World of Warcraft

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Originally posted by AckbarNL
Sorry but for 4 years time i do not find this that Major...
 
If you compare lets say whit Lotro wich is not even a year old, thay added Housing, evendim  (new big area) ,Tal Bruinin (new Small Area), Rift (Raid Dungeon),Barad Guluran (dungeon), Elendils tomb (dungeon),Anumminas (dungeon), Goblin town (Dungeon) , High pass (new Small area) ,Rep system, Sarnur (Rep Dungeon), Trolls and Rangers as playable in pvmp, Sesion play, improved music system, Fishing, Reputation system, Barber shops, Custom armor wearing, More story line, New monster class, Throphys, All classes updates , Delving of Fror (Pvmp dungeon), And another new big area beinig released this mounth plus an exspansion pack (Mines of Moria) www.unlocktheminesofmoria.com/ 
whit a huge new area and 2 new classes and tons of new stuff , and that only in 1 year of release, now thats what i call major!

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Well personally it is all a matter of perspective i suppose, you are right that it is a hell of a lot to introduce within one year, but why have they had to introduce so much within only 1 year??? Did they not put enough content in the game to start with? Were features withheld to move the release date up? Are they pandering to the power players only with the risk of leaving other players behind? .......or maybe you are right and they are just fast developer? Also, to be fair if you look back over that lot and take out the extra dungeons (a critisism you levelled at WoW), cosmetic stuff and stuff that WoW already had on launch, there isn't really a lot there :)

WoW developers as far as i can see are pretty much working along the lines of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and with this "slow" development rate i still have plenty of in game content to keep me busy, even after all this time.

Again, i just think that as long as there is enough content to keep players coming back for more and new subs keep coming in it is unlikely that they will look at housing and if they do start looking at it i wuld hope that it is purely as a bit of fun and it doesn't take away from development of proper content.

Its a game for younger people, they want long shiny weapons, not an own house.

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Originally posted by shae
I would be happy to debate anytime the "usefulness" of player housing in an MMO.
IMHO the main attractor to this feature is it's social aspect and an MMO is, by it's very nature, a social experience. Adding player housing and guild housing would not only add the possibilities to furthering social experiences but would also opens the door to more depth.
Amongst the issues I've had with WoW over the years one of the largest has been that no matter the friends I've made, the quest I've completed, the Kara Runs I've helped and the lands I've discovered, I still always feel completely disassociated from the world.
For me, player housing in some form would help alleviate that. It would bring an attachment to the world that was in some ways "permanent" and would allow me to have some roots so to speak.
With Blizzard resources you could even take this concept a step further.
Instead of making player and guild housing a static, fluff-filled experience, make them exciting and innovative.
An idea I've also enjoyed:
Attach a player housing zone to every major factional city, a housing district instance independent from the city itself but with entrances available both from inside the city and outside the city. Make them World PvP areas that are raidable by the apposing faction, give players the ability to have vendors in their houses and allow for community leaders to be voted in some type of benefit as an end to the means .
Whilst it's certainly true that, for many, player housing may not be a priority but for MANY other it is and it CAN be something that filled with innovation, fun and adds some quality elements to the game. IMO, Blizzard needs to take a step this way.

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WoW is not a PVP or RP centric game it's a PVE raid and loot centric game. Anything that detracts from BG's/Arenas and forces world PvP is not desired by Blizzard because it would require them to double the server capabilities for each realm. Since WoW was never designed for PvP it would require more work then it's worth on the part of Blizzard to implement when all they could do is just add another Arena and BG instance. Not to mention that no one in WoW ever RP's worth a damn and housing in general serves no use to the majority of players. The WoW experience is designed around PVE solo/group questing and raiding. Those are the major mechanics Blizzard thrives on and is more then willing to maintain but they won't go off the beaten track to add anything else.

PvP in WoW is a secondary game that is used to keep people playing while they wait for the raid timer to cool down. You need to come to grips that WoW is just a shallow game were other then raids, arenas, and bg's there is very little else to do in the game like there are in other more social or pvp oriented games. Player housing will never ever happen period. Wow is a game for those who like chasing the carrot/loot on the stick style of game play. Again if you want a more meaningful MMO world look else where.

Originally posted by shae

With Blizzard resources you could even take this concept a step further.

Instead of making player and guild housing a static, fluff-filled experience, make them exciting and innovative.

An idea I've also enjoyed:

Attach a player housing zone to every major factional city, a housing district instance independent from the city itself but with entrances available both from inside the city and outside the city. Make them World PvP areas that are raidable by the apposing faction, give players the ability to have vendors in their houses and allow for community leaders to be voted in some type of benefit as an end to the means .

