WoW demon Cortyn longs for a feature in World of Warcraft. Housing. After 17 years, it’s a shame that it’s still missing.
Even though I’m currently having quite a lot of fun with patch 9.1.5, I increasingly notice that my guild mates and I are slowly losing interest. We still have our two guild nights a week, where we complete dungeons, farm transmogs, or collect achievements. But more and more often we find ourselves stopping after just one or two hours.
The current content is simply exhausted for us. It’s not fundamentally boring, but we have achieved what we wanted to achieve, and just to get the last item up to 252, it’s simply not worth visiting 10 dungeons a week anymore. We don’t care that much about perfect gear.
Discussions keep coming up about what small “in-between” games we could play together. And this led to the consideration of what World of Warcraft would need to offer for us to want to spend hundreds of hours at a time in Azeroth again.
We talked about missing features. About something essential that all other major MMORPGs have today and which is missing in World of Warcraft.
It always came back to one point: housing.
To be honest: I find it a shame that it doesn’t exist yet.
That after nearly two decades in World of Warcraft I still have no way to create a place where I can say “Here lives my elf” or “This is my witch’s hideout” is simply embarrassing.
That after 8 expansions with numerous continents, new classes, and graphic overhauls on a role-playing realm I still have to say: “Yes, so my character lives … in this fictional house. Yes, there are NPCs in it, but let’s pretend it’s a different house or just sit on the roof and play this out in our heads.” It’s just embarrassing for World of Warcraft.
Housing cannot make the world emptier
One argument against housing has always been the concern that players would just rot alone in their houses and social interaction would practically cease. This is a misconception that nearly every other major MMORPG refutes.
Housing does not make players in the community more solitary.
That this is the case can be said with a quick look back at WildStar. I remember how much fun it was to set up a tavern together in WildStar or to spend hours “hopping through the neighborhood” admiring what other players had built. Like a Granok from the guild just living in a huge beer barrel, an Aurin creating a small, own forest, or a human having created his shady red-light district that was perfect for rogue RP.
It’s very similar in Final Fantasy XIV. When I see videos of nightclubs or luxury villas where people meet to celebrate, chat, or just bounce around – damn, I’m so jealous.
Housing does not cause people to sit alone in their houses. When done well, houses become small hotspots, providing space for creative play, a common place to just chat a bit, or the foundation for role-playing.
Above all, the argument that “the game world would then be so much emptier” is therefore irrelevant. The game world in World of Warcraft is factually empty, aside from the capitals and the newest expansion.
This is not only due to the declining player numbers but especially because in World of Warcraft there are 14 different shards per realm during the leveling phase. When you activate “Chromie Time” while leveling, you enter your own shard where only your current expansion is active. This exists 7 times. This number doubles if you also activate the war mode.
The vast world of World of Warcraft is thus already fragmented into 14 shards – plus some others that create additional “phases” of an area depending on quest progress.
Meeting another player while normal questing is practically impossible outside of the Shadowlands already. At least not on my realm.
Housing would not further separate players, but rather create new gathering spots. The most beautiful houses in the guild would be the new hotspots or would provide a communal space for guilds that further strengthen the feeling of belonging.
WoW can do Housing – but unfortunately not officially
What annoys me even more is: I know that it’s fundamentally possible with World of Warcraft. I have some acquaintances who play WoW on semi-legal servers where they can create their own areas and simply draw on all the assets of the game. When I see something like that, I’m always very impressed – and at the same time have to grit my teeth that WoW simply doesn’t have something like that. At least not officially.
In theory, it would be so easy to implement. World of Warcraft would “only” need to copy housing 1:1. Let players create their own instances that are reminiscent of small sections of Stormwind, Orgrimmar, a piece of forest, or even a demon palace.
Create a new tab in the “Collections” window and put all the thousands of assets that exist in World of Warcraft there.
The numerous lamps, beds, cabinets, plants, statues, and all the other objects that exist everywhere in World of Warcraft. Distribute them as additional loot in all dungeons and raids, incorporate them into crafting professions, archaeology, or as special items in the world that you have to find first. Tie them to specific achievements and – if absolutely necessary – put a few as premium items in the in-game shop.
I know my fellow players and I. A huge offer of housing objects spread all around the game world would completely rekindle our fire for WoW. I have a transmog fetishist in the guild who changes outfits practically every 20 minutes. If you let her loose on such a system, the day would have to be longer than 24 hours.
Housing can stand entirely on its own
In the past, it was always emphasized that while they are thinking about housing, they must find a way to connect it with the rest of the gameplay. Housing must therefore provide some benefits or gameplay aspects that connect it with the rest of the game.
My opinion on this: No. Just no.
Housing can exist entirely on its own, almost in a vacuum. It can be content that has little to no connection to the rest of the game. It does not require additional gameplay incentives.
Housing is in most other games primarily a creative pastime where you think more about your character and their lifestyle – and thus find even more attachment to the game. Additionally, there’s the social aspect when you can proudly show your friends your in-game house and share excitement over creative uses of items.
Of course, I understand that the engine of World of Warcraft would likely need a lot of work and the effort for the developers would be considerable. But it is such an important feature that I don’t understand why this time was never allocated.
For almost 17 years we have spent time in World of Warcraft. Some make short excursions into the world, for others it has become a daily ritual, part of everyday life. The fact that we still do not have our own home in this “second home” should change quickly.
Individualization and self-expression have a very special value in MMORPGs that cannot be measured in character stats or gameplay elements. You have also introduced new character customizations because that allowed players to express themselves better and represent themselves in the world.
Now do it with housing. And if you need to hire old WildStar developers for that. Just do it.
Please.
