Guild Wars 2

Okay, don’t click away yet, but hear me out.

We have basically joined the new Destiny’s Edge, and Rox is calling it a guild. So, maybe down the road in the living story, our new guild buddies decide to get our own guild hall? Thus, our housing idea, where we can fill with trophies, crafting stations, etc.

Even more so, our own non-living story guilds can create their own guild halls too. There, it ties into the living story to make more sense instead of just inserting it.

This is how I see/think housing should be:
Everything should start from a task. According to your race, this task will take place in a specific map of Shiverpeaks, Ascalon, Kryta, Maguuma and it could consist in being sent to kill a Son of Svanir/Nightmare Court/Inquest/Flame Legion Leader with all his/her ads around. It should be a level 80 only task, only soloable in an instanced area. So that whole housing could turn into a possible end-game content, to give players at 80 something to do.
Once you defeat the enemies you are left with some ruined place and the terrain around it. There you will be given the chance to re-build the building, choosing among a few samples…but choosing/buying the house won’t give the house itself, it will give a sort of recipe. Let’s say xxx amount x wood, xxx amount y wood, xxx amount ore, (could as well add a stone ore for the matter), only once you gathered/bought all of the mats you will finally have your house, that will always be in the instanced place but that will now allow people in a party with you to come inside to roleplay/watch/whatever.
With it, it should definitely be added some more crafting abilities, let’s say one to create furnitures and one to create home-objects. The house can be featured, expanded, as the player pleases but everything will take an amount of materials not simple gold, like “buy wall 50s”, more like “to build wall: 250 elder wood planks”. Some daily event could as well be added to the instance home, where some enemy comes to try to kill you, where someone in difficulties comes to seek for help against someone/something and it could also be added a merchant, selling unique items that can only be bought there.
Something like this, in my thoughts, that could keep some interest in the players for at least some time, not something that everyone can get after 20 minutes from release and be done and bored with it within the next two hours..

Why are people obsessed with housing???

In UO I had a house. I spent tons of time messing around with my house. It became a major timesink.

In LotRO I had a house. It was so lame that I never spent any time there.

I have played other games where there was housing and I have yet to see any game developer/publisher get it right.

WE DO NOT NEED PLAYER HOUSING!

Pip.2094:

This is how I see/think housing should be:
Everything should start from a task. According to your race, this task will take place in a specific map of Shiverpeaks, Ascalon, Kryta, Maguuma and it could consist in being sent to kill a Son of Svanir/Nightmare Court/Inquest/Flame Legion Leader with all his/her ads around. It should be a level 80 only task, only soloable in an instanced area. So that whole housing could turn into a possible end-game content, to give players at 80 something to do.
Once you defeat the enemies you are left with some ruined place and the terrain around it. There you will be given the chance to re-build the building, choosing among a few samples…but choosing/buying the house won’t give the house itself, it will give a sort of recipe. Let’s say xxx amount x wood, xxx amount y wood, xxx amount ore, (could as well add a stone ore for the matter), only once you gathered/bought all of the mats you will finally have your house, that will always be in the instanced place but that will now allow people in a party with you to come inside to roleplay/watch/whatever.
With it, it should definitely be added some more crafting abilities, let’s say one to create furnitures and one to create home-objects. The house can be featured, expanded, as the player pleases but everything will take an amount of materials not simple gold, like “buy wall 50s”, more like “to build wall: 250 elder wood planks”. Some daily event could as well be added to the instance home, where some enemy comes to try to kill you, where someone in difficulties comes to seek for help against someone/something and it could also be added a merchant, selling unique items that can only be bought there.
Something like this, in my thoughts, that could keep some interest in the players for at least some time, not something that everyone can get after 20 minutes from release and be done and bored with it within the next two hours..

