Here's how to do player housing

[xuros]

I liked the way EQ2 did player housing. The player bought either an Inn room like in the OP but these dad a few different floor plans and it changed depending on the city you had it in. They also added larger houses that either came as a extra for buying the xpack, or finding the deed to it in game, or the super fancy ones on the store. Players could find house items in game as drops, some professions made house items, and there was a market store where players could make and design their wares and sell it on the store. The player would make some money and the game took a cut off the top.

[Relapses]

The idea that everything needs to be part of the core gameplay loop is the main problem with how wow has been developed.

You won't find any disagreement with me on that statement. It's part of the reason why Torghast failed as hard as it did, too.

[OMGTwitchTV]

https://vulkk.com/2021/04/27/swtor-f...ide-and-tours/



It can absolutely be done. We've seen it all throughout SWTOR, and even have players just outside of the SH running about, unaware someone is in their penthouse. Blizz just needs to snag the tech and run with it. If it means finally giving the RPers something and sacrificing a raid wing... I am perfectly ok with that.

[Swnem]

I had a feeling this was not gonna be a good op.

There are perfectly good housing models. The SWTOR one is my personal favorite.
They have apartments and houses.

[Alkizon]

Well, I've never heard anything about housing in SWTOR, and after seeing so many mentions of it in this thread, I will definitely take an interest in their implementation, but in principle, we have already discussed this issue here locally and probably more than once.

This topic has been discussed in multiple threads for over 13 years, and Blizzard has commented multiple times that it is something they wish to do but then left it at that.

It was nothing more than a sly figure of speech to put link at my post

[Lochton]

Fair enough.

The best player housing i've ever experienced was Wildstar's take on it (as well as transmog\coloring, but that's besides the point).

It was an instanced plot, with several sized plugs for your leisure. Either flavor, minigames, thematic, and what not, and then you could fill the rest to your hearts content. There are amazing examples on youtube, from jungley stuff, to desertey stuff, even a full sized AT-AT... some dude even made a wildstar-esque Iron Throne.

The neat part, was that most of the stuff you used there, assets, models, plugs, were obtained from every facet of the game. Dungeon drops, raid drops, world drops, crafted by players, traded on the ah, etc. So, it not only boosted a player-driven economy, it also pleased the collectibles and achievement hunters.

It was very well thought out, unlike several other aspects of the game, but it was the best player housing i've ever experienced, and very easily expanded on.

Wildstar is one of the top heavy-weight housing ideas as you have more freedom within an instanced setup than a phased, Prebuilt, or world setup (like AA) though it means more has to be put in for it with setups but it is a good idea and start. I am leaning on the Wildstar view or continue the Garrison tech.

It is a massive investment especially given how wow designs objects to work in specific lighting and environments. I lean towards the " this would be nice but I can't see it being worth the resources" crowd.

I can understand the desire for it and found it a neat addition in games that had it. I just would want an entire team hired to do it separately from other content rather then moving anyone off anything to see it happen.

Well, with a massive infusion of team members from recent studio purchase, there are more to pull on but we'll never be able to not pull people from other teams, just like previous content, they have to pull people of interest from other teams to make it.

I liked the way EQ2 did player housing. The player bought either an Inn room like in the OP but these dad a few different floor plans and it changed depending on the city you had it in. They also added larger houses that either came as a extra for buying the xpack, or finding the deed to it in game, or the super fancy ones on the store. Players could find house items in game as drops, some professions made house items, and there was a market store where players could make and design their wares and sell it on the store. The player would make some money and the game took a cut off the top.

EQ2 housing, completely forgot about that.

You won't find any disagreement with me on that statement. It's part of the reason why Torghast failed as hard as it did, too.

