Breakfast Topic: If you could add one new feature
by Eliah Hecht 
Jun 3rd 2009 at 8:00AM
A couple months ago, we asked if you could add one new game mechanic to WoW, what would it be? This morning, I'd like to ask what you'd pick if you could add one new feature. Some common requests:
- Player/guild housing
- Ability to be in multiple guilds simultaneously
- Ability to start a character at a higher level than 1 (like Death Knights)
- Mounted combat
- Cosmetic gear (ability to have one set of gear equipped, and another set displayed)
I'm sure there are more commonly desired features that I just haven't thought of yet.
Me, I'm really excited about the PvE arenas that I hope are coming in patch 3.2. Aside from that, I suppose I'd like to be able to start alts at a high level. I like leveling well enough, but 1-40 is simply tedious. Characters haven't really come into their own yet, and those zones are pretty underdeveloped. What new feature would you want to add to WoW?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Features
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 16)
Stomy Jun 3rd 2009 8:05AM
PLAYER HOUSING!!!!
Bod Jun 3rd 2009 8:44AM
I'll take a guild hall first over player housing - much more fun if the whole guild contributes.
Blau Jun 3rd 2009 8:53AM
I really enjoy being the devil's advocate. But this constant need for people to have this feature added is astounding me. Player and guild housing is something that would ruin the game and is totally unnecessary.
Part of what makes WoW so great is the player interaction that you are almost forced to have being in the surroundings of so many players. "Player Housing" would bring nothing to the game except the ability for people to retreat to a hole and gloat about their accomplishments. "Guild Housing" would bring on a bigger feeling of elitism that would further separate new players and transfers from being able to feel comfortable. And YOU CAN'T EVEN SHOW OFF YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS!!!! What's the fun in that?! Private instanced areas are private. Please /explain/ why anyone wants this!
Example: Imagine what WoW would be like if Dalaran looked as vacant as Shattrath. You'd get that with housing.
Please, I've played games with housing and they lacked what WoW had socially. There are no positives to housing. I'm even someone who enjoys RP at times. If this is the only argument then just ask for more "relaxation" areas. Please somebody give me something else becides "PLAYER HOUSING WOOOO!!" urgh..it's lame!
Something i would like to see is a revamp making Azeroth flyable and thus being able to shoehorn new content and areas into the old continent without making it unbearable to travel at the rate that we are now used to. It wouldn't take developer time. Just a small team of designers and a bit of testing. It'd be a project--but not impossible.
PeeWee Jun 3rd 2009 9:18AM
@Blau
"There are no positives to housing. "
Wrong wrong wrong and more wrong. I have a whole box of Wrong-nails for your "No positives to housing"-coffin right here.
Player/guild housing in Neocron is instanced, but teaming with the owner allows you to enter the apartment. Down goes your "Private instanced areas are private"-argument with nail #1. They are only as private as you make them to be. Have guild officers give entering permissions to other guilds or single players and you can have a guild alliance meeeting in there. Bam! Nail #2.
Also, the houses wouldn't have to have bank (perhaps guild bank)/post/vendors available inside them. Don't you worry about it, people would still run around in Dalaran, causing lag for everyone else. If anything, people staying the hell away from those places would be a GOOD thing, nail #3! The player/guild homes could still be attached to the global chats (such as /tradelol) which is why some people go to Dalaran or any other major city in the first place. Bam! Nail #4.
A guild home would be the best spot for guild meets, where you won't end up being interrupted by the constant flow of retards on the servers that get an e-peen erection from ruining it for everyone else. We'd also get rid of some of the exhibitionists from Tardshire. Bam, another nail, one more to go!
Elitism? If you don't want to see their achievements, don't enter the bloody house! Problem solved. Bam, coffin nailed shut!
Atdt1991 Jun 3rd 2009 9:34AM
I'll take player housing OR guild housing - really, I want some user-generated content in the game.
Honestly, this has been my biggest beef with WoW even before I started playing last summer - what we do in the game has no impact on the world.
Phasing is a great start on changing that, but honestly, if you look around the web, you'll see that user-generated content is expected. I want more of it in my MMO.
Aggrajag Jun 3rd 2009 9:30AM
I wholeheartedly agree with Blau. I played Dark Age of Camelot and player/guild housing killed off the social side of the game. There was no need to socialise "publicly" when you had your own vault/guild vault/vendors etc in your own little quiet space.
Develop something useful and interactive and leave housing to other genres.
Bod Jun 3rd 2009 9:48AM
@blau, my experience in CoH a few years ago was the opposite, and for social guilds, guild housing would be fun - I'd certainly take instanced guild vendors over a crowded and lag ridden Dalaran.
Azeroth flight however is a complete waste of time - i don't want devs fixing that, I'd rather they did something more practical. Contrary to what you write it would take a huge amount of development time. See here if you don't know why this is http://www.wow.com/2009/05/10/flying-in-old-world-azeroth/
Noraa Jun 3rd 2009 10:45AM
Thought: Some days I don't want to freakin socialize. I just want to do my alchemy cooldown, and check my mailbox.
Get off my lawn.
