Too many options in the poll, but it came out to a steady parabolic flow either way. Interesting.

Though, when has there ever been a game where housing is 'required'? There are some games where it's hard to avoid, like FFXI's Moogle House, because at some point you're going to take advantage of it's storage - but what is an example of something that tells you "No, you can't play until you slap a home down"?

(I voted like/optional)

I miss SWG, and my house.

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Originally posted by Buttski
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^one of those "cool" gamers you keep hearing about

for me personal houses only interest me if they have options like SWG where you could set up shops and sell stuff from inside your home. Aside from that what interests me more is GUILD housing.. I remember back in my MUD days we used to create huge guild houses in some of them was a good time and gave us all a place to meet up and chat about things. But guild housing gives you so many possibilities and also is more practical than allowing housing for everyone. 

Looks like those who prefer or would at least like housing in their MMOs outweighs the people who dont like housing.

Guess its not so "niche" or unwanted after-all

Originally posted by PyrateLV

Looks like those who prefer or would at least like housing in their MMOs outweighs the people who dont like housing.

Guess its not so "niche" or unwanted after-all

I'm not really sure that that can be concluded from this...

I could give a flying quark about housing either way, but am always a fan of additional things in my games.

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Originally posted by Terronte

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Originally posted by PyrateLV Looks like those who prefer or would at least like housing in their MMOs outweighs the people who dont like housing. Guess its not so "niche" or unwanted after-all

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I'm not really sure that that can be concluded from this...

I could give a flying quark about housing either way, but am always a fan of additional things in my games.

 

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Originally posted by lizardbones

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There are a lot of factors to consider with housing. I think, overall, people approve of the idea of housing. But, would players trade housing for say, fast travel options? Does the answer depend on how useful or integral to the game the housing is? Do players who want housing prefer 'fluff' housing or housing that is somehow integrated into your character's progression? Is individual player housing even acceptable or should it always be guild housing? And so on.

That's like saying "would you put up with housing if it meant someone got to kick you in the junk?".

I have never seen a game tell people "you can have housing, but we are yanking fast travel options because of it", nor have I seen housing be tied to any kind of progression, beyond that of having a class/profession tied to the crafting of houses and furniture itself.

It really seems that you actually think that implementing housing in the game requires a contract with Satan himself. What gives?

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Originally posted by GTwander

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Originally posted by lizardbones

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There are a lot of factors to consider with housing. I think, overall, people approve of the idea of housing. But, would players trade housing for say, fast travel options? Does the answer depend on how useful or integral to the game the housing is? Do players who want housing prefer 'fluff' housing or housing that is somehow integrated into your character's progression? Is individual player housing even acceptable or should it always be guild housing? And so on.

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That's like saying "would you put up with housing if it meant someone got to kick you in the junk?".

I have never seen a game tell people "you can have housing, but we are yanking fast travel options because of it", nor have I seen housing be tied to any kind of progression, beyond that of having a class/profession tied to the crafting of houses and furniture itself.

It really seems that you actually think that implementing housing in the game requires a contract with Satan himself. What gives?

 

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I want the RPG back in MMO.

It's part of the immersive experience, and one of the many reasons many of us more experienced gamers look to the past and wonder why coporate shortcuts in the genre has led to hacking out a little bit of the input and creativity that we as players could offer.

Remember folks, it's really easy to not be loyal to any particular mmorpg, because we leave nothing behind when we log out.  

But imagine a title where we get to put a bit of ourselves in it.  Even a house, a guild house, a castle, or a city with our own flags in the arms of the bannermen.  Imagine developers, how much harder it is to leave that title behind.  Anyone can find instanced pvp or mirrored classes and 5 races.  Few games can offer players inputing a piece of themselves into the mmorpg that is supposed to truly give them a sense of escapism and importantly:  RPG.

  Play a number of titles and you come to see that are only a bit diferent but all equally as plastic.  Some folks love transparent titles, but many of us want immersion, we want the RPG back in the MMO.

/my 2 cents.

I will play a game with or without a housing system. It's not a very important feature for me.

Originally posted by lizardbones

It's just an example. One that actually exists would be, you can have housing, but there's a chance another player might burn your house down and destroy all your crops, whether you're online or not.
 

That's true, but from experience with it I've found I don't like it - while others do.

Yes, I think they are crazy, but anyone who still plays Mortal Online would have to be a little bit crazy. Shadowbane as well.

~The main thing to remember, though, is that in a game where housing can be attacked/destroyed, it's customizability is usually limited, and thusly doesn't really draw in players that want housing for deco aspects. If they *did* allow one to spend tons of time moving things around, beautifying the place, but only to have it eventually torn down - well, that's a rage quit waiting to happen.

So yes, I guess there are games with housing that even us housing types wouldn't want to touch.

Originally posted by PyrateLV

Looks like those who prefer or would at least like housing in their MMOs outweighs the people who dont like housing.

Guess its not so "niche" or unwanted after-all

Developers are fighting like mad to keep the work to a minimum and make the game cheap to manage.  It's the death bell of the industry since 2004 and why in ten years no one will shed a tear over the communities of many many rpgs since 2004.

Housing has to be more than visual and non-instanced for it to work, IMO, and then it becomes an important, if optional, element of immersion.

I would have housing do the following:

1. be persistant (takes up real space in the world, folks outside can see it)
2. be safe haven from most monsters that might be outside, especially at night
3. grant same experience rest bonus as inns, and more if finely decorated and furnished
4. be a source of added storage similar to bank
5. be a chatroom for those invited inside
6. be taxed to maintain

Housing to me is extra fluff content that does nothing for a game but is not a bad thing.

I love housing and it's very important to me, but I will play a game without it.

Mostly I love housing that compels me and is fun.  EQ2 housing -- awesome and keeps me playing that game off and on.  LotRO housing -- total rubbish.  I'm very excited that RIFT is adding housing.  I hope it is good.  I really really hope it is good.

I could care less about housing.

From a behavioral science standpoint, merged with game design theory....

The reason player housing is so important or rather serves an important role is in the fact it creates an emotional response in the player.  It, like the character they create, is something they feel they own. The player has a heightened sense of "invested interest" in the game because of it. Emotional responses like that is how the designer brings about immersion.

When creating tension and release gameplay patterns (important in film and interactive entertainment), the house offers the release element, where as the combat and challenge mechanics create the tension.

Like any feature, important or not, if implimented badly it will just result in alienation.

I think every MMO should have a housing system as in-depth as EQ2. It adds an entire other phase of gameplay. I never even got that into the decorating and such but iwas nice having that option. There were people I knew in the game that logged in to literally do nothing but mess with the housing stuff.

Originally posted by Rabenwolf

From a behavioral science standpoint, merged with game design theory....

The reason player housing is so important or rather serves an important role is in the fact it creates an emotional response in the player.  It, like the character they create, is something they feel they own. The player has a heightened sense of "invested interest" in the game because of it. Emotional responses like that is how the designer brings about immersion.

When creating tension and release gameplay patterns (important in film and interactive entertainment), the house offers the release element, where as the combat and challenge mechanics create the tension.

Like any feature, important or not, if implimented badly it will just result in alienation.

This describes exactly the reason why housing is important to ME. Immersion and an invested interest