I had so much hope for Torghast. I like running it on its own but didn't like that it forced people to do it if they do not wish for it. I hope to see the system progressed and updated and redesigned for the future.

https://vulkk.com/2021/04/27/swtor-f...ide-and-tours/



It can absolutely be done. We've seen it all throughout SWTOR, and even have players just outside of the SH running about, unaware someone is in their penthouse. Blizz just needs to snag the tech and run with it. If it means finally giving the RPers something and sacrificing a raid wing... I am perfectly ok with that.

Honestly, even with LOTRO, Wildstar and FFXIV, we've seen that they don't really need to put in activity outside the windows, heh. It is doable to make the deployment, it is just the damn housing assets.

I had a feeling this was not gonna be a good op.

There are perfectly good housing models. The SWTOR one is my personal favorite.
They have apartments and houses.

I think it lies better with WoW with making a plot that can be upgraded, starts small, then goes up. I do not believe it would be the best start to plot down both versions.

Well, I've never heard anything about housing in SWTOR, and after seeing so many mentions of it in this thread, I will definitely take an interest in their implementation, but in principle, we have already discussed this issue here locally and probably more than once.

This topic has been discussed in multiple threads for over 13 years, and Blizzard has commented multiple times that it is something they wish to do but then left it at that.

[Steelangel]

Here's how to do player housing.

Copy Wildstar.

[Lochton]

It was nothing more than a sly figure of speech to put link at my post

Sneaky. Haha.

- - - Updated - - -

Here's how to do player housing.

Copy Wildstar.

Well, the more one thinks about it, no issues copying Wildstar since they are already dead, RIP.

[Echo of Soul]

https://vulkk.com/2021/04/27/swtor-f...ide-and-tours/



It can absolutely be done. We've seen it all throughout SWTOR, and even have players just outside of the SH running about, unaware someone is in their penthouse. Blizz just needs to snag the tech and run with it. If it means finally giving the RPers something and sacrificing a raid wing... I am perfectly ok with that.

They should sacrifice all the raid wings. Turns out only a 5th of the playerbase does them anyway. Imagine spending that much of your development time on a game mode that most of your customers won't even do.

[WowIsDead64]

Here's how to do player housing.

Copy Wildstar.

You mean "Buy Wildstar"?

[shadowmatrix]

1. Make it instanced - Housing out in the world risks for too many conflicts and bugs for little gain, having housing on it's own server means if something breaks they only have to disable housing till it's fixed.

2. Make one version - You can have player and guild be different but all should start out the same without wealth being a factor. Different styles in different places but all the same size with the same inventory limit. Yes a guild house would be much larger but it shouldn't be something a lone player feels is required.

3. Housing must have small benefits - Let the housing have stuff like a house hearthstone, collectable portals, bank access, profession specific areas (like AH, crafting stations, profession regent vendors), basic vendors, and repair vendor.

4. Housing items should be implemented just like battle pets were - Housing items should come from crafting, dungeons, raids, world events, etc.

5. No rent/taxes - once someone buys a house let them keep their house without it becoming a noose around their neck that forces them to stay subbed.

6. NO LIMIT - one of the worst parts of FFXIV's housing system is the limit, it means that new players and players who play every now and then will likely never own a house anytime in the 3 expansions. Even with the new lottery system your still looking at very low odds.

[Shadowferal]

Never understood the idea of playing house.

[Nymrohd]

Never understood the idea of playing house.

Well it's one of the oldest and most popular forms of play across all cultures and that is just readily observable. Dolls and dollhouses exist everywhere in the world. Games that are focused on building and decorating houses are among the more successful gacha games. You have SIMS. I absolutely understand not getting why something is popular (I am incapable of getting excited about sports) but that doesn't mean I cannot recognize that it is popular.

[WowIsDead64]

Never understood the idea of playing house.

It's very simple. It's about creativity and customization. It's just about taking RP even further.
Customize your character.
Customize your gear via transmog.
Choose favorite mount and pet (or customize them, if game allows it).
Customize your follower.
...
Customize your house.
...
PROFIT!!!

[Lochton]

You mean "Buy Wildstar"?

