player-housing
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The Road to Mordor: Still waiting for (better) housing in LotRO
In all of the excitement of Helm's Deep and the changes that it brought, it was pretty easy to forget that we are running out the clock on 2013 and the devs have yet to do anything about housing other than evict a lot of bums and fiddle with the chests. Remember that promise? One of Executive Producer Kate Paiz's four big initiatives for the year? Let me refresh your memory, as Paiz said in January 2013: "I am extremely pleased to say that this year we will be tackling a major revision to the Housing system." Well, bad news folks: It's not coming this year. I pinged Turbine for a comment about this, and Producer Hannah Foell responded by saying, "After some excellent feedback from the Player's Council we elected to spend more time on it and push the housing update back to next year." This is disappointing though not surprising. I've had the feeling that Turbine's been "behind" with Lord of the Rings Online this year, especially considering the expansion testing and release, and the studio's been visibly reluctant to get moving on a housing revamp, going so far as to downplay expectations by the community. So if we're not getting any improvements to housing in 2013, then I have time to ponder what this system needs. And since I'm not on this super-secretive and super-mysterious player council, you can hear what my thoughts are right now.
Final Fantasy XIV gives housing preview
Housing fans are all twitterpated over Final Fantasy XIV's 2.1 update, and in an article today Square-Enix provides a solid overview of what lodges and decorations will be available when the update hits. While individual housing is still a ways off, free companies will be able to purchase a house once they attain a certain rank and get a land acquisition entitlement. House lots can be purchased in Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, or Ul'dah. Once a house is built, the exterior and interior can be customized and furnished. The team expressed future plans for the housing system, including crafting workshops, customizable music, and chocobo stables. Housing will come when 2.1 hits on December 17th.
Breakfast Topic: What are you most looking forward to with your garrison?
At Gamescom 2010, Tom Chilton famously declared that "housing will be introduced to World of Warcraft some time right after 'never'." Funny how things can go from "never" to what we're getting in Warlords of Draenor. To be fair, he was probably referring to the idea of a simple house with no gameplay attached to it. Player housing couldn't happen in WoW until Blizzard worked out what the gameplay aspects would be. Your faction leader will be sending you on a mission to establish a forward base and gather followers for the cause. You could be staking out your plot of land on day one of the expansion. The follower aspect is what I'm most interested in -- collecting them, naming them, leveling them up, and sending them off to do my bidding. You can check out WoW Insider's post about garrisons to learn more about the types of follower missions and a list of the 25 building types (all that's missing is a zoo for hunter pets). What excites you most about this feature? %Poll-85736%
Trion: Non-combat features 'provided a needed dose of RPG' in RIFT
RIFT's dimension system is one of the genre's better player housing implementations, and Trion has authored a dev blog designed to give players a peek behind the curtain on its development. It all started with the enthusiastic player response to the game's wedding features. "People didn't just show up; we saw a genuine spike in subscriptions. It was clear that we'd provided a needed dose of RPG in our MMORPG," the blog explains. Housing was the next logical step for non-combat content. Click through the links below to read about various development challenges and how Trion solved them.
Garrisons: Player housing in Warlords of Draenor
People have wanted it forever and now, it's finally here: World of Warcraft is implementing its own unique form of player housing, the Garrison feature. Quite frankly, if you ever played really old school Dungeons and Dragons, the Garrison feels a lot like the old dominions that players could get in the Companion rules. Based on the way building a settlement felt in the original Warcraft RTS games, building your Garrison gives you benefits including epic gear, access to professions you don't normally have in a limited fashion, and customize the buildings in the Garrison for specific customizable benefits. The Garrison system includes NPC followers who can go on missions for you while you're offline for various benefits as well. This ends up nearly being a complete minigame - my first impression is that you can almost play an entirely new RTS minigame while playing WoW.
BlizzCon 2013: Moving into Warlords of Draenor's garrisons
Arguably one of World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor's biggest selling points is its just-announced garrison system. A panel at BlizzCon and the official FAQ have details as to what this version of player housing will look like. Garrisons will be phased outposts that players will establish in any zone on Draenor and use as headquarters for their adventures there. A garrison is basically a small town that can be upgraded and customized, but it has a functional aspect as well. Players meet NPCs during questing that will go back to the garrison where they can be put to work doing missions whether you're logged in or not. The garrison is integrated into the game world and can be visited by one's friends. Different buildings in the garrison bestow different bonuses, such as an infirmary healing followers and inns allowing for greater recruiting. Buildings can be upgraded three times with a specialization choice at the end, and they can be decorated with monuments and trophies from achievement rewards (among other sources). Crafting, even in professions that you haven't trained, will be available, and Blizzard is promising that epic-quality gear can be made through this system.
