First, I know it’s been said that player housing is likely to be added in the future, but I think it’s important, and shouldn’t be put off for too long. It can be more than just a perk; more than a “oh, by the way, there’s housing”, if it’s done right. I’m not saying I know exactly how to do it right, but I just wanted to post some thoughts on what I hope will be included.
Many players like to collect stuff, myself included. In another mmo, my character used daggers, and I liked to spend my time collecting various daggers from all levels of the game. In that game, you could add items to your house to display weapons and armor, in the form of weapon racks and mannequins. There was a player who had the largest house available stocked with mannequins and racks, with armor and weapons from all over the game. It was very much like a gear museum. Very cool. There are many, many skins in the game that I like, but I wouldn’t really use them on my toons. They would just be cool to have. One example; I’ve heard players say they have a bunch of fractal skins they don’t use. Give them a wall to hang them on!
The point is not just to be able to collect things; we can do that now. But, at the moment, collecting them means they just sit in your bank. There really isn’t a way to display your efforts. Personally, I’d honestly be more inclined to do more dungeon runs if I could put together armor sets and collect weapon skins to decorate my house with (as HGTV as that sounds >.< )
Other games have done more. For example, craftable boss trophies made from items they drop. I could be wrong, but a few more people may be inclined to do temple events if they could build a prestigous Risen Priest of Balthazar trophy. These could be added to different boss mobs all over the world to entice people to seek them out.
I would also love to be able to display the things I’ve recieved from events, like the Zephyr Sanctum model, for example. I know Minis can just follow you around wherever, as it is, but what about a cool place for them in your home? I don’t know how possible it would be from development standpoint, but what if you could have a few that wander your house? Like pets?
Of course, I think to really get the most out of it, players would have the option to be able to enter each others homes without being in a group with them. That’s where house permissions would come in. Let anyone who wants to enter, just those on your friends list, or no one at all.
I could be wrong about this as well, but I don’t think many players would mind if a lot of housing upgrades were avaible through the Gem Shop. Bigger houses, fancier furniture, racks, mannequins, etc. As long as a player could still create a nice house and utilize the features without the Shop.
I’m not claiming that what I’ve said here offers anything that’s new to the genre, but I believe they are things that work and add some level of value to the time you put into the game. Players like to show off their accomplishments. They want others to see what they’ve done or how far they’ve made it. Housing is a great place to display those accomplishments.
(I’ve seen the other threads that suggest a skin locker or wardrobe. That’s fine for storage, which could also be in your house, but i’m obviously speaking about something different.)
What else could housing do for us?
(edited by Ckris.5398)