Well, that wouldn't even be a problem, not much left but their feature can just be used without, it isn't bound to Wildstar or any such.

1. Make it instanced - Housing out in the world risks for too many conflicts and bugs for little gain, having housing on it's own server means if something breaks they only have to disable housing till it's fixed.

That is a very good point, though would put some already existing work into limbo.

2. Make one version - You can have player and guild be different but all should start out the same without wealth being a factor. Different styles in different places but all the same size with the same inventory limit. Yes a guild house would be much larger but it shouldn't be something a lone player feels is required.

I can agree to make it a standard layout for both players and guilds, but inventory of course should differ between a player and a guild, and the wealth factor should be elective, do you wish to use a lot of gold or not? Some housing types should be locked behind certain activities (in this case a certain guild housing should demand certain guild size/achievement).

3. Housing must have small benefits - Let the housing have stuff like a house hearthstone, collectable portals, bank access, profession specific areas (like AH, crafting stations, profession regent vendors), basic vendors, and repair vendor.

I can agree with house hearthstone, and earned portal connections, as well as bank and workshop, but you don't want too many vendors, maybe the basic but specialist craft is out in the world, as well, AH should NOT be a part of the housing.

4. Housing items should be implemented just like battle pets were - Housing items should come from crafting, dungeons, raids, world events, etc.

Yes! Items should be earned in the world but the world should not be dependant on the house like the Garrison was.

5. No rent/taxes - once someone buys a house let them keep their house without it becoming a noose around their neck that forces them to stay subbed.

I can accept that unless they get banned of course.

6. NO LIMIT - one of the worst parts of FFXIV's housing system is the limit, it means that new players and players who play every now and then will likely never own a house anytime in the 3 expansions. Even with the new lottery system your still looking at very low odds.

Well, yeah, one of FFXIV's downfalls, is the neighborhood instances putting a cap on people being able to hold a house.

Never understood the idea of playing house.

It ads another layer of gameplay and social activity for some people. A lot can be done with housing to the point where you even have non-roleplayers use housing because they enjoy doing so.

Well it's one of the oldest and most popular forms of play across all cultures and that is just readily observable. Dolls and dollhouses exist everywhere in the world. Games that are focused on building and decorating houses are among the more successful gacha games. You have SIMS. I absolutely understand not getting why something is popular (I am incapable of getting excited about sports) but that doesn't mean I cannot recognize that it is popular.

Indeed, so correct, we're all wired differently after all.

It's very simple. It's about creativity and customization. It's just about taking RP even further.
Customize your character.
Customize your gear via transmog.
Choose favorite mount and pet (or customize them, if game allows it).
Customize your follower.
...
Customize your house.
...
PROFIT!!!

Heck, seeing other games, takes it further than RP, as long as you don't count New World of ArcheAge where it is sorta a much to have a house if you are a hardcore player.

[WowIsDead64]

Heck, seeing other games, takes it further than RP, as long as you don't count New World of ArcheAge where it is sorta a much to have a house if you are a hardcore player.

It was answer for question "Why players want houses". Devs, wanting some content to revolve around customizations - is completely different thing. They just don't want to sell customizations cheaply.

[shadowmatrix]

I can agree with house hearthstone, and earned portal connections, as well as bank and workshop, but you don't want too many vendors, maybe the basic but specialist craft is out in the world, as well, AH should NOT be a part of the housing.

AH would be part of the profession specific perks same as now, only engineers would get a quest to make an auction house interface. There would be 3 vendors: inn keeper, professions vendor, and a repair person. Maybe a questline to get a 4th that sells PvP and PvE heirloom items.

[Lochton]

AH would be part of the profession specific perks same as now, only engineers would get a quest to make an auction house interface. There would be 3 vendors: inn keeper, professions vendor, and a repair person. Maybe a questline to get a 4th that sells PvP and PvE heirloom items.

I would say no innkeeper but an interactive item you place in your home to bind a teleport to your home. I would say that the repair person should be what we see in some places, an anvil, though, I would like to see a professions vendor that you 'hire' to be in your home if you have a workshop.

