Breakfast Topic: What feature does WoW need most?
by Darren Brown 
Dec 23rd 2010 at 8:00AM
Grandpappy Frostheim would probably say that we, the mass of WoW players, have more options, features, sparkly things, humdingers and thing-a-ma-jigs to help us play than ever before -- and he would be right. But I don't believe that should mean there aren't more features and upgrades to our interface and experience that would improve things even further.
Just in the past year or so, Blizzard has added a ton to our interfaces, including an improved built-in quest helper, built-in power auras, and the remote auction house. These all are great "quality of life" improvements for the majority of players. The remote auction house is one of my favorite new features, as playing the AH is as fun as many other parts of the game for me. I had heard rumors before the remote auction house was released that you'd be able to use your crafting professions remotely as well. This would have enabled me to buy on the AH, craft gear or cut gems, and then sell my finished product, all remotely. I'm sure this would bring me a lot closer to being gold-capped. Oh well, I can dream, can't I?
Most everyone has some idea they feel could be added to improve the gaming experience. Are you one of those still hungering for the dance studio, or is there some other feature you think WoW really needs?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Goblin
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 19)
Leonhart-Andorhal Dec 23rd 2010 8:04AM
Player and Guild Housing would be sweet
DarkFinch Dec 23rd 2010 9:58AM
I don't understand the big draw of 'guild housing'. Aren't all of the INCREDIBLE new guild perks enough for you?
Ronin Dec 23rd 2010 10:30AM
@DarkFinch Different people are Different. Also, what do guild perks like we now have available, have to do with housing? Those who like the idea of housing are gonna go, "Oh, OK, now that I have x buff I no longer desire housing!"?
Personally I think the fans of housing over-estimate how great it would be, but to each his own.
Codexx Dec 23rd 2010 10:50AM
The problem is it makes the world feel less populated (and this is Blizzard's given response) and WoW isn't really configured to work with it. If houses exist in the game world, it disrupts the world as it is, and there's limited space. If it exists in instances, it takes players away from each other still. Secondly, how would you move/place items? And that's a lot of information for Blizzard to track. The engine just isn't set up to make it easy or convenient to create the feature nor use it. On top of that, I'm sure you'd be pretty unhappy with it when you find out it's a massive gold and time sink. The houses themselves would probably be incredibly expensive to own, especially if Blizzard wanted to keep crowds primarily in the cities. Items themselves would probably also cost quite a bit, and probably require a time sink. Everyone wanting player housing would be upset when they can't immediately build their dream-house, but the richest player on the server already has the deluxe mansion decorated in gold-plated furniture because they can afford it. It's not a one-time cost like mounts, it's a perpetual gold-sink that some players can't afford. Then, in a few months or perhaps after an expansion, inflation will allow more players access to more items and better housing, and like mounts, Blizzard won't compensate properly. 5k was a lot during Burning Crusade, even if by the end a lot of players laughed it off as just "a short grind", but by Wrath everyone's main had Epic Flying and most of their alts did too.
It's a mess that will just drive the game into the ground.
Jarett Dec 23rd 2010 11:10AM
Ever play City of Heroes? They have supergroup bases, and while they look cool, and the functionality you can get inside is nice (respawn points, crafting stations, additional storage, portals to anywhere), but no one ever uses it. Yeah, they do group meetings in the base, but really, it's a pointless set of rooms that people really only use for the portals to anywhere.
cyfoeth Dec 23rd 2010 11:53AM
Yep, Blizzard had planned to allow housing from the start. That was the purpose of the gated-off portal in Stormwind actually. They never got around to it. Plenty of games have it, and it's not that hard to do properly (EQ2, City of Heroes, even Final Fantasy XI). It's a big draw with the socializers, and also for the crafters (since furniture and decorations become sought-after).
In Star Wars Galaxies, it was also a way to brag about accomplishments. You could have weapon and armor stands to hold and display rare items, rather than stuffing them away in a bank slot until you needed the space. How many people spent the time to get their full devout sets? Do you ever wear them now? It'd be kindof nice to show them off once in a while, no?
Cyrus Dec 23rd 2010 11:59AM
I'll make a prediction: if they ever implement any kind of instanced player or guild housing, it would have the following drawbacks or ones effectively similar, to protect their stated goal of keeping cities crowded: certain necessities like mailboxes wouldn't be convenient to it, and you MUST set your hearthstone there if you're going to have it at all. (That is, you'd have to choose between convenience and the personalized housing.) I'll make another prediction: if they actually did that, practically no one would use them. 5 percent of the population, if that.
