As covered on wow insider a change is coming to the mobile app and the armoury.
Quote from: Wrocas
We’re pleased to announce a new feature being added to the Mobile Armory: Guild Chat!
Coming soon in an update to the Mobile Armory app available in the iTunes App Store (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=321057000&mt=8) and Android Market, this new feature will allow all World of Warcraft Remote subscribers the ability to chat with their guildies right from their mobile device. Access to the guild chat feature is included for no extra charge in the €2.99 World of Warcraft Remote Auction House (http://eu.wowarmory.com/wow-remote.xml) premium monthly subscription. In addition, soon after the launch of the mobile version we’re planning on adding the ability for premium subscribers to use Guild Chat through any browser on the Armory website.
Guild Chat will allow you to chat with your guildmates via Guild Chat, Officer Chat, and Whispers. Now you can stay connected with your guild or update them from anywhere if you’re going to be late to a raid! Stay tuned for additional information about this service and the upcoming Mobile Armory Guild Chat beta test.
In short once this is live for the same extra fee which gives access to the Auction House from outside the game you can also now use guild chat from the mobile app and the Armoury.
What does this mean, seriously?
To be honest I’m not sure, ok so you can check in with guild chat during the day, which is great for small guilds which don’t have their own websites to co-ordinate their plans but I’m really not sure about this gradual mixing of Azeroth and the round world we have to live in. Part of the attraction of WoW and all other MMOs is the immersion into a world which is not this one, an escape from the mundane drudgery of normal life into something where we can be whatever we want to be.
Adding this external feature is pushing further in the direction of “WoW as a social networking site / game” which to be frank I don’t give a hoot about, I have a social networking account, I barely use the damm thing. I was a regular user of LJ but I’ve since moved most of my content here. If I want social networking I’ll take it to one of the many sites which do the job well enough to suit my needs and desires, not take some half arsed attempt by a large gaming company which is looking for ways to make more money from it’s 11 million or so users (just think about 5% of those users spending another three euro a month, it adds up…)
Hopefully it’ll die a death and Blizz will bugger off out of the social networking space and back to what they do well.
I’m not going to hold my breath though.
