Have you ever sat around your cubicle, thinking to yourself how awesome it would be to continue experiencing your favorite MMO while at work? What about hanging around at some sort of social gathering, not really “feeling it,” and just wishing you had something better to do? Your prayers will soon be answered. Follow me, into the realm of words, sketches, and ‘what ifs’ as we look into the mobile aspect of the Guild Wars 2 Extended Experience.
Guild Wars 2 will have a free mobile app, that will also be made available on web browsers, that will ‘extend the experience’ away from our computer desks. We do know a few things about the app, like its ability to link to the auction house, checking in on what your guild mates are up to, letting you chat with friends, and the most important bit of information, it isn’t done yet. With the app being unfinished, there is room for ArenaNet to really take the app to places no other MMO app has gone before. Let’s dive in and talk about what I’d like to see the app do, shall we?
Wishful Thinking
First off, we know the app will be connected to the auction house. Buying and selling items will be made easy, allowing us to continue on our quest for riches while not actually playing in the game. One thing I would like to see though, involves organizing a guilds vault, assuming there will be one. It would be pretty nice if the app allowed us to trade, buy and sell with other guilds using the goodies in the vault, strengthening your alliance and taking the social aspect to a new level.
That brings me to the next part, the social aspect of the mobile app. The app will allow us to track and chat with our friends and fellow guild mates who are playing the game. Players can plan gatherings and tactics for tackling dungeons. This is a basic, yet nice feature but what else can they do to keep you connected to your friends and guild mates? It would be pretty awesome if they found a way, so that while on the app, you can assist a fellow player through a dungeon or quest. This could be very difficult to do as many smart phones don’t have the graphical power to play a massive game like GW 2, but that can’t stop us from imagining right?
The first time you chat with an app user may happen like this.
Although there are barriers on mobile devices, it may be possible to have the app only access certain areas, breaking everything into parts, allowing the app user to assume the role of a small helper, such as a fire imp or a tiny golem. For instance when the player in game reaches an encounter, the app user can cast special spells against enemies, giving the player an advantage, or causing enemies to drop a few extra gold pieces. The app user may also be able to open secret passages for players to find hidden Easter Eggs. It wouldn’t lead to any special or rare items, as some players may never have access to the extended experience. To tackle the lack of processing power, the app would have a much lower graphic setting than the full PC version. Mobile devices have come a long way however, so the graphics won’t be as terrible as some full PC MMOs we have played.
Mini Golem with Mega Man Buster, yes please.
With this imaginary app feature, you get to help other players that are logged in, but what about connecting to other mobile users? Let’s say that the app could run separate campaigns. To make this work, it may be necessary to change the gameplay elements to keep it running smoothly.
To give an example, and once again this is just us using our imaginations, but maybe have the app play like a dungeon crawler style game, where you take control of character in the history of Guild Wars. You and other mobile players could go and witness the tales of legends with your own eyes. You can have a basic attack, and a few abilities to go around in battles and events that take place in Tyria’s history. It doesn’t have to play just like Guild Wars, though that would be ideal, but you must admit it would extend the overall experience of the game world and continue to connect players to each other.
Back to Reality
After some imagining, it is pretty easy to say that this mobile app can really bring a new experience to the lands of Tyria. The app, as we currently know it, will help us connect to our fellow players while AFK. We will also be granted the ability to buy and sell our loot in the auction house from anywhere. We have also been told that he app may allow us to connect to information sites, and show points of interest to in game players by pinging the world map. Another feature that has been discussed, allows you to select a player to view their stats. That is quite functional for a free app, but it has been quite some time since the Extended Experience has been announced, so it is impossible to say what other features will be included, until they actually show us. Until then, let your imaginations wander.
I can’t wait to ping my friends to areas filled with enemies 4 times their level.
What are your thoughts on the Extended Experience? Is there a feature you would like to see included into the app? Let us know what you’re thinking below.
