Player Housing in World of Warcraft
Player housing has been a popular request and dream for many players since vanilla was released so many years ago. Warlords of Draenor looked promising, but completely dropped the ball on release, and the designers seemed to have misunderstood what players wanted from a housing system. I believe we can implement a housing system that encapsulates most of the dreams of players, without a major impact to live WoW systems, while at the same time benefiting the economy in game, crafting, guild cohesion, and the player experience overall.
Location location location! Or lack thereof, in this case. The first step to player housing is finding a spot for the houses to go. I donāt think anyone wants a huge strip of the barrens to become a gated community. This issue has been addressed in other games through different means, but the best solution may be the toybox. If players had a āHouseā toy they could activate to place their house in the world conceivably anywhere, but it would only be visible to them, and their party. Another option would be the toy creating a clickable portal, again limited to party members, that would bring the player/s to the house in a selected setting. In either case the house would be instanced, and thus not have to interact with the surrounding area in the āreal world.ā Access to the housing toy would be itself relatively cheap in gold, if not free. It could also be locked behind a quest chain or achievement, but I want to stress that itās a community feature, not something that should be withheld from people because they donāt have the same level of commitment or time that others have.
Guild housing could also work in a similar manner. By providing guild housing, you not only increase the immersion in the fantasy of a guild, but many players will also feel more inclined to participate in guild activities if they can physically see the results, as opposed to a chat message saying 500g has been added to the guild bank. Guild housing and building supplies could be bought with guild funds, trophies could be acquired in guild events(Raids, Achievements, PVP). Guild leadership could set the theme, setting, and access to restricted areas. In general guild housing and player housing would be very similar, but on different scales, and I will treat them as one in the same moving forward.
So you have acquired your housing, now what? The first step would be picking a setting. These could be places from around Azeroth, a scene from the depths of a dungeon, or possibly under the waves of Vashjāir. The potential for monetization here exists, but I think a few basic options should be free at the get go. Maybe based on warband or race. Then itās time to build! A basic house may start as just a central room, a bedroom, and a small garden, but the expansion would be limited only by what the devs would be able to give us. Do you want to add on a second floor, a kitchen, maybe a barn? These additions wouldnāt be limited to cosmetic fluff, but would be useful, meaningful changes to quality of life. Kitchens could provide cooking areas, a garage could provide professional crafting tables, an upgraded bedroom might allow you to gain rested xp at a faster rate then in a normal inn. Of course, you want to decorate each and every square foot of your home. Furniture, trophies, placed toys, pets, mounts, all could be possible. Furniture itself would be player crafted from existing gathering profession materials, helping the in game economy, especially as it gets flooded later in an expansion. No one may want your piddly flowers or basic enchanting reagents anymore, but they can be turned into a mounting frame to display your conquests above your bed now, and everyone wants that! I dont think any new gathering professions need to be added to facilitate this. When it comes to crafting furniture, I envision it as a system of just having the materials, selecting what you want to craft, and where you desire it to go. However it could also be distributed throughout the current crafting professions, or a new crafting profession could be added specifically for housing related goods. A secondary profession similar to fishing and cooking.
With your house built and getting decorated, it now needs to fulfill more of the basic everyday needs. Add bank access, transmog services, vendor and repair options, even mail. If you want to limit the player to what they already have available to them, these services could be implemented through mount/pet/toy areaās. Display your Brutasuaras in your homeās parking lot and get access to the auction house! Have a post built for your mail carrying owl, or build a spare bed for your guild page so you can access the guild bank without leaving home. THey could also just be expensive upgrades to the home itself. Giving everyone access to the auction house from anywhere seems fair since itās been years since the Brutasuaras were available to purchase. There is potential for monetization here, and possible charitable tie-ins. I can imagine an Elekk flavored mount with auction and transmog passengers being sold in the shop with some proceeds going to wilderness conservation groups, for instance.
The last little cherry on top would be themes. You have your house or guild manor, you have it decorated and fully stocked, but it still needs that little something to make it pop. Themes could be based off of holidays, like Winterās Veil or Brewfest, or be more generic spring/summer/fall type options. Themes would not change any mechanic of housing, but would add a visual appeal and depth of immersion into the story the player is trying to create with their home. Themes could run the gamut from unlocked through quests, achievements, bought with gold, and bought in the storefront. Special events in real life could unlock related themes, and it could be used as tie-ins to other Blizzard games. Themes would be completely cosmetic and optional, and thus have a high potential for monetization without breaking any part of the experience.
Thank you for your attention to the matter, and I appreciate any and all feedback regarding player housing. The community is ready and waiting to take charge of our new homes, we just need the keys!
May your day continue in peace and comfort.
Shroom
Dominion
Garrosh