People like the idea of housing because it sounds cool, but that's all. Very, very few people would find it worth any tradeoff.
dannyleitner Dec 23rd 2010 12:05PM
I have the same thought, i do think that this should be implemented, and with it, for the cooler quest lines you complete a trophy will be displayed in your home, as well as for raid and world bosses. this Would make the game 10 times better, and you could invite people to come in like an "instanced" door to see your home as well with guild halls, seams there is a lot about the guilds in this game, and a lot of meetings, why do we have to go to a little house on the prarie to meet up. The guild halls should also display raid achievment items and trophy's.....DOOO ITTTT. Make us happy. Maybe al the random houses in the game could be like this and have numerous people to use them, there would be plenty.
loop_not_defined Dec 23rd 2010 12:28PM
I don't know...Player and Guild Housing has always struck me as the kind of features that sound awesome on paper, but don't see a lot of use once live. It's certainly a subjective topic.
I remember player housing in FFXI seeming really exciting, where a sort of "feng shui" mini-game allowed you to expand your storage as you progressed (it's worth noting that player housing also doubled as FFXI's "bank").
In Star Wars Galaxies, housing of all sorts existed - player, guild, shop, community, etc. The amount of flexibility you had in designing a place was incredible, and websites often ran features showcasing some of the creativity players put into their abodes.
...at the end of the day, though, players didn't really seem to spend a lot of time in these houses. They essentially served as single-player The Sims mini-games, where the fun mostly came from decorating and had little to do with community involvement. SWG player cities, for example, were barren 99% of the time...in truth, I don't recall ever seeing one with any noticeable activity.
Grovinofdarkhour Dec 23rd 2010 1:00PM
We have a building in Ironforge that we call our Guildhall and go to in-game for our monthly guild meetings. Would it be cool if we could instance it to keep the jerks out, put up banners with our crest, and maybe have a hearth point, a guild bank access point, and a repair/reagent vendor? Sure, I guess. Are these things really necessary? Not in the least. The meeting takes an hour, and we all leave, having no association with this arbitrary point on the map for the next 29-30 days. Why complicate things? Interior decorating holds no interest and sets off my "one more thing I'll have to manage" radar.
Angrycelt Dec 23rd 2010 1:15PM
Someone already mentioned the City of Heroes bonuses - but another side bonus was when you got an Accolade (CoH equivalent of Achievements) you could buy a trophy symbolizing your win. When you'd down a major boss, you could have their broken ray gun, or their helmet, or something symbolic presented in a glass display case. Purely for bragging and eye candy, but it was impressive to new recruits and made the base feel unique.
As for the "people wouldn't be in cities any more" argument, simple solution. Being in your guild hall knocks you out of trade chat, LFG, and the dungeon finder tool. You go in, do your business, then come back out. Maybe hop a portal somewhere convenient (would still be best to only have the capitals) but then you're on with your life.
In CoH, we'd hit the base, hop a portal, or maybe drop some stuff in our "guild bank" and be gone.
stamps79 Dec 23rd 2010 3:10PM
I agree on Guild Housing, a feature I enjoyed dearly when I played EQ2. I would also say DBM it's great to know what your boss is about to do.
Tai Dec 23rd 2010 8:04AM
I would like to be able to change/dye the colour of my gear, that would make my toons feel unique.
Valorum Dec 23rd 2010 8:13AM
seconded
Adam Fasoldt Dec 23rd 2010 9:04AM
Thirded ++++++++
Roguesan Dec 23rd 2010 8:33AM
Thirded. Visual customisation of gear would at least create a partial illusion that we're not all wearing exactly the same stuff and would allow players to craft their toons according to their own personal aesthetic taste.
I don't know about you, but there have been times when I've ignored a slight upgrade while levelling, simply because all my gear is, for example blue. I'm not going to wreck that with magenta legs.
bspauldin Dec 23rd 2010 8:37AM
Yes, a scribe should be able to mix some dyes just for this. Maybe a tailor would have to use the dye to create a dye pack. You get the idea.
Laiqualassë Dec 23rd 2010 9:15AM
agreed
blizzard Dec 23rd 2010 9:23AM
I agree, this was available to a great degree in older games such as DAOC, and it should be feasible here as well!
Asaron Dec 23rd 2010 9:41AM
Dye would be a nice start, but I'd rather see a full outfitting system per LotRO. Display whatever gear you want so long as you own it (and are elligable to wear it). WoW has a huge catalogue of items now, the choice and diversity would be huge.