Originally posted by sexypanda198

Originally posted by Blazeyer

Originally posted by randomt

I liked the SWG housing more than EQ2. The difference being eq2 was instanced doors, whereas swg was an actual house you plopped down somewhere.. anywhere (almost). You could scout around for a nice place anywhere on the map except in quest areas or too close to npc cities, and put whatever you want in the house, from random used gear to house specific decoration items.

^ This. I think instanced housing (EQ2 or FFXI) is kind of lame. I mean you technically can have people  come look at your place, but it just isn't the same as like in SWG where people can just roll up when you aren't even online and take a peak through all of your displayed achievements.

exactly %100 agree

exactly, nothing more immersive then walking on a desert planet and see the place littered with the EXACT same type of housing all over the place, even erasing wildlife spawns in the process...everyone knows from the movies that Tatooine and all the other planets have the same footprint as Manhattan.

Originally posted by Muke

Originally posted by sexypanda198

Originally posted by Blazeyer

Originally posted by randomt

I liked the SWG housing more than EQ2. The difference being eq2 was instanced doors, whereas swg was an actual house you plopped down somewhere.. anywhere (almost). You could scout around for a nice place anywhere on the map except in quest areas or too close to npc cities, and put whatever you want in the house, from random used gear to house specific decoration items.

^ This. I think instanced housing (EQ2 or FFXI) is kind of lame. I mean you technically can have people  come look at your place, but it just isn't the same as like in SWG where people can just roll up when you aren't even online and take a peak through all of your displayed achievements.

exactly %100 agree

exactly, nothing more immersive then walking on a desert planet and see the place littered with the EXACT same type of housing all over the place, even erasing wildlife spawns in the process...everyone knows from the movies that Tatooine and all the other planets have the same footprint as Manhattan.

It's much more immersive than "hey you guys wanna check out my house?" "sure" "okay come into this instance!".

Also, pretty sure there was still a vast area in most planets where there was no housing. Infact, in SWG didn't you have to locate your house in an area already labeled as player housing? Or was it something along the lines of you had to build a house in an area specified for your guild? It's been many...many years.

Originally posted by Blazeyer

Originally posted by Muke

Originally posted by sexypanda198

Originally posted by Blazeyer

Originally posted by randomt

I liked the SWG housing more than EQ2. The difference being eq2 was instanced doors, whereas swg was an actual house you plopped down somewhere.. anywhere (almost). You could scout around for a nice place anywhere on the map except in quest areas or too close to npc cities, and put whatever you want in the house, from random used gear to house specific decoration items.

^ This. I think instanced housing (EQ2 or FFXI) is kind of lame. I mean you technically can have people  come look at your place, but it just isn't the same as like in SWG where people can just roll up when you aren't even online and take a peak through all of your displayed achievements.

exactly %100 agree

exactly, nothing more immersive then walking on a desert planet and see the place littered with the EXACT same type of housing all over the place, even erasing wildlife spawns in the process...everyone knows from the movies that Tatooine and all the other planets have the same footprint as Manhattan.

It's much more immersive than "hey you guys wanna check out my house?" "sure" "okay come into this instance!".

Also, pretty sure there was still a vast area in most planets where there was no housing. Infact, in SWG didn't you have to locate your house in an area already labeled as player housing? Or was it something along the lines of you had to build a house in an area specified for your guild? It's been many...many years.

only certain areas where labeled building zones. and if there was city you had get permission from the mayor. radius depended on city rank.

The one thing I don't like about housing is being confined to a "housing zone".  For example in DAOC took forever to find my house half the time.  AC sort of had this as well but managed to mix it up a bit to make it interesting.  But the best implementation of player housing IMO was SWG.  You can practically go look for a nice spot with great view etc etc and set up your house.  That was pretty cool.

the problem with SWG was that people were allowed multiple houses.

Originally posted by Sulaa

Take a look at ArcheAge , it is not released yet , propabluy will be like in Q3 or Q4 in 2012 , but it will have in game housing in open world.

 I'm really looking forward to AA.

Non-instanced player housing is overrated and pointless, IMO. All it does is make a game world artificially larger because developers have to waste large plots of land and resources that could be better spent on additional dungeons or some other gameplay mechanic. Instead, that same land gets wasted on housing plots that few people will ever build on or care about, and which will become an eyesore once those players leave the game.

