Do any of the current major titles have player housing? Reading the articles regarding player housing lately makes me think that would be an interesting addition to a game.
The problem with housing is that most non-sandbox titles that implement it anymore are leaving it instanced, they all seem to think that it would take too much work to do non-instanced housing. I'll never get why AAA developers have yet to attempt it, as that one feature probably adds more immersion than any other I can think of, and would be very beneficial for for the pocketbooks of any dev that wanted to put forth the effort.
As a former UO player, instanced housing to me is analagous to walking into an empty room in a city hub and RPing that I live there.
Always thought Vanguard was the one that got it right. You buy land in world, have to actually build or have someone build your house, then build or buy furniture for it. SWG also had a decent housing system. Most others have instanced housing. Lotro has instanced neighborhoods but they have a great look and feel to them, and you can buy your own house so you actually have a real place to go hang out, not just a door somewhere that everyone goes through to access their house.
Also don't know why devs shun the housing idea.. with the big push towards cash shops lately they are losing out big time. Think of all the housing decos they could sell in cash shops, and no one would complain because housing items have zero impact on actual gameplay!
Runes of magic has instanced housing. Free to play but you will pay lots of money to stay competitive.
Horizons has hands down the best crafting for housing and public construction such as bridges, clearing out tunnels and other stuff like that. Too bad nothing actually had a function till 2 years after release. Game is a bit dated for some folks but you could play as a dragon and such.
Future hope for non instanced player housing is ArcheAge, will have to see if they can get it right.
Best housing goes to EQ2. LoTRO has housing as well.
Vanguard is not a major title but you will find the Major titles are not as creative as the older titles,don't expect major housing in the current major titles.
Lol..EQ2/LOTRO the best housing system,nah they are instanced and not in the real world for a start although lotro is better than EQ2.
So is everything made by the player in these games from wallpaer to bricks to carpet and everything else....A big fat NO is the answer.
The problem with housing is that most non-sandbox titles that implement it anymore are leaving it instanced, they all seem to think that it would take too much work to do non-instanced housing. I'll never get why AAA developers have yet to attempt it, as that one feature probably adds more immersion than any other I can think of, and would be very beneficial for for the pocketbooks of any dev that wanted to put forth the effort.
As a former UO player, instanced housing to me is analagous to walking into an empty room in a city hub and RPing that I live there.
One reason is you might end up with a problem like in SWG where you can't move in a straight line more than 3 minutes before running into the side of someone's house.
I like the idea of being able to place my house anywhere in the game world especially in sandbox titles, but it doesn't really work that well in non-sandbox games as the zones aren't designed to fascilitate being able to place a house just anywhere. The reason housing worked so well in UO and SWG was because the zones were just blank slates more or less populated with vegitation, mobs, and a few explorable points of interest.
have to agree that none of the major titles has the best housing but the best housing in all major mmo out there would probably be EQ2 because of the amount of customization and guild halls in that game.
Vanguard has probably the best over-all housing, in any game, except maybe original UO. The exception would be, that in Vanguard (daoc, etc) there are housing districts, where as in UO.. you could pretty much lop down a house anywhere.
The functionality of the house is superficial in most of the "themepark" zones mmorpg's. They only really matter in an open world design (VG, MO, DF, ArcheAge, etc..)
EQ2 housing is trivial... (not real)
"No they are not charity. That is where the whales come in. (I play for free. Whales pays.) Devs get a business. That is how it works."
Eq2 housing is definately the best. It has tons of customization with literally thousands of items, and yes everything from floor tiles and carpets to chandeliers and sconces. If you think EQ2 housing is limited, you obviously havent tried it.
Non-instanced housing is actually something to stay away from. I will never play a game without instanced housing again. Not only do the zones themselves have to be created empty by the developers to allow for the space the housing takes up (hence you have a boring world till its filled), but the world itself is limited. You want to build a house 6 months after launch....sorry all the spaces are filled, and the space is finite, youre SOL. Take a break for a couple months and want to return to your house....sorry its been destroyed while you were away, and now someone else owns the land, and there isnt any other land available, youre SOL.
Instanced housing is by far the better choice for developers. The space is infinite, and like EQ2 you can even own multiple housing designs (up to 10 currently). Not only that but there are no less than 20 different floor plan layouts, plus HUGE guild halls that are roughly the size of a small dungeon. If housing and decorating is what you are after, you wont find better than EQ2.
Best housing goes to EQ2. LoTRO has housing as well.
