Blizzard in general could benefit from learning how to add the RP back into MMORPG. The focus has been on dungeons and raids for so long that out of instance content is just…dailies. Zereth Mortis adds a tiny bit with Protoform Synthesis, but it’s still very limited.
Having the faire up all the time would be nice.
I would live in Karazhan to be honest… that place has aged AMAZINGLY.
I see… reverse psychology… wink wink 
I love player housing. I would even be happy with my garrison being capable of upgrade to level 20 or 40, having underground colorful tunnels, portals to other zones, having more party / guild options, interactions and permissions, have followers show up in other expansions with me. I would even be happy with optional paid items that are account wide.
Personally, I’m in a mixed place. I don’t rp much in WoW, but more because I don’t have people who want to in my friends list. I’m mostly a raider with a dose of M+ for gear or to see big AoE numbers. I have no objection to player housing. I’d probably not get much use out of it, but even as I say that, I’d be harassing my guild to down that boss that drops the chair I really want event though I have little chance of ever doing more than placing it to make my house look cool and stuff.
What I do object to is the way Blizzard has been weaving the different branches of content together. Especially in 9.2, I feel compelled to do significant quantities of content I don’t enjoy at all (i.e., questing and significant M+) in order to be able to do the content I do like (raiding). So while I don’t mind the idea of bringing back rp, at the same time, I would like to not be forced to do it the way we do now and especially how it was in Draenor-BfA. “You will play this content we made” just made me mad. I haven’t paid almost any attention to the quest plots since Legion, when I came back to the game, because I was angry that they insisted I experience every one of the quests they made as though I could be forced to enjoy their work if they did.
TL;DR: Player housing is fine. Get some writers who can make us some plots we can get invested in. Don’t force us to experience the content created so the creaters don’t feel like they wasted their time by wasting ours instead.
Edit: Just to clarify, I was specifically addressing the call to bring RP back into MMORPG. This wasn’t just a random rant. I try to keep my rants topical–if not to the OP’s topic.
Player housing would be a cool way to add a social space, a place to add trophies and something in game you can personalize.
It shouldn’t go as far as Garrisons did in terms of functionality, but it can still be fun.
And if you think it’s stupid then . . . don’t participate. Haven’t yet seen an MMO make housing mandatory.
Oh for sure, we’re in the same mind space. I hate how much next week’s raid “should be easier because we’ll all have our M+ loot from the vault.” I hate how minimal raiding at Heroic feels compared to just spamming M+. But that’s not the RP I was talking about. More than anything, I’d just prefer a story I care about in a world that matters. So many RPers bailed on Shadowlands because the concept is just too out there for anyone to really do much with. No, I don’t think any of my characters should travel to the realm of the dead and see their lost loved ones, it removed the impact of those loved ones, as an example.
But for the housing, that just adds a place where RP can happen naturally. Like I said above, in FF they host restaurants and parties and concerts and all sorts of things because the housing is that customizable. If you give people the right tools and environment you’re basically given back some degree of RP into the game again. People already use empty spaces and outdoor instances; give more of that.
But yeah, no, I’m with you with the forced dungeons to raid and that sort of thing. I don’t want more of that, I’m already grumpy it’s basically the main way to play the game.
well… what is this purpose you mention; don’t hold us in suspense!
this is wow, not other mmos. this niche you even mention is reason enough NOT to implement it- we’d be playing the other games if it meant that much to make or break commitment to a game.
just my 2 cents though.
Kevin is an ooze… though I am very impressed you got it to take the form of a soccerball.
Player housing would be amazing.
Do you mean “what purpose does it serve other than give joy to people who like that sort of thing?” I suppose the same question can be asked about M+ and raiding, really. What purpose do they ultimately serve? They’re things that take place in a virtual world on servers you don’t own with intellectual property you don’t own that can be deleted at a whim. When you finish, you have nothing but bits of electrical charges that we consider data to show any sort of end result to show for it. If we want things to serve a purpose in a game beyond that people like the experience it feels like the “game” aspect has sort of been left by the wayside, hasn’t it?
And, what if, get this, we play WoW because we like the world or the raids or something and don’t have the time or money to devote to another MMO? Gosh, it’d be neat if we could have the features we’re missing out on by not having the opportunity to go play those games without giving up the time we devote to WoW. Oh wait. We can. It’s called adding the feature.
As for @Rhuor, please understand, for most of WoW, I mained a Warlock. I know how she thinks. She’s not a nice, friendly person. There’s a reason that she was the head of the Black Harvest in Legion. So when she got to Shadowlands she looked around and was kinda disgusted by all the Covenants. Frankly, the Jailor made the most sense to her!
“I literally rip out the souls of living things and use them to summon demons and inflict my will upon my foes. This Jailor guy gets me.”
Or it would cost millions of gold to upgrade your personal house from the standard issue rotting leather tent in a hole in the ground as a level 1 garrison was.
ok so you still haven’t even given an explanation of what this housing is supposed to do, much less why it would be so enjoyable. raids, m+, etc are all content inthe game to get higher gear, ran with friends, and so on. it’s easy to see why they’re here and what purpose it serves.
the rest of what you typed just turned into “blaaaaahhhhh” to me so i stopped reading.
Runescape is another game with good housing and it has a lot of things to do inside. My favorite was definitely the ring just like in wrestling matches where we could fight, our clan had so much fun with that.
There’s so many possibilities and I’d love to have a house in wow.
I gave you exactly the answer you asked for. What purpose does getting more gear serve? The ability to further get gear? I’m still waiting for what purpose that serves. Unless you enjoy it.
Housing is supposed to provide enjoyment to the people who like it. What more explanation do you need?
Or am I using words too big for you? Were you scared by the multiple sentences? Or did you just not care to actually read the answer to your question?
TL;DR for you: “blaaaaaaaaah”
great rebuttal. guess i shouldn’t expect much more from people like you.
It was, thank you. I’m pleased you were able to follow my cogent logic. Could you please answer my question what purpose getting more gear serves? I answered yours, so it’s only fair.
The best example of player housing by far is WildStar it was one of the few things they got right.
That makes this
understandable 
The amount of time you’d have fun with player housing depends on Blizzard’s implementation of player housing 
I don’t personally care about player housing but I realize that if Blizz adds it they’ll add achievements and collectible items to it. I’m a full time collector so that gives me stuff to do. If Blizz were to implement say different furnishings based on different themes present in the game for example: Ogre Theme, Orc Theme, Murloc Theme, etc and put in things to collect from around the world that would be MONUMENTAL o_o If they continue to add themes and stuff to collect over time then no it won’t be a weeks worth of interaction.
Now, if Blizz essentially adds the Garrison with its minuscule collectibles then yes it will be, implementation matters.
Old Republic has an entire gambling event. It’s doable when the currency comes from the quests for the event itself and you can’t tie it back to real money or gold.