It's just an example. One that actually exists would be, you can have housing, but there's a chance another player might burn your house down and destroy all your crops, whether you're online or not.
That's true, but from experience with it I've found I don't like it - while others do.
Yes, I think they are crazy, but anyone who still plays Mortal Online would have to be a little bit crazy. Shadowbane as well.
~The main thing to remember, though, is that in a game where housing can be attacked/destroyed, it's customizability is usually limited, and thusly doesn't really draw in players that want housing for deco aspects. If they *did* allow one to spend tons of time moving things around, beautifying the place, but only to have it eventually torn down - well, that's a rage quit waiting to happen.
So yes, I guess there are games with housing that even us housing types wouldn't want to touch.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Looks like those who prefer or would at least like housing in their MMOs outweighs the people who dont like housing.
Guess its not so "niche" or unwanted after-all
Developers are fighting like mad to keep the work to a minimum and make the game cheap to manage. It's the death bell of the industry since 2004 and why in ten years no one will shed a tear over the communities of many many rpgs since 2004.
From a behavioral science standpoint, merged with game design theory....
The reason player housing is so important or rather serves an important role is in the fact it creates an emotional response in the player. It, like the character they create, is something they feel they own. The player has a heightened sense of "invested interest" in the game because of it. Emotional responses like that is how the designer brings about immersion.
When creating tension and release gameplay patterns (important in film and interactive entertainment), the house offers the release element, where as the combat and challenge mechanics create the tension.
Like any feature, important or not, if implimented badly it will just result in alienation.
From a behavioral science standpoint, merged with game design theory....
The reason player housing is so important or rather serves an important role is in the fact it creates an emotional response in the player. It, like the character they create, is something they feel they own. The player has a heightened sense of "invested interest" in the game because of it. Emotional responses like that is how the designer brings about immersion.
When creating tension and release gameplay patterns (important in film and interactive entertainment), the house offers the release element, where as the combat and challenge mechanics create the tension.
Like any feature, important or not, if implimented badly it will just result in alienation.
This describes exactly the reason why housing is important to ME. Immersion and an invested interest
Tried: EQ2 - AC - EU - HZ - TR - MxO - TTO - WURM - SL - VG:SoH - PotBS - PS - AoC - WAR - DDO - SWTOR Played: UO - EQ1 - AO - DAoC - NC - CoH/CoV - SWG - WoW - EVE - AA - LotRO - DFO - STO - FE - MO - RIFT Playing: Skyrim Following: The Repopulation I want a Virtual World, not just a Game. ITS TOO HARD! - Matt Firor (ZeniMax)
Like it. The game with housing that I play most is Runes of Magic. For me the most useful aspect is storage. I like being able to get into my own space away from noise to work on my gear / inventory.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
I like it. The storage, the Epeen of having the biggest best decorated etc... Even just a place to chill out and craft or do some other kind of character customization.
I've really only liked UO's housing system. You can practically throw everything into your house, you can place it almost anywhere you liked it to be located. Any designing your house required ingenuity. People came up with ideas how to make an aquarium using bandage cloths. You had bookshelves from stacking wooden benches, etc etc.
Just the amount of space you have in the game was really nice. If only more games allowed you to place your house anywhere you wanted, that'd be nice.
housing i would put at the least of importance. the idea of a house in an MMO seems silly, since most are combat oriented. i think housing is fine in an MMO like the Sims online or some other cutsey kiddie game...gee, lets play house!...not, lol. why on earth would you want to stand around staring at 4 walls in an MMO?
Depends heavily on how it fits in the game... And how it's done
I feel that housing in games should be more than a dollhouse, where you just buy and insert stuff. the house itself should offer something to the game (like in wakfu-the bag is your "shop"). The concentration on benefits, rather than decoration!
But, how should all these things be earned? I wouldn't wan't to farm for them---And adding woodcutting only for house and house items would make it dull, as it would be simply put boring.
I would love to write more about this topic in general, seeing that housing has raised it's complicated head in MMORPG.com's forums. But the truth is, i have no experience from "good" housing, which lowers the value of my opinions quite a lot.
Housing is more secondary thing for me, if it doesn't give you anything more than just decorating.
(Any grammatic errors more than likely to be included)
housing i would put at the least of importance. the idea of a house in an MMO seems silly, since most are combat oriented. i think housing is fine in an MMO like the Sims online or some other cutsey kiddie game...gee, lets play house!...not, lol. why on earth would you want to stand around staring at 4 walls in an MMO?
