According to a prolificWorld of Warcraftstreamer, player housing is impossible with the current systems the game relies on.World of Warcraftwould have to make changes to the fundamentals of the game engine if it wanted to make something truly satisfying.
World of Warcraftcontent creator Preach Gaming recently returned to the game after over a year hiatus from covering the MMO. To mark the occasion, he visited the Blizzard campus andinterviewed several leadWorld of Warcraftdevelopersbefore sharing his findings on his Twitch. A full video tour will be forthcoming sometime in the future.
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While chatting with his followers about what he learned during his interviews, some of Preach’s fans asked if he inquired about player housing, to which he responded he already had the answer. “Housing’s not coming any time soon,” he said, “it needs an engine rework to be the housing you want it to be.” He went on to explainWorld of Warcraft’scurrent engine could never allow the game to provide ahousing experience comparable toFinal Fantasy 14’s. If it were to implement one, it would probably look more like Garrisons and would lack the customization options players would want.
It is technically possibleWorld of Warcraftcould surprise Preach and its fanbase by coming up with a way to feature player housing in the future.World of Warcraftrecognizes its players would love player housing, so it wants to try and come up with something. It has not taken player housing off of the table, but the outlook does not currently seem promising.
Players were disappointed to hear Preach’s hard truth about player housing. Despite theproblems withFinal Fantasy 14’shousing system, its advent was one of its most popular additions to the critically-acclaimed MMORPG. Many fans want nothing more than the freedom to decorate a personal house inWorld of Warcraftthe same way as inFinal Fantasy 14.
Unfortunately, Preach is right–nothingWorld of Warcraftcan do with its current engine would give it the breadth of customization players would want. At the end of the day,World of Warcraftplayers would be disappointed if Blizzard added a half-baked housing system.World of Warcraftknows it would be better off never releasing player housing rather than coming up with something that wouldn’t be perfect for players. With luck,WoWwill be able to come up with an alternative in the future–or, should it ever release aWorld of Warcraftsequel, it can build player housing into the framework of the game.
