What Would the Perfect MMO Mobile Companion App Look Like?

Every once in a while, a friend of mine will kick off about how he’d love some feature of whatever game he’s playing to be available in a mobile app. Typically, this is in reference to a long-existing MMORPG or something similar. Those are typically the games with the most busy work and things you could ideally be doing while doing something else, like watching TV or sitting on a bus. In most cases, the features we’ll end up taking about are things like checking on your garden or sales, management stuff that we know can be done in a mobile app because some games do offer that – along with things like guild chat. But not every game offers it. And the one’s that do don’t really have the best designed apps. They can even feel kind of useless.

Recently, this commonly-repeated conversation popped into my head and it got me to wondering, what would make for an ideal app for MMORPG players – specifically for games that don’t just have a mobile version of the full game. We’ve become very used to games existing across the various platforms. And when that’s the case the game itself will often have identifiable mobile game DNA. Even if you’re playing on a console or PC, and even if the devs take the time to create systems for each of those, you can still find some mobile legacy in them.

Obviously, this is not what a lot of dedicated MMORPG players are looking for. We’re not necessarily looking to have the full game experience on a phone. Although, that’s not stopping some companies and ports have been made. And there will be people that will enjoy playing these games that way. But despite that, there are reasons players may not want to play the full game on their phone. In my case, it’s not visually comfortable. Plus, holding a phone to play isn’t as comfortable as using a controller or a mouse and keyboard. For some people, it may not be worth it to pony up the storage space on a mobile device for a full game – not to mention the fact that the full game simply isn’t going to have the same visual quality because the devs need to account for things like storage space.

Basically, full MMOs on a mobile device aren’t ideal for everyone, but many would still like to be able to access some parts of their game on the go. My question is, what would be the most ideal things players would like access to in their app. Things like chat, mail, the marketboard, and the like should be standard options. Managing your inventory too – including breaking down items into components. Crafting and gathering could be managed for some games. In some games, those two activities could be pretty complicated, so unless the devs are willing to make a limited mobile version of the systems, they’d be a no-go. Perhaps the way to go there would be to allow limited smaller crafts or pre-crafts so that players can set things up for the bigger crafts when they get back to their computer.

The one thing I imagine most people who aren’t just looking to play the whole game on a mobile device wouldn’t want is combat-related content. Although, a good bit of daily content is just that. And in games where autobattle exists, like Honkai: Star Rail, it’s pretty easy to knock out those dailies on the phone. But Honkai: Star Rail isn’t an MMORPG, and normal MMO combat isn’t really something that would fit into a more toned-down app. That said, now that I think of it, some of the weird little social things that games do are good options, watching concerts for buffs and the like.

Then again, perhaps with the direction gaming is going, it’s pointless to ponder this as more and more games get full mobile launches alongside console and PC. I just know that I’m unlikely to start playing MMOs on my mobile device, but I’d love to be able to do some of the more dull things using my phone. As I said, some games do have that exact option. But they’re by no means perfect.

The only game I can think of that still has one if Final Fantasy XIV. World of Warcraft used to have one but it’s been shut down. So, at the end of the day, I’m left wondering what the ideal version of one of these apps are. I know that XIV’s app often felt lacking when I tried to use it. It just wasn’t right. But there has to be some sort of design that would make taking the ability to handle some of your MMO business while on the go without needing you to log into the full game for it.