[loras]

Based on the utter savagery I've seen in FFXIV's housing market, based on the number of people who demand that things last available nearly two decades ago, to the point some players weren't even born when they were originally made available, no longer ever be made available, based on the fact housing in WoW has been requested ever since Vanilla, based on the number of people who insisted Mage Tower never return....

Yes. There is absolutely a market for this.

Housing taps into that social community aspect of WoW which, frankly, is something that always needs a bit of a boost given the absolute hits its had, along with prospects for hitting the collector and raiding community. Its basically another outlet for people to express themselves in the game and go "This is mine". Its ultimately as pointless to the overall game as transmog, character customisation, or having different mount appearances, sure, but its something for people to go "This is My Character". Another way for folks to be expressive and get immersed in the game. Plus, well, you can go and look at the Dark Ranger threads to see how much just a minor skin can mean to people.

Its ultimately an immersion thing. Immersion's a big reason why Boralus and Dazar'alor are considered better cities than the donut that is Oribus. Just a reason for people to play a bit longer. Pointless if all people care about is clearing mythics, but it gives them something to do outside of that

Fair enough.
Also that bit i marked is gold in itself, worthy of a signature.

[OMGTwitchTV]

Well, I've never heard anything about housing in SWTOR, and after seeing so many mentions of it in this thread, I will definitely take an interest in their implementation, but in principle, we have already discussed this issue here locally and probably more than once.
It was nothing more than a sly figure of speech to put link at my post

Oh I would never suggest leaving permanently to play another game. My example was only intended to illustrate the possibilities which Blizz fails to go after. In SWTOR, you have to spend millions of credits (gold) to buy your Stronghold and then billions more to decorate them. Also, they have their Cartel Market (WoW's in game shop) where decos and deco bundles are sold in exchange for CCs (Cartel Coins) which are earned in small amounts each month for subscribers, or can be bought from 500-10000 at a time for real cash and then used to purchase these items from their market. Blizz could DOUBLE their profit potential by adding a similar system. If it took 100k gold to buy your apartment, or 1M gold to buy a house, Token sales would go through the roof. Then, just like SWTOR, make some decos drop in Dungeons, Raid, and open world (like gear) and the rest would be sold in their cash shop for real money. Some of the player housing could cost as little as $100, or other may spend upwards into the thousands to get everything they want. I know in SWTOR, I have spent more than $70 billion credits buying all of my strongholds and decorating them. Plus, they could introduce a new in game profession:

"Craftsman" - can chop down trees to use as a resource together with specific cloths, dyes, and threads to build furniture for player housing.

If only they would get creative, their cash cow could yield more money than Wrath with 12M subs.

- - - Updated - - -

They should sacrifice all the raid wings. Turns out only a 5th of the playerbase does them anyway. Imagine spending that much of your development time on a game mode that most of your customers won't even do.

Well, if Garrisons, Class Halls, and Covenants had worked out better we wouldn't ask for it. Literally all they have to do is what they did in Classic with the Champion's Hall.



This one spot in Old Town near SI:7 and the Warrior Barracks had a portal for a doorway, much the same way Scholomance still does. All they have to do is replace ANY closed door in a major city with a "portal door" and put some basic decorations from the Inn inside. No new art cause it can literally be a copy/paste of a small inn, with a portal for the door. Only difference is, it is tied to the same software as the Garrison which only you can see until your party member selected "View Leader's Garrison" which would now replace the word Garrison with Apartment.

Really just sick and tired of the old "it would cost us a raid tier" whine/meme when there is zero new art or programming needed other than unlocking a door and pasting another interior inside. Not that tough, but the raiders and elitists of the game would all have a stroke if Blizz did anything that took away from the precious content they log in one hour a week to run vs something everyone could use at their leisure and RPers would use non-stop because they don't unsub unlike the Queue Heroes of Oribos.