WoW demon Cortyn is looking forward to housing in Azeroth. It will be the most important feature there has ever been – at least for some.
A few days ago, I talked with my guild in World of Warcraft about the Warcraft Direct. We fantasized a bit about what might be presented and concluded: Probably not much. A little patch 11.1, maybe a small teaser for the next expansion Midnight. Nothing big, really. All very predictable.
When Game Director Ion Hazzikostas then said he wanted to reveal “a little something” while we were talking about “coming home,” I was already sitting in front of the screen with my mouth slightly open.
In doing so, Hazzikostas used exactly the rhetoric that Blizzard has employed several times in recent years. At the last BlizzCon, Chris Metzen also mentioned that the “World Soul Saga” is about us “coming home” – only to then disappoint by meaning that it was not about housing.
Hazzikostas used exactly the same words in the Warcraft Direct stream, but this time it meant exactly what everyone had hoped for:
World of Warcraft is getting player housing. In Midnight, we will all have the chance to create our own home for our characters.
Housing – Announced but still unknown
Sure – how exactly the housing in World of Warcraft will look is still uncertain. Anyone who has followed the big MMORPGs of the last decades knows that “housing” does not equal “housing”.
On one side of the spectrum, we have SWTOR, whose housing for me has always fallen under the category of “nicely intended” – but everything was so static and not customizable that I never felt a real home for my character. It didn’t offer me enough individual freedom. It always felt a bit like: My character rents a furnished apartment without any personal touch.
On the other side was WildStar. A game that failed for many other reasons, but whose housing feature is still considered a huge success today. The freedom to rotate and move thousands of objects in size and position, being able to customize everything down to the smallest detail, is unmatched for me in an MMORPG. I could rave about this for many hours – and I have done so several times.
I also know that anything that is “less than WildStar” for me will likely lead to a second column in which I’ll express my dissatisfaction. In which I will talk about missed opportunities and misguided developments.
Because so far we know nothing except “it’s coming,” there is simply a lot of room for bad thoughts. The biggest concern is probably: Housing will be coldly monetized. Houses cost real money, you can buy furniture in the shop, and those who don’t throw real euros at the problem won’t be able to build a nice home.
The danger definitely exists. Almost all major MMORPGs try to generate more revenue through increasing monetization.
Blizzard must do it right – We give them no choice
But I don’t want to let negative thoughts take away my excitement. I believe that Blizzard knows very well how important this feature is for a large part of the community. How little room they have to avoid greatly upsetting everyone and how high the expectations are. If they do it, they have to do it right. There’s no turning back now.
And to be honest? Right now I am happy. Almost relieved. It feels like a fight that has been going on for far too long. A wish that is finally coming true after nearly two decades of begging and pleading.
I don’t want to sound intentionally theatrical, but when housing was announced yesterday, I jumped up from my desk chair with tears of joy in my eyes.
It’s the one feature that will make World of Warcraft “complete” for me. The feature that will cement that I feel “at home” in Azeroth for years to come. Maybe Blizzard won’t get it right on the first try. Maybe the housing at launch won’t be as good as it could be, and that would make me quite dissatisfied.
But then I simply think back: Even in WildStar, housing wasn’t perfect at the beginning and had some limitations. Only a later patch removed many limitations.
The most important thing for me is: Housing is coming. And if Blizzard doesn’t get it perfect, the community will be loud and ensure that it turns out well in the end. I’m confident of that. Because it’s the one thing that will finally make WoW the “perfect” game for me.
Until that happens, there are still many patches in World of Warcraft.
