Can't seem to play the game today after the patch, so rather than start yet another "broke game" thread, here's a discussion I've been tossing around in my head.

Summary:
Are the dreaded "proc sets" all part of a plan by Zenimax to turn a profit by selling storage in housing?

The demand for housing seems to be high - lots of people seem to like the idea. And, generous as they are, Zenimax is going to just give it to everyone for free! Cool company, right?

Well, any time a company offers something for free my first reaction is "What's the catch?" Even though housing was probably one of the less difficult things to implement compared to a full DLC, companies don't just make even small projects unless there is a way to link them to increased revenues or efficiency. For something that I see as a simple thing to implement compared to other content it took quite a long time to release. They could have easily tossed housing together and released it in the crown store and lots of people would have paid. But more than likely most people would not be willing to pay real cash just to "play house".

In order to generate additional revenue from almost every serious player in the game housing would need to have something that was a must-buy. Most players were sitting fat and happy with plenty of storage space after crafting bags were released. Nine months ago a stamina build just needed to be able to craft a set of Hundings, get a set of 3-piece endurance, maybe a monster 2-piece set and a weapon. Sure, you could have lots of different 5-piece sets, but they weren't really that much better than Hundings + 3 + 2 + 1 or other similar setup.

First there were the "OP" DLC sets. Everybody thought "ZOS, you made a mistake - you released some OP sets". But these were just a taste of what was to come came out later in a wave with 1T. 1T released so many OP sets that it's now necessary to have multiple spare 5-piece sets for every character. Combine this with the fact that is impossible to craft or buy the best sets, and then also add in the fact that with the ludicrous chances you have of actually getting a specific weapon, you never want to deconstruct any piece that is in a "good" trait. You never know when that Destro Staff will make a comeback, right? Better keep anything that might be good in the future.

Now we have a situation with equipment much like the way it was with crafting mats before crafting bags were released - people have all their slots on multiple characters filled up with stuff they dare not get rid of.

My guess is that Zenimax already has a solution to your equipment storage problems in mind with player housing, and I don't think it will be free.