Player Housing Planet

[DupontTX]

So I've heard a lot of talk about people wanting housing or guild starships.. personally, I think housing is the way to go and here is why. People love in games where you can set your house to public and let random passerby's come in and check out your place, where you can decorate and put trophies, etc as you wish. Not everyone may be interested in doing it, but A LOT of people are... the main question is what would be the best way to do it.

 

Create a player/guild housing planet. It could be a planet with nothing there besides some random creatures and a bunch of open land to build on. Allow one player house per account that would be shared amongst all characters.. make a minimum player level in order to purchase a house so that people can't just create 20 low level accounts and spam housing everywhere. Or make it completely end game to where you have to have at least 1 level 55 before you can drop your house. Create a house maintenance system and if it is not kept up with your house will disappear so inactive player housing doesn't clog up space.

 

Allow each guild to place a larger guild hall structure. To avoid millions of tiny guilds forming and spamming the planet, create guild missions to level up the guild over time and only after a few months of grinding out materials and levels for the guild would you be able to place a guild hall. It would be a way to try to find spots for guildmates to build close together and have a common meeting place... perhaps have Guild Only Quests on the planet as well that could earn some type of guild contribution points that at some point can lead to guild specific gear or crafting items, etc.. there are so many possibilities of what you could do with the planet to advance guild functionality and social aspects.. again, it might not be something everyone loves, but it would create a more "sandbox" type feel to the game instead of the constant grind this or grind that which many currently feel. There have been some great updates lately, but for longterm survivability of the game, some sandbox aspects need to be implemented so players have unlimited options on how to play and things to do.. it would satisfy the roleplaying community, and would greatly enhance many player's games. you could even place republic and imperial bases on the planet that players fight for control over for some type of bonus. eventually could even use this planet to stage open world faction wars or guild wars... so many options.

 

So yeah, it really wouldn't take much to plop an empty planet down and let the players create it into a living breathing community.

Edited August 9, 2013 by DupontTX

[sethroswell]

Totally excellent idea, I was actually really surprised when I started SWTOR that you hadn't done this? In other MMOs you had your own private house and guild area, that you can put your own private collections and is was AWESOME! It was nice to see all the things you earned and it took a really long time to collect them so is was a point of pride, so I second this idea!

[Andar]

/signed

[tyranusdarec]

I like the idea... But, personally, I would make it a city type planet. Not like Nar Shadda. Just a large city. And put in instanced housing. Like doors you can click on and enter your house or apartment.

 

Your idea is good but eventually you could run out of space. Then the developers would be stuck.

 

With a city type design, you can then add all the features of the fleet on a "main street" or center area. With the various instanced housing entrances around that. So you got main street with crew skill trainers, combat skill trainers, cargo holds, GTN terminals, vendors, and more. Then surrounding that you got your tall apartment buildings. Next you have the houses.

 

Every player would have an apartment for his characters. If you have characters on both factions then you would have one apartment for each side. The apartment is a basic one room design. If the player doesnt want to use the house option then they dont have to get one. But if they do then the basic would cost something like 100creds a week or something along those lines. The player can then upgrade to a 2 room, 3 room, or 4 room apartment. With increased weekly cost. The player access the apartment by clicking on the door at the base of the building. Or by entering into a small foyer and clicking a door at the back. Possibly looks like an elevator. And the apartment would come with a huge window that gives an amazing view.

 

If players want an actual house 5+ rooms, with different floor plans, they can go find a house anywhere around there and click the door. This gives them the option to purchase the house. Once they have it they can use it but they lose their apartment.Now here is the trick. Any other player can also purchase the same house from the same door. But again the inside is instanced. So you can have multiple players living in the same house. And of course houses would cost oh so much more.

 

Two types of guild halls would also be made available. One small version for low level guilds that is basically a big mansion type of building. And a large version for high level guilds that is basically a compound. Perhaps even have its own apartment building in the middle of it.

 

Next you set up decor. It would be sets of furniture, art, etc for various worlds or styles. Sith, Republic, Ancient Temple, Tech, Empire Corellia, Tatooine, etc. Pieces would include common things like couches, beds, tables, etc. But also wall hangings, framed paintings, trophies, weapon racks, etc. Some of these sets would be crafter made. Other pieces looted. And even cartel market bought. The walls, ceiling, and floors could also have different textures to add to the decor scheme. Possibly a way to load the design into the wall. Like maybe on tatooine while reading a lore item you get a "Tatooine Apartment Scheme" that you can then take to your apartment and load up. It changes the walls, floor, and ceiling to look like sandstone.

