The War Within 11.X Patches & World Soul Saga Speculation Thread

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Which MMO released after 2010 has un-instanced housing?

ArcheAge, I think, but there was a lot of drama at launch surrounding about botters who acquired land very quickly. But that game is a sandbox PvP MMO more along the lines of Ultima Online than a casual game like retail WoW.

The solution is instancing, be it in an isolated map or in the open world like the Halfhill Farm/Garrison.

[Luck4]

ArcheAge, I think, but there was a lot of drama at launch surrounding about botters who acquired land very quickly. But that game is a sandbox PvP MMO more along the lines of Ultima Online than a casual game like retail WoW.

The solution is instancing, be it in an isolated map or in the open world like the Halfhill Farm/Garrison.

I think WoW might have enough room if they put 30-40 houses in each zone of every expansion.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I think WoW might have enough room if they put 30-40 houses in each of zone of every expansion.

Limited housing is meaningless in a cross-realm world where you don't see the same people online each time you play. Almost everyone you see is someone you will probably never see again. If this was WoW classic where server communities were still a thing? Sure. But this is retail. Give everyone their own house wherever they want.

[huth]

I think WoW might have enough room if they put 30-40 houses in each zone of every expansion.

I suggest you try counting them. I doubt that would be remotely enough.

[Luck4]

I suggest you try counting them. I doubt that would be remotely enough.

Yeah, I know some people will be left out, especially in high/full realms, and even then, the vast majority of the lucky house owners would end up in places they don't like.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Yeah, I know some people will be left out, especially in high/full realms, and even then, the vast majority of the lucky house owners would end up in places they don't like.

I really don't see the appeal of this—what is this supposed to have over instanced housing, again?

[Luck4]

I really don't see the appeal of this—what is this supposed to have over instanced housing, again?

Just more exposition, but I was mostly wondering if this was possible or not, un-instanced housing is something extremely rare.

Maybe we can have instanced neighborhoods for guilds/friends, would be fun to see other people's homes without needing to be in the same group.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Just more exposition, but I was mostly wondering if this was possible or not, un-instanced housing is something extremely rare.

Maybe we can have instanced neighborhoods for guilds/friends, would be fun to see other people's homes without needing to be in the same group.

I do agree with neighborhoods—guild halls are also practically a requisite if we're also getting player housing, in my mind. Guild halls would be an incredibly nice thing to have, and I think they would add to, rather than detract from, the sense of community. If anything, the only concern about player housing I have is that it would be likely to pull more people out of cities, so neighborhoods would be a nice way of preempting that.

On the topic of uninstanced housing, I definitely don't see that working—the game is simply too populated, even in an incredibly diminished state, to support it. Maybe, to build a bit on what you suggested before, uninstanced houses could be an incredibly rare reward for events akin to the old Scarab Gate event—though I think that would be best if instead the competition was to allow a certain guild to claim ownership over a guild hall on a server. Overall, though, I think it's effectively required that player housing be fully instanced.

[Luck4]

Anyway, I'm probably delusional, brainstorming ideas about Housing/World Revamp, two things that may never happen, LMAO.

[AOL Instant Messenger]

Anyway, I'm probably delusional, brainstorming ideas about Housing/World Revamp, two things that may never happen, LMAO.

Copium is often more enjoyable than reality—it's why I entertain the thought.

[Luck4]

I do agree with neighborhoods—guild halls are also practically a requisite if we're also getting player housing, in my mind. Guild halls would be an incredibly nice thing to have, and I think they would add to, rather than detract from, the sense of community. If anything, the only concern about player housing I have is that it would be likely to pull more people out of cities, so neighborhoods would be a nice way of preempting that.

Would definitely be cool, the neighborhood and the guild hall as some sort of town hall.

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Copium is often more enjoyable than reality—it's why I entertain the thought.

Indeed!

[Skildar]

--snip--

this is exactly what shouldn't be done with housing in wow. There is nothing of value to be gained by the majority of casual players there.

[Berkilak]

Yeah, I know some people will be left out, especially in high/full realms, and even then, the vast majority of the lucky house owners would end up in places they don't like.

Not to mention that "zones" don't really exist anymore as an element of a server's identity. Sharding saw to that. It's not like I can have a cozy little hut in the Barrens on Sargeras, since there is no such thing.

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I do agree with neighborhoods—guild halls are also practically a requisite if we're also getting player housing, in my mind. Guild halls would be an incredibly nice thing to have, and I think they would add to, rather than detract from, the sense of community. If anything, the only concern about player housing I have is that it would be likely to pull more people out of cities, so neighborhoods would be a nice way of preempting that.

Personally, I'd like to see guild halls as the central feature of the housing system. They should serve as the main "keep" with a few dozen smaller plots around it for members to snatch up, and a "barracks"-type building to give singular rooms to the rest.

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I really don't see the appeal of this—what is this supposed to have over instanced housing, again?

