Yesterdays post talked about player housing and some common issues with it. Today I’m going to attempt to break down the theory behind player housing; what makes it work, why it’s attractive, and what are some pitfalls to avoid.

I think it’s important to recognize what most players want out of housing. There are key differences, along with some similarities, between MMO housing and real life real-estate. In a MMO you don’t use the house for shelter or a place to sleep, the two main reasons behind current day housing. You do hope to get some storage out of it, use it as a social meeting place, and display it as a status symbol. The status symbol aspect, much like in real life, is a factor of size, quality, and location. Above all, the house must be convenient and provide value to a player. If a town vendor can provide the same functionality as a player owned house, but do it faster/cheaper, what motivation does a player have to shell out gold and purchase virtual real-estate?

This creates what I believe is the central problem with housing in current MMOs, the balance between functionality and status. Place housing too far out of the way, and you lose functionality. Make it so few people see other player’s homes, and you decrease status symbol. Interestingly enough, I believe real life has already provided a solution to MMO developers on how to achieve this balance. There is a reason an equal sized house goes up in value the closer it is to a major city, or a highway. Location location location!

In Lord of the Rings Online, it has already been announced that housing will be in its own instanced area, away from the rest of the world. This already decreases some of the status effect, as it makes it impossible to buy up a prime spot across from the auction house, throw up a huge guild flag, and sit outside watching as players stop to notice and wonder how cool it would be to own such a house. However, that concept can still work in an instanced housing zone. Allow ‘teleportation’ methods to work so far as the entrance to the zone, not to an individual house. This forces all players to travel from the start of the zone to their house plot. Now scale the cost of each plot relative to its location from the entrance. If a powerhouse guild wants to flaunt its wealth, they buy up a prime spot, place the biggest house on it, buy up all the fancy add-ons you can put in and everyone running by to get to their own house is sure to notice. Instant show of power. This also serves the concept of functionality. The more you are willing to pay for your location, the less distance you will have to travel to reach your home. Location costs, like in the real world, would have to be based on supply and demand. The more players/guilds willing to pay a certain cost for a spot, the higher the rent/upkeep of that spot will be. This self-imposed money sink would go a long way to balance out an economy while providing incentive to continue to accumulate funds, both individually and for a guild.

The second part is to make owning a house a benefit, regardless of its location and appearance. Property must provide a substantial but not game breaking benefit in order to justify its high initial cost and continual upkeep. It would vary between MMOs depending on game systems, but a house must be far more than a glorified vault and chat channel. Going back to LoTRO as our example, give each home a crafting area, and increase the crit chance of each forge/bench as house cost/size increases. Go one step further, and only allow the highest crit chance on a select number of ‘high demand’ spots in the housing zone. Now not only have you given value based on location, but also with actual in-game benefits. Instead of crafting in the local crafting area, now master crafters will need to visit their guild house to craft the highest quality wares. The more meaningful benefits a house provides, the more incentive for players to gather the funds needed to purchase one. In addition, place the crafting area in a visible, but guild only location outside the actual house. This will go a long way to reduce the very common “ghost town” effect of a housing zone. The more time a player needs to spend in and around the housing zone, the more you reduce the ghost effect. A centrally located auction house inside the housing zone would also increase player traffic and provide an additional location cost increase. Now not only is the zone entrance a desirable location, proximity to the auction house becomes a factor. Again, the more incentives you provide, the more players will be willing to work towards that goal.

Instead of housing being a bullet point on a box and a designer afterthought, it could easily become its own mini-game of power and influence among guilds and players, adding a much needed layer to what is quickly becoming a stale MMO formula.