WoW Update Taunts FF14 Over Housing

Player housing is finally arriving in World of Warcraft, and Blizzard has shared an initial preview of how the MMO will implement this long-requested feature. In a new developer showcase, the team outlined early plans and even managed a playful nod—and a subtle critique—at Final Fantasy XIV's housing system.

The highly anticipated housing feature will debut in the upcoming expansion, World of Warcraft: Midnight. In a recent development blog detailing its core principles for housing, Blizzard highlighted "A Home for Everyone" as a primary objective.

"As part of our focus on broad accessibility, we want to ensure Housing is available to all players. If you want a house, you get a house," Blizzard explained. "No excessive prerequisites or steep purchase prices, no lottery systems, and no burdensome maintenance fees. (And if your subscription expires, don't worry—your house won't be taken away!)."

In essence, player housing is exactly what it sounds like: personalized spaces within the game world that players can own, customize, decorate, and open for others to visit. This feature is enormously popular in Final Fantasy XIV, where it fosters incredible player creativity, leading to in-game theaters, nightclubs, cafes, and museums.

However, Final Fantasy XIV's housing also comes with notorious challenges. Available plots per server are limited, requiring substantial in-game currency and entry into a competitive lottery. Owners also face the risk of property demolition if the house is left unvisited for an extended period.

World of Warcraft's design appears to directly address common player concerns stemming from systems like Final Fantasy XIV's. Housing will be shared across a player's Warband, allowing all characters to access the home, with rewards shared irrespective of character or faction. While a Human character cannot purchase a house in a Horde territory, a Troll character in the same Warband can, and the Human can then freely use it.

Furthermore, while World of Warcraft's housing will be organized into two primary zones divided into "Neighborhoods" of about 50 plots each, these areas are instanced and offer both Public and Private settings. Public Neighborhoods are server-managed and generated dynamically as demand requires, suggesting no hard cap on their total availability.

Blizzard is clearly planning for the long term with this feature. Alongside pillars like "boundless self-expression" and "deeply social," the developers stated their intent for housing to be a "lasting journey" with its own development roadmap, receiving updates through future patches and expansions. This represents a significant commitment, and while the team lightly teased XIV's system, it also demonstrates a clear awareness of potential pitfalls.

More specifics will be refined ahead of the planned summer reveal for World of Warcraft: Midnight.