Why do you care about housing?

rxhymn

I don't get it. Wouldn't you rather have new and improved pve pvp content instead of playing make believe house decorator that pretty much does nothing? im not super bothered by it but I don't understand it.

Maybe add the small houses and allow a bank trunk or merchant or something useful but this much energy into an entirely new and strictly cosmetic mechanic doesn't really make sense to me with all the things that could already be improved.

1mirg

I use to play wildstar solely for the housing.

I think that should explain everything

bigmamajama

No, actually. Because I'm still going to get that later, I have this thing called patience. For now I get housing, and I like housing. The order at which things come is not of my concern, as long as stuff keeps coming I'm happy.

Pandorii

In a polite way, I have this question too. For many MMORPG players, housing (to them) is such a fundamental feature of the gaming genre, and they get really hyped about it. I do see the role play potential, if you want to role play house, house party, guild house, guild party, etc. But it's not really a role play need, since you can role play pretty much anywhere and the scenario will be different.

I'm thinking it might be tied to cultural values. If you're of a certain economic class, you are more likely to see home-buying as an important developmental stage of life, something to look forward to, like some people look forward to planning their weddings.

Since I grew up from a low-income background, I've never really had the idea of buying a house as something within my reach. In real life, I prefer a minimalist style and would prefer to rent a small apartment. This probably explains why I can't really get that into the idea of having a house in a game, since it isn't something I want in real life either. For me, a big house just means a big mess to clean.

And this complicated reasoning puts me at ease as to why I'm just not as hyped as a lot of people about housing. And that's ok. I don't expect everything in this game to cater to my interest, much like I'm also not that into hardcore end-game PvE.

**Edit: At the end of the day, the cultural feeds into personal preferences. Everyone has different personal preferences and values.

bebynnag

ME: Because with all the drop sets & monster sets in the game my inventory is out of control...

ALSO ME: wait whats that?

ALSO ME: 3.5Mil 4 a castle and i cant store anything in it.....

ALSO ME: nah your trolling me right?

ALSO ME: WTF?

rustic_potato

rxhymn wrote: »

I don't get it. Wouldn't you rather have new and improved pve pvp content instead of playing make believe house decorator that pretty much does nothing? im not super bothered by it but I don't understand it.

Maybe add the small houses and allow a bank trunk or merchant or something useful but this much energy into an entirely new and strictly cosmetic mechanic doesn't really make sense to me with all the things that could already be improved.

Different people have different reasons to play the game.. The end game community is a really small % compared to the average eso player base.. They have to address everyone's requirement.

DPShiro

Until I can store stuff, I don't.

bottleofsyrup

An extension of myself in the game world.

nordsavage

Beyond the practice dummy I don't care. It's all fluff. Where's the fight?

Bring on the meat.

Tryxus

To make sure my chars are all well-rested for another exciting day of ESO

xKRAIZEEMANx

Sometimes I just want to log on and zone out and not do much. I enjoy crafting stuff and gathering materials, and that's what I do in those instances of general laziness. The idea of crafting stuff for a house is a nice bonus.

Do I agree with everything about the housing (no storage...Etc.) No...But I'll take it.



Haven't been around long enough to comment on "end-game" PVE, and I rarely PVP in any MMO....

srfrogg23

rxhymn wrote: »

I don't get it. Wouldn't you rather have new and improved pve pvp content instead of playing make believe house decorator that pretty much does nothing? im not super bothered by it but I don't understand it.

Maybe add the small houses and allow a bank trunk or merchant or something useful but this much energy into an entirely new and strictly cosmetic mechanic doesn't really make sense to me with all the things that could already be improved.

All things in due time. The addition of housing is not mutually exclusive to the addition of other new content, but it adds a little more solidity to feeling like this is a "living/breathing" world that people can actually own a piece of.

It helps to move the game beyond "theme park" status.

Besides, hunting for decor items is going to add a lot of replayability to the content once you're all maxed out on your gear/skills/CPs.

Wildstar's housing wasn't the reason why I played Wildstar, but it was the only thing the kept me interested for more than a month after I hit max level, so there's that aspect of things too.

rotaugen454

As someone who spent many hours in Skyrim adjusting every placeable object (including dead enemies), I don't understand why anyone would ask this question.

Jim_Pipp

I was exited. I downloaded the PTS for the first time. I spent 45 minutes going around buying houses and seeing if I could make floating pathways... and the best bit was seeing how the wailing prison tutorial has changed.

I was hyped about housing, but trying it for less than an hour has killed my hype. No houses for me. Probably time to find a game actually new content.

