Finally, after players have been clamoring for it for years, World of Warcraft will be adding player housing sometime during its upcoming Midnight expansion. While not much is known about the feature, the potential alone is extremely exciting. Now, players will be able to have a place to call home, a way to display all sorts of achievements, and the perfect place to hang out while they wait in the dungeon queue. However, that may not be the only thing that World of Warcraft‘s player housing will offer.
Ever since its inception, World of Warcraft has struggled to keep its older content relevant. When a new expansion releases, players often just head off to those new lands and leave all the old ones behind. There have been some attempts to revive classic zones, but for the most part, they have just been left to gather dust. With player housing, that may no longer be the case, because not only could it give players the ability to call these zones home, but Blizzard could also give them a reason to push through old content once more.
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WoW’s Player Housing May Be Fixing Azeroth’s Biggest Problem
Player Housing Could Make Older Zones Matter Again
One of the big ways that player housing could make old World of Warcraft zones relevant again is by giving players the ability to call their favorite zone home. While it is easier said than done, players could be allowed to purchase and build their home in whatever zone they wish. Maybe they want to live out their days in Ghostlands, maybe they have always felt like Stranglethorn Vale is the perfect getaway, or maybe Thousand Needles has just been calling them for years. Whatever type of aesthetic they are looking for, player housing could let them explore it.
If Blizzard cannot make a system like that work, then it should at least try to let players live in whatever major city they want to. Even though almost every race has its capital city, most players have spent their time in Orgrimmar or Stormwind. If they were able to put their house in one of the many cities that litter the world, and the studio provided said city with all the vendors players need, then those cities may get a new lease on life. Of course, some cities like Silvermoon need a lot of work to make them relevant, but if it was revamped to accommodate these houses, then it could go a long way in making World of Warcraft feel alive again.
Player Housing’s Cosmetics Could Fit Into Old Content
Not only could Blizzard let players call these many cities or zones home, but it could also make World of Warcraft‘s years of content relevant again by tying house cosmetics to it. Players could peruse old zones, track down old WoW bosses, and complete old quest chains to earn various cosmetic goodies that they could then fill their houses with. While it would take a lot of work on Blizzard’s part, giving players something new to earn sounds like the perfect incentive for them to visit the past.
This could serve as a perfect form of endgame content, as players venture out past the current expansion’s zones to some of their favorites from the past. Additionally, it could also be a great incentive for those looking to level up new alts, as they could be rewarded with an assortment of house collectibles during their journey. As long as said collectibles were worth the grind, players would likely try to earn them all. And once they had, Blizzard could introduce even more to other zones, keeping them going for years to come.
Through all of this, players may once again venture out into the WoW zones and dungeons that have become largely irrelevant. For too long, the game has felt more like the Islands of Warcraft rather than the World of Warcraft. Players have just had little reason to branch out past whatever the current expansion’s zones are. But, if a hotly anticipated feature like player housing was tied to all of these zones, then the world would likely no longer feel small anymore.
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