too bad, but for someone who collects achievement data I can't find any easy way to get this.
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Web & Mobile Team
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Whew, lots of good questions, let me take a stab at addressing some of these:
1) As the developer of a site which imports characters from the Armory, I'm excited to see support for reforging implemented. But I'm a little concerned that the new page format doesn't seem to default to XML. Is there a way to get the XML version or do I need to manually parse out all the data (which although doable is obviously messier and more prone to error). Will there be an official Blizzard mechanism for remote loading data from armory that might leave off some of the fluff, to make things lighter on load for both ends? We will definitely still provide XML feeds to 3rd party sites. The plan is to leave the existing Armory up for feeds until we have the new XML implemented so as not to break anything. 2) The search is kind of neat, but I found it a little annoying at first since I couldn't find out how to do a forum specific search. Turns out there's a little forum button at the top if you have any forum search results but it's easy to miss. Making it more confusing to do forum searches is going to encourage people to not bother and just post without searching so this worries me a bit (god knows we get tons of repetitive questions on the forums). We have plans to add a lot more search functionality, but this will likely be introduced as a series of improvements over the long run. 3) If there's an advanced search that allows some filtering on results (by date, poster, etc.) I can't seem to find it. The search has always been a serious issue with the official forums (I generally find it's easier to locate posts via Google than the built in search) and I was really hoping in the forum update that it would be improved. Not yet, but this is one of the features we are working on. 4) The advanced display for characters is pretty cool, I like it! Sweet, thanks! 5) This isn't a huge deal, but pets still only display one spec in the character display (I assume the one of whichever spec the hunter was in when they last logged out). It would be kinda cool if you could actually see both specs when you have 2 hunter specs. Good point, for now the pet spec is locked to the character, but we can look into adding the other spec as well. 6) I'm guessing the current character display is temporary and it'll look more like our characters later? I look kinda funny on my hunter without my trademark braids. Can you be more specific? This sounds like it may be a rendering issue... 7) I don't have an easy way to check right now if it's supported already, but I hope the new character display will be able to show the random stats on items that can have random stats, especially given it looks like there will be epic items of this type in the coming expansion. We show the stats once they have been determined, so for example, on a character you should see them. On an item prior to that determination, we will look into showing the potential modifiers as well. |
#8
11/5/2010
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I'm glad to hear these things are still being worked on. I was mostly concerned about the XML thing, but if it's on the list then I can certainly wait till you guys can add support (my users have been chomping at the bit for reforge import!).
6) I'm guessing the current character display is temporary and it'll look more like our characters later? I look kinda funny on my hunter without my trademark braids. I think this is because you show up in ghost form till you log your character in, which I didn't realize till after I posted this. My picture is loading properly on the character display now, although for some reason my head is still in ghost form next to my posts. |
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Try doing a hard refresh, Zeherah. Your head's been showing fine for awhile now. Ah silly me I didn't think to do a fresh reload. The other parts of the page had updated on their own without me forcing them. Yay I'm no longer a ghost! |
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In the advanced I see the added "Equip:" on my tinkered items popup but its not listed in green under the item names in the overview, and instead it shows those items as not enchanted. Shouldn't Tinker like Flexweave Underlay and Nitro Boost be listed as Item enhancement like enchantments? Since they provide some stats boost at the same time too!
I love that new site btw! |
Try doing a hard refresh, Zeherah. Your head's been showing fine for awhile now. Oddness... my characters are still coming up as black-silhouettes/ghosts. Perhaps I have to post something? Several browser cache clears later... Not that I'm necessarily complaining, though. Looking at my "character" on the new character sheet page actually looks like a pretty epic graphical effect. I'm sure it's a default image, though, that just happens to be similar to her current gear set. (Yes, my warrior shows up the same, too) |
Oddness... my characters are still coming up as black-silhouettes/ghosts. Perhaps I have to post something? Several browser cache clears later... You actually logged into the game, right? Might take a couple minutes to show up on the forums, from my experience :) |
Didn't even think of it that way. I kept reading "Log In" so I did- to battle net. That makes sense now, in retrospect, but I've been working on LDAP/ActiveDIrectory SSOI stuff all week, so maybe my brain is in the wrong bucket. I'll log into the game when I get home from the office. |
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I have a few questions about the new Armory Display.
Personally I am loving the new look of it, if we were to lose the pose frame I wouldn't cry, just mostly curious. Also really digging the personal character icons, nicely done. |
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Web & Mobile Team
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I have a few questions about the new Armory Display. When complete it will replace the Armory. It will also reintroduce 3D character poses as well as the ability for you to change your pose/background for your 2D render. |
#20
11/5/2010
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