I don't understand why Blizzard are dragging their heels regarding player housing...

[SirBeef]

They have been on record saying a lot wont happen, that did happen.

If they tied guild activity to the 'care' of the hall, and achievements tend to the cosmetics of it, it would either personal slum, or a glorious place to interact will fellow guild members. They really could go crazy with ideas that would help with the games player retention problems.

Blizzard knows that can't just slap a portal in front of a bar and make everyone happy and that is the problem, it's puzzling to me why they put so much effort into shit people hate, and constantly shoot down ideas that people have been begging for for years.

They also know stuff like this and player housing is against what they want to do, regardless of player demand.

[HordeFanboy]

Could you explain the connection you are making here? How does sub number impact or correlate to a feature? Especially with an arbitrary number of "3-10 million". How do you know the number of "other MMOs"? Are you saying other MMOs have low sub numbers BECAUSE of player housings?

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Interesting claim. The engine can handle raids in huge enclosed spaces and phasing. What makes housing so special. Would you guys expect that everyone has a house in a unique spot? And we see 10 thousand of unique houses in our CRZ or server cluster or whatever you want to name it?

So how does Wildstar handle it, since some people find it amazing.

Yes,wow has more players because doesnt have garbage things like player housing.

[Wingspan]

There is progression in pet battle. Not to mention that your examples does consume less resources than player housing would. I don't know man, I don't really see a good case for creating them. Art assets are the trickiest things to create and housing would reqire a lot of it.

If it is done right, there is plenty of progression in housing too. You would need to "build" towards whatever design you are after. You might want an object in your yard or room that requires running a dungeon or getting an achievement. You go out and DO things in order to progress towards your design goals... The whole point of player housing (again, if done right) would be progression.

And the game already has thousands of art assets that would be viable but people tend to glance over them without realizing it. Every table, chair, bench, wall painting, statue, fountain, bed, bookcase (and more) that are already there in the game. You just need the interface that allows you to choose them and place them.

There are far smaller games out there that found the budget for housing, so I have to believe that Blizzard could afford (what just about has to be) a cheap experiment for housing... They just need to resist the urge to MAKE people do it (which is something they seem to have a problem with when they design stuff).

[D3athsting]

Blizz received tons of flak because of garrisons, they aren't going to make anything remotely similar anymore

[Dominus89]

And what exactly would be the purpose of player housing outside of RP realms?
Yeah, close to none.

Sure, it would probably be fun for the first week or two as you get it all set up, but then what?

[HamFist]

Blizz received tons of flak because of garrisons, they aren't going to make anything remotely similar anymore

Like Order Halls? Blizzard is so out of touch with the player base. I used to be mad, I just pity them at this point.

[A dot Ham]

As title says I don't understand why Blizzard are dragging their heels regarding player housing... Wildstar despite its many flaws possibly had the best player housing in any MMORPG, hell even WoWs biggest competitors FFXIV and SWTOR has player housing and that's almost universally praised by the players. Instead Blizzard gave us two poor-man's housing in the form of garrisons and class halls that didn't give much if any customization and get abandoned. Player housing could actually be an expansion feature designed to last unlike the garrison, class hall and artifacts that are obsolete a year later.

I find the argument "we don't want people not in the world" argument BS. I would rather a personal hub I can invite friends to, not some class hall surrounded by strangers not even talking! I also don't believe the "WoW doesn't have the technology" argument. Obviously some people aren't interested in player housing like some people aren't interested in PvP or Raiding but it would give us a new form of content to do at endgame be it crafting decor, running dungeons for decor, buying decor, etc!

Vehemently opposes Tinkers as a class option (which would have no effect on personal gaming experience).

Yet supports player housing (which will have no effect on personal gaming experience for those that don't care).

You see the dichotomy here?

You are aggressively opposed to what you feel is a trivial and unnecessary addition to the game (Tinkers) yet you want your own trivial and unnecessary addition to the game (player housing)?

We got a preview of what player housing could be with WoD and Garrisons, and people HATED it. There were customizable options, some functional, some aesthetic, some for fun, some for progression. No one came to visit mine, and I never went to visit the garrison of anyone else (except for the achievement).

[Rojaha]

I thought we all wanted people out of their private instance homes. Now we want new ones?

[Deleted]

In one sentence you say you don't have numbers and then you make a claim that would need you to provide numbers

And then prove how that is in anyway related to nothing but houses.

I give you the mythic argument though (also works for raids)

I only have FFXIV estimated numbers which were 5 million. I expect WoWs numbers currently are probably 6m, but we already know WoW's numbers have been dropping since 2010

[drakonblayde]

And what exactly would be the purpose of player housing outside of RP realms?
Yeah, close to none.

Sure, it would probably be fun for the first week or two as you get it all set up, but then what?

You'd actually be quite surprised how many people would indulge. Chasing after decorations to make their house look cool is something that people will do. It's also something else to drop into the economy. And they could make some extra revenue by dropping decorations into the store.

Especially if they offer more than one player housing unit. People will buy them and chase after decos for them. Multiple MMO's have shown this.

[Deleted]

If garrison is the best Blizzard could do it shows their incompetence. I find the 'people will stay in their house' argument bizarre because in FFXIV, a game with housing, the cities are always full of players, more so than in WoW.

[PixelFox]

They tried to do player housing but it mutated into the malignancy that was Garrisons, when all we really wanted was a little house in Ashenvale that we could hang out in and decorate. Not a city sized place full of other people (NPCs) also living there in "our" home.