EQ2 had a good system. It's the only game I ever bothered having a house in, because I could decorate it with things my character got and I could sell from it. 

I don't see the need for non-instanced housing. Better to spend those same development resources on something more useful.

Non instanced player housing lends itself to player cities which is probably the most underrated feature in an mmorpg. Instanced housing is ok, but not as good as non instanced. The stuff that ppl complain about (eyesores, clutter, wasted space etc) are things that a developer can fix with checks and balances rather than just making it instanced.

Housing really only works in open pvp areas, and when storage is otherwise hard to come back. Hiding in my house or a friend's house from PK or two made for some great UO memories.

Like someone else said, Player Housing can make for some great exporing. Exploring the game world itself can be a bit limited, but I use to spend hours at a time wandering my shard checking out player houses and this was before the custom housing too. Before lock-downs when players would lock their doors I'd even do this as a ghost.

Originally posted by Foomerang

Non instanced player housing lends itself to player cities which is probably the most underrated feature in an mmorpg. Instanced housing is ok, but not as good as non instanced. The stuff that ppl complain about (eyesores, clutter, wasted space etc) are things that a developer can fix with checks and balances rather than just making it instanced.

Unless there is a city planner class or some sort of zoned housing area for player cities, most player cities will end up being an eyesore, especially once those players leave the game. Player cities are also, by design, a waste of resources and land that make a game world artificially larger for no reason. 

I can understand a completely player-driven game like A Tale in the Desert having non-instanced housing, but beyond that, it's pointless. I'd rather see the devs spend those same resources building new dungeons to explore or some other kind of player encounter. 

Originally posted by Lidane

Non-instanced player housing is overrated and pointless, IMO. All it does is make a game world artificially larger because developers have to waste large plots of land and resources that could be better spent on additional dungeons or some other gameplay mechanic. Instead, that same land gets wasted on housing plots that few people will ever build on or care about, and which will become an eyesore once those players leave the game.

EQ2 had a good system. It's the only game I ever bothered having a house in, because I could decorate it with things my character got and I could sell from it. 

I don't see the need for non-instanced housing. Better to spend those same development resources on something more useful.

 With so many themeparks making their dungeons instanced, and their pvp instanced  (or in lakes)  perhaps housing could once again populate the open areas of the game?

Now it seems like its mostly used for levelling up, and then abandoned.

I loved DAoC housing.  They kept adding housing zones so i think it is a much sought after feature. I really enjoyed it as it felt more like a world instead of a ride. The fact that I could have my own bank and merchant at my house was nice and to me housing helped build community.

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Originally posted by Lidane

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Originally posted by Foomerang
Non instanced player housing lends itself to player cities which is probably the most underrated feature in an mmorpg. Instanced housing is ok, but not as good as non instanced. The stuff that ppl complain about (eyesores, clutter, wasted space etc) are things that a developer can fix with checks and balances rather than just making it instanced.

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Unless there is a city planner class or some sort of zoned housing area for player cities, most player cities will end up being an eyesore, especially once those players leave the game. Player cities are also, by design, a waste of resources and land that make a game world artificially larger for no reason. 
I can understand a completely player-driven game like A Tale in the Desert having non-instanced housing, but beyond that, it's pointless. I'd rather see the devs spend those same resources building new dungeons to explore or some other kind of player encounter. 

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Originally posted by Marcus-

 With so many themeparks making their dungeons instanced, and their pvp instanced  (or in lakes)  perhaps housing could once again populate the open areas of the game?

Now it seems like its mostly used for levelling up, and then abandoned.

The only reason non-instanced housing even exists is to give people a way to brag about how rich they are in a game world. That's it. For all the rapturous talk of player cities and player driven economies, at the end of the day, they're just bragging tools to show others that you can dump a lot of cash and resources into building a big, elaborate house in an open location.

Instanced housing saves in-game land and development resources and still gives players the ability to build and customize a dwelling for their character if they really want it. Of all the games I've played these past 12+ years, EQ2 really nailed it down as far as housing went. 

I have no experience with SWG.  I've seen the non-instanced housing in Vanguard and Mortal Online though, and it kinda irks me to see 19-20th Century housing in a Medieval Fantasy World.  In violent, smaller-scale societies, people didn't build out in the middle of nowhere.  I hate the idea of going through all the trouble to buy and build a house in the middle of nowhere in a game.   The locations of the housing areas in Vanguard are majorly off the beaten path.  I would love to see the shanty sprawl in the shadow of a city.  Maybe the uber, leets would be able to rack up enough reputation to actually build a house (or remake one) in a nicer neighborhood. 