Would you put character creation and customization on the same level you view player housing? From design standpoint, they are practically the same. They offer the same result and intention, the ability to create something the player calls their own. It is entirely seperate from "combat", which does not require character customization much less unique character creation. I mean its like saying wanting new armor or a different color of gear, or a different hair cut from the other guy is askin to playing dress up.
Look at a mmorpg, find the things that pull you to it, keep you invested in the game. Most of them will be design choices which make you care about your character and what you have earned or can do with what you earned in that game world. The player house is just one piece of that entire concept. It is a set of assets which you create, customize and earn, which can or cannot have a gameplay modifier attached to it thereby even making it worthwhile in other challenge mechanics.
Its is as important or rather as impactful as creating, even with the illusion of choice, a custom character and seeing a change in gear as a sign of progression or the illusion of progression. Half of game design is about smoke and mirrors.
I think every MMO should have a housing system as in-depth as EQ2. It adds an entire other phase of gameplay. I never even got that into the decorating and such but iwas nice having that option. There were people I knew in the game that logged in to literally do nothing but mess with the housing stuff.
The housing in EQ2 is just a door. Even when you know who's house your looking for, you have to look through all the doors on a street to find the right one and then there are 1000s of people at that address. EQ1 at least you could see the outside of the house and decorate the yard as well as the inside. A well decorated yard is kinda like a welcome mat, inviting people in to see the work you've done.
housing i would put at the least of importance. the idea of a house in an MMO seems silly, since most are combat oriented. i think housing is fine in an MMO like the Sims online or some other cutsey kiddie game...gee, lets play house!...not, lol. why on earth would you want to stand around staring at 4 walls in an MMO?
It's virtual combat too. There is nothing inherently more valid about one activity rendered in the gamespace over another. You're not really fighting bro, it's a video game. Youre playing swords/guns, which is just as much a child's game if you want to go there.
housing i would put at the least of importance. the idea of a house in an MMO seems silly, since most are combat oriented. i think housing is fine in an MMO like the Sims online or some other cutsey kiddie game...gee, lets play house!...not, lol. why on earth would you want to stand around staring at 4 walls in an MMO?
Would you put character creation and customization on the same level you view player housing? From design standpoint, they are practically the same. They offer the same result and intention, the ability to create something the player calls their own. It is entirely seperate from "combat", which does not require character customization much less unique character creation. I mean its like saying wanting new armor or a different color of gear, or a different hair cut from the other guy is askin to playing dress up.
Look at a mmorpg, find the things that pull you to it, keep you invested in the game. Most of them will be design choices which make you care about your character and what you have earned or can do with what you earned in that game world. The player house is just one piece of that entire concept. It is a set of assets which you create, customize and earn, which can or cannot have a gameplay modifier attached to it thereby even making it worthwhile in other challenge mechanics.
Its is as important or rather as impactful as creating, even with the illusion of choice, a custom character and seeing a change in gear as a sign of progression or the illusion of progression. Half of game design is about smoke and mirrors.
your comparison is not valid. i cant consider housing and character customization even remotely connected in an MMO. ..can i wear a house while i run around? uh, no. Can i look cool while i run around and do my thing, yes. that said, i put customization fairly high up,
from what i gather from the posts here are that most people like housing for storage or some other utility...any of which can be done ingame by some other method.
playing house is for 4 year old girls. might as well grab your dolls too while you're at it
housing i would put at the least of importance. the idea of a house in an MMO seems silly, since most are combat oriented. i think housing is fine in an MMO like the Sims online or some other cutsey kiddie game...gee, lets play house!...not, lol. why on earth would you want to stand around staring at 4 walls in an MMO?
Would you put character creation and customization on the same level you view player housing? From design standpoint, they are practically the same. They offer the same result and intention, the ability to create something the player calls their own. It is entirely seperate from "combat", which does not require character customization much less unique character creation. I mean its like saying wanting new armor or a different color of gear, or a different hair cut from the other guy is askin to playing dress up.
Look at a mmorpg, find the things that pull you to it, keep you invested in the game. Most of them will be design choices which make you care about your character and what you have earned or can do with what you earned in that game world. The player house is just one piece of that entire concept. It is a set of assets which you create, customize and earn, which can or cannot have a gameplay modifier attached to it thereby even making it worthwhile in other challenge mechanics.
Its is as important or rather as impactful as creating, even with the illusion of choice, a custom character and seeing a change in gear as a sign of progression or the illusion of progression. Half of game design is about smoke and mirrors.
your comparison is not valid. i cant consider housing and character customization even remotely connected in an MMO. ..can i wear a house while i run around? uh, no. Can i look cool while i run around and do my thing, yes. that said, i put customization fairly high up,
from what i gather from the posts here are that most people like housing for storage or some other utility...any of which can be done ingame by some other method.
playing house is for 4 year old girls. might as well grab your dolls too while you're at it
To sum up your response, your entire basis is founded on "looking cool" which some how invalidates my post, according to you.
