So, SWTOR announced new digital expansion that focuses on player housing. WoW is making Garrisons, after countless threads demanding player housing. Other MMOs like LOTRO are ahead of the curve, having had some form of player houses since launch.
I just can't find the appeal in player housing in the "theme park" MMOs. It will inevitably be an instance. Sure, you might invite people in, but for some reason the instance part just ruins it for me. I remember back in Ultima (and SWG) days, the main appeal of player housing was staking the real claim over a piece of the game world. You'd build a house and it'd actually BE there. Not a portal to lead to your own little demiplane, but an honest to goodness virtual house in a virtual world - it was a BIG DEAL. Furthermore, since a land on which to build was scarce, there was value in virtual real estate. But when devs can just whip up thousand more instances of a house on a whim, cost feels arbitrary. In some ways, LOTRO tried to capture this feel by creating instanced "neighborhoods" instead of individual houses - but it still felt lackluster.
In any case, I've no idea why I'm making this post. Are you excited about player housing in MMOs and in games in general?