 

Other items that could be added would be mailboxes, GTN terminal, medic station, mod station, vendor terminal, etc. Some items might even give a temp boost of some kind if they log out there instead of in world.

 

This could replace fleet all together. And with instanced rooms for players to sit in when doing things, well that helps take away the lag.

 

"But Tyr, I want to visit my friend.". Not a problem. Go to their door or apartment building and click on the door. A menu pops up that says "Enter apartment/house" or "Visit apartment/house" then a list of names on a scroll menu and a search space pops up if you pick visit.

 

The key here is you have to have plenty of houses and doors so you dont 100 people all clicking the same door to get into their place. This can lose immersion real quick.

[Copperheadr]

Of course a very nice idea...they could sell us many nice items to place in the house on the Cartel Market...

[Darth_Moonshadow]

Your ship is going to be your house, as you'll be spending more time in it anyway.

 

Plus it has lasers.

 

Condos do not have lasers.

 

Therefore, condos are stupid and a waste of development.

[MajikMyst]

Your ship is your house..

 

Yes they need to add things so that we can customize it..

 

If they are to do houses, it would need to be instanced..

[Copperheadr]

Your ship is your house..

 

Yes they need to add things so that we can customize it..

 

If they are to do houses, it would need to be instanced..

 

No one will ever visit your ship.

 

A house in a player city with vendors inside that would not have GTN fee, would give a reason for players to visit.

A city can grow, have statues, starport, vendors, terminals, COMMUNITY.

[Magnusheart]

They already said its not on their current list of things they are going to do any time soon.

 

 

Their consideration of Player Housing outside of the ship or the eventual Guild Ships is low until there is a large overhaul of Ship Customization options.

Hey ISDcaptain,

 

I forwarded this along to our Lead Designer, Damion Schubert, and this is our current statement on Player Housing:

 

“We’re not saying never, but it’s not on our immediate roadmap. If we were to expand on this in some direction, we would first focus on improving the degree that players can customize their ship interiors, but even that feature is a ways down the road.”

 

 

I couldn't agree with this more Catharde. I have thoroughly enjoyed player housing in other games including SWG, DAOC, and Wizard101. It's not at the top of my wish list but it's definitely up there. As others have said on the thread it's not in the near term set of updates but it still remains a tantalizing possibility for sometime in the future.

 

B

Edited August 9, 2013 by Magnusheart

[MajikMyst]

No one will ever visit your ship.

 

A house in a player city with vendors inside that would not have GTN fee, would give a reason for players to visit.

A city can grow, have statues, starport, vendors, terminals, COMMUNITY.

 

Why not?? You can bring people to your ship..

 

What you describing is not community.. You don't need a house for all that.. There is a GTN on my ship.. There is also a bank, a vendor, a practice dummy, and a mail box all on my ship..

 

We don't need a city of houses.. It would have to be instanced like a ships hanger..

[Darth_Moonshadow]

No one will ever visit your ship.

 

A house in a player city with vendors inside that would not have GTN fee, would give a reason for players to visit.

A city can grow, have statues, starport, vendors, terminals, COMMUNITY.

 

Why do you believe that any GTN kiosk would NOT have an overhead fee?

 

The Galactic Trade Federation always gets it's cut.

 

Otherwise they send Big Larry to see you.

 

You don't want to see Big Larry.

 

Man has a serious acne problem. It's disgusting. Never heard of a face cloth. Ew.

[tyranusdarec]

They already said its not on their current list of things they are going to do any time soon.

 

 

Their consideration of Player Housing outside of the ship or the eventual Guild Ships is low until there is a large overhaul of Ship Customization options.

 

It wouldnt be an overhaul of ship customization. It would be a full on redevelopment. Have you taken a long hard look at the insides of some of the ships? Look at the bounty hunter ship. How can they clear it out to be customizable with the way it is set up inside? In some cases they might have to completely rebuild the exterior as well. Plus considering they already have a set decor and such I doubt they have any intention of making them customizable.