So, using logic, you deem to mock a housing mechanic akin to playing with dolls, yet focus on looking cool which is more akin to playing with dolls in all actuality. If your entire focus is wearing game assets to look cool, then you are playing DRESS UP with the intent of looking "pretty", like "a little girl".
Do you see the fallacy in your argument?
The problem is twofold. You are stuck on the words and personal perception of house and character. The second being you argue based on subjective definitions of what is "cool" and what is not.
A character is a game asset, usually 2d or 3d model. It does not need to be customized or "made pretty" to affect or influence the gameplay mechanics regarding combat. A house is what? a game asset, usually a 2d or 3d model. It does not need to be customized or "made pretty" to affect infuence the gameplay mechanics regarding combat.
A game designer adds character customization to create an emotional response from YOU the player. In this case you have the desire to feel "uber cewl" in your dress or whatever 2d or 3d assets the character (2d or 3d asset) wears. It makes you feel like you earned and own it when in fact its insubstancial. What they are doing is manipulating your emotional responses. This is pure behavioral science here and it is not exclusive to game design. A house is the same visual medium in which you the player get that emotional response. The very same used with character customization.
The character represets the sum of your gameplay, the crap you gather, the imagined wealth and social appearance. The house is no different. It represents the sum of your gameplay, the crap you gather, the imagined wealth and social appearance. They serve the same mechanic with the same effect.
It can also be argued that while the character is the medium for tension via combat, the house is the side that delivers release. Most entertaimnet, the theory in which humans are entertained and stories are delivered come in the form of TENSION and RELEASE. Key words to remember. When you watch a good movie, or read a typical heroes journey novel or narrative... you are given tension and release. The best games deliver moments of high tension and then release. Release is often used with town hubs, crafting, chat channels and certain time sinks. It is meant to create a release before giving the player more tension. Our brains react well to this.
So my post is valid, it is just you are not understanding what exactly goes into game design, the choices and manipulation that takes place in which to immerse the player. Its in part, purely scientific. Once you understand the why, and the how, you will get a better picture on why a housing feature and character customization can be bundled together as one and the same in regards to purpose.
I like it, but I often ignore it. Most of the time they just provide some extra storage, but I rarely ever manage to fill up my bank/inventory, and if I do, it's time to put most of it up for sale.
The only games I think I really got interested in my house were DAoC, due to the lack of an AH, and EQ2.
I really like your logical take on things Raben, and in any other thread I would be right here arguing with that guy.
~but then I look at the poll and realise that it's doing more than any argument I could state ever could. Proving that overly-macho types that are anti-housing for the sake of trying to sound cool are the vocal minority.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I'm far less likely to give a game a chance if there's no housing. There's very little reason to not have them, and they add so much. It boggles my mind that WoW still doesn't have any form of housing.
I'm far less likely to give a game a chance if there's no housing. There's very little reason to not have them, and they add so much. It boggles my mind that WoW still doesn't have any form of housing.
Blizzard is best at telling people "my way, or the highway" and having them eat it up.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4 Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I'm far less likely to give a game a chance if there's no housing. There's very little reason to not have them, and they add so much. It boggles my mind that WoW still doesn't have any form of housing.
Blizzard is best at telling people "my way, or the highway" and having them eat it up.
+1
It does not have because someone counted that it will not bring profits as big as investing into making more dungeons / LFG tools / arenas or marketting.
Maybe in 5 years when WoW will be much smaller game playerbase wise then will add some kind of instanced housing in order to sell some decorational and other stuff like that in cash shop.
Or maybe it will never get any.
Does not matter to be honest since there is no way to make housing meaningful in WOW and put in into open world.
Housing in an MMO means little to me. I would much rather spend my in game down-time in a populous town or something of the sort.
But I do not expect, nor desire really, for every feature in a game to be aimed solely at me. Honestly I don't think I would enjoy a game that tried to cater exclusively to my desires. In a game that did I would likely meet only people with views and interests similar to my own. There goes half of the fun of an MMO to me...diversity in the playerbase.
When all has been said and done, more will have been said than done.
Comments
That's true, but from experience with it I've found I don't like it - while others do.
Yes, I think they are crazy, but anyone who still plays Mortal Online would have to be a little bit crazy. Shadowbane as well.
