Steinbeck.2105

I think it's more about players understanding how a system could work. The problem you mention about house competition is actually what makes the property desirable in the first place. You could add an auction system to it, where you get a limited number of bids. Sure, the richest players will win, but it is what it is - that makes the house legendary and something to behold if it's in a very scenic spot. But in the ideal scenario, everyone gets a house in whatever zone they want, just put them in an instance in the sky, and let them aspire to one day set roots in their desired zone. And there's nothing stopping you from inviting players to your own instance like you would with the existing Home Instance.

In this case, it's more of setting expectations for the player. People aren't dumb - they know in other games that houses are instanced, therefore if the house is not instance in GW2, something's gotta give. The expectation must be set in that if you're renting a spot in a neighborhood, you are renting it, not buying it forever. The baseline is still an instanced house, which the players would never lose if they take a break from the game, i.e. it follows the standard of other games. But the feature itself needs a stretch goal, otherwise it's buy a house, you're done, then log off because you ticked the checkmark off in your head. There's no engagement if there's no prestige and no ongoing investment. EDIT: I also just wanted to add that I like the idea of a real estate market developing around specific zones being more desirable than others. First, it creates prestige around having beachfront property etc, and also creates cheap markets where people who don't want to pay much will just live in a grittier zone. But most importantly, it addresses a big problem with the open world in that many zones are never visited because there's simply no reason to. You can create a dynamic where zones now have neighborhoods and associated costs with them, breathing life into dead zones. This is really what ANet wants, a cost effective way to boost player engagement in old content while recycling as much as possible.

I think the rental cost could be remedied by having a "neutral" floating zone, where you are essentially instanced high in the sky, with other floating airships. If you don't feel like paying rent or it's been a while since you logged in, then your airship will float over your zone of choice and you can save up or bide your time there. I imagine neighborhoods would prioritize the guild feature, and possibly could be guild based, where a guild will pay for the overall neighborhood and if the entire guild can't make rent, then they will forfeit the property and join the neutral zone in the sky. Lots of ways around this technically, but the idea is that there's some form of investment for your house, otherwise it just becomes another home instance that no one cares about. People want to show their houses off to other people, and I think that's really the entire point of housing in an MMO.

I like the idea, but I agree with some of the other people's sentiments. When designing this feature, look to the way players will abuse it. And I think people will abuse it by making the world more ugly. My take - neighborhoods in each zone, with a "rental" or gold sink cost attached to it. Each person's house is essentially an "airship" that can convert into a house, and you can choose to set down roots in a zone's neighborhood. First, this would allow immersion because you get to interact with real players with your house, as well as being able to build game features around neighborhoods (community goals etc.). Second, this places constraints on how housing would be placed as they would be sectioned off to a particular spot. And third, this adds a gold sink / prestige to the game, as the rents would probably vary wildly based on the particular zone neighborhood (this is what ANet really cares about, think about what's in it for them). Overall, I think houses should be a social feature and not a solo instanced one, otherwise why not just spruce up the home instance? (Don't do that, the home instance is boring!)