More rumors of a mobile WoW
by Mike Schramm 
Jun 5th 2008 at 1:00PM
A few places are reporting, including our sister site Massively, that a company named Vollee has brought their mobile phone version of Second Life live and online. As you can see in the video on the website, it works, though it's not exactly an ideal way to play the game. They don't go into details on how it works, obviously, but my guess would be some kind of java browser emulation of a real client.Why are we talking about Second Life on WoW Insider? Because odds are that some kind of mobile WoW app is not far behind. Vollee would certainly love to be the ones to do it (they even say that you can enter "World of Second Life" on their website), but unlike Blizzplanet, I really don't think they will be -- odds are that any mobile app won't be a full client, but rather will be a chat or AH app of some kind ("BattleChat" has already been mentioned by Blizzard), and it'll likely be designed by Blizzard themselves.
But there's no question that there's a huge frontier for this sort of thing. Within the next month, Apple is set to release the iPhone's "App Store" (a distribution platform for mobile applications and games), and we have to imagine that a mobile announcement or even a release from Blizzard will come soon after that.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Rumors
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jagoex Jun 5th 2008 1:22PM
There is definitely a market for this kind of thing out there. Obviously, it wouldn't be too deep in terms of the content it provides (what guild would be okay with members raiding via a cell phone?), but there is enough of what you could theoretically do in order to make a minimalist program feasible.
For example, providing a mobile AH program that lets you organize, buy, and sell items via the Auction House.
Tied into this would be the WoW mailing system, allowing players to send and receive messages and items while mobile.
Taking that a step further, how great would it be to be able to craft items and prep for raiding right from your mobile phone? That would tie the AH and Mailbox scenarios together and actually provide a very useful service I could definitely see people using.
And of course, there would be the always-necessary chat options to go with them. =)
There is definitely some potential here, so hopefully we see the suits at Blizzard taking this road in the short future.
h8rain Jun 5th 2008 1:24PM
I would not want to "play" on my iPhone, but a chat program would be nice to talk to the guildies. Checking AH/mail would be kinda neat as well.
I don't see creating a chat program being very hard (basically creating a front end that connects to the servers), but more so if Blizzard would want it made.
Freelier Jun 5th 2008 1:42PM
Blizzard has had job postings up for a while that relate to this. It's got its own category at http://www.blizzard.com/us/jobopp/ . However, they have yet to fill the position "Lead Mobile Developer", so I'm skeptical that they're getting all that far.
This might turn out to be something that, like eSports, is a lot easier to do if you plan for it from the beginning. Final Fantasy, for example, could have a card minigame be playable through a phone. WoW has gchat and AH. /yawn. Yeah, it'd be nice to see, but it'd be more fun to actually DO something useful in the game.
I'd rather wait and see something good with their next-gen MMO or, possibly, the expansion after Wrath.
fLUx Jun 5th 2008 1:49PM
yawn at gchat?! I totally forgot about that, but it would be amazing to be able to do that!
Freelier Jun 5th 2008 3:22PM
Oh, I'm not saying that I wouldn't use it regularly. I certainly would! /who and /g over my phone would be all I'd need to make it useful.
It wouldn't be exciting, though. It'd just be another chat client with a WoW logo.
Todd Jun 5th 2008 1:39PM
I can see the BGs getting filled with honor farming phone players who tap a button on their phone every now and then to not get marked afk.
fLUx Jun 5th 2008 1:47PM
Well I would hope people wouldn't be allowed in battlegounds on the mobile version
It sounds good, but I think all combat would be out of the question I don't see how it could be possible at all. So you left with using it for auction/mail checking, etc.....which makes me wonder why there would be a point for any 3D environment, why not just have a text based auction house, mail box, and bank, but only when you character is actually in a city, or have the ability to use your hearthstone if your not. (to stop people from never going back to the old world for auctions, but just doing everything from their mobile device)
rocketscientist Jun 5th 2008 2:00PM
Fishing. A fishing minigame. That would just rock.
The problem is that the ability to do things like mail, craft, and use the AH assume proximity to an object, I wouldn't be surprised if it either required a character slot or a character that was in a major capital that had all of the required amenities.
I'm already planning on acquiring a 3g iphone, this would just further cement that purchase decision.
h8rain Jun 5th 2008 2:07PM
You know what a fishing mini-game would definitely be cool, especially if it would count towards raising the skill of a toon (currently only my druid is 375 fishing).
Sitting around waiting, and someone asks "What cha doin'?"
"Fishing." :D
Eternalpayn Jun 5th 2008 2:06PM
I think that it should be a chat and crafting application, not just for iPhones, but all phones. And, if you're in a city, you should be able to mail/AH stuff.
I'd buy it.
thebitterfig Jun 5th 2008 2:49PM
i want to play 8-bit Molten Core on my phone. agro all bears in 40 yards when you skin a bear.
seriously, if bliz release that, just about every WoW head would pay 6 dollars to download it...
Jeff Jun 5th 2008 2:36PM
I can definitely see this happening especially with devices like the n-gage getting popular games like The Force Unleashed developed for them. There are lots of possibilities.
Jeff
http://www.wowdungeon.com
Jasperwind Jun 5th 2008 2:50PM
I wonder how the mail/AH thing would work. Would you magically appear at the AH upon logging in on the mobile device? If so, would it leave you there so that when you log in on your computer you're at the AH? If not, then it would be a great tool to not have to waste your hearthstone to check AH or mail. Just sign off, sign on with mobile, do stuff, sign off, sign on with computer again. That would be nice. =D
Worcester Jun 5th 2008 2:51PM
Steam Tonk Mobile Battle--FTW!
Ophelos Jun 5th 2008 3:04PM
i don't see this being that far off, since someonehas already made iArmory which you can check out here http://ooc.array0.com/iarmory-v05a-released.html , but use at your own risk since it's still in very early stages at the moment.
Pzychotix Jun 5th 2008 3:36PM
http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/07/09/wow-on-the-iphone-just-barely/
Not new. Both are just streaming video onto the iPhone, both can control actions. Yes, the old WoW on iphone video is slow, but that's because they used VNC to stream it. Point is, this doesn't bring anything new to the table that wasn't already there.
Faar Jun 5th 2008 4:41PM
Regardless of what one thinks of Apple, their product being the pits, or the most full of awesomeness ever invented, I think most would agree the iPhone is the only mobile phone that could reasonably run any form of WoW client.
Not only because it's got a quite large and high-res screen for a device of this kind, but also because of the touch input capability, making it at least somewhat feasible to control the character and use skills etc. And also because it has a relatively powerful 3D GPU built into it as standard.
This doesn't mean it'll ever happen of course. Frankly I'd be surprised if it did. But if a mobile client ever does appear, I'd be surprised if it was tailored to something other than the iPhone. :P
...And no, I don't have any intentions of buying one. It's too large for my taste for starters, and too expensive.
crsh Jun 5th 2008 4:44PM
Sad thing is, even if you level everything down to 8-bit color and 2D planes, the players/game network traffic alone would make make your pretty phone explode.
I think the best they can do right now is prolly a fake client for the Armory, fake as in it's just a disguised web browser.
Daryl Jul 9th 2008 5:07AM
I would like to have gchat on the mobile phone.
Maybe check AH or mail. Often in the mornings I just check my mail and repost anything on AH then log off and go to work.