 

Plus ships are limited to always looking like ships. You cant take the interior of the warrior ship and make it have a tatooine decor scheme.

Edited August 9, 2013 by tyranusdarec

[Callaron]

 

Plus ships are limited to always looking like ships. You cant take the interior of the warrior ship and make it have a tatooine decor scheme.

 

Just put a Jawa in it. Like the Bounty hunter.

I think if they allow ship customization it will be more along the lines of how Fable did it, rather than the Sims.

You can move stuff around, but you can't affect the structure - such as the walls, your staircase, etc...

[Darth_Moonshadow]

It wouldnt be an overhaul of ship customization. It would be a full on redevelopment. Have you taken a long hard look at the insides of some of the ships? Look at the bounty hunter ship. How can they clear it out to be customizable with the way it is set up inside? In some cases they might have to completely rebuild the exterior as well. Plus considering they already have a set decor and such I doubt they have any intention of making them customizable.

 

Plus ships are limited to always looking like ships. You cant take the interior of the warrior ship and make it have a tatooine decor scheme.

 

Not really, actually. They'd simply just certain objects with other objects, like Saints Row 2 housing. Containment field can be upgraded to different color, the Cargo bay become a series of random containers, the medbay Kolto tank becomes a full on Auto Doc chamber, etc.

[Copperheadr]

Why not?? You can bring people to your ship..

 

What you describing is not community.. You don't need a house for all that.. There is a GTN on my ship.. There is also a bank, a vendor, a practice dummy, and a mail box all on my ship..

 

We don't need a city of houses.. It would have to be instanced like a ships hanger..

 

Because I have MMO experience.

 

In EQ2 no one visited your wonderful instanced house , even though there were a myriad of collection items, crafted furniture and other wonders to see.

No one wanted two more loading screens for nothing.

 

On the other hand , in SWG there were non-instanced houses (ahhh, the wonders...) and a skilled crafter was actually meaning something,( not all crafted items were identical and also there was item decay, and SO much more), and would sell his wares directly in his home, with his vendors, and if you'd go to buy directly (clever trick to make you go visit the house), you would buy stuff cheaper than at the GTN.

 

The player cities would have a mayor, militia, would grow with number of citizens and would create civil galactic war drama and, yes, COMMUNITY.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Copperheadr

[DupontTX]

I agree with some of the comments that one planet may fill up.. but I would advise against instanced based player housing. It has just not worked as well as open world housing.

 

But if you stick to the original plan I laid out I think the issue of running out of room wouldn't be as severe. Only allow one house per account, and your account cannot create a house until you have one character reach level 55. it would prevent people from creating 20 random low level accounts and dropping houses everywhere.

 

If the planet is the size of say Tatooine, you could fit thousands of houses in that space. If it does eventually get to the point that it fills up you could create secondary moon colonies of the planet or some such thing for newer players. Again, if you require housing maintenance, and if you lets say go over 30 days without paying your housing rent then your house would disappear and be placed in your inventory. That would keep inactive players from clogging up the neighborhood.

 

Like I also said, it may not be something that everyone loves, but a lot of people would love it, and I know many people I used to play games with such as SWG that would definitely come play if more community and sandbox aspects were added to the game such as that. It would hardly require any work from the developers.. They could more or less put an empty planet out there with random creatures and stuff on it and put some set roads and such that can't be built on, and other than that let it be a completely player constructed planet. Over time they could add incentives like guild missions to get enough resources to eventually build a guild hall on the planet... or let players create vendors inside their homes that are tax free so there would be incentive to travel to that planet to do some shopping.

 

There would really be unlimited potential with this idea... it wouldn't interfere with the storyline and other massive aspects of this game.. it would simply be an additional optional feature that many many players would love and would spend hours upon hours enjoying... would also bring many sandbox mmo players back into swtor that gave up on it due to the low sense of community they felt when playing.

[tyranusdarec]

Not really, actually. They'd simply just certain objects with other objects, like Saints Row 2 housing. Containment field can be upgraded to different color, the Cargo bay become a series of random containers, the medbay Kolto tank becomes a full on Auto Doc chamber, etc.

 

But, as I said, it will always be a ship. It will never be anything different.

 

In SWG I remember a shipwright, after JTL, made his PA Hall look like a hanger. A droid engineer made his house look like a droid workshop. A doctor made his house look like a hospital (This was before the medbay building).