Vanguard is not a major title but you will find the Major titles are not as creative as the older titles,don't expect major housing in the current major titles.
Lol..EQ2/LOTRO the best housing system,nah they are instanced and not in the real world for a start although lotro is better than EQ2.
So is everything made by the player in these games from wallpaer to bricks to carpet and everything else....A big fat NO is the answer.
Lol. When Vanguard was about to come out, it had more hype around it than GW2 does right now.
At the time of it's release, it was the most expensive MMO ever made; with a price tag of $40mil.
How you can consider that not to be a major title, I have no idea. Because if it's not, then WoW isn't a Major Title either. Since Vanguard launched after WoW, meaning it cost less to make.
Eq2 housing is definately the best. It has tons of customization with literally thousands of items, and yes everything from floor tiles and carpets to chandeliers and sconces. If you think EQ2 housing is limited, you obviously havent tried it.
Non-instanced housing is actually something to stay away from. I will never play a game without instanced housing again. Not only do the zones themselves have to be created empty by the developers to allow for the space the housing takes up (hence you have a boring world till its filled), but the world itself is limited. You want to build a house 6 months after launch....sorry all the spaces are filled, and the space is finite, youre SOL. Take a break for a couple months and want to return to your house....sorry its been destroyed while you were away, and now someone else owns the land, and there isnt any other land available, youre SOL.
Instanced housing is by far the better choice for developers. The space is infinite, and like EQ2 you can even own multiple housing designs (up to 10 currently). Not only that but there are no less than 20 different floor plan layouts, plus HUGE guild halls that are roughly the size of a small dungeon. If housing and decorating is what you are after, you wont find better than EQ2.
First off, "to each his own". We all have our own likes and dislikes.
Now, because this is just about the exact opposite of what I like - I feel I must comment.
First, SWG has the best housing of any game I've ever played, because it is non-instanced. I love plopping buildings down all over the place, then decorating to my heart's content.
I've never had a problem finding a spot for housing. I've never found any of the planets to be boring or uninspired, nor do they seem empty or abandoned.
I know some people also complain about getting stuck on houses - if those people are using an auto-run feature, too bad for them. Stay at the computer and move manually. (I've always found macros, and any sort of automation, to be detrimental to any game. Throw that stuff out the window.)
As far as instanced housing goes, I can't stand it. After trying LOTRO and EQ2 housing, I stay away from it entirely. I don't see any point in having the house if the entire playerbase can't see it inside and out at anytime (And interact with it). I understand it's easier to implement for developers, and probably a tad easier on servers, but I dont care. And neither should the rest of us. We're gamers, and we want what's fun, not what's cost-effective or easy/viable to implement. If it's expensive, find the cash. If it's impractical, make it practical. If it doesn't exist, invent it. The point is, get it done.
EQ2 for sure has the best instance housing I've come across. It has a huge variety of homes and even goes into prestige housing if you really want to get crazy. The guild halls are amazingly customizable and most importantly useful. In EQ2 there is so many housing items that are actually useful for your character and guild, it's much more than a house for appearances sake.
I've played Vanguard quite a bit, and think it's amazing. However, while building your own house is neat, there is just not near as much customization or usefulness to your house as UO/SWG/EQ2 offer, imo. This is likely due to lack of dev attention however.
Can't comment on LOTRO housing as I never got into it. I'll eventually give the game a try again, maybe.
I love LOTRO, but no, not really good housing. It's an after thought, and it's (been) continually treated that way. EQ did housing MUCH better. The LOTRO devs occasionally have 'discussions; on improvements - and the same things come out - mainly the ability to decorate your house as you wish (simple drag and drop). Nothing has changed since release though. You still have limited and specific drop points (You can't put a large dresser on a small picture point)
It could be SO much better, but I guess they don't figure it's a revenue generator - so it's always on the backseat!
Eq2 housing is definately the best. It has tons of customization with literally thousands of items, and yes everything from floor tiles and carpets to chandeliers and sconces. If you think EQ2 housing is limited, you obviously havent tried it.
Non-instanced housing is actually something to stay away from. I will never play a game without instanced housing again. Not only do the zones themselves have to be created empty by the developers to allow for the space the housing takes up (hence you have a boring world till its filled), but the world itself is limited. You want to build a house 6 months after launch....sorry all the spaces are filled, and the space is finite, youre SOL. Take a break for a couple months and want to return to your house....sorry its been destroyed while you were away, and now someone else owns the land, and there isnt any other land available, youre SOL.
