Housing Coming in Q1 2017 - Elder Scrolls Online News

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Housing Coming in Q1 2017 - Elder Scrolls Online News

IGN scored an awesome interview with Elder Scrolls Online game director Matt Firor in which he confirmed new dungeons, housing, character customization and much more.

Read the full story here

PurplePoloPlayer

It's tough to get excited about features that should have been in the game since release. This has pretty much been ESO's problem since the beginning.

Deltois

Let me sell out of them like EQ2, please.

Leiloni

PurplePoloPlayer said:

It's tough to get excited about features that should have been in the game since release. This has pretty much been ESO's problem since the beginning.

I think you're expecting too much out of MMO's. I'm happy with the content they've released thus far and think they're doing far better than other games in that aspect.

I mean what do you want them to do? Release new dungeons/raids and associated new PvE and PvP gear tiers we need to grind out every 3 months? That would make me quit the game.

giberelina

Too late, I was expecting it this year.

xyzercrime

TimothyEisenzimmer said:

Needs to be burnable!

Eh, why? So we can pour salt all over it?

Lheiah

Wish they would have given their thoughts on how they plan on implementing housing. I much prefer non-instanced housing over instanced housing, but I haven't seen a game yet that non-instanced housing isn't fraked up in one form or another.

gervaise1

PurplePoloPlayer said:

It's tough to get excited about features that should have been in the game since release. This has pretty much been ESO's problem since the beginning.

Wny should Housing have been in the game from day 1? Housing wasn't in many games at launch. Housing still isn't in WoW.

You might have wanted it in on day 1 - different thing all together.

SpottyGekko

I enjoyed the housing DLC and subsequent mods in Skyrim, so this will be a fine addition to ESO.

That said, it will obviously be instanced housing, there's no other way to do it on a megaserver, so it might not be as impactful as building your house anywhere in the Skyrim world...

gervaise1

Lheiah said:

Wish they would have given their thoughts on how they plan on implementing housing. I much prefer non-instanced housing over instanced housing, but I haven't seen a game yet that non-instanced housing isn't fraked up in one form or another.

(I think) They will do what they do now. Which is to say it won't be "instanced" but it will be "phased".

Imagine that a bank - any bank - is your house. How often do you go into a bank at the same time as someone else? And banks are busy places usually. With people inside coming and going. Now imagine a House you go into on a quest chain - a less busy place.

It cannot be "non-instanced".

If it was non-instanced you will be looking at a sea of (mostly empty) houses. 7M sales across 6 megaservers that is a potential 1M+. Allow for future sales 2M+. And that assumes Housing is per player. If its per character that would be 20M+. And however and wherever they put the Houses it would suck. Ghost Town(s) everywhere. Remember non-instanced so they will be there for you to see. As I say in cannot be "non-instanced" but it doesn't have to be the approach, I suspect, you dislike. It can - and I am sure will - be phased.

So what I think will be coming will be a DLC with a new set of quest arcs. And when you complete a quest arc you will be given the option of buying one of a number of houses in the city. Very Elder Scrolls like.

alakram

Barbershop in August sounds good to me, housing in 2017 is way too long but is cool they add it, better late than never.

cheyane

I hope they have really fun, free placing and varied customization like EQ 2 and Vanguard. I would come back and play if they do. 

Agnhar

I was expecting it this year, extremely disappointing.

Volgore

I don't even play the game, but still i like this alot.



Sometimes i find it strange how i have changed over the aeons.

Darkcrystal

PurplePoloPlayer said:

It's tough to get excited about features that should have been in the game since release. This has pretty much been ESO's problem since the beginning.

Give me a break coming from someone who has never made a game, things like this take time, and  money.  We can't have everything at a release of a game....

SavageHorizon

Lheiah said:

Wish they would have given their thoughts on how they plan on implementing housing. I much prefer non-instanced housing over instanced housing, but I haven't seen a game yet that non-instanced housing isn't fraked up in one form or another.

You never played Vanguard then or Wurm Online.

Distopia

Personal housing is one of those things that to me unless you're a crafter and want to run a business from inside the house, there really wasn't much use to it outside of storage (even in SWG). ALl of the other structures (guild halls, medical, cloners, shuttles, bases etc..) were a different story. I had no issue with those things.

 Housing in general has never been a feature I cared much for, especially non instanced housing. As for the most part it just became an eye sore.

Incomparable

PurplePoloPlayer said:

It's tough to get excited about features that should have been in the game since release. This has pretty much been ESO's problem since the beginning.

Exactly, which is why I keep on trying to emphasis the most important things in an mmo are the foundation which they build upon, such as NPCs (A.I.), enivronments, combat, open world pvp, sieging, housing, mini games etc raids (npcs

These things are the 'repeatable' content that adds to the game, but when they focus on 'story' and do not have a complex system for end game with seiging, player housing etc, then they have limited 'mmo' experience.

