I’m glad that Blizzard is finally adding player housing in the upcoming Midnight expansion; however, there are some concerns I have with the system as it has been described so far that I would like to bring to the developer’s attention to bring awareness.
- Public Neighborhoods: I’m worried that unless there is a council or owner of a public neighborhood that players who do not upkeep their home or invest minimum effort into it will take up the limited number of slots. Eventually, many public neighborhoods will become slums and have mismatching housing that decreases property appeal.
- There should be a way to enforce outward of appearance for the homes in a neighborhood to conform to certain standards. I believe that Orc and Human themed homes will be offered at first, but once other race themed homes are added it would be nice if the neighborhood could ban homes for certain races to maintain the character of a neighborhood.
- Less wealth players should not have the same options for player housing available to them. Housing near major cities or near visually appealing areas should require a premium; the less wealthy players should make their homes in less appealing area or in an area that would require long travel time to main city (this add immersion, as poors in real life have long commutes).
For the first two issues, I think a “HoA” system that allows the owner (or a council elected by the neighborhood) to evict players who do not conform to housing standards or who are no longer subscribed to the game can mitigate these problems. An HoA should also be allowed to charge a fee that can be used to decorate common areas of the neighborhood (maybe nice trees / lighting); this fee would also deter low wealth players since they would rather live in a no-fee / no-rules neighborhood – let them; I don’t want these troglodytes infesting my neighborhood.
5 Likes
I’m for the addition of a Homeowner’s Association because ever since Sylvanas left and the Horde realized “Honor” doesn’t mean “Soaked in the blood of innocent” we don’t really have the option to play an evil character anymore.
Let people be evil. Bring on the HoA.
3 Likes
Blizzard should consider adding HoA or some other mechanism to players to invest gold into their homes / neighborhood. A monthly fee is preferable, since it is a constant gold sink rather than just a one-time purchase. This would benefit Blizzard as well, since it could help drive token sales from poorer players in-game so they can show off their home or be proud of their neighborhood.
Racketeering scams like HOA’s only belong in Undermine.
3 Likes
I visited a neighborhood without an HoA and I saw a trash can left on the curb the day after trash pickup. I was appalled at the lack of respect that homeowner had for his neighbors!
Only my cat is capable of answering this in the correct way…. But I shall try my best.
Reowwr Hissssssssssssssssss(growl) /claw
(Tail is now fluffy)
2 Likes
What is the best way to ensure player housing turns into a toxic cesspool of hate and griefing? ……. Add an HOA.
Omg I was already biased against player housing. Throw in an HOA and I’m out. I would NEVER engage in that level of griefing.
1 Like
I made it clear in my post that there should be neighborhoods available without the HoA feature (or rather, I made it clear that there would be no-fee / no-rules neighborhoods available which implies the lack of an HoA).
Part of this proposed HoA system relies on non-HoA neighborhoods existing so we can keep players who don’t care about their home or who don’t want to abide by neighborhood rules away from those of us that do care and who will gladly follow rules if they help keep our neighborhood nice.
So you want to only play with people who think exactly like you.
You’ve very obviously not been part of a real HOA.
Good luck with that.
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Worse. He wants people who don’t think exactly like him to be forced to play as if they do.
It is said the Horde was not truly evil.
Then they suggest an HOA.
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Sorry, but April Fool’s Day has passed for the year.
2 Likes
I’ve already called dibs on the inevitable HOA president position for my guild’s neighborhood. Put it in my guild note and everything. That makes it official.
I’m specifically asking this for public neighborhoods, these rules could be implemented in a private neighborhood since the owner could just kick people out if they don’t conform to the rules (I do think the HoA feature should still be available for private as well, as it would help automate the process of enforcing compliance). I plan to have some of my characters in public neighborhoods so I can interact with people outside my guild and friends list, but I don’t want my character to live in a trashy neighborhood to accomplish that.
I doubt Blizz is going to add “terrible neighbor” options for player housing.
Such as:
Cover lawn with trash
Leave Halloween decorations up all year
Hang Christmas lights in a way that spells out foul language
Release all 1300 of your pets to roam the neighborhood
Camp at your neighbor’s front door in a PVP community
or /yell “Pay me 1000 gold and I will stop yelling this all day”
If you think im not going to have hallowed end decorations up all year long you may be mistaken.
3 Likes
Can I have an estate with a massive gate and high walls?
I feel like saving Azeroth more times than I care to remember from threats big (N’Zoth) and small (King Mechagon) should mean never having to deal with poors.
You know what? Just give me half of Mulgore. I’ll build my own walls and gatehouse.
The latest article mentions that there will be “trophies” (an example was Onyxia’s Head) that you can decorate your home with. Really don’t want these to be viewable in public (out side the home) as I think it would reduce curb appeal.