~The main thing to remember, though, is that in a game where housing can be attacked/destroyed, it's customizability is usually limited, and thusly doesn't really draw in players that want housing for deco aspects. If they *did* allow one to spend tons of time moving things around, beautifying the place, but only to have it eventually torn down - well, that's a rage quit waiting to happen.
So yes, I guess there are games with housing that even us housing types wouldn't want to touch.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
Developers are fighting like mad to keep the work to a minimum and make the game cheap to manage. It's the death bell of the industry since 2004 and why in ten years no one will shed a tear over the communities of many many rpgs since 2004.
Housing to me is extra fluff content that does nothing for a game but is not a bad thing.
I could care less about housing.
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
From a behavioral science standpoint, merged with game design theory....
The reason player housing is so important or rather serves an important role is in the fact it creates an emotional response in the player. It, like the character they create, is something they feel they own. The player has a heightened sense of "invested interest" in the game because of it. Emotional responses like that is how the designer brings about immersion.
When creating tension and release gameplay patterns (important in film and interactive entertainment), the house offers the release element, where as the combat and challenge mechanics create the tension.
Like any feature, important or not, if implimented badly it will just result in alienation.
This describes exactly the reason why housing is important to ME. Immersion and an invested interest
Tried: EQ2 - AC - EU - HZ - TR - MxO - TTO - WURM - SL - VG:SoH - PotBS - PS - AoC - WAR - DDO - SWTOR
Played: UO - EQ1 - AO - DAoC - NC - CoH/CoV - SWG - WoW - EVE - AA - LotRO - DFO - STO - FE - MO - RIFT
Playing: Skyrim
Following: The Repopulation
I want a Virtual World, not just a Game.
ITS TOO HARD! - Matt Firor (ZeniMax)
Like it. The game with housing that I play most is Runes of Magic. For me the most useful aspect is storage. I like being able to get into my own space away from noise to work on my gear / inventory.
I like it. The storage, the Epeen of having the biggest best decorated etc... Even just a place to chill out and craft or do some other kind of character customization.
I've really only liked UO's housing system. You can practically throw everything into your house, you can place it almost anywhere you liked it to be located. Any designing your house required ingenuity. People came up with ideas how to make an aquarium using bandage cloths. You had bookshelves from stacking wooden benches, etc etc.
Just the amount of space you have in the game was really nice. If only more games allowed you to place your house anywhere you wanted, that'd be nice.
housing i would put at the least of importance. the idea of a house in an MMO seems silly, since most are combat oriented. i think housing is fine in an MMO like the Sims online or some other cutsey kiddie game...gee, lets play house!...not, lol. why on earth would you want to stand around staring at 4 walls in an MMO?
Depends heavily on how it fits in the game... And how it's done
I feel that housing in games should be more than a dollhouse, where you just buy and insert stuff. the house itself should offer something to the game (like in wakfu-the bag is your "shop"). The concentration on benefits, rather than decoration!
But, how should all these things be earned? I wouldn't wan't to farm for them---And adding woodcutting only for house and house items would make it dull, as it would be simply put boring.
I would love to write more about this topic in general, seeing that housing has raised it's complicated head in MMORPG.com's forums. But the truth is, i have no experience from "good" housing, which lowers the value of my opinions quite a lot.
Housing is more secondary thing for me, if it doesn't give you anything more than just decorating.
(Any grammatic errors more than likely to be included)
Would you put character creation and customization on the same level you view player housing? From design standpoint, they are practically the same. They offer the same result and intention, the ability to create something the player calls their own. It is entirely seperate from "combat", which does not require character customization much less unique character creation. I mean its like saying wanting new armor or a different color of gear, or a different hair cut from the other guy is askin to playing dress up.
Look at a mmorpg, find the things that pull you to it, keep you invested in the game. Most of them will be design choices which make you care about your character and what you have earned or can do with what you earned in that game world. The player house is just one piece of that entire concept. It is a set of assets which you create, customize and earn, which can or cannot have a gameplay modifier attached to it thereby even making it worthwhile in other challenge mechanics.
Its is as important or rather as impactful as creating, even with the illusion of choice, a custom character and seeing a change in gear as a sign of progression or the illusion of progression. Half of game design is about smoke and mirrors.
The housing in EQ2 is just a door. Even when you know who's house your looking for, you have to look through all the doors on a street to find the right one and then there are 1000s of people at that address. EQ1 at least you could see the outside of the house and decorate the yard as well as the inside. A well decorated yard is kinda like a welcome mat, inviting people in to see the work you've done.
Well, I dont L-O-V-E it, but I definitely dont want to play without it.
Thats the only way to move items between characters quickly, easily and cheaply.