They take from the formula of WoW, which is successful due to having a lot of content, and some of the 'mmo' feautures to make it great but compensated by the vast amounts of 'questing' which creates a certain illusion of what players want. THey want easy content to feel good about completing, and just enough end game.

If thats the demands of the masses, then ofc the development for large projects is going to be wasted on easy content that is really nothing but scenery and a lost opportunity for actual in game mechanics.

Now that they have housing, lets say they have an achievement system or 'trophies' a lot of people will have to redo those achievements or trophies. And even if its retro active, and is recognized, it takes away from the thrill that could have added to players experiences from exploring a harsh world getting trophies and decorating their house, rather than going through a long tedious 'grind'.

WoW clones fail becuase they waste their development on a long journey rather that 'mmo' content. And ESO has the benefit of being a huge development project. Imagine if they had free reign on making their game more of an mmo with very little story. I think in order to do that they need to have a dynamic world, with npcs having their own politics and histories and npcs aligments.

Sovrath

PurplePoloPlayer said:

It's tough to get excited about features that should have been in the game since release. This has pretty much been ESO's problem since the beginning.

hmmm, "maybe".

Not every mmo launches with housing.

Lord of the Rings Online didn't
Star Wars the Old Republic Didn't
Final Fantasy 14 didn't
Aion didn't

Of course then a whole bunch did. It probably comes down to what the developers needed to concentrate on to get the game out the door.

MMO's evolve and change. As long as eventually they aim to have varied and robust features I don't see the issue.

CthulhuPuffs

PurplePoloPlayer said:

It's tough to get excited about features that should have been in the game since release. This has pretty much been ESO's problem since the beginning.

Especially when Matt Firor stated back at the beginning  "Housing is too hard to implement the way players want, So we will not add it to Elder Scrolls Online"

He was also adamant that they would never open up the game-world (remove zones) or allow for Level Scaling.


I dont believe anything Firor says. He was more interested in remaking DAoC than an Elder Scrolls game.

Thats why Ill never play this game.

gervaise1

alakram said:

Barbershop in August sounds good to me, housing in 2017 is way too long but is cool they add it, better late than never.

The 2017 bit is why I believe it will be released with story arcs. And that way it can form part of a paid DLC. And yes they could make it a baseline patch but housing isn't fundamental to game play.

Which is why - as Sovrath said above - a lot, indeed most, mmos didn't include it on day 1. And some still don't.

The unanswered questions for me are:

What is aby will be any benefits to owning a house? For players storage - for collectibles maybe; for Zenimax the prospect of adding a portal and crafting stations maybe - after buying from the cash shop etc.

Will they try and introduce a Hearthfire type experience. Not sure that will be feasible though (not because it couldn't be done but its the 1M or whatever people per megaserver all trying to build on the same plot problem that would have to be overcome!)

Sovrath

CthulhuPuffs said:

PurplePoloPlayer said:

It's tough to get excited about features that should have been in the game since release. This has pretty much been ESO's problem since the beginning.

Especially when Matt Firor stated back at the beginning  "Housing is too hard to implement the way players want, So we will not add it to Elder Scrolls Online"

He was also adamant that they would never open up the game-world (remove zones) or allow for Level Scaling.


I dont believe anything Firor says. He was more interested in remaking DAoC than an Elder Scrolls game.

Thats why Ill never play this game.

That's possible. 

I met him at one of the PAX events and I can't say I got a good impression of him. When speaking to him I got the impression he wanted to be anywhere but "there". Especially when I was speaking about the Elder Scrolls games.

baphamet

i personally don't think ESO should have housing. as others have pointed out, it's not possible to have static housing on ESO's megaserver, it is going to be instanced.

you simply cannot have static housing in a non static game world that is shared by millions. some people may like the instanced housing but me personally, i am not a fan in general.

SEANMCAD

baphamet said:

i personally don't think ESO should have housing. as others have pointed out, it's not possible to have static housing on ESO's megaserver, it is going to be instanced.

you simply cannot have static housing in a non static game world that is shared by millions. some people may like the instanced housing but me personally, i am not a fan in general.

not that I am an ESO fan but I am a housing fan and I got to tell you guys this 'no instanced or death' is silly.

its not a deal breakers either  way

SlyLoK

I am fine with housing if it is done in a way that doesnt clutter the landscape.

Vorthanion

I prefer non-instance housing as it adds realism and more detail to the game world.  Games like Star Wars Galaxies and Vanguard were examples of the kind of housing I would like to see implemented, only with more functionality and ties into the playable content, similar to Wildstar.  These game worlds for the most part have always seemed small and lacking in living space, making them large enough to implement neighborhoods and player cities is a wonderful feature, especially if they tie into the content of the game.