Breakfast Topic: Mobile guild chat -- freedom or leash?
by Ian Rosenfield 
Aug 14th 2011 at 8:00AM
Blizzard recently released an update for the Mobile Armory that lets you chat with your guild from your iPhone or Android. Do you see this as an opportunity for more freedom for you to play (or not play), or are you afraid it will be more of a leash for people trying to pull you in when you'd rather not be playing WoW?
While sitting out of a raid, mobile guild chat can provide you with the opportunity to log off, walk away from the computer, and do something else, but still be connected and available if your raid group needs you. Does the idea of doing things around the house but still being available when that heroic group forms excite you? Would you like to be able to handle other projects or chores while waiting to see if anyone in your guild wants to run a heroic?
Or instead, are you afraid that your guild will require you to be available more often than you'd like? If you sit out from a raid, would you rather log off and walk away from the game for the night? Does the thought of being interrupted from your Portal 2 game to hop back on and fill in irk you? Do you have visions of being pestered to tank when you just want to sit down and play Magika?
What do you think? Are you excited to be available as much as possible, or do you prefer to have your WoW time be separate from your time away from WoW?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
justicejuice Aug 14th 2011 8:09AM
depends on the size of the guild. a smaller guild of mostly friends will love the remote chat, while a person in a bigger more demanding guild will probably feel like its a leash
tobiasmoller Aug 14th 2011 8:11AM
Isnt this the same discussion that has been going on for years and years about taking your work-cellphone back home from work ? Or on the vacation?
But no, i dont have the mobile armory, and probably wont get it.
Dboy Aug 14th 2011 8:48AM
I agree. Let us never have remotely similar discussions more than once!
Snuzzle Aug 14th 2011 11:50AM
Not really. Because it's fairly easy to simply not log in to the mobile guild chat and you simply don't show up as being online. Whereas even if you turn your phone off they can still try to call (and get a message that the phone's not available, but still).
If you're in a hardcore raiding guild, I can see them requiring you to be on the mobile chat as much as possible. But I don't think it's an issue for most people to simply not be on it if they would rather not play WoW at that time.
Bleuoval64 Aug 14th 2011 8:20AM
It is nice to be able step away while the raid fills to do other things such as eat or walk the dog, and be notified when the raid is full.
miz Aug 14th 2011 8:22AM
Frankly, I don't quite see the point of this Breakfast topic. If you don't feel like spending time with your guildies, than don't log in on your phone either? It's not like having the option to chat with guildies on your phone will make you have to be available 24/7. It's an OPTION it's OPTIONAL.
And if your guild gives you an ultimatum ("Always be logged into guild chat from your phone or you are kicked!"), than perhaps it's time for a new guild.
alastortorvald Aug 14th 2011 8:28AM
I have to agree with this comment. If you don't want to be contacted outside of the game, then don't get this feature. If you do like this feature, then get it. Nobody should feel like they have to be available 24/7 for a raid, unless they are really that committed.
Noyou Aug 14th 2011 10:40AM
The point of the breakfast topic is to fill the page up with comments and discussion. The irony is that you don't "see the point" and yet you left a nice comment.
miz Aug 14th 2011 11:49AM
I appoligize for the dumb grammar of my previous comment, I wrote it on the iPhone and it's a nightmare to correct stuff there.
@noyou
I fail to see your logic. I said that I find this subject lackluster and that I don't see much point in discussing it, and I argued why. Would you have rather me said "Dumb topic lulz" and not present my arguments?
Noyou Aug 14th 2011 12:08PM
@miz
not to pick nits but, "Frankly, I don't quite see the point of this Breakfast topic."
My comment was on that basis. I read nothing of this lackluster that you speak of in your post. I never said you had to agree or disagree in fact if you do one or the other the breakfast topic has done it's job. If you truly in fact had felt "lackluster" about it you would not have said so. Am I right? Once again the job of the breakfast topic is for you to make comments and partake in the discussion, which you did. The +/- of how you feel about it is arbitrary. Stay thirsty my friends.
Miz Aug 14th 2011 1:24PM
Whoa, chill mate, I didn't intend to offend you.
I said I don't see the point of THIS Breakfast Topic, not THE Breakfast topic in general. This, as in this particular one. I meant through that that I think it isn't a very good subject, and then I argued why. I didn't say I don't see the point in commenting at Breakfast Topics or of discussing them.
Sorry for the confusion.