Instanced housing is by far the better choice for developers. The space is infinite, and like EQ2 you can even own multiple housing designs (up to 10 currently). Not only that but there are no less than 20 different floor plan layouts, plus HUGE guild halls that are roughly the size of a small dungeon. If housing and decorating is what you are after, you wont find better than EQ2.
Going to go ahead and disagree w/ you 100%. Non-instanced housing removes the main point of housing, which is the immersion involved in owning/living in an actual piece of the game-world.
Non-stanced housing works fine as long as you are smart w/ it. Putting zero restrictions on it (ie UO, SWG) is where is can get you in trouble.
Instanced housing is almost a complete waste of time.
I love LOTRO, but no, not really good housing. It's an after thought, and it's (been) continually treated that way. EQ did housing MUCH better. The LOTRO devs occasionally have 'discussions; on improvements - and the same things come out - mainly the ability to decorate your house as you wish (simple drag and drop). Nothing has changed since release though. You still have limited and specific drop points (You can't put a large dresser on a small picture point)
It could be SO much better, but I guess they don't figure it's a revenue generator - so it's always on the backseat!
It should be a solid revenue option under F2P. I'm surprised they haven't picked up development on it again.
I love LOTRO, but no, not really good housing. It's an after thought, and it's (been) continually treated that way. EQ did housing MUCH better. The LOTRO devs occasionally have 'discussions; on improvements - and the same things come out - mainly the ability to decorate your house as you wish (simple drag and drop). Nothing has changed since release though. You still have limited and specific drop points (You can't put a large dresser on a small picture point)
It could be SO much better, but I guess they don't figure it's a revenue generator - so it's always on the backseat!
It should be a solid revenue option under F2P. I'm surprised they haven't picked up development on it again.
It SHOULD be, however most of the best stuff for housing is currently either player created, or Festival rewards. I also think they could score big by putting 'fancy' housing stuff in the store - but then I'm not a dev !
EQ2 for sure has the best instance housing I've come across. It has a huge variety of homes and even goes into prestige housing if you really want to get crazy. The guild halls are amazingly customizable and most importantly useful. In EQ2 there is so many housing items that are actually useful for your character and guild, it's much more than a house for appearances sake.
I've played Vanguard quite a bit, and think it's amazing. However, while building your own house is neat, there is just not near as much customization or usefulness to your house as UO/SWG/EQ2 offer, imo. This is likely due to lack of dev attention however.
Can't comment on LOTRO housing as I never got into it. I'll eventually give the game a try again, maybe.
I beg to differ. Vanguard has as much house customization as UO. Of course, the model choices are limited but once you have your house, you literally can decorate it any way you want. Every crafting class makes housing items. Carpenters make furniture, blacksmiths make lights, plates and flatware, tailors make cushions. These are just a few of the things that can be made for a house. and, for example, you can make awesome looking sofas by placing tailor made cushions on carpenter made benches, because all items can be turned and placed in all directions. Carpets can be turned around to function as tapestries. The choices are really almost limitless and the housing system is very player creativity friendly. Storage is also very generous.
I agree that EQ2 also has an excellent housing system because like vanguard, the player has a lot of freedom in placing furniture and house decorating, like vanguard, is very well supported by player crafting.
LoTRO housing, on the other hand, sucks big time. The choice of furniture is very limited and placement options almost non existant. You have to place your funiture only where they let you so you wind up with a nice dining table but can't place chairs around it, or anything on it. Although crafters can make home decorating items, the crafting menu is extremely limited. It definetly does not come close to the crafting choices available in EQ2 or Vanguard. Storage is also limited.
I believe that player housing systems such as those in UO, EQ2 and Vanguard lend themselves to player immersion and a sense of ownership. Whether a player crafts his/her own stuff or buys it at auction, there are so many choices that when the player finishes decorating, they want to use their house and hang out in it. Once you walk thru the door you know that nobody has a house exactly like yours They can't because its your design and your creativity that made it the way it is.
Been playing MMO(RPG)s since before UO. MUD days... overall I have to give Everquest II my vote. It is missing the 'access controls" aspect though. Overall though its very free in what you can do. ie: use carpets as floors (split entry house that was single level) and shelves as stairs. Pretty cool. As a side note, while basic, it also has player made dungeons. Something similar to its incarnation I have not seen in any game to date.
