Originally Posted by
Chirri
Blizzard got the message, and that's already been stated before in this thread. Multiple times. It's people who are wibbling around about not yet having player housing that haven't gotten the message.
The message: Blizzard has decided that they want the world to "feel alive," and not be empty. The only way they'll add in player housing is if they can come up with a way to both give players the decorative space some players have been jonesing for for 9 years (or more, in the case of beta players) AND bring traffic to the rest of the game world while they're at it.
I think it'd be kind of nifty if they would create a Gnome and Goblin duo who were in the Real Estate business, and who'd create residential developments in every outdoor zone in the game. I don't know where they'd stuff such a thing, that's frankly not my problem ^_~ but it would allow players to choose where they want their hero's humble abode, give players a reason to visit zones they don't often bother with (in the case of both their own home, as well as the homes of their friends when they want to visit).
I'd prefer that player housing NOT be instanced. I had a lot of fun exploring and visiting places in SW:G, and it provided lots of opportunities for player events and gatherings, socializing and fun. Unfortunately, the rest of the game was a wreck and devoid of much population after the Jedi unlock grind became clear, and (at least early on) there was no system in place to keep the land clear of clutter from inactive players/accounts... but it did get players out of the cities. They also had a freaking awesome crafting system (not the best, but much more interesting than the majority of MMO crafting systems).
Anyway. Blizzard gets it. They just haven't made it a big priority, and thus haven't come up with a way to impliment it without going against their current goals for the game. (and I have extreme doubts that adding player housing would bring back enough players to make a half assed, instanced version of housing more worth Blizzard's while; WoW became absolutely gargantuan without player housing, it's clearly not that one special thing that makes games popular)
Someone mentioned Battle Pets being pointless but making it into the game - that person conveniently left out the part where people who participate in the system (even if they're just collecting rather than competing against one another) actually have to go out into the world to hunt down and tame the majority of those battle pets. I've seen more players out in the world while very slowly growing my collection than even while questing on lowbie alts. Some are competing for battle pet spawns, others are doing arch, but the only reason they can see ME out there is because I'm huntin' battle pets. Player housing would need to do something at least vaguely similar, and not just in terms of gathering ore and pelts for professions already in game.