It features in Lord of the Rings Online, doesn't make an appearance in World of Warcraft, and an extended form is the heart of Second Life. It's player housing, and it's had a long and interesting history ever since Ultima Online pioneered the idea. There were hiccups to the approach back then, so many that some later designs have eschewed the entire idea.
Other games that use it have gone with an instancing model a la Final Fantasy XI, ensuring that there's not actual game space being taken up by unused houses. But like so many features, there are debates as to its worth. For every person who loves the idea of player-run cities in Star Wars Galaxies, there's someone who would rather see the same amount of development time going toward endgame content or system balancing.
Housing has always struggled to be an element that's meaningful beyond the cool factor of just owning a player-made house... but then again, many would argue that the cool factor itself is meaningful and why they want it. Where do you fall? Do you like the idea of player housing, are you opposed, or do you fall somewhere in the middle?
Reader Comments (69)
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:22AM (Unverified) said
Dam right i want it but NOT instanced it's GOT to be in the real world so you can tour them. It uses are or should be as follows:
Buff's for crafting, perhaps fighting, worshiping shrines in Player cities.
Shopping/selling items crafted.
To decorate.
To fight for or for territory, perhaps for resources.
Storage
Ah I such good memories of UO, touring the land looking for IDOC's or SWG touring the shopping malls set up... They make you feel part of the world BUT MUST HAVE A PURPOSE, not like LOTRO houses please.
Buff's for crafting, perhaps fighting, worshiping shrines in Player cities.
Shopping/selling items crafted.
To decorate.
To fight for or for territory, perhaps for resources.
Storage
Ah I such good memories of UO, touring the land looking for IDOC's or SWG touring the shopping malls set up... They make you feel part of the world BUT MUST HAVE A PURPOSE, not like LOTRO houses please.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 9:21AM ChromeBallz said
Given the average server population in any game, and the average *size* of the world - This is nigh impossible to do without completely overcrowding the landscape with houses.
Instances are the only way to handle housing. Personally i'm a big fan of how EQ2 handles it. The houses are already there in the physical (ahum) world, but when you enter you're in an instance of your own. The best of both worlds, so to speak.
Reply
Instances are the only way to handle housing. Personally i'm a big fan of how EQ2 handles it. The houses are already there in the physical (ahum) world, but when you enter you're in an instance of your own. The best of both worlds, so to speak.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:24AM (Unverified) said
I just want to note that housing doesn't necessarily means player-run cities and that I'm going to talk about my housing which is in my opinion a waste of time.
Why?
Because its might seem very cool and fun on the beginning but after pretty short time its become quite boring and useless.
I mean, how many of you kept coming back to their house for a month on a daily basis? I'm quite sure that pretty few because you don't have anything to do there even if you are playing on RP server.
The developers should invest the same amount of time on more meaningful content.
Why?
Because its might seem very cool and fun on the beginning but after pretty short time its become quite boring and useless.
I mean, how many of you kept coming back to their house for a month on a daily basis? I'm quite sure that pretty few because you don't have anything to do there even if you are playing on RP server.
The developers should invest the same amount of time on more meaningful content.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:29AM Lethality said
I used to be a huge proponent of this, but feel it's far more important to keep the players congregated in a central hub of commerce and activity, rather then everyone hanging out in their houses/guild halls.
I understand some of the benefits of house and would love the storage and cool factor... but I just don't think they add to the health of the games community.
I understand some of the benefits of house and would love the storage and cool factor... but I just don't think they add to the health of the games community.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 9:21AM ChromeBallz said
The reason why people congregate in MMO's is usually for trade and LFG. Taking WoW as an example, if Blizzard would add purely decorative housing (with *maybe* a tiny storage space, seperate from the bank and a lot smaller), people would still hang around Dalaran/Orgrimmar/Stormwind most of the time because of the auction house, bank and trade/lfg channels.
But, i think this is a reason why Blizzard isn't doing it - They want the content to be used and accessible to as many people as possible. Making houses too useful would mean emptying towns, making them not useful enough would mean they're not used enough to make it worth adding them. So rather than adding them and deal with that problem they're just not adding them at all, at least not untill they have a good solution beforehand.
Personally i'd love to see housing in more games. It gives you a tangible, personal spot in the game world, driving the immersion through the roof. For that reason alone i'd really want to see it implemented.
Reply
But, i think this is a reason why Blizzard isn't doing it - They want the content to be used and accessible to as many people as possible. Making houses too useful would mean emptying towns, making them not useful enough would mean they're not used enough to make it worth adding them. So rather than adding them and deal with that problem they're just not adding them at all, at least not untill they have a good solution beforehand.
Personally i'd love to see housing in more games. It gives you a tangible, personal spot in the game world, driving the immersion through the roof. For that reason alone i'd really want to see it implemented.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 10:57AM archer75 said
It doesn't mean emptying towns at all. You simply build instanced housing in the main cities. Cities stay full. Blizzard was toying with this back before wow was released. You can still see the housing instance portal in stormwind. Back when people were still able to get to developer island you could see all the player housing models there.
Player housing works quite well in many games that use this model. EQ2 being a great example.
Reply
Player housing works quite well in many games that use this model. EQ2 being a great example.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 11:20AM Pingles said
I agree 100%. DAoC decimated their capital cities by not only giving housing crafting stations and vendors but actually requiring a trip to housing to access the game's auction system.
As long as a game does not leech game elements from other aspects to draw them into housing I support them wholeheartedly.
That being said I have yet to see housing done right. Even LOTRO (which has the best I've seen) seems like a ghost town when you walk through the housing zones.
If there was a way of displaying people's houses in a high traffic area I'd be all for it. But they just seem to make these massive games very lonely.