LoTRO has player housing, but whether or not it's GOOD is truly subjective. I hate it because you can only decorate with very few items and they have to be placed where you're told, not where you WANT. Like little hooks on the walls.....they're that restrictive. But then again, I'm a fan of EQ2's housing where you can decorate with great abandon and build all kinds of things in your home....some really unique stuff if you're good with the editor. Much more freedom in EQ2 although yes, it is instanced still.
My favorite was SWG, where it was noninstanced. I built it, placed it in our city next to my buddies house and across from the shuttle port and cantina: perfect spot for watching the comings and goings of traffic through town. I also built most of my furniture, and spent a lot of time decorating it. I loved it.
SWG was basically perfect for housing. You didn't have to be end game to experience it. You could get a little place, build it, decorate it, and the upkeep was not too bad. Later as you progressed through the game and got a little more coin, you could upgrade and get a bigger place.
I do not like instanced housing, or housing that is end game only to experience, very expensive or in other ways punishing to the player. It should be something there to enjoy, to stimulate creativity, not become a justification for turning the game into a second job. Many games that have player housing make it punishing in some way. If I want punishment, it will be from a six foot blond in 6 inch stilettos and a whip, not some silly game.
My favorite was SWG, where it was noninstanced. I built it, placed it in our city next to my buddies house and across from the shuttle port and cantina: perfect spot for watching the comings and goings of traffic through town. I also built most of my furniture, and spent a lot of time decorating it. I loved it.
SWG was basically perfect for housing. You didn't have to be end game to experience it. You could get a little place, build it, decorate it, and the upkeep was not too bad. Later as you progressed through the game and got a little more coin, you could upgrade and get a bigger place.
I do not like instanced housing, or housing that is end game only to experience, very expensive or in other ways punishing to the player. It should be something there to enjoy, to stimulate creativity, not become a justification for turning the game into a second job. Many games that have player housing make it punishing in some way. If I want punishment, it will be from a six foot blond in 6 inch stilettos and a whip, not some silly game.
As great as housing is in Vanguard and EQ2, these games seem to be empty right now with no player run economies to speak of. I am also sick of Lotro after playing it continuously since 08. Is SWG worth playing at this point in time? I'm looking for a game with great housing and SWG seems to fit the bill. However, since its a few years old, I wonder if I will be walking into another empty server.
Comments
Best housing goes to EQ2. LoTRO has housing as well.
The problem with housing is that most non-sandbox titles that implement it anymore are leaving it instanced, they all seem to think that it would take too much work to do non-instanced housing. I'll never get why AAA developers have yet to attempt it, as that one feature probably adds more immersion than any other I can think of, and would be very beneficial for for the pocketbooks of any dev that wanted to put forth the effort.
As a former UO player, instanced housing to me is analagous to walking into an empty room in a city hub and RPing that I live there.
Dark age of camelot has some pretty awesome housing, but I guess it isn't a major title anymore, though I wish it was.
Never tried Everquest 2 beyond level 28 at release, so I duno about that!
I am entitled to my opinions, misspellings, and grammatical errors.
Star Wars Galaxies has it.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Metallica8589/videos?view=0
Always thought Vanguard was the one that got it right. You buy land in world, have to actually build or have someone build your house, then build or buy furniture for it. SWG also had a decent housing system. Most others have instanced housing. Lotro has instanced neighborhoods but they have a great look and feel to them, and you can buy your own house so you actually have a real place to go hang out, not just a door somewhere that everyone goes through to access their house.
Also don't know why devs shun the housing idea.. with the big push towards cash shops lately they are losing out big time. Think of all the housing decos they could sell in cash shops, and no one would complain because housing items have zero impact on actual gameplay!
LOTRO has good player housing.
Runes of magic has instanced housing. Free to play but you will pay lots of money to stay competitive.
Horizons has hands down the best crafting for housing and public construction such as bridges, clearing out tunnels and other stuff like that. Too bad nothing actually had a function till 2 years after release. Game is a bit dated for some folks but you could play as a dragon and such.
Future hope for non instanced player housing is ArcheAge, will have to see if they can get it right.
Vanguard is not a major title but you will find the Major titles are not as creative as the older titles,don't expect major housing in the current major titles.
Lol..EQ2/LOTRO the best housing system,nah they are instanced and not in the real world for a start although lotro is better than EQ2.
So is everything made by the player in these games from wallpaer to bricks to carpet and everything else....A big fat NO is the answer.
Best housing IMO is SWG and Vanguard by a mile.