ThePonzzz

I think it attracts people who enjoy builders. Believe it or not, ESO has a very large RP community. These are pretty awesome in that regard. To those that don't care for RP, the achievement displays are pretty cool to show off. I fall in between both these groups. But most my friends who played that i RP'd with are gone. So I just PvP these days.

That said, I don't think I'll go for any of the big homes. Anything under them is very manageable to grab though. My only issue is the lack of people being able to stumble upon your home (like a neighborhood). If the homes were unique and limited, I'd probably be more into it. One castle and you are the own owner? Now that's pretty cool.

Shardaxx

I was skeptical about the Hearthfire dlc which added housing to Skyrim because I didn't really see the point of it, but it was so cheap (about £3) I bought it anyway and I had lots of fun with it, even with the very limited customisation available. It was nice to have a big house to return to between adventures, once you'd upgraded everything there was no reason to visit town you could do everything at your house, I'm hoping the same applies in eso (it looks the case, judging by the notes).

DMuehlhausen

I don't care about housing.

However, anybody who actually thinks that housing was thought up after launch and is going in place before any other balances or zones doesn't understand how software development works. This patch/update whatever you want to call it was on the board and in line before the game was probably in Beta.

They know what they want in the game and what can't make it in before launch. Then you have year or two of delayed releases to fix truly game breaking issues then the normal software cycle starts up again. We probably have a year or more of these types of updates before they can truly start focusing on and responding to minor to medium game play balance issues.

Gandrhulf_Harbard

I love housing in any game.

As @1mirg mentioned above I too used to play Wildstar primarily for crafting and earning stuff for my housing.

I spent far too much RL money and approx 30 Million credits in SWTOR getting my housing how I wanted it.

Even in LOTRO that gas just about the worst MMORPG housing I have seen I still made getting a house a goal, and farmed specific drops for it.

And all the time I am doing that it gives the Devs more time to get things like balance, and new content done properly.

Housing is a time/gold sink for players and time-maker for Devs.


All The Best

BlackSparrow

For me, it's about leaving my characters' footprints on the world.

I get really involved in my characters. They all have different personalities, backstories, and playstyles. For me, playing the game is about watching that character grow and change because of the story happening around her.

What player housing does is that it gives a piece of that world to the character... makes it feel like the character is part of the world instead of just running around in it. Suddenly, her story is expanded by where she chooses to live, who her neighbors are, how she chooses to decorate the house... these are things that add legitimacy to her impact on the world as a character. Having somewhere she calls "home" adds a dimension of immersion that you just don't get bouncing from quest to quest.

I get why other people don't get it, since not everyone plays the same way I do. But for me, housing is a huge leap forward for my playstyle. I intend to spend the next year or so picking out the perfect house for each character and decorating it to their individual tastes.

Hand_Bacon

My only concern about the whole Housing feature is what I've seen in a couple other MMOs.


Public areas had greatly reduced populations, everyone did everything in their homes. Zone chats were reduced to trolls.

newtinmpls

I don't much care for PvP; it's okay but there is too much negative personality/trash talk for my taste.

Housing (even if the only thing I can afford is a room in an Inn) makes the world feel more real to me.

bebynnag

Pandorii wrote: »

I'm thinking it might be tied to cultural values. If you're of a certain economic class, you are more likely to see home-buying as an important developmental stage of life, something to look forward to, like some people look forward to planning their weddings.

decided to correct your obvious typo/auto correct mistake
kind regards
a woman who is slowly being driven insane helping her (male) best friend plan his wedding, because she doesnt get what all the hype is over weddings

Pandorii

puffytheslayer wrote: »

Pandorii wrote: »

I'm thinking it might be tied to cultural values. If you're of a certain economic class, you are more likely to see home-buying as an important developmental stage of life, something to look forward to, like some people look forward to planning their weddings.

decided to correct your obvious typo/auto correct mistake
kind regards
a woman who is slowly being driven insane helping her (male) best friend plan his wedding, because she doesnt get what all the hype is over weddings

Good catch. I'm 100 percent with you. xD

Riptide

I think a readjustment might be that folks jazzed about housing are not interested in the other stuff. I'd imagine most are.

As to why? Well its fun. I don't collect anything in real life, just never caught a bug. I've got a well to do house. For me it isn't because I'm a collector and/or want an escape from my own space.

But simply because its fun. Had a castle verrry early in UO (corp por'ed many for it and homes in most games that have offered it. Spent time to decorate it, tinker with it, etc.

