What gamescom revealed about midnight housing is blizzard’s housing does not understand the concept of spaces.
Human beings create spaces, sometimes with a roof and the walls, sometimes without. Yes, humans create spaces to do things: a library desk to read, a café table to write, a park bench to think. The space matters because the activity matters.
In WoW context it would be something like
a space to sort your warband belongings
a space to craft
a space to practice combat, for example on dummies
a space to hang out your mogs, to quickly look through them and choose one with a click. a space to prepare them in advance
a space to quickly choose your mounts and pets
a space to hang out maps and plan your next raid or dungeon or elite hunt or world quest run or mat farming route
a space to set up your favorite teleports
a space to plant your preferred herbs
a space to order your npc followers around
a space to wait for and summon your party members
a space to idly watch passers by
a space to read completed quests
a space to listen to turn on your favorite soundtrack in the in-game player and chill
a space to fish
you tell me what space but
Being able to set up a space and conduct an activity there is how you create places
And creating places is how you create home
Blizzard’s housing does not understand spaces and so it will not create a home
One room has a sprite of the table, and another room has a sprite of the bed, but you cant actually use either, so its all just one room really, one big dollhouse and you are the doll inside.
I mean, Blizzard have spent years moving WoW in the direction of being a very fast-paced objective-driven game like any ARPG that is out there on the market. When you play WoW you’re out and about doing things. And when you’ve done things then you move on to do other things. And the game is all about constantly doing one thing and the next thing and feeding the dopamine brain with rewards and progression.
And it works. It works in other games and it works in WoW.
But Housing is all about being creative and expressing yourself on your own volition. It’s about not doing anything and just chilling and being there and hanging out.
And I just can’t see how that one part of WoW that’s all about gogogo can mix with that other part that’s going to be about decorating your own little cozy space and taking a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood before relaxing in your sofa in front of the fireplace.
I don’t see how that is going to happen.
I am going to log in to WoW and blast through my weeklies, do my world quests, and then grind raids, delves, dungeons, and battlegrounds, until I don’t have time to play anymore. And then I’m going to log out.
I’m not going to take any time away from any of that so I can sit in my house, all in my lonesome, and look at a painting on the wall of Ranger-General Alleria.
Why would I do that?! Why will anyone do that?!
I hope it works out for Blizzard. They’re taking a big bet on this, especially because Midnight doesn’t seem to have a lot of oomph! outside of Housing, so that feature just has to be a success.
I will not use the feature cause I know I will use to much time on it,
also I already have it 3 other games with many years spent on all
But if I did it could be similar to the other games:
*Create a beautiful garden outside
*Create wonderful indoor spaces filled with magical and wonderful things from the world
-But most important store good memories there
(similar to looking at photos/videos/gifts from your past and present in RL).
Those memories can be many things:
Something you are proud of
(a great challenge or something you worked hard for with or without others).
Something you enjoyed a lot or just had fun with.
(Anniversaries, events and so on)
Something that makes you remember someone or connect to someone you know
(Family, loved ones, friends (old and new), guild (old and current))
*A place to make new friends and maybe something more special
(I know some even proposed in such places and got married in RL,
like decorating a garden so when you stand on a hill close by it says
will you marry me or something like that when seeing it from the right angle)
*Not for me but people who are on RP servers I guess many will love this,
since it adds many more places to do RP.
I would never bring work there and from what is planned there is enough
to do if wanted.
Also it good it is limited when it comes to professions and so on cause it is still an
mmo and the world would feel more empty, cause it might result in many being at
home all the time.
Some will still do it and spend lots time there but less still.
Sorry to pick you up in a different thread. But I just stumbled across this. And it is kind of interesting to see how your tone changed over a few hours.
But that’s not why I responded here.
I wanted to point out, that whilst I to don’t understand the lure of housing (It’s the last thing I want in a game). As I pointed out in the other thread. It does add a new option for players. It’s a new entry point into the game for those that want it.
I still think it’s a total waste of resources for WoW. But some players seem to want it I guess.
Allot of players have been asking for this for years. It was originally planned to be in vanilla but they couldn’t make it work the way they wanted.
Housing so far is looking great.
You get allot of space. The levelling system already shows in the preview that at level 7, you get 40 rooms and can use 1400 items. With only more added with a higher level.
Chance to interact with others.
The option to be in a public neighbourhood or with guildies.
You’ll go into the old zones/content for items.
It is an extra feature that will remain over the expansions.
Professions allow you to craft items for housing.
At the start you can choose between Human, Night Elf, Orc and Blood Elf architecture. With more coming later on.
The inside is fully customizable and you have multiple floors.
This feature is one of the biggest they’ve added in recent years without becoming useless in the net expansion.
For the same reason I can sit fishing and listening to Rock sung in a foreign language; to relax. It’s sort of a form of meditation when I’m too tense for “real” meditation.
If it proves to be so good as promised I probbaly spend a lot of time there, if it proves to be as bad as some predict, I just forget it.
Then again, I’m one of those few who actually likes to hang around in garrisons even today.
They have a team especially assembled for housing.
If they’re not working on housing, they’d likely be let go.
Of course I can’t say that with certainty, but that’s what I believe would happen anyway.
You think that way because you don’t understand.
Everyone who does understand, isn’t worried at all.
That’s the wrong take.
It’s not about ‘not doing anything and just chilling and being there and hanging out’.
It’s about being there and being creative. Your house is realistically never going to be done. It can always be made better, nicer, more sophisticated. Or just different.
And then of course there’s new things going to be released; triggering those creative urges, etc etc.
Well for one: I don’t grind raids, dungeons and BGs.
I can’t fill my time with WoW. It’s been impossible to do that for years now.
With housing I theoretically CAN. If I so wish.
Now, realistically I won’t, but I for sure will play more WoW again than just a few hours per week - because that is all the game allows me to do at the moment when it comes to content I enjoy and want to do.
It’s a bit like transmog. I’m always messing around, trying new combinations and looks. I settle on a transmog I like for a while and then, when I get those urges, I start messing around trying new things. And when there’s a new piece I love; I’m going to try to work it into a new ensemble.
It’s kind of like that, but with a house and decor.