I think that something like this would be pretty cool indeed, even more if the materials needed to build the house would have to be crafted from normal materials, into something account bound, like with ascended, with also some limited time gating, just to make the thing a little more realistic.
But I agree with everything you said, also the events in it would be pretty cool and give you a good reason to go there every day to check what’s going to happen +1

If you want housing, go play another game. It’s that easy.

Eight O Eight.8257:

Why are people obsessed with housing???

In UO I had a house. I spent tons of time messing around with my house. It became a major timesink.

In LotRO I had a house. It was so lame that I never spent any time there.

I have played other games where there was housing and I have yet to see any game developer/publisher get it right.

WE DO NOT NEED PLAYER HOUSING!

How exactly did these games actually force you to work and spend time into your housing? If something is implemented it doesn’t mean you must do it just because it is there, I don’t go WvW because I hate it, I don’t come here to tell ANet to remove it from game because I find it boring and hateful.
If they add housings and you don’t like it, turn around and pretend it doesn’t exist. Even though nothing can take away the joy to spit poison on what other people like, right?

Silvia.9130:

pretend it doesn’t exist

No need, it doesn’t…and (hopefully) will stay that way.
My characters have enough on their plates already without having to faff about with scatter cushions and chintzy curtains.
Guild halls? maybe, but player housing? – please no.

I’m addicted to the idea of housing.

As a person addicted to the idea of housing, I realize that it is a complicated thing to bring into a game. For every idea I have, there’s a counter-argument in my own head. Here’s how I see them potentially bringing housing into the game and having it make sense…….

Start with guild halls. It’s something from GW1 that people loved. It could also be a starting point for future content creation.

Then, have individual homes for people to access within their guild. I’m imagining it as an instanced room, although it would be amazing if you could design it otherwise, so your guildies could check out your area.

Within those rooms, you could collect trophies that represent your in-game accomplishments. I’d personally like to see decorative options, rewards from seasonal events, mannequins that you could display armor skins on, wall art, different areas of the house with add ons for a variety of activities such as crafting, living space for NPC family members, cool stuff like that.

You could then make each event of the game more than the current skin/achievement hunt. You could add trophies, rare decorative drops, all sorts of things. The possibilities are truly endless with what they could do, and it could be fun as hell. My imagination goes wild conjuring up the different avenues they could branch off into from this starting point. Could you imagine having an armor rack with different skins you’ve collected on it? Or one of Zhaitan’s heads mounted on your wall over your fireplace after you completed the main story? How about, Scarlett’s Rifle on a wall display?

That’s just how I like to imagine it could be done in an innovative and efficient way. As it stands, the game has alot going for it, but once you’re settled in with an 80 character you like with an appearance you like, there’s not a whole lot else to do progression-wise. Housing would supply that, at least for me. It would be a huge plus. I guess the dream would be a town where you could literally build your own house and “live” in a neighborhood with other players, but I’d be happy with a manipulatable room at this point.

We already have Housing!! From the official wiki:

Home instance -

The home instance is an instanced area within a character’s home city based on race, which evolves as they progress through the world.

A character’s home instance will change based on their progress and actions in their personal story. For example, character actions could determine the presence or absence of non-player characters, special merchants or even buildings.

Players can invite others to visit their home instance. If a character visits a home instance in a city other than their home city (for example, a charr visiting Salma District), they will see a basic version of the district without any story-related changes.

Eight O Eight.8257:

Why are people obsessed with housing???

The short answer is that it’s another way to advance/customize something about your character, AND a way to make a lasting change in the game world. It also becomes a place that is yours and yours alone. Other players may have a Sunrise or Bolt, but none of them can lay claim to your house.

Customization.
Control.
Changing of the game world.

Three of the big motivators for MMORPG play right there.

“A title comes with a manor in Divinity’s Reach usually. You can receive a title directly from the queen.”

;)

Eight O Eight.8257:

WE DO NOT NEED PLAYER HOUSING!

We don’t need new content either. That’s just different looks for the same type of content. Or new gear…or just anything really.

But we WANT housing. We want it ever since Anet promised to add it to the game, and then didn’t.