They have all the tech to do housing right, and the way garrisons phased to the player is a perfect example of this. Jut give us a couple locations along the road somewhere in each and every zone and then let us choose the building etc. Easy as pie.

[Littleraven]

Why do people CONSTANTLY compare WoW and the things in WoW, to other games...sure similar genre, but other than that they are vastly different in many ways.

Player housing works for other games, other games also have a different player base. PLayer housing in WOW is a dumb idea, that is why they say little about it.

It gets old fast and likely a VERY small % of players would ever use it beyond a week or 2. There is little to no reason to spend resources on something the developers do not consider a fit for WoW. WoW does not need player housing, it has done just fine without it. Other games that do have it, have a VERY VERY small player base in relation to WoW, and likely an even smaller % of those players actually use it.

People need to stop comparing things in other games to what WoW has. They are not the same game. WoW is, and will continue to be the most successful online game ever for some time in the future contrary to the "sky is falling" crowd every patch and expansion. Why do they need to use features that other games use? They used something that one of their other games have and people lost their minds over it. (mythic+/D3 rifts)

tl/dr just because some games with a miniscule player base have had success with it, does not mean that WoW needs it. We need CONTENT, things to do, things to kill, gear to get..we DON'T need a phased player housing area.

Same could be said for pet battles. Yet it exists. Just because something is in the game does not mean it needs to add or subtract from other avenues of it. If they just buckled down on it and set the ground work for it they could never dedicate much to it again aside from a few new items every now and then. They could build a whole new profession around it if they wanted and give people who want to do it have something new to work toward.

I have no idea why so many people are against them adding new things to the game. Sure there was the old "it will cost us a raid tier" argument but now that the team actually seems to be somewhat on the ball again I highly doubt this would be the case anymore. No one is asking for it to be some huge major feature. No on wants it to be shoved down your throat like Garrisons were but that doesn't mean it should not be a side thing for people to enjoy.

But what do I know. Maybe Blizzard can't handle it without something else suffering but I would welcome something new to the game that isn't just new quests, dungeons or raids.

[HamFist]

......in FFXIV, a game with housing, the cities are always full of players, more so than in WoW.

I have played and enjoyed FF14. There is a different kind of player over there. In a good way tho, players seem more engaged with a better sense of community.

[xChurch]

I don't see how it wouldn't have the same problem has Garrisons did, everyone would spend most of their time there. I would rather they continue having tons of outdoor content than spending time creating a customizable area that mostly only you get to see.

[runique]

Player housing would kick ass. As long as they didn't allow auction houses and shit like that in the player housing I'd be all for it. The more content, as long as it's high quality, the better.

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I don't see how it wouldn't have the same problem has Garrisons did, everyone would spend most of their time there. I would rather they continue having tons of outdoor content than spending time creating a customizable area that mostly only you get to see.

Well a big part of the problem with garrisons is that you were forced to sit in them for missions and work orders etc. good player housing imo wouldn't allow players to do all of the profession stuff or have missions or anything. I'd rather have the player housing be almost purely be cosmetic and optional, aside from maybe a portal to the current raid after you have cleared it x times or on y difficulty.

[Thimagryn]

Garrison wasn't player housing, it offered zero customization which is the selling point of housing, Garrison was just a profession hub

If you could so easily look at Garrisons and wave it away as having zero customization, I don't think player housing will live up to any expectations. Not saying your concerns are invalid, rather I have no faith in Blizzard upholding customization in the long term. Garrisons were promised announced to be a heavily customized feature, and look what it turned into.

[Deleted]

Vehemently opposes Tinkers as a class option (which would have no effect on personal gaming experience).

Yet supports player housing (which will have no effect on personal gaming experience for those that don't care).

You see the dichotomy here?

You are aggressively opposed to what you feel is a trivial and unnecessary addition to the game (Tinkers) yet you want your own trivial and unnecessary addition to the game (player housing)?

We got a preview of what player housing could be with WoD and Garrisons, and people HATED it. There were customizable options, some functional, some aesthetic, some for fun, some for progression. No one came to visit mine, and I never went to visit the garrison of anyone else (except for the achievement).

Im only against a new class because I don't believe it really adds anything new. Player housing -could- add an alternative playstyle like pet battles but with the added incentive of a whole new item type to boost both the economy and insensitive to dungeon spam

[xChurch]

Well a big part of the problem with garrisons is that you were forced to sit in them for missions and work orders etc. good player housing imo wouldn't allow players to do all of the profession stuff or have missions or anything. I'd rather have the player housing be almost purely be cosmetic and optional, aside from maybe a portal to the current raid after you have cleared it x times or on y difficulty.

Do you honestly think that's the only reason people stayed there? I'd say it was more the lack of anything else to do because they put so much resources into Garrisons and if PH is even more in depth and customizable, I fail to see how it wouldn't produce the exact same issues. Considering it would take a lot of new art to make it worth it, it just seems like a waste.

[Deleted]

I don't see how it wouldn't have the same problem has Garrisons did, everyone would spend most of their time there. I would rather they continue having tons of outdoor content than spending time creating a customizable area that mostly only you get to see.

Because garrisons we're mandatory and our only real hub. Player housing would purely be optional and just cosmetic, no profession, no AH, no quests JUST a house with a mailbox and perhaps a garden to relax in between gaming

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The houses and items are already in the datafiles, all Blizzard would need to do is add a instance and UI.