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The Guild Wars team have, to use a crude analogy, been grinding mobs for a while now. They’ve done their time with the low-level areas, put a few points into a few talent trees, and they’ve been starting to wonder if this is really all that there’s meant to be. Guild Wars 2 is their answer to these frustrations: an MMO built from the ground up to change things. We’ve read the articles, we’ve watched the manifesto, and we’ve watched the classes rolling out. But NCsoft aren’t quite content with stopping their renovations just in the game itself - this week, they’ve been hitting the streets to talk about the Guild Wars 2 “Extended Experience”.

The “Extended Experience” of Guild Wars 2 is essentially just that - extending the experience to create a persistent, personal and portable level of immersion with the game through the use of mobile technology. Taking the game with you when you log off is something game designers have dreamed of for years, and although they’ve started to make inroads into that with things like the World of Warcraft Mobile Armory, the team at ArenaNet have bigger plans on their mind. With a dedicated team, a dedicated database connection and a whole lot of hopes and dreams, ArenaNet are hoping to change the way you think about their games. We sat down with their team to talk about the possibilities.

GON: So we'll be able to chat to friends in-game - is this just text or are you also considering VOIP?

ArenaNet: Currently we’re investigating the option to use VOIP as well.

GON: What kind of symbology will you use to see what our friends are up to from the mobile device? Can we tell how badly our team is getting beaten by a boss, or vice versa?

ArenaNet: The current interactive world map indicates whether players are in combat and uses color to indicate the relative health of the players. Once engaged, we will display enemies and their relative level of health using color and icons as well. However, we won’t reveal enemies until the player or team engages them as that would spoil the fun!

GON: Can I choose to use my iPad while playing GW2 on my PC, perhaps as an external map?

ArenaNet: Of course! It’s one of the many ways the Guild Wars 2 Extended Experience can enhance your gameplay. Lots of MMO players already use a second monitor while they’re playing to display static maps, so why not use your iPad instead and get real-time updates as well?

GON: How will the mobile experience differ between users of the iPad and users of the iPhone?

ArenaNet: The experience will be the same, except the iPhone will show smaller versions of any maps or images simply due to its limited screen real estate. We’ll definitely be providing equivalent functionality for all of the platforms we support.

GON: You've mentioned the ability to drop a ping for your in-game friends to see - any other zany ideas for the mobile user to interact other than pings and chat?

ArenaNet: Absolutely! What we’ve shown so far is just a very small amount of what we plan to provide the Guild Wars 2 players. The interactive world map will allow mobile users to tap on an in-game player and bring up the Hero Viewer to examine their equipment, determine where they received the equipment, check the player’s stats and achievements, etc. Another idea we have is to allow mobile users to trade with a person in-game. These are just a couple examples of the innovative ideas we have planned.

Don’t worry if you’re not one of the Apple crowd, though - ArenaNet are planning to support Android phones, as well. But what if you don’t even own a smartphone? Or if you’re at work for example, while your friends are off playing together and you’re stuck churning out another spreadsheet? Not a problem, because all of these features also available straight out of your web browser (though just be ready to alt-tab when the boss walks by). With netbook gaming becoming more popular, this sort of top-down, graphically-light interaction could prove to be an easy way for those with portable setups and wireless broadband to keep up with their friends even while travelling.


Although ArenaNet have coyly refused to rule out actually playing a fully-featured Guild Wars 2 on your mobile device or internet, they are keen to give you access to as many of the features as they possibly can, and the possibilities offered by this level of consistent immersion are immensely compelling. A huge factor in an MMO’s success is its level of social integration, and building upon shared experiences. By breaking down the barrier of participation and giving players flexiblity in how they can share that experience, Guild Wars 2 has the potential to redefine the way MMO’s are played. It’s exciting and inspiring to see a company so clearly driven to questioning so many of the accepted tenets of a genre, and many eyes will be closely focused on ArenaNet as they scale up to launch.

One question that remains unaddressed is the cost of this Extended Experience, and whether any cost involved will be a once-off app purchase, or a time-based subscription. Blizzard have announced plans to charge people $2.99 USD for 30 days of “premium” Mobile Armory access, and although Guild Wars has built a solid reputation on its free-to-play foundations, this sort of territory is new and uncharted enough to make it difficult to gauge what consumers will be willing to pay. Hopefully more information will come to light soon, because with many people unwilling to splash out even as little as $5 on a mobile phone application, pricing could very well be the deciding factor that makes or breaks this venture.