Player housing, guild halls and…GvG already!

ThiBash.5634:

Eight O Eight.8257:

WE DO NOT NEED PLAYER HOUSING!

We don’t need new content either. That’s just different looks for the same type of content. Or new gear…or just anything really.

But we WANT housing. We want it ever since Anet promised to add it to the game, and then didn’t.

Player housing, guild halls and…GvG already!

Do you have a link to this SUPPOSED promise for housing?

Im Mudbone.1437:

Do you have a link to this SUPPOSED promise for housing?

Not since Anet removed all the old articles they wrote before the release of the game.

Does anyone remember that comic about being able to pick up mugs in a bar? That sounded so cool way back then…

Vitus Dance.4509:

Silvia.9130:

pretend it doesn’t exist

No need, it doesn’t…and (hopefully) will stay that way.
My characters have enough on their plates already without having to faff about with scatter cushions and chintzy curtains.
Guild halls? maybe, but player housing? – please no.

No one’s forcing players to fiddle around with houses all day, and no one’s forced anyone to make multiple characters. It’s all for fun and enjoyment, you know, the reason people play games. (Admittedly some people take the pixels seriously, but good for them I suppose).

Developers should be encouraged and inspired to create fun and unique features in their games. The anti-fun crowd shouldn’t deter devs from anything.

Colin told MattVisual that they were going to do it at some point in the future. The interview is on his youtube page I believe… nothing really set in stone. He said that they don’t want to just throw something together to get it in the game, rather take their time and get it right. It’s an admirable stance, if it’s not just him blowing us off in his smooth-talking way!

housing is overrated

If you can’t have a house right in the center of Lion’s Arch or Divinity’s reach, a house that everyone walks past, looks at and goes ‘wow!’…

…What is the point!?

Instanced housing—which is the only way it could ever happen— is like having a legendary weapon but putting the skin of a white trash item on it.

Therefore, no one will ever know or care you have a house, or want to go and see it unless you tell and invite them to have a look, at which point (should they bother to visit) they will spend about 47 seconds inside before they leave the instance to go run some other content directly relevant to them.—Your hours of customizing and furnishing will amount to sweet F.A.

“I don’t want housing so we shouldn’t have it”

Good lord…

I also play FF14. No one talks in open chat on my server, at all. People will rip you one for making a dungeon/trial run take 30 seconds longer than usual because the vast possibilities of the universe caused you to lag/make a mistake.

God help you if you mess up on a Crystal Tower run.

And after all that, it’s still a more friendly community than GW2…

Hell, even eve people are nicer and the whole point of that game is to be a massive troll and gank newbies all day, every day.

People want some nice, non-consequential RP content in the game. Let them have it.

Pure Heart.1456:

Therefore, no one will ever know or care you have a house, or want to go and see it unless you tell and invite them to have a look, at which point (should they bother to visit) they will spend about 47 seconds inside before they leave the instance to go run some other content directly relevant to them.—Your hours of customizing and furnishing will amount to sweet F.A.

You’re making 2 mistakes in your reasoning here. The first is that all content should be used to brag to others. The second is that content is only relevant if you spend all of your time there.

Neither of those arguments apply to me. Content isn’t just relevant if you spend time there. Sometimes just knowing it’s there can do a lot too. For example, do you spend all your time in your race’s capital city? Probably not, but when you do visit on occasion, you get that ‘wow’ feeling, the ‘this is what I’m fighting for’ effect. It gives you a base, a home, a purpose. A home instance works the same way.

Not everything has to be a measure of skill, to measure your succes against others, or to show off your skill. Some things are just there to enjoy more casually, to admire when you get there. Maybe even for ‘gasp’ roleplaying. Who knows? There are tons of valid reasons, because MMO’s aren’t just for the endgame dungeon runners.

To me, a personal home that nobody sees and I vist just once a week adds more fun to the game than a world boss I run every hour.