Steve Troughton-Smith
World of Warcraft finally has player housing, and what amounts to an incredibly-powerful in-game interior and exterior map editing tool. It actually feels emotional to be putting down a permanent home in a beautiful zone with such uplifting music. For some players, designing and decorating their homes will become the entire game
Dec 3 at 5:43pmIvory for Mac
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithDec 3
A little bit of exterior decoration later, and this feels like a very cosy plot!
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithDec 3
I can't wait for the timelapses of neighborhoods filling up, watching little gardens and outdoor scenes being built by other players. WoW is Minecraft now
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithDec 3
WoW's housing system, from a player retention standpoint, feels like a masterstroke. The key: house decor items are consumables, not unlockables. And they come from all kinds of sources, for all kinds of currencies, in every expansion. That means if you want a bunch of a super rare piece of furniture in your house, you're going to need to play that legacy content to get enough of it. It funnels players out into the world, re-populates empty instances, etc
Show threadSean HeberDec 3
@stroughtonsmith so do you see houses popping up all over the landscape now? Because that'd be kinda awesome. Or I assume they are restricted to certain areas? Or how does that part work? What if you want to build where someone else built, etc?
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithDec 3
@bigzaphod there's a new zone, per faction, where all the player houses live. It's got a lot of variation, different biomes, little villages, forests, shores, farms, etc, and you pick your preferred spot. You can decorate your plot of land, and see others'. There's a system for transferring your house to another plot, and to another instance of the neighborhood, if your preferred spot is taken
Show threadSean HeberDec 3
@stroughtonsmith would have been kind of amazing if you could just sort of... build one almost anywhere. Some desolate corner, etc. But I can see that being an issue and hard (maybe almost impossible) to deal with. I wonder what happens if you let your subscription lapse or something? Gonna end up with ghost towns? Can you go into other houses and see their stuff?
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithDec 3
@bigzaphod there's a permission structure, you can allow/disallow friends, guildies, everybody, etc, on either of inside or outside. I think they tried to capture that feeling by having so many varied biomes. I believe their solution to ghost towns is letting you transfer to new neighborhoods; they're not tied to your subscription, as I imagine most players lapse from time to time
Show threadSean HeberDec 3
@stroughtonsmith do the neighborhoods have a reason to visit them outside of your house? Like.. I dunno, shops and quest givers and stuff? Kinda imagining how awesome it'd be if you could kinda become a quest giver somehow.. or a profession trainer.. or auction house.. lol. Give people a reason to hang out in your hood.
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithDec 3
@bigzaphod yeah I believe that's a big part of what they're planning. For now, I've seen decor vendors and treasure hunts. But they put in facilities for roleplayers too, like a stage and auditorium — no 'gameplay' associated with them, but that's up to players. And guilds can have their own private neighborhood
Show threadKyle HughesDec 3
@stroughtonsmith Corvettes got me back into No Man's Sky after almost a decade and now it's my favorite game. I'm feeling the same pull here… do you think the same phenomenon might happen again?
Show threadChris Wu 🪐Dec 3
@kyle @stroughtonsmith Steve helped tempt me into trying Arc Raiders. Kyle we need your help fighting the arc.
Show threadKyle HughesDec 3
@MuseumShuffle @stroughtonsmith I want to play ARC Raiders so bad! It looks like my ideal shooter. But I am so busy with work 😭 I barely have time to get through the No Man's Sky redux expeditions. Why did everything get so good all of a sudden?
Show threadChris Wu 🪐Dec 3
@kyle @stroughtonsmith Kyle I simply must reject your excuse. You can play for 15 minutes and have fun and accomplish much.
Show threadTyler HillsmanDec 3
@MuseumShuffle @kyle @stroughtonsmith Hey, not playing video games is my thing. Get your own material.
Show threadKyle HughesDec 3
@MuseumShuffle I will do my best 🫡 I'll be on Steam. Does it support cross-play?
Show threadAlex SikoraDec 3
@kyle @MuseumShuffle it does!
Show threadKyle HughesDec 4
@axxl @MuseumShuffle ok I downloaded it 😠
Show threadChris Wu 🪐Dec 4
@kyle @axxl I was going to upload an epic gameplay clip later to convince you.
Show threadAlex SikoraDec 4
@MuseumShuffle @kyle it's a pretty great game! Tight gameplay loop, good tension, and surprisingly pleasant player interactions
Show threadKyle HughesDec 4
@axxl @MuseumShuffle mercy, mercy, I already bought it!
Show threadThomas AlvarezDec 3
@stroughtonsmith Dude the music as I was decorating the outside my Horde hovel on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean and mountains!
Show threadBen Gillam Dec 3
@stroughtonsmith Nice takes me back a bit, I used to play Asheron’s Call when I was in my late teens and grinding to get the requirements for a house. If I had the time any more would love to get back into WoW again
Show threadSteve RigginsDec 3

@stroughtonsmith I have only worked on my exterior. I lost my ivy changing the roof color lol so am waiting for the entrance to see if they address any issues with that.

WoW is getting better every patch and as a 22 year player, it’s awesome.