WoW Mocks FF14's Housing in New Plans

Blizzard Entertainment has finally revealed the much-anticipated player housing feature for World of Warcraft in their upcoming expansion, World of Warcraft: Midnight. In a recent developer blog and preview, the WoW team shared early insights into this new addition, while playfully taking a swipe at Final Fantasy XIV's housing system.

The introduction of player housing in World of Warcraft is designed to be accessible to all players. Blizzard emphasized their goal of "A Home for Everyone" in the development blog, stating, "As a part of our focus on wide adoption, we wanted to ensure that Housing is available to everyone. If you want a house, you can have a house." They promise no excessive costs, lotteries, or high maintenance fees, and reassuringly, your home won't be repossessed if your subscription lapses.

Player housing is a feature where players can purchase and customize their own homes within the game, allowing for personal touches and visits from other players. This feature has been a beloved aspect of Final Fantasy XIV, leading to creative endeavors such as theater productions, nightclubs, cafes, and museums. However, Final Fantasy XIV's housing system has faced criticism for its limited availability, high costs, lottery system, and the risk of demolition due to inactivity.

World of Warcraft aims to address these concerns by making housing more inclusive and user-friendly. Housing will be shared across the Warband, allowing characters to access homes purchased by other members, even across faction lines. For instance, if a Troll character in your Warband buys a house in a Horde zone, your Human character can still use it.

The housing zones in World of Warcraft will be divided into two areas, with "Neighborhoods" containing approximately 50 plots each. These zones are instanced, offering both Public and Private options. Public zones are dynamically maintained by the game servers and created as needed, suggesting no hard limit on the number of Neighborhoods.

Blizzard is committed to making player housing a long-term feature in World of Warcraft. Their stated goals include "boundless self-expression" and fostering a "deeply social" environment. They plan to support housing with a roadmap and updates extending into future patches and expansions, indicating a sustained investment in this feature. While playfully acknowledging the challenges faced by Final Fantasy XIV, Blizzard seems keen to learn from those experiences and offer a more welcoming housing system.

As we await further details leading up to the summer unveiling of World of Warcraft: Midnight, the promise of inclusive and engaging player housing adds an exciting new dimension to the beloved MMO.