20 years of history, collections, and nostalgia.
^ This, 1000%… is the main reason why I can’t see it being done in this game with the in-depth customization that fans want to see. Otherwise, we would have seen some of the mechanics already in character creation.
Blizz didn’t code the game with server-side RP mechanics, detailed customization, or engine upgrades in mind (I already seen/played three MMOs who upgraded their engines and retained player data/progress/achievements).
Take tattoos for example - a feature with freedom placement players have been asking for in character creation. The same mechanic that allows freedom of placement and rotation in buildings and furniture in housing would be the same for placing tattoos on a character model.
I rather see no housing and move to another game that does it better than to see another half-a**** attempt. Blizz dropped the ball so many times when they had an opportunity to do something better than the next contender.
In World of Warcraft (WoW), both player housing and garrisons serve as personalized spaces for players, but they have distinct characteristics:
- Garrisons:
- Function: Garrisons are fortified bases or strongholds that players can establish in specific zones. They serve as command centers for players, allowing them to manage resources, recruit followers, and send them on missions.
- Integral to Expansion: In the Warlords of Draenor (WoD) expansion, garrisons played a central role in progression. Many game activities were tied to garrisons, making them a core gameplay feature.
- Customization: While garrisons allow some customization (such as building structures and choosing followers), their primary purpose is strategic and functional rather than aesthetic.
- Interaction: Players can visit their garrisons, but they are often isolated instances, limiting social interaction with other players.
- Player Housing:
- Optional and Customizable: Player housing, on the other hand, should be completely optional. It provides a customizable living area where players can express their creativity. Unlike garrisons, housing does not impact mainline progression.
- Instanced: Ideally, player housing should be instanced, similar to garrisons. Players can invite others to visit their homes, but the outside world would only see a representation of the house.
- Quest Hub vs. Personal Space: Garrisons served as quest hubs, whereas player housing should focus on providing a personal space for relaxation, decoration, and immersion.
- Cultural Variation: In a rich fantasy world like WoW, player housing could be distributed across different zones, reflecting the culture and architecture of each region. [For example, a dark elf home might be found in a dark elf city or region]
Ultimately, the difference lies in the balance between functionality and personal expression: garrisons emphasize gameplay mechanics, while player housing prioritizes creativity and individuality.
we all know what they’d do. they make the house, the furniture, the decorations, the battle-pet house, profession-shack, and mount stable all cost irl money.
if this was blizzard back in WoD, it’d be earnable in-game, but c’mon… this is modern acti-blizz-soft.
and anything you would’nt need to buy, would be tedious and boring to unlock.
20 years into the game, I can safely say that play housing will absolutely never happen.
Well, they’d ship a few premium assets in the cash shop, but it’d mostly be in game.
The real issues would be that Blizzard would ship player housing broken, only getting it fixed over a two year period. Then, they’d make a bunch of housing items time sensitive. And finally, given that modern Blizzard doesn’t have the same work output as old Blizzard… we’d just get a shoddy version of what ever people were hoping for or expecting.
It already happened, to the extent that the game’s engine can deliver it.
That could be expanded and updated, but the “REEEEEEEE GARRISONS AREN’T HOUSING” crowd has made certain that would never happen.
The engine wasn’t built for dragonflying either. Besides, do you really need to have things placeable anywhere? You could have premade slots where you can fit things, which is something garrisons already did.
Edit: Of course everyone would prefer placeable anywhere, but I would rather actually get a house even if there’s limits on where one can put things, and have the devs improve the how to fit things in over time, than wait for another decade and get the whole thing with bells and whistles then.
Bottom line is they’re acting like this would be making the whole game from scratch, which it could be if they went that way, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be a smaller feature, which they can grow over time.
1 Like
I don’t know who the “REEEEEEE GARRISONS AREN’T HOUSING” people are supposed to be, and they literally have no impact on the game, because if they did we’d have actual player housing.
Garrisons, aren’t housing. Imagine going into Stormwind and the only way to enter is to pay thousands of gold… that’s garrisons. Blizzard tricked people into thinking that the expansion hub was somehow player housing when it was simply a faction hub that we had to pay for. It’s not even close.
Blizzard themselves have differentiated between garrisons and player housing in interviews.
IF we get player housing, I just hope they allow multiple styles. Want elvish style homes? Or how about the Stonework of the Dwarves? Mud huts of the orcs? Have at it!
When they released housing, there was only 1 style for each faction:
- A Horde hovel that released at the start of WoD alpha because Blizzard threw it together in an afternoon.
- An Alliance version that didn’t release for testing until quite some time later because Blizzard spent months perfecting the Alliance’s palatial mansion.
I’m so confused… what is meant by ‘player housing’? Is it a stack and pack that I see going up all over my city that look like the ‘massive’ Soviet housing in Moscow? Tiny space housing?
I keep hearing ‘Garrisons’ were NOT player housing. Well, they were in my opinion. I loved it, and I even had my own Auction House, Trading Post, Portal to the main city, Fishing Hole, a really neat Mine, and a Garden! And then, I had fun Follower Mission tables and EVEN my own Ships and Missions too! Now THAT IS Player Housing!
They say this about everything. They said this about Classic WoW.
I know it’s common to believe everything you hear in modern times, but bro- how many times has blizz advisories fell off? Countless at this point.
The best guess anyone possibly has is “they will implement x when they figure out a clever/surefire way to monetize it.” That’s it.
1 Like
Oh, we’re back on this thread again?
Casual reminder that, no, Garrisons were not player housing, sorry.
1 Like
Housing is going to happen if for no other reason than the amount of money they can make selling all the existing game assets back to us through the shop as furniture.
The main difference between player housing and garrisons is the ability to place personal items where you want them and not set buildings. Some games you could zone into a housing sector and there would be many players houses lining the street and you could visit them to see how they decorated etc. With Garrisons you have to be invited to that players group and second, they logged off you got kicked out. Also, you see one garrison you seen them all where each individual player house was different.
1 Like
Maybe woodworking and stonecrafting? I would want some mineral-based statues in the yard and in the house, lol.
1 Like
what if I want a house made of stone, what then
You watch T&E too? Cool.
so you could just enter someone’s house without their permission?
i dont think thats a good idea
Depends on how people had their permissions set up on their residence. In EQ2 you could save broker fees by going to the persons house and purchasing it from them directly or pay the auction house fee and buy it from where you stood.
Guild’s always like showing off their accomplishments by allowing potential recruits visit their castles. In other games they also would setup suburbs for guild members to purchase property and guild members would build out their property as they saw fit allowing other guild members to roam their property.
Because I was a carpenter in most of these games, I would decorate a lot of people’s houses with what they would order from me to make. Some would give me materials to craft it, others I would have to gather the materials to craft it all, but I was always busy.
The one thing I do hate is having to have all these crafters spread across several alternate characters. I much prefer the ability to craft all on 1 character, so my name gets out there. Having stuff crafted by people with stupid names attached to the item is another thing that has always bothered me, so I don’t get anything ever crafted unless I do it (example item crafted by S£Lúrá or icraftformoney).