Vanguard housing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5lXH4PIxww
Game set & match i would say...
http://realhistoryww.com/world_history/ancient/Misc/Jesus/Jesus.htm
One reason is you might end up with a problem like in SWG where you can't move in a straight line more than 3 minutes before running into the side of someone's house.
I like the idea of being able to place my house anywhere in the game world especially in sandbox titles, but it doesn't really work that well in non-sandbox games as the zones aren't designed to fascilitate being able to place a house just anywhere. The reason housing worked so well in UO and SWG was because the zones were just blank slates more or less populated with vegitation, mobs, and a few explorable points of interest.
have to agree that none of the major titles has the best housing but the best housing in all major mmo out there would probably be EQ2 because of the amount of customization and guild halls in that game.
Vanguard has probably the best over-all housing, in any game, except maybe original UO. The exception would be, that in Vanguard (daoc, etc) there are housing districts, where as in UO.. you could pretty much lop down a house anywhere.
The functionality of the house is superficial in most of the "themepark" zones mmorpg's. They only really matter in an open world design (VG, MO, DF, ArcheAge, etc..)
EQ2 housing is trivial... (not real)
"No they are not charity. That is where the whales come in. (I play for free. Whales pays.) Devs get a business. That is how it works."
-Nariusseldon
Eq2 housing is definately the best. It has tons of customization with literally thousands of items, and yes everything from floor tiles and carpets to chandeliers and sconces. If you think EQ2 housing is limited, you obviously havent tried it.
Non-instanced housing is actually something to stay away from. I will never play a game without instanced housing again. Not only do the zones themselves have to be created empty by the developers to allow for the space the housing takes up (hence you have a boring world till its filled), but the world itself is limited. You want to build a house 6 months after launch....sorry all the spaces are filled, and the space is finite, youre SOL. Take a break for a couple months and want to return to your house....sorry its been destroyed while you were away, and now someone else owns the land, and there isnt any other land available, youre SOL.
Instanced housing is by far the better choice for developers. The space is infinite, and like EQ2 you can even own multiple housing designs (up to 10 currently). Not only that but there are no less than 20 different floor plan layouts, plus HUGE guild halls that are roughly the size of a small dungeon. If housing and decorating is what you are after, you wont find better than EQ2.
Houseing in all them games basicly suck and i noticed noone mentioned secondlife,
that game has the best houseing ever and you can design and build your own house anyway you like.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/3845509852.png
Lol. When Vanguard was about to come out, it had more hype around it than GW2 does right now.
At the time of it's release, it was the most expensive MMO ever made; with a price tag of $40mil.
How you can consider that not to be a major title, I have no idea. Because if it's not, then WoW isn't a Major Title either. Since Vanguard launched after WoW, meaning it cost less to make.
Failure though.... yeah... it was a flop.
Got a Game Idea? Look Here!
First off, "to each his own". We all have our own likes and dislikes.
Now, because this is just about the exact opposite of what I like - I feel I must comment.
First, SWG has the best housing of any game I've ever played, because it is non-instanced. I love plopping buildings down all over the place, then decorating to my heart's content.
I've never had a problem finding a spot for housing. I've never found any of the planets to be boring or uninspired, nor do they seem empty or abandoned.
I know some people also complain about getting stuck on houses - if those people are using an auto-run feature, too bad for them. Stay at the computer and move manually. (I've always found macros, and any sort of automation, to be detrimental to any game. Throw that stuff out the window.)
As far as instanced housing goes, I can't stand it. After trying LOTRO and EQ2 housing, I stay away from it entirely. I don't see any point in having the house if the entire playerbase can't see it inside and out at anytime (And interact with it). I understand it's easier to implement for developers, and probably a tad easier on servers, but I dont care. And neither should the rest of us. We're gamers, and we want what's fun, not what's cost-effective or easy/viable to implement. If it's expensive, find the cash. If it's impractical, make it practical. If it doesn't exist, invent it. The point is, get it done.
I have to give Ultima online first place.
After that I have to say EQ2.
EQ2 for sure has the best instance housing I've come across. It has a huge variety of homes and even goes into prestige housing if you really want to get crazy. The guild halls are amazingly customizable and most importantly useful. In EQ2 there is so many housing items that are actually useful for your character and guild, it's much more than a house for appearances sake.
I've played Vanguard quite a bit, and think it's amazing. However, while building your own house is neat, there is just not near as much customization or usefulness to your house as UO/SWG/EQ2 offer, imo. This is likely due to lack of dev attention however.