The Nexus Telegraph: Why WildStar's housing matters
A while back, I got a wonderful letter from a reader whom I'll simply call L for these purposes. L was curious why, exactly, I cared about housing in WildStar, not out of a desire to belittle but out of a genuine curiosity. From his standpoint, housing adds nothing to the game and takes development time away from features that do add to the overall experience. His question was an attempt to see if he was missing some crucial point, something that made housing more important than, say, another raid at launch. Partway through typing a response, I realized that this was a response that deserved more than just a letter; it deserved center stage because L is both right and wrong. In the strictest sense, housing does take away from development time that could go toward other features. For some players it's just not that interesting or relevant. But at the same time it also opens up avenues of design and play that just don't exist without housing in place, which winds up making the game as a whole better even if you don't want to play housekeeper.
Leaderboard: Which MMO has the best player housing?
I'm a big fan of player housing. If you're not, well, you should be. OK, not really, but you may want to skip this here Leaderboard if you typically roll your eyes when the topic comes up. Assuming you do like player housing, there are plenty of flavors to choose from scattered across the MMOverse, and a couple more interesting implementations on the way. For now, though, let's limit ourselves to housing in already-released games. Which system do you like the best? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Here's an eight-minute look at Final Fantasy XIV's housing
Who wants to know about Final Fantasy XIV's upcoming player housing system? I see a bunch of raised hands, and luckily for all ya'll, MMO Culture has a pretty enlightening video on the subject. The thing is eight minutes long, in fact, and it shows everything from housing styles and house placement to exterior modifications and yard clutter. Strangely there's no interior footage, but with any luck we'll see some of that in short order. Click past the cut for the full clip.
Black Desert's beta housing system detailed
Hey look, it's more Black Desert beta stuff! Steparu has posted part two of a lengthy impressions piece for the sandbox title, the second portion of which focuses exclusively on player housing. As it stands right now, the system is limited to auctioned houses that are hard -- or at least expensive -- to obtain. There is no player-made housing in Black Desert's Korean closed beta just yet, so expect to spend time jostling with lots of players clustered around the auctioneer NPC if really want a home of your own. Steparu has posted plenty of both interior and exterior housing screenshots as well as a video tour which you can see after the break.
You'll want to own Shroud of the Avatar's Druid town home
This week's Shroud of the Avatar update is a biggun! It features a new combat sigil, which shows off the eight combat schools that a Warrior may choose to follow. There's also a story sneak peek from co-authors Richard Garriott and Tracy Hickman as well as player housing basements. This last bit is a pretty big deal judging by the number of screenshots and verbiage Portalarium devoted to it. And while we're talking about housing, there are also some nifty shots of the game's Druid tree house as well as related discussion from devs Isaac Oster and Michael Hutchison.
Some Assembly Required: Community dictates development path of Neo's Land
Sandbox aficionados, are you ready for another contender in the fight to be your next virtual world? Well, ready or not, here one comes! And now that the cat (or Kickstarter, as it were) is officially out of the bag, we can take stroll through this new development project and see just how things are shaping up. The name of this virtual playground-to-be? Neo's Land. With the number of crowdfund-hopefuls coming and going, you might be wondering what -- if anything -- distinguishes this game from all the others also vying for your attention and support. What exactly makes this project different and worth a look? It's not the various sandbox features like skills, an open world, and building homes; you can find those in other games that are out there or in the works. No, what sets Neo's Land apart is the different approach to development it is taking. Instead of building a game using the studio's ideal features, NeoJac Entertainment is quite literally soliciting the feature set directly from the players before implementing. In this case, Some Assembly Required also refers to the game itself! Can it be done -- can a game truly be built to honest-to-goodness player specs? During an exclusive interview with CEO and President Jacques Rossouw, I got to walk along the development path of Neo's Land and see what the game is about.
The Soapbox: That's not an MMO
You may not be aware of this, but Massively is a website focused primarily on massively multiplayer online games. It's kind of what we do. However, the world of MMOs in 2013 is far different from the world of MMOs in 2007, when the site was founded. The niche has changed and the games industry has evolved. There was a time when "online" told you everything you needed to know about a game because there was really only one type of online game. You knew in picking up an online game that you and some friends would be leveling, looting gear, and slaying dragons. It took a while for developers to notice that online play was actually a thing that could work in more than one particular format. Nowadays, online games range from traditional MMORPGs like Guild Wars 2 and RIFT to MOBAs like SMITE and League of Legends. There's no clear definition for what an MMO is or isn't because so many games are massive, multiplayer, and online. Maybe it's time to embrace MMO as a broader term than previously thought.