Whilst it's certainly true that, for many, player housing may not be a priority but for MANY other it is and it CAN be something that filled with innovation, fun and adds some quality elements to the game. IMO, Blizzard needs to take a step this way.

whoa, that's such a amazing idea! I wish such a thing was really available; I'd love to play an MMO where people actually *live* in and are a part of a city, rather than in one where people login for a few minutes and pvp/raid with basically no social interaction.

I hope some day I'll see that idea implemented.

cheers.

I think for the powers that be to say that player housing ads nothing to the game is a cop out.  It is a way to say that they just don't want to do it.  It would ad something to the game if they make it that way.  It's ridiculous to think that player housing has to be a cut out of every other game.

Some games do have housing that ads something to the game.  I know people don't want to hear this here, but EQ2 housing features are quite nice with all that you can do with your place, including, making it functionally useful to your crafting, and adventuring, not to mention, a lot of fun to decorate.

If you want it, ask for it.

Player housing in WoW would be a 3d bank used to showcase E-Peen achievements in an instanced "I say who can enter" method similar to EQ2 and LoTRO. I'd rather they focus on new combat mechanics.

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Originally posted by fawdown
I think for the powers that be to say that player housing ads nothing to the game is a cop out.  It is a way to say that they just don't want to do it.  It would ad something to the game if they make it that way.
 

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But what do you see it actually adding to WoW that would be useful and not already in place apart from the cosmetic features?

I do not argue that player housing may add funcionality to some games where it isn't there already, i just don't see where it would fit into WoW at the moment as pretty much everything you need is already available in major cities and villages.

Again, as said already i could see a need for guild halls where you could maybe have your guild bank, a forge and cooking fire all in one place where everyone could meet too but even that is in a limited capacity.

"Seriously, I dont understand it, I played WoW for a preatty decent time, and I generally liked the game but have grown to dislike what they have done to it over time."

What have they done "over time"....

Originally posted by AckbarNL

Sorry but for 4 years time i do not find this that Major...

If you compare lets say whit Lotro wich is not even a year old, thay added Housing, evendim  (new big area) ,Tal Bruinin (new Small Area), Rift (Raid Dungeon),Barad Guluran (dungeon), Elendils tomb (dungeon),Anumminas (dungeon), Goblin town (Dungeon) , High pass (new Small area) ,Rep system, Sarnur (Rep Dungeon), Trolls and Rangers as playable in pvmp, Sesion play, improved music system, Fishing, Reputation system, Barber shops, Custom armor wearing, More story line, New monster class, Throphys, All classes updates , Delving of Fror (Pvmp dungeon), And another new big area beinig released this mounth plus an exspansion pack (Mines of Moria) www.unlocktheminesofmoria.com/ 
whit a huge new area and 2 new classes and tons of new stuff , and that only in 1 year of release, now thats what i call major!

Hold on just a sec.  First off, it's not 4 years, it's a little over 3.

By my count that's 7 new dungeons and 4 new areas for LOTRO.  WoW added 6 new dungeons, (Mauradon, Dire Maul, Blackwing Lair, Zul'Gurub, Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj and Temple of Ahn,Qiraj), 1 zone overhaul  (Silithus), 3 battlegrounds (Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley) and 6 world bosses (Azuregos, Lord Kazzak, Ysondre, Lethon, Emeriss, Taerar), in just over a year (13 months).

And here's a list of the game improvements that were made during that time as well.

Meeting Stones,
PVP Honor system,
Battlemasters,
Darkmoon Faire,
Fishing Event,
Dressing Rooms,
Class updates,
New items and item sets,
More Story lines,
New Mobs.

I don't know, that looks pretty equal to me.  That brought the totals at that time to  47 zones , 25 dungeons and 3 battlegrounds.  What are the totals for LOTRO?

The second year was mostly the expansion TBC which added quite a bit of stuff.  Here's a quick rundown:

2 new races.  13 new zones.  22 new dungeons. 1 new battleground.  Cap raised to lvl 70. Flying Mounts. Jewelcrafting. Prospecting.  Profession increased to 375. Heroic mode instances. Weather, Key rings, Eastern Plaguelands revamp, Cross Realm Battlegrounds, Arenas, LFG button, Sockets and gems, meeting stone summoning, more items and item sets, etc.

That brought the totals to that point to 60 zones, 47 dungeons and 4 battlegrounds.  We'll see how LOTRO stacks up at the end of 2 years.