Dragonflight Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[KayRule]

Instanced player-housing = dead overworld.

This already happens without player housing.

[Varolyn]

I would be ok with Player Housing but I would just be nervous that Blizz would half ass it and we would end up with Garrison’s 2.0. At the bear minimum we should at least be able to choose our location for our house (which actually was intended for garrisons) for some sense of individuality. Otherwise I would rather them just do class halls again.

[Shadochi]

Epilogue: Judgement tomorrow!

Even if we know her fate I am still excited for this as its a questline we didn't get to see earlier... tbh just furthers the point that they should test less on PTR or mask it like its a test of something else/out of context if they need to test something specifically for some quests.

They should really step away from the almost everything on PTR model

[Zulggun]

This already happens without player housing.

Then why encourage it even more? Blizz should revamp the cities, make them more interesting, give them purpose, give reason to see people. Not spread the population even more.

[Wangming]

This already happens without player housing.

This. If only you could have interesting open-world content as well as instanced housing. Such a conundrum. Oh how convenient would it be if there were an immensely popular chinese mobile game to rip off.

[KayRule]

This. If only you could have interesting open-world content as well as instanced housing. Such a conundrum. Oh how convenient would it be if there were an immensely popular chinese mobile game to rip off.

Yeah, there is a way to do it.

I just think people saying it shouldn't be done because it would "kill the overworld", something that's been dead for over a decade is a joke.

[Shadochi]

IMO best to do for player housing is make it phased like Garrison.

But it needs to be phased or instanced otherwise a lot of players will not be able to get it if there is a limited number of plots in the world that aren't phased or instanced.
And have it like original idea for garrisons where there are plots in every zone. And then if you have it in that zone or are visiting someone who has have that area phase you

Guild halls imo would be better in capitals, phased, but they aren't really player housing.

[Sugani]

If Blizzard decides to go that route of course. Why wouldn't they? If we're talking world revamp, locations like Gadgetzan should be revamped to reflect what has occurred since the Cataclsym. Further, Goblins AND Worgens should be able to come home to both Kezan and Gilneas. It really makes perfect sense.

It's like poetry, it rhymes.

[Ophenia]

Then why encourage it even more? Blizz should revamp the cities, make them more interesting, give them purpose, give reason to see people. Not spread the population even more.

Player Housing is not supposed to come with all the services available in cities. Just keep the AH out of the Player Houses and most of the people you currently see in cities will remain only for that.

Adding Player Housing also doesn't prevent them from doing anything that would make cities more interesting. There could be a balance between cities and houses (as it exists in most games).

I'm playing Lost Ark here and there, and the Stronghold has unique features, but nowhere exhaustive enough that you'll never go to cities anymore. The game is extremely alive thanks to a clear split on what to do where (we'll see in the long run if that's due to LA being "new" here).

Overall that's all about balance. A cosmetic-only housing system takes time to develop for very narrow benefit as people will just never go there. But if there are utilities, you shouldn't put them all here otherwise they're never going out of their houses anymore.

[Wangming]

Yeah, there is a way to do it.

I just think people saying it shouldn't be done because it would "kill the overworld", something that's been dead for over a decade is a joke.

Me too. That's why I'm making fun of them. The thing is, even if player housing has fuck all functions besides an actual customizable space (as opposed to Garrisons with fixed spots and architecture) people will still do it. And it will keep them occupied longer than another dungeon or some mandatory bullshit system.

I know it isn't an MMO, but there is a reason why I brought up Genshin Impact. You have instanced housing, cities you need to regularly return to and open-world content that stays relevant from the first level to the last. It can be done.

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Overall that's all about balance. A cosmetic-only housing system takes time to develop for very narrow benefit as people will just never go there. But if there are utilities, you shouldn't put them all here otherwise they're never going out of their houses anymore.

I think you underestimate the power of cosmetics. People actually take time to pick faces and hair color for their wow characters even though it won't matter after they get their first helmet. Hell, people spend half an hour or more chiseling the faces of their Cyberpunk 2077 characters even though the game is in first-person mode and all you get is short glimpses in the mirror. If player housing can be customized, and every path and/or event adds new items, it will keep people content longer than any feature they've put in so far.

[KayRule]

Player Housing would also greatly help with them overhauling professions to actually be worth bothering with.

[Ophenia]

I think you underestimate the power of cosmetics. People actually take time to pick faces and hair color for their wow characters even though it won't matter after they get their first helmet. Hell, people spend half an hour or more chiseling the faces of their Cyberpunk 2077 characters even though the game is in first-person mode and all you get is short glimpses in the mirror. If player housing can be customized, and every path and/or event adds new items, it will keep people content longer than any feature they've put in so far.