Geo Lara Aug 14th 2011 8:32AM
I'd love to be able to hop into gchat while I'm on the train from work. The additional fee fore mobile armory features, isn't THAT much more worth it for me. Especially when most of my guild is on Facebook, and we could probably just use the new FB chat app for free.
Aftermathmatical Aug 14th 2011 9:01AM
I use the app constantly. I work overnight shifts as a valet at CNN and during slow nights I sit on their all the time chatting and playing the AH.
Usually if I'm on the remote chat, my guildies know that I am not at the computer and cannot play, unless I specify that I can fill in, so getting asked this or that usually isn't an issue.
The other thing, which is something that doesn't fit in the article right, is about doing other things and getting pestered to do stuff. I have the iphone version. I don't know about the android version but if you close the app to the home screen or do anything else (except puttin the phone in sleep mode while still on the app) then you are auto logged out. So its not like you'd get a text from the app or a toast about heroics or raids.
Unless of course you were just checking it every 5 sec which you just might do anyway.
AudreyR Aug 14th 2011 10:24AM
You park Anderson Cooper's car?!
Aftermathmatical Aug 14th 2011 3:15PM
Nope, the big guys at CNN have their own garage. I have parked Evander Holyfield, various members of the Atlanta Hawks, Bobby Cox's grand daughter, Roger Sanchez, as well as my favorite guest to meet and greet with so far, Mick Foley (Mankind) from old school days of wrestling.
Mycroft Aug 14th 2011 9:03AM
I'm looking forward to it! I'm saving up for an Android phone, and as soon as I get it I'm paying the extra $3 for mobile AH and gchat. I work during the time my guild raids more often than not, and if the gchat lists guild news/cheevos like it does in-game, it'd be nice to notice and hop on to congratulate the downing of a boss or the acquisition of a rare bit of loot.
For anyone whose guild would require this, that's pretty nonsensical. If you're that srs about raiding and all of you would do anything to get the best raid makeup, then chances are you might've exchanged other contact information with the raid leader. A text, instant message, or even email are also things that can make modern phones go Ding! just as much as (or better than) a mobile gchat whisper.
This got me wondering, and yes, looks like there indeed are a couple of ventrilo apps for android. Might be fun to listen in on how the raid's going.
dubiety13 Aug 14th 2011 12:41PM
Vent apps for Android? My iPhone is jealous...
And you're right, I'd imagine that most guilds who are serious about raiding also have guild webpages, FB pages, and dozens of other ways to keep in touch with one another outside the game. My guild doesn't have any of that...because it's made up of mostly RL friends and family, so we harass each other via Real ID, email, text messages, phone calls, and the occasional in-person appearance, all of which are far easier than dealing with mobile guild chat, IMO.
And as far as mobile chat being a leash? It's only constraining if you allow it. As with a cell phone, there's a simple solution to the problem of being "available" 24/7 -- ignore it. Or just log the hell off. No one is so singularly important that they have to be reachable every second of the day, especially when you consider that we're talking about a GAME. Hell, even firefighters and ER doctors get time off...
orestes Aug 14th 2011 9:37AM
Much like the RealID stuff, this holds zero interest for me. Anyone I want to find me knows very well how to do it through other more private channels and if I wanted to socialize with my guild in general I'd be logged in.
Revolting Aug 14th 2011 9:38AM
As with any tool, there are several ways to use mobile chat, and some are constructive while others are destructive.
Using mobile chat as a pager? "We need you in game NOW, drop what you're doing." Absolutely not for me, and I would not be part of any guild or team that expected this, for the same reasons that I do not give our my mobile phone number; mostly privacy, but also, when I'm out of the game, that's my time, and no guild supersedes that. (Obviously if you have committed to a raid and just not turned up, that's another matter, and appropriate guild rules and consequences should be applied.)
But what it is great for is keeping up with the guys while I'm bored but not able to play. Sometimes I'll log In for a chat or to follow a raid while I'm on a train trip or on a lunch break at work or whatever, and used in that fashion, purely as a social tool, it's great.
And ultimately, that's the distinction; the tool itself is neither good or bad. The trick is to use it however is appropriate for you. It will only be a shackle if you already of that mindset yourself and do already belong to a guild that already expects you to be available 24/7 whether you use mobile chat or not.
babywhiz Aug 14th 2011 9:39AM
I use it as a way to log in and ninja hug the guild when I am at work, esp when I'm having a bad day.