I've enjoyed my apartment in EQ2.  It's close to everything and fun to fill with my stuff.  It's the only housing into which I have put any effort.

I really think that LotRO's is the worst.  The whole neighborhood is instanced and in the middle of nowhere.  And I've heard that it is really hard to manipulate the furniture.

Originally posted by Lidane

Originally posted by Marcus-

 With so many themeparks making their dungeons instanced, and their pvp instanced  (or in lakes)  perhaps housing could once again populate the open areas of the game?

Now it seems like its mostly used for levelling up, and then abandoned.

The only reason non-instanced housing even exists is to give people a way to brag about how rich they are in a game world. That's it. For all the rapturous talk of player cities and player driven economies, at the end of the day, they're just bragging tools to show others that you can dump a lot of cash and resources into building a big, elaborate house in an open location.

Instanced housing saves in-game land and development resources and still gives players the ability to build and customize a dwelling for their character if they really want it. Of all the games I've played these past 12+ years, EQ2 really nailed it down as far as housing went. 

 

 Through 5 years of housing in UO, i always had one. My favorite was the large gouse with patio that contained my vendors that folks visited oftem just outside of brit.  My guild had a tower that we defended from reds,that was some really fun times..  We had RP events, and crafting events, that even passer-bys came to..  Guild members would adventure around the area, and meet up with other guildies.

In DAoC, we had a "guild house" that we barely used, and i didnt even bother having my own, as i found it dull and pointless..

So your theory is false, at least when it concerns me and what i do with housing.

Originally posted by Marcus-

 

 Through 5 years of housing in UO, i always had one. 

And how long has it been since you played UO? If it's been a while and you don't have any houses in any current game you're playing, it's clearly not that important to you to have a house anyway. It might have been cool back in the day, but it's not something you go out of your way to play with now.

Originally posted by Lidane

Originally posted by Marcus-

 

 Through 5 years of housing in UO, i always had one. 

And how long has it been since you played UO? If it's been a while and you don't have any houses in any current game you're playing, it's clearly not that important to you to have a house anyway. It might have been cool back in the day, but it's not something you go out of your way to play with now.

 If there was a game out there that was decent, that had housing, I would play it.. If theres was an ok game out there with housing, i would play it over an ok game without housing. A little variety in my games is nice, as opposed to just going to collect some more tokens in an instanced Battleground...

Currently i'm not subscribed to any games.

Originally posted by Lidane

Originally posted by Marcus-

 With so many themeparks making their dungeons instanced, and their pvp instanced  (or in lakes)  perhaps housing could once again populate the open areas of the game?

Now it seems like its mostly used for levelling up, and then abandoned.

The only reason non-instanced housing even exists is to give people a way to brag about how rich they are in a game world. That's it. For all the rapturous talk of player cities and player driven economies, at the end of the day, they're just bragging tools to show others that you can dump a lot of cash and resources into building a big, elaborate house in an open location.

Instanced housing saves in-game land and development resources and still gives players the ability to build and customize a dwelling for their character if they really want it. Of all the games I've played these past 12+ years, EQ2 really nailed it down as far as housing went. 

 

I would much rather have non instanced housing compared to instanced.  Its more than just bragging, its having a place of your own that you have built up and furnished.  Its about having neighbors and trading with the people who live around you and socializing.  

The way darkfall handled player towns was very nice but I absolutly hated the housing in EQ2.  It felt like a waste of time and was lonely. 

Originally posted by marinrider

I would much rather have non instanced housing compared to instanced.  

I wouldn't. It's just not that important to me. I don't need to build a building in a game to show what I've done off to others. Renting an in-game apartment or house, like in EQ2, was fine. I got to create a little space for my character that I actually thought was useful, since I could sell from it and store things in it. But I don't need a house in order to enjoy a game.

If I want to spend my time in a game building and customizing a house and decorating it, I'll play The Sims. I don't need it in an MMO. For the one game I'm looking forward to -- SWTOR -- the ship will be nice, especially if it ties into my character's story somehow.  But the ship isn't the reason I'm going to play the game. It's just a nice added bonus.