Blau Jun 3rd 2009 10:53AM
Am I the only one who really doesn't have gamebreaking lag in dalaran? I'm on a high population realm and I don't have the top of the line computer...but if you're having lag in dalaran still turn down your video settings so they more closely reflect the abilities of your video card and the rest of your computer's specifications. Yeah a laptop with a celeron-m processor with integrated 4-year old video technology at minimum memory specs trying to render and keep track of a bunch of players/npcs all at medium to high video settings...yeah let's start identifying what the problem is..
@Peewee - ALL of your agruments are really very terrible
@Atdt1991 - I like your idea of use generated content but housing--where nobody else would see it--seems pointless to me. There has to be other ways to do it.
Vidi Jun 3rd 2009 12:10PM
Blau,
I disagree with you...sort of.
First let me say that non instanced housing can not be added to WoW, UNLESS Blizzard were to add specific land masses dedicated to housing and that would pretty much create a bizarre suburbs that wouldn't make sense in the game ( see Dark Age of Camelot ).
However, Instanced personal housing would be relatively easy to place into the game as all players could enter in the same places and because there's no fighting happening there the server load would be minimal. There could be mechanics for buffs based on the items in your house as well ( see Final Fantasy IX ) and that could make it interesting. If houses required "rent" it could also be an incredible gold sink for blizzard as well, though knowing them they would ask far too much per month in rent.
That being said, I do not think personal housing is needed nor do I believe it is desirable in WoW at this late of a date. Maybe in WoW2 but only if it's live upon release of the game.
Guild Housing on the other hand I am completely in favor of. Giving guilds something to brag about other than raid progression would be a big deal. Imagine the possibilities?
Guild initial rituals conducted in private, guild banks, banks, innkeepers, vendors all in your guild bank. Guilds allowed to activate portals to all major cities from within their guild hall ( for a price of course )
There are a thousand things that could be built into a guild hall all for a price. It would become a great gold sink and a tremendous source of pride for guilds. It would help to keep players in a single guild rather than moving from guild to guild in search of better gear.
And really there's one undeniable fact: It doesn't matter if they have 1g or 100,000g, in the end, every single player character in WoW is homeless.
That just shouldn't be.
sprout_daddy Jun 3rd 2009 2:13PM
So Blau, your argument is that since you have a crappy computer, no one else should be able to have guild or player housing? That's an excellent viewpoint - no wonder you thought Peewee's responses were bad (by the way, excellent point-by-point rebuttal to all of them).
Blau Jun 3rd 2009 2:54PM
@sprout_daddy
Read what I wrote next time before jumping to conclusions. I wrote exactly the opposite.
I have still yet to read any point that would make housing of any kind appropriate or make sense in this game. It is potentially game breaking on so many social levels. The only point that comes close to being a real idea (for people who've actually played the game as opposed to recent converts from other less successful [read: failed] MMOrpg franchises) is the idea of player world customization. Making a bit of a cosmetic difference between realms based upon constructive choices made by the player community would be interesting. If you guys want to play house go play The Sims2, get a dollhouse or a build a fort out of Popsicle sticks and cardboard boxes for your G.I. Joes
ash Jun 3rd 2009 4:27PM
What about a compromise for housing between instances and open world where maybe you have neighborhoods you could go into. Or you could have your own place at a guild hall based on your class or profession.
Bod Jun 3rd 2009 5:20PM
@blau
"If you guys want to play house go play The Sims2, get a dollhouse or a build a fort out of Popsicle sticks and cardboard boxes for your G.I. Joes"
You seem to have taken what started out as a good conversation and turned it into a insult war. Ironic, and disappointing given your original argument was about socialisation, something you now seem ill equipped now to discuss. A shame, some of your points, though I disagreed with them, were cogent.
I stand by my original point, I want a solution to game overcrowding, something that my more modern computer seems unable to cope with. If that's guild housing, with some social fun thrown in too, so much the better.
Stomy Jun 3rd 2009 7:45PM
ok now that my original post of "PLAYER HOUSING!" has been spun into a huge debate I'll say i want player housing so i can put all my old epics from vanilla WoW to now and get them out of my bank, i still have my felheart set that i would love to have a house to put it in, also guild housing would be real fun and one thing i would like to see in a guild house is the ability to make a statue of a guildie to memorialize them at the end of their WoW career, along with all the normal guild house perks.
Jon Do Jun 3rd 2009 8:07AM
Collision detection.
No more running through people and mobs.
I keep hoping...
Gennifurfur Jun 3rd 2009 8:13AM
Wouldn't that be a nightmare in Dalaran?
Pexxle -=Silver Hand (RP)=- Jun 3rd 2009 8:21AM
This has been mentioned numerous times on the official forums mostly geared towards PvP.
You don't want player collision...It would break the game.
BG's ie. Alterac Valley would take 3hours.
Raids would turn into a orgy of failure...ie. Ppl running into each other Avoiding Boss AoE, Floor AoEs & what have you.
Not happening.
;)
BlackTiger Jun 3rd 2009 8:22AM
Eah... And some idio... moro... person standing in AH/Bank doorway...
Rhaycen Jun 3rd 2009 8:39AM
Try getting into an instance/raid that has a doorway before you get to the instance portal. 10-20 people could ruin the game for everyone by just standing in front of it.