Neighborhoods are a fixed feature of housing in World of Warcraft. Now we know many details and thus also new problems.
Player housing, or “Player Housing” as most call it, has been one of the biggest wishes of the World of Warcraft community for two decades. With the upcoming expansion Midnight, the feature will finally become a reality. Blizzard has now talked about neighborhoods and what your neighbors can do at your place. However, this also brings some concerns and issues.
What are neighborhoods? Neighborhoods are instances where each contains 50 lots. The lots all have the same size, but the ambiance can vary – depending on where in the respective neighborhood your house is placed. It can be the charm of the rather picturesque forest of Elwynn or something creepier with a hint of the Twilight Forest.
The lots are also arranged differently. Some are isolated and spaced apart, while others are grouped in small clusters of 2, 3, or more lots quite close to each other. This way, there should be something for every preference.
Clearly, housing will be the most ambitious and largest feature ever.
What types of neighborhoods are there? Basically, there are two types of neighborhoods. Private and Public. Public neighborhoods are for everyone, and WoW automatically opens them as needed. Therefore, all spots can never be “fully occupied”. If no more lots are free, WoW simply opens a new neighborhood. You can leave public neighborhoods at any time if you don’t like your neighbors or prefer to move to a friend in the area.
Private neighborhoods are a bit more restrictive. They are only for members of a guild or for groups of players who specifically come together to form a neighborhood. Who can live there is directly managed by the owners of the neighborhood (such as the guild master). However, permissions can be distributed to others so that a neighborhood can also be managed together.
What happens when you leave the neighborhood? If you belong to a guild neighborhood and leave the guild, you also lose your claim to your lot. Your house will then be “packed up” and you can place it again at a new location – just like with any other neighborhood change. All contents remain stored.
Small guilds are out of luck – and there is a limit for decorations
What are the issues? Generally, housing and neighborhoods are well received, but one detail raises concerns for many fans. Because with the screenshots, the first look at the “level system” of housing can be taken. Neighborhoods can work together on endeavors and gather progress through various game content. This way, you also level up your own house and unlock new rewards.
In it, not only decorations as rewards can be seen, but also basic functionality – an important point here is that the limit of maximum decorations on the lot is raised by the level system.
Or in other words: The concern is that those who do not “farm through” the system cannot build and furnish detailed houses, as the limit for decorations is reached too early. How strong this limitation will be and how hard the “grind” is to increase the decoration limit is still uncertain.
The second problem particularly affects small guilds. Because to establish your own guild neighborhood, a minimum number of players must exist in the respective guild. This minimum is based on the accounts in the guild and not the number of characters.
Blizzard has not yet mentioned any concrete number, but has already announced that particularly small guilds will probably not be able to have their own neighborhood. They will therefore have to either gather more members or join with others to create private neighborhoods. Whether the necessary limit is at 5, 10, 20, or even 50 accounts remains to be seen.
The more information becomes known, the more exciting it gets around housing – but the more follow-up questions arise as well. However, the own home in World of Warcraft is only a few months away, so we can soon experience whether everything is much worse than announced or even much, much better.