The appeal is that it helps to sell the setting as a living world that you can have a material effect upon, in some small way. But that simply isn't the type of game WoW is. And as mentioned, it's likely incompatible entirely with their server infrastructure now even if they wanted to entertain the thought.

[GabrielKnight]

I find that somewhat tragic, since I think they were an extraordinarily cool concept—had they just been structured more like Wintergrasp or Tol Barad, I imagine they'd be quite well-received. An opt-in system, yet still strictly in the open world like the aforementioned used to be, would be very fun and interesting to experiment with. They definitely should have been a PvP feature—either partially or exclusively. I think Battle for Azeroth was the perfect opportunity to finally give PvP some much-needed love, and it was really squandered. I could see an alternate Battle for Azeroth in which Warfronts were little more than something resembling Tol Barad or Winterspring, with PvE questing existing alongside PvP gameplay in the open world, with the questing and PvP both helping to determine who dominates the battleground for the time being.

Well, to be fair, they did implemented War Mode, which I believe it's the best thing they've done in many, many years. And the PvP became quite good back then, those endless battles at Nazjatar were beautiful. I spent hours doing WPvP there and it never got old.

I do agree with neighborhoods—guild halls are also practically a requisite if we're also getting player housing, in my mind. Guild halls would be an incredibly nice thing to have, and I think they would add to, rather than detract from, the sense of community. If anything, the only concern about player housing I have is that it would be likely to pull more people out of cities, so neighborhoods would be a nice way of preempting that.

On the topic of uninstanced housing, I definitely don't see that working—the game is simply too populated, even in an incredibly diminished state, to support it. Maybe, to build a bit on what you suggested before, uninstanced houses could be an incredibly rare reward for events akin to the old Scarab Gate event—though I think that would be best if instead the competition was to allow a certain guild to claim ownership over a guild hall on a server. Overall, though, I think it's effectively required that player housing be fully instanced.

Lord of the Rings Online did it right I think. They had instanced neighborhoods, you went there and found a bunch of houses of different shapes and sizes, and you could meet their owners in the same area. Even the crappiest mob around the world dropped stuff to decorate your house, it was quite the fun activity.
LotrO may have been a carbon copy of WoW in many aspects, but the latter has tons of things to learn from them, especially regarding classes. LotrO had the Minstrel class, which worked perfectly, now that everybody talks about bards.

[Berkilak]

Well, to be fair, they did implemented War Mode, which I believe it's the best thing they've done in many, many years. And the PvP became quite good back then, those endless battles at Nazjatar were beautiful. I spent hours doing WPvP there and it never got old.

Honestly, I think there should be some form of zone control in every War Mode shard zone. The world quests are nice, but it's still just adding PvE objectives to a PvP setting rather than giving us PvP objectives out in the world outright.

[Nathanyel]

this is exactly what shouldn't be done with housing in wow. There is nothing of value to be gained by the majority of casual players there.

I have NEVER heard talk about other games' player housing where they praised how prestige-y it was, only how you could express yourself, or, y'know, have a 'home' to return to.

[Berkilak]

I have NEVER heard talk about other games' player housing where they praised how prestige-y it was, only how you could express yourself, or, y'know, have a 'home' to return to.

Back in the days where you could literally fight over land and holdings in MMOs, there was a lot of prestige attached to it.

Not so much these days.

[Skildar]

I have NEVER heard talk about other games' player housing where they praised how prestige-y it was, only how you could express yourself, or, y'know, have a 'home' to return to.

I'm saying that housing should be aimed towards the majority of the player base not built around gold sink or other mechanics that limits its access or engagement and accessibility. The same goes for how you interact with other players houses.

[Nathanyel]

I'm saying that housing should be aimed towards the majority of the player base not built around gold sink or other mechanics that limits its access or engagement and accessibility. The same goes for how you interact with other players houses.

Ah, it seems I misunderstood your phrasing, but then again, you didn't quote any specific part (I do appreciate though that you didn't simply full-quote while replying to only one sentence, like some on this forum do)

I did mean my proposals in a casual-friendly way:

The "one million gold" were part of an, example I didn't want, limited plots divided up quickly between the rich & early.

And the part about it being a pure gold sink, I meant that while you could sink plenty of gold into unlocking furniture etc., it shouldn't be like the Garrison where you were also expected to make money from it.

[Nymrohd]

Garrisons are not instanced. They are phased. That's how I'd expect housing in WoW to work. If you own a plot, you'd phase into your own house. If you did not, you'd phase into an empty version (or furnished, it if it sold furnished) so you could check it out. And if you were in a group with someone and they invited you to their house like we could invite people to our garrison, you'd phase into their version even if you owned the house. Perhaps you could set up permissions so your friends could drop by (but not able to modify anything) or your entire guild could drop by thus letting guild leaders buy the largest of housing to use as guild houses; that's how it works in ESO, guild leaders will often buy a mansion and let all their guild members visit and then populate it with group amenities like target dummies and crafting stations.

They spend so much dev time and player goodwill developing that system and by the end of WoD it worked seemlessly. Why not use it and go for something instanced?