 

In EQ2 I saw homes that looked like everything from a lava world to a shrine for Lucan D'lere.

 

You cant get that in a ship. Its just not going to happen. Because no matter what they do with the ships.... it will always be a ship.

 

Think about what else true player housing would bring to the game. More revenues. Different unique styles of houses/apartment available on the CM. EQ2 was real good for this. I cant count how many people but the houses only available on their money market. They made alot of from that.

 

Also to the person that said no one visits instanced housing in EQ2. I dont know what game you were playing but I knew tons of players that would go from house to house just looking at the various decor and to get ideas for their house. Add in the house spotlight the developers would do and it would go up even more. I entered more then a few houses that had several other players wandering around "Oh that is so cool!" "How did she do that?".... That sort of thing. Just because it didnt interest you doesnt mean no one else did it either.

 

Also instanced housing would create an unofficial profession. The designer. Happened in SWG and EQ2. Players that get good at designing decor and setting up homes. They made money from setting up other people's homes. This is something missing from most modern MMOs... The secondary unofficial professions. I was a ranger/rifleman in SWG and had a secondary unofficial profession as a guide. There were others that did everything from wedding planners to home designers to event coordinator. The sky is the limit if you give some sandbox feel to the game.

[Darth_Moonshadow]

Because I have MMO experience.

 

In EQ2 no one visited your wonderful instanced house , even though there were a myriad of collection items, crafted furniture and other wonders to see.

No one wanted two more loading screens for nothing.

 

On the other hand , in SWG there were non-instanced houses (ahhh, the wonders...) and a skilled crafter was actually meaning something,( not all crafted items were identical and also there was item decay, and SO much more), and would sell his wares directly in his home, with his vendors, and if you'd go to buy directly (clever trick to make you go visit the house), you would buy stuff cheaper than at the GTN.

 

The player cities would have a mayor, militia, would grow with number of citizens and would create civil galactic war drama and, yes, COMMUNITY.

 

Dude, I played SWG, both Pre and Post NGE and CU. I remember that player housing VERY differently. No one visted the housing areas and you'd end up with clumps of shanty ghost towns all over the place. No one ever stayed in those houses and the crafters usually overcharged on their wares and services. People popped up different places and then would bail on them weeks later without a second thought. There were no mayors or militias. At most you just had that one annoying guy who tried to tell you what to do (Who you ignored) and that PVP guild who blew in once in a while that never seemed to have more than three players online at any moment.

 

You have a serious case of High School Goggles, friend.

[Drudenfusz]

I think an open world planet with housing would suck, because it would have to be two world for each faction otherwise it would turn into a warzone pretty quickly. So, with two world BioWare had double the work and people would still complain when the other faction would get the more relevant world from a lore perspective.

 

And for housing we already have our ships.

 

But, I could imagine a world where everybody could have an instanced house... or the way I would like it a farm. Here is my idea: make it Dantooine, everybody loves dantooine, it was mentioned in the movies, it was in KOTOR and it is in one of the SWTOR books. Make it a refuge where the player can withdraw from the war in the galaxy to just enjoy live, maybe give certain companions there some story interaction (especially the spouses), and give the players their own little farm game (like WoW did, because they know minigames are fun). And if BioWare could get it done, implement a feature that people can open their farm for a warzone minigame in which people can join the defending or attacking team (I heard RIFT is planing to have such a feature for their dimensions).

[tyranusdarec]

Making a new post here because I have another idea.

 

After your first character, on each faction, gets the ship you get a quest. The quest is to go to an abandoned droid factory. The factory is in an asteroid. You get there and have a nice animation of your ship flying into an old hanger on this asteroid. Once you land your in a big room with your ship and space for a few more ships... Looks like any other hanger but its got time weathered damage. Also a few rogue droids running around. You then clear the old factory. You basically, with the help of your companion, are doing a solo flashpoint. Maybe a few golds and silvers.

 

Once its cleared you head to fleet and turn in the quest. The NPC tells you they arent going to do anything with the asteroid, you then get the option to "take" it for your home base. You then pay a few thousand credits to get some cleaning and repair droids sent there.

