• Hail Guest!
    We're looking for Community Content Contribuitors to Stratics. If you would like to write articles, fan fiction, do guild or shard event recaps, it's simple. Find out how in this thread: Community Contributions
  • Greetings Guest, Having Login Issues? Check this thread!
  • Hail Guest!,
    Please take a moment to read this post reminding you all of the importance of Account Security.
  • Hail Guest!
    Please read the new announcement concerning the upcoming addition to Stratics. You can find the announcement Here!

Guild Wars 2 Mobile Apps

Zosimus

Grand Inquisitor
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Need information on what your guild is doing when you are not on and stuck in traffic, work, vacation, shopping, and just when real life pulls you away from your game?

ArenaNet may have solved that issue for gamers for Guild Wars 2. They have been in works with a mobile app that will work for Android and Apple products.

Guild Wars 2 (GW2) Column: The Extended Experience Mobile App at MMORPG.com

For the click link impaired I copied and posted the article below.


Guild Wars 2 Column: The Extended Experience Mobile App

In his latest Guild Wars 2 column, MMORPG.com's David North discusses the possibilities of the mobile aspect of the Guild Wars 2 Extended Experience.

By David North on November 22, 2011



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




*We at Stratics would like to thank and give credit to mmorpg.com and David North for posting this article for all the Guild Wars 2 fans to read.*
 

Zosimus

Grand Inquisitor
Alumni
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
Here is another article posted back in 2010 by pc.ign.com about the Guild Wars 2 app.


Guild Wars 2 Goes Mobile - PC Preview at IGN

For the click link impaired I copied and posted the article below.




Guild Wars 2 Goes Mobile

You'll never have to truly leave the game.

September 21, 2010


Massively multiplayer games already have a reputation for eating the lives of the millions of players who play them. They're immersive, addictive and time consuming by design. Often, when you're not playing them, you're thinking about playing them. That's why ArenaNet may be the most evil company in the world after announcing what they call their "Extended Experience."

The Guild Wars 2 Extended Experience is basically one or more mobile apps (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android etc...) that allow you to stay connected to Guild Wars 2 while you're out buying mountain dew. We spoke to the team working on it, and while they were reticent to reveal any details, we do know a few things.

This isn't the first time mobile apps have been developed for an MMO, of course. World of Warcraft has a couple very popular ones. This is more than just a standard Armory or Auction House app, though. Players will be able to communicate both within and outside the game with the app. "Initially we're targeting communications features because that's what MMOs are all about - being social," the developers told us. "As for how easy communication is; when you are in-game, your friend will appear 'online,' which doesn't mean they are necessarily playing, it just means they can be reached. For example, if you send them a whisper to a friend, you won't have to worry about how they are connected; your whisper will reach them. Currently we're investigating custom chat clients, texting and how we can support various instant messenger clients."


A few early concept images display what they are working towards.


There's more to it than that, though. The Guild Wars 2 map, within the game, is interactive -- you can click and drag it, look at important locations and set markers. The Extended Experience will move this to your phone too, letting you look around the game's map in real time. This isn't all that impressive until you realize that the game's map tracks the locations of NPCs, who move in accordance with the game's dynamic event system.

Likewise, you can watch (to some extent, anyway) as the dynamic events themselves unfold, and even alert your friends to the latest via a message, and ping the map to show them the location. It has the potential to allow guild leaders to still be active even when they're not near their PC.

Of course, this is both awesome and horrible. From a technological and conceptual standpoint, this lowers the boundaries between the game world and your everyday life, which is cool. On the other hand, it lowers the boundaries between the game world and your everyday life. Like we needed another way for MMOs to permeate deeper into our daily habits. Luckily, the team insists that if you don't want to be pestered at work by guildmates, you won't be. It will be very easy to control how and when people from within the game can contact you.

This whole Extended Experience thing may trigger hopes inside of you of one day being able to play a game like Guild Wars 2 -- in its entirety -- from your phone, and it seems like that's the direction the team eventually wants to head in. " Ultimately, our plan is to provide as much of the PC experience as we can on mobile devices," they told us. "While it won't be the same experience until (and if) mobile platforms reach hardware parity with gaming PCs, there are many compelling games on mobile devices today. There's no reason why there shouldn't be a compelling Guild Wars 2 experience also."

Despite my brain telling me that this is what will ultimately be my downfall, I'm actually very excited to try this out, and to see how mobile platforms can be used as a tool to enhance the social-side of the MMO experience.

*We at Stratics would like to thank and give credit to pc.ign.com for posting this article up for all the Guild Wars 2 fans to read.*
 
Top