I suppose it gives you a home base. A part of the game world that is yours, that you can share with others here and there.

Just enjoyable is all, and not at the expense of other things ultimately.

Jeremy

rxhymn wrote: »

I don't get it. Wouldn't you rather have new and improved pve pvp content instead of playing make believe house decorator that pretty much does nothing? im not super bothered by it but I don't understand it.

Maybe add the small houses and allow a bank trunk or merchant or something useful but this much energy into an entirely new and strictly cosmetic mechanic doesn't really make sense to me with all the things that could already be improved.

Why do you like cool looking armor instead of just running around in your starting outfit? They could have spent that time they used designing new armor to instead add new content also.

It's the same concept.

Allowing players to customize their experience helps make the game more personal, which is an important part of role playing games. I would have preferred they add storage (hopefully they will in the future). But it will still be fun for us to create our own abodes to hang out in. Well at least for a lot of us it will be.

SolarCat02

I want to set up one of the larger houses as a sort of Guild Hall, with testing dummies and our favorite set crafting stations. Some of our members also just enjoy hanging out, so I want to provide them a place where they can do that.

I intend to purchase the home with my own funds, and I will be the one procuring some of the trickier things like the crafting stations and the testing dummy. I will be focusing on the utility of things.
If people want other furniture added for decorating purposes I will not say no to donations for cosmetic aesthetics. That's just not my personal focus.

That said, I do like trees and plants and gardening, so I am hoping it will be possible to obtain at least a few trees and plants in non-crown ways. (And maybe plant an alchemy garden in a later update!)

rotaugen454

Because you never have to vacuum or clean these houses, and your pets never soil the carpet.

driosketch

I would say about a third of what I do in this game is character crafting. Another third would be solo PvE play, quests, exploration, gatheting. A little over 20 percent is PvP, and the final 10 percent group PvE.

Going back to the first part, I don't even RP socially, but every one of my dozen characters has a theme that plays differently even with the same class, even with the same primary resorce. Most even have personality, back story and a code of ethics. Long story short, housing is an extension of this, and every developed character I have will have at least a small house decorated in their particular style.

That isn't to say there isn't utility in a home, set stations, test dummy, and a bank will be a part of my network. I also haven't said no to storage, just that it wasn't coming in time for Feb.

Acrolas

Pandorii wrote: »

I'm thinking it might be tied to cultural values. If you're of a certain economic class, you are more likely to see home-buying as an important developmental stage of life, something to look forward to, like women look forward to planning their weddings.

And if you're a certain economic class and intelligence, you're more likely to see that diamonds are intrinsically worthless, cake mixes use eggs to pander to women, and cities with low property taxes as a selling point really don't value education.

Video game housing is not only a permanent sunk cost, it's a sunk cost without utility. I'd rather invest 1.5 million gold into the existing guild market to buy items that will sell for 3 million, than to sink 3 million into a house that I'll mostly ignore by next year while I'm out harvesting materials to make more gold. Gold makes more gold. Housing makes...?

Yeah, somebody at ZOS didn't get the memo that all good gold sinks have some practical player utility that can't be found anywhere else in the game. I need to craft? Crafting station. I need a furnished house? Murder the existing occupants over and over again. I want a scenic view? I know all the best ones, and none of them are coming from player housing.

So I'll get a really cheap house, fill it with a sofa, vintage booze, and a tapestry of Swimsuit Gwendis, then wait for Update 14. But probably not the first part, just the second.

Thybrinena

I wanted to wear heavy armor because for work I wear a boring shirt and tie.
I wanted to join the Dark Brotherhood so that I could for once actually kill someone when I thought "God, I could kill him!".
I wanted a flame throwing snake pet because where I live I'd get arrested for owning one.
I wanted to buy an Elk mount because if I bought one the RSPCA would take it away.
I wanted to get the Emperor title so that I'd feel like Caesar and not like the guy who gets shouted at by the neighbour "Turn that music down you **sser".
I want to buy a manor so that I can open my front door at the end of a long day and not see my bed.

That's why I care about housing.

kip_silverwolf

I'm looking forward to it because I love having a place to call my own. While I don't actually rp in-game with others (not seriously, anyways) I do enjoy the rp elements within a game.

Plus, having tested housing on the PTS, I know I'm going to have a lot of fun creating and designing my houses. I loved decorating my homes in both Oblivion & Skyrim and ESO is going to be no different. I can see me spending many enjoyable hours moving stuff around, crafting furniture and then sitting on my big ol' throne happily gazing at my handy work.