Reply
As long as a game does not leech game elements from other aspects to draw them into housing I support them wholeheartedly.
That being said I have yet to see housing done right. Even LOTRO (which has the best I've seen) seems like a ghost town when you walk through the housing zones.
If there was a way of displaying people's houses in a high traffic area I'd be all for it. But they just seem to make these massive games very lonely.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:28AM ReijMan said
Don't like housing to much, personal just for storage. Most housing instances in games are dead anyway :-(
Roleplay-ish guildhousing rocks, but I wonder why they don't give people personal-customizable-rooms in guildhouses, that way you've best of all worlds.
Roleplay-ish guildhousing rocks, but I wonder why they don't give people personal-customizable-rooms in guildhouses, that way you've best of all worlds.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:28AM breezer said
I think the only people out there actually against player housing are at Blizzard.
What's there to be against? It's usually something everyone benefits from, and it's always nice to have your own space in the game. It makes it feel more personal and immersive.
What's there to be against? It's usually something everyone benefits from, and it's always nice to have your own space in the game. It makes it feel more personal and immersive.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:34AM (Unverified) said
I hate player housing. Its one of those things that if its in the game I will ignore it. It ruins the sense of community and reinforces the creation of cliques and exclusionary attitudes. Id much rather have the Warhammer system where you wear your trophies on your character coupled with the banking system that has become pretty standard in every game. It does nothing for immersion. Im a bad-ass adventurer not an interior decorator.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:38AM Dumac said
So long as there are actual houses occupying actual physical space within the game world, i can see some benefits, even if they're just for decoration and personal storage, or have no use beyond cosmetics at all, they would still contribute to that feeling of a living, breathing world we all like in our MMOs. Instanced houses are not worth the development effort.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:46AM (Unverified) said
While i like Player Housing, I wouldn't want to see it non-instanced, and If I had a choice, I'd want guild housing over Player housing any day.
I'd want it along the lines of how EQ did it. instanced Guild hub. Free lol. A vendor NPC to sell crap when visiting, Personal and Guild bankers, All the crafting stations in one wing, and *drumroll*, a Portal to various hotspot places around Norrath, and a vendor that sold the stones that tuned it to whatever location you wanted.
It worked. My old guild would frequent the place to relax when not off doing b.s. and the zone just outside of the entrance to said guild hall, turned into the major "hub" for player interaction.
Honestly though, for this to work, I think it would depend on the build of the game.
I'd want it along the lines of how EQ did it. instanced Guild hub. Free lol. A vendor NPC to sell crap when visiting, Personal and Guild bankers, All the crafting stations in one wing, and *drumroll*, a Portal to various hotspot places around Norrath, and a vendor that sold the stones that tuned it to whatever location you wanted.
It worked. My old guild would frequent the place to relax when not off doing b.s. and the zone just outside of the entrance to said guild hall, turned into the major "hub" for player interaction.
Honestly though, for this to work, I think it would depend on the build of the game.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:46AM Seffrid said
Personal housing can be great, and hasn't been done anywhere better than in EQ2, but even that game overdoes the guild hall/house setup to the detriment of the cities. LoTRO's player housing is awful.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 8:58AM (Unverified) said
Player housing in LoTRO serves two purposes for me: extra place to map to (one to kinhouse, one to personal house), and extra storage. I decorated my house and it looks nice but that's just a diversion. There is a discount on purchases/repairs made in the housing instance, which is nice but not critical.
Over in WoW, if they gave me extra storage and a 2nd place I could tie a hearthstone to, I'd be entirely satisfied, since that's all I'm really getting out of LoTRO's system.
Over in WoW, if they gave me extra storage and a 2nd place I could tie a hearthstone to, I'd be entirely satisfied, since that's all I'm really getting out of LoTRO's system.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 9:08AM J Brad Hicks said
I liked it in Neocron, where mostly all they were was guild meeting places and extra storage, but the only place I've really loved it in was in Star Wars Galaxies pre-NGE, where player houses were only one component of whole player cities, and where merchants and crafters' houses were actual workplaces where they played the game.
If player, or even guild, housing is some place where the game itself stops, if it's a place where there's nothing to do but stand around and chat or emote, hardly anybody uses it. Which makes it a poor investment of the developers' time, if you ask me.
If player, or even guild, housing is some place where the game itself stops, if it's a place where there's nothing to do but stand around and chat or emote, hardly anybody uses it. Which makes it a poor investment of the developers' time, if you ask me.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 9:11AM keroko said
The biggest problem with non-instanced player housing is that you need large, flat empty pieces of land to put them on. this may lead to 'larger worlds' but also lots and lots of said world being little more than empty planes, which makes the world pretty boring to travel. I'd rather have lush worlds myself.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 9:14AM elocke said
Unequivocally, YES. Too many modern MMO's do NOT have them and I find I really miss this MMORPG staple. Games like WoW, WAR, AoC, and every Korean grinder would truly benefit from a housing system because it alone would add a depth the games already lack. I LOVE cutting trees down in Vanguard and being able to build my house at some truly awesome places. I loved it in SWG. I moderately like it in FFXI, EQ2, and LOTRO as I can decorate my instance to my hearts content, but like someone above said, I prefer open world house placement.
Either way it, to me, is a necessity and a staple of a "good" MMORPG.
Either way it, to me, is a necessity and a staple of a "good" MMORPG.
Posted: Apr 4th 2010 9:19AM Beau Hindman said
I LOVE player housing, and will actually spend most of my game time making it perfect. I might lose man points for saying this, but screw killing dragons when I can be out buying the perfect fireplace.
Beau
Beau
Featured Stories
The Summoner's Guidebook: Why you shouldn't always buy Deathcap on LoL casters
Posted on May 23rd 2013 9:00PM