I don't underestimate - I fully agree with you on that aspect. But it has, as you said in your last sentence, to come with regular updates with new customizations. Otherwise people will spend one week collecting all they can, build their cozy home, and never go there again if there isn't an uninterrupted stream of additions with new tables/curtains/windows/garden stuff/etc at every patch.

[Wangming]

Player Housing would also greatly help with them overhauling professions to actually be worth bothering with.

Oh, don't get me started on professions in WoW. Jesus, such a waste of potential.

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I don't underestimate - I fully agree with you on that aspect. But it has, as you said in your last sentence, to come with regular updates with new customizations. Otherwise people will spend one week collecting all they can, build their cozy home, and never go there again if there isn't an uninterrupted stream of additions with new tables/curtains/windows/garden stuff/etc at every patch.

Agreed. But this is true for any content, isn't it? Update it, or it gets boring. Like if you run the same dungeon for months it gets boring, so the new patch needs to add new dungeons. If you abandon a feature, it dies. That's the way for MMO content. It isn't unique to housing.

[Zulggun]

Player Housing is not supposed to come with all the services available in cities. Just keep the AH out of the Player Houses and most of the people you currently see in cities will remain only for that.

Adding Player Housing also doesn't prevent them from doing anything that would make cities more interesting. There could be a balance between cities and houses (as it exists in most games).

I'm playing Lost Ark here and there, and the Stronghold has unique features, but nowhere exhaustive enough that you'll never go to cities anymore. The game is extremely alive thanks to a clear split on what to do where (we'll see in the long run if that's due to LA being "new" here).

Overall that's all about balance. A cosmetic-only housing system takes time to develop for very narrow benefit as people will just never go there. But if there are utilities, you shouldn't put them all here otherwise they're never going out of their houses anymore.

I don't think Blizzard would be able to balance it or even make two at the same time. In the end, if I had to choose I'd much more prefer then to expand on open world and grouping modes than instanced 4 walls where I can look at chairs and table for hours.
Because otherwise what's more to that? Make it a farming simulator? Or cooking one? Is this WoW anymore?

[Hitei]

Agreed. But this is true for any content, isn't it? Update it, or it gets boring. Like if you run the same dungeon for months it gets boring, so the new patch needs to add new dungeons. If you abandon a feature, it dies. That's the way for MMO content. It isn't unique to housing.

Housing has no innate replayability. You can run the same dungeon for months, you can't place the same cabinet for months. You can not add any dungeons for months and people will still do the dungeons, where a new one is a breath of fresh air. If you don't add housing items for months, people do literally nothing with their housing because there isn't anything to do, it's effectively a one time thing until something else gets added.

[Sharby]

I mean we can literally just look at FFXIV.



If housing is scarce, like it is in XIV, a majority of people will just buy one for FOMO and then abandon it entirely. My ward was even one of the newer ones and is completely abandoned aside from a single neighbor that I see very very occasionally. Most of the houses I visit are devoid of anything meaningful or half-finished, you can literally tell where the owner got bored and gave up. And that's with the XIV population which is heavily skewed towards vanity and casual content/collecting. Imagine the participation in a game where most people are content focused. I don't see it being worth the dev time.


If housing isn't scarce (only possible through instanced housing) then who aside from a minority would care? Part of the appeal is having other people coming over to view your set up, the people who glean satisfaction from just treating their house a solo passion projects seems too low to be worth it.


It wouldn't be the sole reason the overworld is dead, but it doesn't help, I also mostly meant cities. The game already has a problem with cities being empty aside from org/sw and this def wouldn't help. Restricting houses to cosmetic stuff only also isn't a solution because there should be some practical benefit to having one. It's pretty paradoxical, but I can see why Blizzard has avoided it for so long.

[Wangming]

Housing has no innate replayability. You can run the same dungeon for months, you can't place the same cabinet for months. You can not add any dungeons for months and people will still do the dungeons, where a new one is a breath of fresh air. If you don't add housing items for months, people do literally nothing with their housing because there isn't anything to do, it's effectively a one-time thing until something else gets added.

You forget this is Blizzard we are talking about. They love time gating. They would probably TimeGate access to medication for the terminally ill just because they can.
You can't place the same cabinet for months, yes. But you can make the recipe a reward for a quest chain and the rare materials to craft it from all over the place like boss drops, open-world drops and so on. Making that cabinet could take time. And so would finding the right carpet that complements it. Or the wallpaper.

[ercarp]

I must be the only one who has never cared about Player Housing in any MMO, ever. If I want to decorate a house, I'll go play Sims.

[Marlamin]

I must be the only one who has never cared about Player Housing in any MMO, ever. If I want to decorate a house, I'll go play Sims.

But what if you can play The Sims in WoW?

[ercarp]

But what if you can play The Sims in WoW?

I'd probably still be more interested in locking my character in a swimming pool by removing the ladder than decorating a house.