Rockstar reveals Grand Theft Auto Online
Rockstar Games today lifted the curtain on Grand Theft Auto Online, showing off the new title via a lengthy announcement trailer. GTA Online appears to be more than just a simple multiplayer iteration of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and features player housing, a persistent world, and player-generated content. The game shares game elements and geography with Grand Theft Auto V and supports up to 16 players co-habitating in their own little online world. Players will be able to purchase and customize vehicles, own property, shape their appearance, and work their way through the criminal underworld, in addition to participating all the random acts of chaos the series has offered since its inception. In Grand Theft Auto Online, players have the freedom to explore alone or with friends, work cooperatively to complete missions, band together to participate in activities and ambient events, or compete in traditional game modes with the entire community, all with the personality and refined mechanics of Grand Theft Auto 5. Purchasers of Grand Theft Auto V will receive access to GTA Online when it launches October 1st on PS3 and Xbox 360 (and not PC). It is unclear whether the game will be available as a standalone product; we have reached out to Rockstar for clarification. Check out the reveal trailer after the break.
The Queue: I am the one who rings
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Raise your hand if you've spent the last few years being woken up in the middle of the night by phantom doorbell noises. Anybody? No? Just me? Crap. HerrKlokbok asked: I'm seeing a lot of Emerald Dream hopes now, with the breaking news of "the Dark Below". I'm curious - just why do so many want a Emerald Dream expansion? I can't find anyhing remotely interesting with such a surreal thing, but I guess that's me- But is it a veteran- or vanilla-players dream expansion, or what? I started WoW late BC, maybe that's why I can't find the kick in it.
WildStar beta testers compete for coolest house
If being a fan of player housing while still being shut out of the WildStar beta describes you perfectly, then you're going to probably hate everything about this post. As a way to show off the flexibility and potential for WildStar's housing, Carbine Studios challenged closed beta testers to come up with the coolest, wackiest, or most creative pad. The winners of this contest are up on the site now. If you can push aside your jealousy at being left out, there's a lot to be gleaned from the amazing pictures on display here. There is a house-within-a-house, an upside-down house, a bedroom bar, and a stand-up comedy platform, among others. The winners of the beta contest received a trophy that will carry over with them to the launched game.
WoW Archivist: Paths not taken
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Recently, Blizzard addressed rumors that their ultra-secret next MMO, codenamed Titan, had been "reset." Developers were indeed reassigned to other projects as the slimmed-down team made "some large design and technology changes to the game." Since we don't know anything about Titan for sure, despite some compelling leaks, we'll never know what features the game would have had as part of its original design. The WoW team, on the other hand, has backed away from many different announced features and content additions that didn't work out. This week's WoW Archivist will look at some of the more interesting and infamous canceled or delayed features. Homeless Believe it or not, player housing was briefly tested in alpha. Model viewers showed files going back to alpha in a folder called "playerhousing" (as shown below). Only human houses were ever designed. Blizzard also added a portal in Stormwind as an entrance to an instanced player housing area. An alpha blue poster named Katricia wrote, "Our current idea (which could change) is to extend the cities to have player housing neighborhoods. For example, in the canal area of Stormwind players can see a blue instance portal behind a large portcullis; this is the entrance to the player housing neighborhood in Stormwind."
WildStar's Jeremy Gaffney on the Settler path
In a world full of potential and chaos, WildStar's factions will succeed on the planet Nexus on the backs of the Settlers. The Settlers don't just build bonfires for sappy Explorers to sing around; these titans of construction will save you time in dungeons, establish bigger outposts, and open up new realms of quests for everyone. At a recent media event, Carbine Studios executive producer Jeremy Gaffney was only too happy to explain how the Settler path opens up the world, intersects with housing, and even plays a part in PvP.
Unicorn poop, beer cans, and housing dungeons: WildStar's Jeremy Gaffney preps us for closed beta 2
"This is going to be the best game most of us have built in our lives," Carbine Studios Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney said bluntly. The game in question, of course, is WildStar, and it represents Gaffney's 10th or so trip through the beta development chute on the way to release. There's an undeniable note of pride and calm confidence in his voice as he talks about the baby that's growing inside Carbine's womb right now, and he was definitely not shy in opening up about all of the decisions and work the team's made as WildStar heads into its second trimester... er, closed beta test. Before that, however, Gaffney provided a recap of the first closed beta test. He said that it was pretty limited, with only 2,000 players testing out the lowbie Exile zones. The team moved some of the elder game content down in level so that people could test it out, and developers spent some time doing impromptu Q&A sessions with players in the field. As a result, Carbine is ready to shift over to the Dominion side and greatly expand the beta in size and content. Read on for the full scoop on what the next step will entail.
RIFT invites players to move into a new dimension
Budding interior (and exterior) decorators, get out your throw pillows: RIFT has added a brand-new dimension to the game today. Moonshade Pools was chosen by players to be the next housing plot in the game, and features cascading pools with a far-out view. It costs 300 platinum to purchase and starts out with space for 250 items with the option to increase to 1000. The team will be livestreaming a couple of player-created Moonshade dimensions tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. EDT if you need inspiration for your own masterpiece.