 

When you return to the asteroid you see its now alot cleaner. You can then start putting in decor. Again stuff from crafting, quest rewards, loot drops, and cartel market. Its huge too. You got a hanger that is big enough for 4 ships. Also it has several rooms. Including about 20 sleeping quarters. And 4 bigger bedrooms. A huge meeting room. And additional about 10 more big rooms. You can make them what you want.

 

As you unlock companions your companions will be seen wandering around the station. Maybe sleeping or just talking to one another. You can do your companion conversations there as well.

 

If you have another character in your legacy on that faction they are also housed at this base. Their ship and companions will be there as well wandering around. Maybe even seeing the other legacy characters wandering around. Where double companions would happen "I got a juggie and a marauder" you would only see one of the companions. Also the companions would have a base "homebase outfit" each would wear so as not to overload database queries.

 

So lets say you are Imperial and have 1 of each class. Also all companions have been found. You go to that asteroid and there are four ships sitting there. Also 20 companions wandering around the station plus your 3 other characters. You cant really interact with them that much. But then again maybe you can. On your agent you talk to your juggernaut about some legacy XP mission or your inquisitor can talk to your BH about gathering some material and get a small temp boost on a crew skill. Sky is the limit here.

 

Oh and there is a smaller hanger as well off to the side. What is that for you ask? Well when you click to go to your asteroid a window pops up. "Travel to your home station" or "Travel to friend's station" This lets you visit other stations of other players.

 

As for guilds they can do something similar as well. Only their mission to clear is much more difficult. Basically a true flashpoint sized mission with bosses and the like. And the guild asteroid is much much bigger. Possibly its a guild cruiser like people have been asking for instead. If your a member of a guild when you go to your station you can see the guild cruiser right there outside the force field.

 

Maybe the "house" is a space station not as asteroid that has to be cleared. Or it could be a derelict cruiser. Heck on the CM they could sell different kinds of "stations" for you to purchase. But because of the size you could make it into anything you want it to be. A shrine to Marka Ragnos, a droid factory, a hospital, a full blown battle ready station, a tribute to Hello Kitty. Whatever you want.

[tyranusdarec]

Dude, I played SWG, both Pre and Post NGE and CU. I remember that player housing VERY differently. No one visted the housing areas and you'd end up with clumps of shanty ghost towns all over the place. No one ever stayed in those houses and the crafters usually overcharged on their wares and services. People popped up different places and then would bail on them weeks later without a second thought. There were no mayors or militias. At most you just had that one annoying guy who tried to tell you what to do (Who you ignored) and that PVP guild who blew in once in a while that never seemed to have more than three players online at any moment.

 

You have a serious case of High School Goggles, friend.

 

Or your remembering it differently. My guild, on my server, had a full blown active city. So active that neighboring player cities used our shuttle to get to their city. We ended up with a thriving player city for over a year. NGE killed it but the NGE killed dang near everything.

 

Our cantina had entertainers in it dang near 24/7. And not buff bots either. Live players talking and enjoying the show. Our med bay had a player that was a doctor who actively worked to make the best buffs and med supplies in the galaxy. He was always there ready to buff players that showed up. We held many weddings on our "mainstreet" and did alot of server community stuff. My hunter/guide headquarters was there. I would take out groups of players from there to places like Dathomir or Yavin IV to hunt various animals and NPCs.

 

We had buildings with museums dedicated to several planets. Tatooine, Dathomir, Dantooine, etc. Also a force sensitive museum that looked a Sith temple (it was full of lightsabers, color crystals, holocrons, etc) and another dedicated to bounty hunters. People came all the time just to look around or spend time there.

 

Thanks to a rebel player city close by, we also had more then a few PVP battles there as well.

 

And there were other player cities just as full as ours. A heavy PVP player city on Lok was the seen of many a battle for quite awhile. Surrounded by bases it was always jumpin for PVP.

 

Yah I will admit alot of player cities turned to ghost towns. But that isnt the fault of the cities. Its the fault of the developers. They didnt give a reason to make people want to stay there. At least not a big enough reason. Also players arent going to spread out. Its human nature. People are going to go where others are. So on one planet you have several starting cities but "X player city" always has people. Guess where the others are going to go? To X player city.

[GatorAndy]

While this all sounds good. I just don't think it belongs in THIS game. At least, not at this time. There are a lot more things that are more pressing for them to work on at this point.

