The housing in World of Warcraft is being further expanded. The developers are looking to the future – and saying exactly what fans want to hear.
Housing has quickly become a highlight in World of Warcraft. Many players have only left their digital homes in recent months to visit neighbors or buy some decorative items in the world. The feature is hugely popular among a solid group of players – and is still just beginning.
Blizzard has therefore now disclosed plans in a blog post on the official WoW site and revealed what they are currently working on. This is sure to make the hearts of housing fans soar.
The most important points at a glance:
- The decoration storage limit increases by 50% (from 5,000 to 7,500).
- Pets will soon be available as placeable objects in and outside the house.
- There will be many more endeavors with various new and old cultures.
- A frustrating alignment bug will be fixed, but it will take some time.
- The limit for outdoor decorations will be raised, and lighting will be introduced.
Lighting for Outdoors
With the early access of housing, lighting in outdoor areas was disabled. This means that currently, players cannot place light sources in their gardens. The underlying problem was demonstrated in the beta of Midnight: players could stack many light sources on top of each other, leading to server instability and crashes.
Blizzard has apparently found a solution for this. Instead of banning outdoor lighting completely, there will be restrictions in the future. Light sources will only be able to be placed at a distance from one another so that they do not heavily influence each other.
This restriction only applies to outdoor areas, not inside your house. There, you can still stack as many light effects as you want until your visitors flee with teary eyes.
Save, Share, and Import Houses
A desired feature is the option to save houses that have been created once.
Many housing fans know the problem: You build a house with hundreds of decorations and many rooms. You are very satisfied. But then you think: Couldn’t I try a different style? Instead of a gloomy mansion, don’t you want to create a dark cave with secret passages instead?
Those who want to do that must demolish their house and start over – always with the fear that they might “never recreate it quite as well” as the first attempt.
Blizzard has a solution for this. Currently, they are working on a feature that includes the following options:
- You will be able to save entire rooms, outdoor areas, or the whole house as code.
- You will be able to save multiple layouts, for example, for each character. This way, each character can have its own house, between which you can then switch back and forth.
- Those who want can also share the “codes” with friends and the community, so they can adopt the designs of rooms or spaces.
Pets in the House – As It Should Be
In World of Warcraft, there are over 1,000 different pets, and they of course belong in the house. This is not yet possible, but will change in the near future. The developers have clear plans for you to be able to place your companions in the house and also outside. The main points are:
- You will be able to buy pet beds (or other suitable items) and bind a pet to it.
- Inside your house, you can choose whether the pets should remain stationary at one location or wander through your house.
- You can place pets multiple times. So if you want a dozen black cats in your house, but only own one black cat – that’s possible.
- There will be a limit for placeable pets. Hundreds or thousands of pets in the house will not be possible.
Additionally, Blizzard notes that there will be a “very small number” of companions that unfortunately cannot be placed in the house. These are probably pets with odd movement patterns, such as tentacle companions that burrow into the ground at various spots instead of moving normally. However, this has not yet been confirmed.
The Annoying Bug with Incorrect Alignment
Those who have done a lot in their own house will likely be familiar with the situation:
For hours, you have adjusted the details in the room. Picture frames were precisely moved, books and rocks perfectly aligned, and everything is just perfect. Then you log out, come back after a few hours – and somehow some items have shifted a bit. They suddenly clip into walls or point in a different direction.
Anyone who thought they were just suffering from hallucinations can be reassured – this is a bug that Blizzard acknowledges and has found. The fix may still take a while, as they want to test the solution extensively so that no player houses are adversely affected.
Visitor Codes You Can Show Off
You are really proud of your house and want to show off your Silvermoon palace to the public – but don’t want to risk visitors barging in while you are engaged in interesting RP with your blood elf harem? There will soon be “visitor codes” for that.
These codes can be used to generate a “preview version” of your house that can be viewed by visitors. This is a separate instance of the house and has no impact on what you are currently doing in your house. So if you are in the process of redecorating, others can still view the previous version of the house thanks to the visitor code.
Because Blizzard also wants more people to see the amazing houses, there will also be a “display case” feature. Here you can submit your house. Interested players can visit the house and provide an “upvote” if they like it. The most popular houses will receive a special decoration after some time, which has not yet been announced.
However you look at it: The housing team in World of Warcraft is rapidly becoming the community’s favorite and is saying all the right things. The future for housing looks wonderful. Now, it remains to be seen how long the developers will take to implement these plans.
In just a few hours, the launch of the new expansion is first on the agenda. What you definitely need to know before midnight, we have explained here.