It's virtual combat too. There is nothing inherently more valid about one activity rendered in the gamespace over another. You're not really fighting bro, it's a video game. Youre playing swords/guns, which is just as much a child's game if you want to go there.
Survivor of the great MMORPG Famine of 2011
LOTRO it's not that old oh and AION.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
your comparison is not valid. i cant consider housing and character customization even remotely connected in an MMO. ..can i wear a house while i run around? uh, no. Can i look cool while i run around and do my thing, yes. that said, i put customization fairly high up,
from what i gather from the posts here are that most people like housing for storage or some other utility...any of which can be done ingame by some other method.
playing house is for 4 year old girls. might as well grab your dolls too while you're at it
I loved non-instanced housing in VG. especially as a crafter. made a boat load of money selling throw pillows,rugs etc...
To sum up your response, your entire basis is founded on "looking cool" which some how invalidates my post, according to you.
So, using logic, you deem to mock a housing mechanic akin to playing with dolls, yet focus on looking cool which is more akin to playing with dolls in all actuality. If your entire focus is wearing game assets to look cool, then you are playing DRESS UP with the intent of looking "pretty", like "a little girl".
Do you see the fallacy in your argument?
The problem is twofold. You are stuck on the words and personal perception of house and character. The second being you argue based on subjective definitions of what is "cool" and what is not.
A character is a game asset, usually 2d or 3d model. It does not need to be customized or "made pretty" to affect or influence the gameplay mechanics regarding combat. A house is what? a game asset, usually a 2d or 3d model. It does not need to be customized or "made pretty" to affect infuence the gameplay mechanics regarding combat.
A game designer adds character customization to create an emotional response from YOU the player. In this case you have the desire to feel "uber cewl" in your dress or whatever 2d or 3d assets the character (2d or 3d asset) wears. It makes you feel like you earned and own it when in fact its insubstancial. What they are doing is manipulating your emotional responses. This is pure behavioral science here and it is not exclusive to game design. A house is the same visual medium in which you the player get that emotional response. The very same used with character customization.
The character represets the sum of your gameplay, the crap you gather, the imagined wealth and social appearance. The house is no different. It represents the sum of your gameplay, the crap you gather, the imagined wealth and social appearance. They serve the same mechanic with the same effect.
It can also be argued that while the character is the medium for tension via combat, the house is the side that delivers release. Most entertaimnet, the theory in which humans are entertained and stories are delivered come in the form of TENSION and RELEASE. Key words to remember. When you watch a good movie, or read a typical heroes journey novel or narrative... you are given tension and release. The best games deliver moments of high tension and then release. Release is often used with town hubs, crafting, chat channels and certain time sinks. It is meant to create a release before giving the player more tension. Our brains react well to this.
So my post is valid, it is just you are not understanding what exactly goes into game design, the choices and manipulation that takes place in which to immerse the player. Its in part, purely scientific. Once you understand the why, and the how, you will get a better picture on why a housing feature and character customization can be bundled together as one and the same in regards to purpose.
I like it, but I often ignore it. Most of the time they just provide some extra storage, but I rarely ever manage to fill up my bank/inventory, and if I do, it's time to put most of it up for sale.
The only games I think I really got interested in my house were DAoC, due to the lack of an AH, and EQ2.
I really like your logical take on things Raben, and in any other thread I would be right here arguing with that guy.
~but then I look at the poll and realise that it's doing more than any argument I could state ever could. Proving that overly-macho types that are anti-housing for the sake of trying to sound cool are the vocal minority.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
I'm far less likely to give a game a chance if there's no housing. There's very little reason to not have them, and they add so much. It boggles my mind that WoW still doesn't have any form of housing.
Blizzard is best at telling people "my way, or the highway" and having them eat it up.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
Waiting On: GW2, TSW, Archeage, The Rapture
+1
It does not have because someone counted that it will not bring profits as big as investing into making more dungeons / LFG tools / arenas or marketting.
Maybe in 5 years when WoW will be much smaller game playerbase wise then will add some kind of instanced housing in order to sell some decorational and other stuff like that in cash shop.
Or maybe it will never get any.
Does not matter to be honest since there is no way to make housing meaningful in WOW and put in into open world.
So it would not matter anyway.
Housing in an MMO means little to me. I would much rather spend my in game down-time in a populous town or something of the sort.
But I do not expect, nor desire really, for every feature in a game to be aimed solely at me. Honestly I don't think I would enjoy a game that tried to cater exclusively to my desires. In a game that did I would likely meet only people with views and interests similar to my own. There goes half of the fun of an MMO to me...diversity in the playerbase.
When all has been said and done, more will have been said than done.