 

This isn't a sandbox game. I never played SWG, and I'm sure it was great and all, but, it's gone now. SWTOR is not SWG. I'm all for ship customization. It would be really cool. For about a week. A month tops. Then back to actually playing the game. Killing stuff, looting, etc.

 

I just don't see a housing planet or anything of the sort being popular outside of the RP circle. I get that they could probably sell furniture and decor on the CM in order to monetize it. But, I don't feel like it would have that broad appeal to warrant putting a lot of development time and effort into.

[DupontTX]

While this all sounds good. I just don't think it belongs in THIS game. At least, not at this time. There are a lot more things that are more pressing for them to work on at this point.

 

This isn't a sandbox game. I never played SWG, and I'm sure it was great and all, but, it's gone now. SWTOR is not SWG. I'm all for ship customization. It would be really cool. For about a week. A month tops. Then back to actually playing the game. Killing stuff, looting, etc.

 

I just don't see a housing planet or anything of the sort being popular outside of the RP circle. I get that they could probably sell furniture and decor on the CM in order to monetize it. But, I don't feel like it would have that broad appeal to warrant putting a lot of development time and effort into.

 

I understand this isn't currently a sandbox game... but if they add in small sandbox aspects like a player housing planet that would be optional for people to choose to use or not to, then it would draw a more diverse crowd of players with different interests... not everyone enjoys playing the game the same way, but if we care about the overall lifespan of this game, then attracting all styles of players would be beneficial.. if you don't like it, you wouldn't have to participate.

 

And as far as a warzone.. if half the planet is able to be populated by republic, and half by empire... there could be random patrolling npcs throughout the world of each faction to deal with trespassers in the other neighborhoods. not to mention you could keep the other faction from entering your home.

 

Again, this would be a totally optional thing to participate in, so it wouldn't affect those that don't want to use it, but would attract a lot of players, and would have a lot of potential cartel items that could be purchased which would be very profitable for bioware. There really is no reason to instance it.. you can add different moon colonies and such for new players if it ever fills up. Not to mention if houses disappear after 30 days of inactivity and no housing maintenance, if players quit the game it will free up space for newcomers.

 

It would be easy to plop an empty planet down and let players control the destiny of it... there really aren't many reasons not to do it.. and if you are one that doesn't like the idea, you wouldn't have to participate.

[Lunafox]

I love the idea of player housing, and I want it desperately. Even if its a just condos in DK or Coruscant.

 

I think the devs are being foolish by 'not having this at the top of their priority list, or their wish list.' Who cares about THEIR wishlist ?!? Players want this, and it's their job to make it happen.

 

If they want SWTOR to keep growing and expanding, they need to make this feature happen ASAP.

 

And I do also enjoy the OP's idea of giving us a large planet for us to build a house on....or maybe a few planets, because choice is always a good thing imo.

 

I know it would give me a lot to do and be excited about, cause I for one, HATE RAIDING and PVP. Like the guy above my post said, everyone has different ways of playing.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Lunafox

[tyranusdarec]

While this all sounds good. I just don't think it belongs in THIS game. At least, not at this time. There are a lot more things that are more pressing for them to work on at this point.

 

This isn't a sandbox game. I never played SWG, and I'm sure it was great and all, but, it's gone now. SWTOR is not SWG. I'm all for ship customization. It would be really cool. For about a week. A month tops. Then back to actually playing the game. Killing stuff, looting, etc.

 

I just don't see a housing planet or anything of the sort being popular outside of the RP circle. I get that they could probably sell furniture and decor on the CM in order to monetize it. But, I don't feel like it would have that broad appeal to warrant putting a lot of development time and effort into.

 

Player housing brings alot to a game. If its an optional thing, the players who dont care about it dont have to do it.

 

1) New players - Players who like player housing are going to come here... If its done right they will stick around awhile.

2) Staying power - Games with housing have players play longer then in games without it. You have a place to "hang your hat". You feel more invested in the game.

3) Minigame - Decorating is a mini game all in itself. Doing quests or farming mobs for that one chair, table, painting plus decorating is another min game. Working to get the placement just right and so on.

4) Less lag - Players will spend more time in their houses then on fleet. If they have it set up right so the things on fleet can be in the house.

5) Player creations - Some players will be very creative and work hard to make things out of other things. This creates art.

 

Just five reasons player housing is good for a game.