Can't comment on LOTRO housing as I never got into it. I'll eventually give the game a try again, maybe.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
I love LOTRO, but no, not really good housing. It's an after thought, and it's (been) continually treated that way. EQ did housing MUCH better. The LOTRO devs occasionally have 'discussions; on improvements - and the same things come out - mainly the ability to decorate your house as you wish (simple drag and drop). Nothing has changed since release though. You still have limited and specific drop points (You can't put a large dresser on a small picture point)
It could be SO much better, but I guess they don't figure it's a revenue generator - so it's always on the backseat!
Going to go ahead and disagree w/ you 100%. Non-instanced housing removes the main point of housing, which is the immersion involved in owning/living in an actual piece of the game-world.
Non-stanced housing works fine as long as you are smart w/ it. Putting zero restrictions on it (ie UO, SWG) is where is can get you in trouble.
Instanced housing is almost a complete waste of time.
It should be a solid revenue option under F2P. I'm surprised they haven't picked up development on it again.
It SHOULD be, however most of the best stuff for housing is currently either player created, or Festival rewards. I also think they could score big by putting 'fancy' housing stuff in the store - but then I'm not a dev
!
I beg to differ. Vanguard has as much house customization as UO. Of course, the model choices are limited but once you have your house, you literally can decorate it any way you want. Every crafting class makes housing items. Carpenters make furniture, blacksmiths make lights, plates and flatware, tailors make cushions. These are just a few of the things that can be made for a house. and, for example, you can make awesome looking sofas by placing tailor made cushions on carpenter made benches, because all items can be turned and placed in all directions. Carpets can be turned around to function as tapestries. The choices are really almost limitless and the housing system is very player creativity friendly. Storage is also very generous.
I agree that EQ2 also has an excellent housing system because like vanguard, the player has a lot of freedom in placing furniture and house decorating, like vanguard, is very well supported by player crafting.
LoTRO housing, on the other hand, sucks big time. The choice of furniture is very limited and placement options almost non existant. You have to place your funiture only where they let you so you wind up with a nice dining table but can't place chairs around it, or anything on it. Although crafters can make home decorating items, the crafting menu is extremely limited. It definetly does not come close to the crafting choices available in EQ2 or Vanguard. Storage is also limited.
I believe that player housing systems such as those in UO, EQ2 and Vanguard lend themselves to player immersion and a sense of ownership. Whether a player crafts his/her own stuff or buys it at auction, there are so many choices that when the player finishes decorating, they want to use their house and hang out in it. Once you walk thru the door you know that nobody has a house exactly like yours
They can't because its your design and your creativity that made it the way it is.
Been playing MMO(RPG)s since before UO. MUD days... overall I have to give Everquest II my vote. It is missing the 'access controls" aspect though. Overall though its very free in what you can do. ie: use carpets as floors (split entry house that was single level) and shelves as stairs. Pretty cool. As a side note, while basic, it also has player made dungeons. Something similar to its incarnation I have not seen in any game to date.
LoTRO has player housing, but whether or not it's GOOD is truly subjective. I hate it because you can only decorate with very few items and they have to be placed where you're told, not where you WANT. Like little hooks on the walls.....they're that restrictive. But then again, I'm a fan of EQ2's housing where you can decorate with great abandon and build all kinds of things in your home....some really unique stuff if you're good with the editor. Much more freedom in EQ2 although yes, it is instanced still.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
My favorite was SWG, where it was noninstanced. I built it, placed it in our city next to my buddies house and across from the shuttle port and cantina: perfect spot for watching the comings and goings of traffic through town. I also built most of my furniture, and spent a lot of time decorating it. I loved it.
SWG was basically perfect for housing. You didn't have to be end game to experience it. You could get a little place, build it, decorate it, and the upkeep was not too bad. Later as you progressed through the game and got a little more coin, you could upgrade and get a bigger place.
I do not like instanced housing, or housing that is end game only to experience, very expensive or in other ways punishing to the player. It should be something there to enjoy, to stimulate creativity, not become a justification for turning the game into a second job. Many games that have player housing make it punishing in some way. If I want punishment, it will be from a six foot blond in 6 inch stilettos and a whip, not some silly game.
As great as housing is in Vanguard and EQ2, these games seem to be empty right now with no player run economies to speak of. I am also sick of Lotro after playing it continuously since 08. Is SWG worth playing at this point in time? I'm looking for a game with great housing and SWG seems to fit the bill. However, since its a few years old, I wonder if I will be walking into another empty server.