Post by Morreion on Feb 27, 2010 8:34:05 GMT -5
Justin Webb: Gimme Shelter (MMORPG.com)
I think that is right. Housing is a social space that helps build community, and helps make a game a long-term home. Extra storage space would be the next biggest reason to have a house.
To me, housing is a big plus for a game. If there is no housing in a title, that is a definite minus.
The biggest pitfall with housing in my opinion is how DAoC did housing: they allowed you to do everything in your house that you used to have to go to a city to do. That made cities ghost towns, and it killed a good amount of the larger social aspect of the game.
The article also looks at how housing should be done, whether in the real world like UO & SWG or instanced, like AO & EQ2. The author's conclusion:
Actually, I liked the open housing system of UO & SWG. As long as a world is huge enough, being able to place your house in the world is the most immersive way to go. It allows for player-created villages as well.
Player housing always comes up on the list of things that players want to see in their games, and rightfully so. The concept of owning a chunk of real estate in the world you love is extremely compelling. At face value, player housing looks like it should be a slam-dunk win for every game that implements it. However, expectations are unrealistically high for this system. Player housing comes with a host of problems, many of which are developmental and/or production based.
...while MMOs have advanced in complexity over time, the primary motivation for player housing has remained the same: Players just want a place that they can use for showing off.
...while MMOs have advanced in complexity over time, the primary motivation for player housing has remained the same: Players just want a place that they can use for showing off.
I think that is right. Housing is a social space that helps build community, and helps make a game a long-term home. Extra storage space would be the next biggest reason to have a house.
To me, housing is a big plus for a game. If there is no housing in a title, that is a definite minus.
The biggest pitfall with housing in my opinion is how DAoC did housing: they allowed you to do everything in your house that you used to have to go to a city to do. That made cities ghost towns, and it killed a good amount of the larger social aspect of the game.
The article also looks at how housing should be done, whether in the real world like UO & SWG or instanced, like AO & EQ2. The author's conclusion:
So, system-wise, it’s a tossup between a house you will never be able to afford and a house that no-one will ever visit. Neither of which is very sexy.
Actually, I liked the open housing system of UO & SWG. As long as a world is huge enough, being able to place your house in the world is the most immersive way to go. It allows for player-created villages as well.
SWG was nice, but I think that had structured zones or something didn't it? Maybe it was the town mayor deciding the layout or something like that? It's been a while and that SWG:Pre-CU Emulator seems to be slow in coming along (Or at least, they don't want people just joining to play around, they want you there to do something exact and specific)
