Player housing

Player housing (aka guild housing), are theoretical features that would give players a place to store items and have a place to call home. Introducing housing into the game could have many primary and secondary effects.
==Current status==
While there are models and spells in the game files related to player housing, these are more likely from the alpha version of World of Warcraft but never made it live.
During gamescom 2010, Tom Chilton declared that "housing will be introduced to World of Warcraft some time right after "never"."http://www.worldofraids.com/topic/17600-gamescom-2010-cataclysm-press-qa-gamespot-interview/?s=0bd1fe3f353238441ccb1219133ef1ac
In April 2019, the developers stated they are still thinking about how to implement this feature without it feeling too clumsy.
It is still on Blizzard's radar as of 2022 and stated that it would require a major engine upgrade itself to build what it deserves to be like instead of using the Garrison plot placements and limited customizations with that.
==Potential types of player housing==
*Common building or room with a private (maybe expandable) storage area similar to a bank.
*Instanced building or room that allows a player to enter their "house".
**...and party members or guild members.
*Separate building or room with a "lockable" door that only the player has a "key" to, but other players can enter when the door is open.
*Private area (instanced or not) that allows "furnishing".
**Wall items (murals, paintings, wall hangings, etc.)
**Floor items (carpets, rugs, stains, etc.)
**Non-container furniture (chairs, sofas, tables, etc.)
**Container furniture (cabinets, chests, shelves, Wardrobes, etc.)
**Miscellaneous stuff (books, bottles, candles, papers, scrolls, etc.)
*A soulbound item similar to a Hearthstone that transports you to your house.
==The player-driven debate==
Throughout the years, the players have discussed and debated how the features of Player Housing (PH) or Guild Housing (GH) could be implemented within WoW. Most are in agreement that the Housing feature will inevitably make it into the game.
===Reasons to add housing for players===
*A Players Home is an ideal way of keeping track of the players progress throughout the game over the years and show it as more than just a collected Mount, Armor Set, or Achievement they had unlocked.
*While banks are good for storing the things you don't need right now, a demand for displaying the accrued equipment or special items has not been addressed directly.
*Players have requested gear racks so that a particular weapon or complete armor set could be displayed properly.
*Housing provides the developers with an excellent opportunity to add to the professions, and could serve as a means of producing additional revenue for Players through the creation or discovery of unique furnishings that could be used in the home.
*Allows for the developers to redistribute old world assets and structures for use in a Players' customization of their home.
*A players house could help remove the clutter of one's inventory, provide a meeting space that friends can visit, and increase the in-game feel of WoW.
*It would be ideal for roleplaying and taking care of your house would add a whole new dimension to the game.
===Reasons to not add player housing===
*The development costs and added storage requirements for player housing could be detrimental to the continuous demand of developer's time and the infrastructure's resources. 
*Player-based housing only creates more management and frustration. Players already forget important items and gear in the bank. Adding PH will force them to remember where they stored the items (though a "Warehouse" addon, similar to the one Carbonite provides, could help to fix some of the confusion)
*Adding storage space within a house duplicates city-based services (the bank)
*The lore implications of the background of the character changes from its current background as a nomadic hero.
===Reasons for guild housing===
*Guilds need a common meeting place. Guild Halls would be perfect
*Guilds need help fostering a sense of cohesiveness and loyalty, providing player housing within a guild-based, instanced housing community would do that.
*A Guild House would allow for a Guild to track and document particular Raids or events the Guild had participated in through the collection or acquisition of unique furniture from such events.
*Guild vs Guild PVP has been in demand, GH provides an opportunity to implement that.
*Guild Housing can become an important recruiting tool, as one-day passes could be crafted.
===Reason to not add guild housing===
*Allowing guilds to congregate inside guild-only instanced areas will remove those guilded players from the major cities. The end result could turn the major cities into Ghost towns.
*If GH was implemented in a way that the city's services are duplicated inside the instanced GH area, guilded players will have another incentive not to leave their specialized area.
*The developer hours and resourced dedication aren't worth the reward/detriment that GH causes.
==Housing's effect on professions==
The advent of Player and/or guild housing in WoW, provides the developers an opportunity to add new professions and augment the current professions with more recipes. The mechanism for acquiring housing could be a mass resource turn in. Implementing housing in this way will promote the crafting economy as the resource gathering will have to be repeated for new and rerolled characters or if you want to change your house-style. Every profession could possibly be augmented.
=== Alchemy ===
*Large potion powders to apply to communal fountains
*Special scents for decorative smoke
=== Archaeology ===
*Displaying Archaeology artifacts that the Player had completed, similar to the Pristine Artifact Display System
===Blacksmithing=== 
*Coat-of-Arm pieces (armor assembled to look like stationary guards)
*Cannon casings
*Chandeliers, Ceiling and Wall Fixtures, bathtubs, sinks
*Spikes, hinges, other door pieces.
*Furniture (eg: tables/chairs barring the potential addition of Carpentry as a profession)
=== Cooking ===
*Smoking Racks
*Kitchenware, Diningware, Cookware
===Enchanting===
*enchants for stationary objects. 
*portkeys to take you from one end to another
===Engineering===
*Robot guards
**motion sensors, behavior components, arms, legs, chest, head
*arrow shooters, door locks
*Appliances
**Light fixtures, music players, stovetops
=== Fishing ===
*Fishing Nets, Trophy Fish, Aquariums, Ponds
=== Herbalism ===
*Gardens, Landscaping, Shrubbery, Climbing Plants, Potted Plants
=== Inscription ===
*Bookshelves, Scrolls
===Jewelcrafters===
*Crown Jewels, Throne jewels, jeweled cups
*Glassware, Windows, Display Cases, Mosaics
===Leatherworking===
*Rugs, Canvas, Pelts, and rope
*Tanned Banners
=== Mining ===
*Statues, Fountains, Walls
=== Skinning ===
*Taxidermy and Pelts
===Tailoring===
*Textiles, Banners, Tapestries and Flags
*Furniture (eg: tablecloth, runners, chair decorations, carpets, bedding)
*specialized guild-only garments for cloth wearers
==Blizzard quotes==
;Will this ever come? I googled alot, but i cant find a post of a Blizzard official denying this could be coming. (2011-7-25)
:
;Are we going to see guild houses someday so we could finally get a special gather place for the guild, to meet and interact easily? (2011-4-27)
:
;Is there a feature in another MMO that you admire and would like to see in WoW? (2008-9-01)
:
;Is it something you're actively working on?
:
;(2008-9-01)
:
;(2007-10-04)
:
;(2006-10-02)
:
;(2006-1-7)
:
;(YYYY-MM-DD):
:
;2004-07-15
:
;2004-12-14
:
==Notes and trivia==
*The unused gated instance portal between the Old Town and the Trade District removed in Cataclysm was originally meant to lead to the player housing area.World of Warcraft Diary
*During the World of Warcraft beta, a "Guildhouse" item could be purchased from vendors such as Alexander Lifebringer. Guildhouses reportedly would have provided an instanced area for members of a guild.
*In the BlizzCon 2009 minigame Failoc-alypse, one of the joke messages displayed upon level-up says, "Player housing unlocked".
==See also==
*Garrison
==References==
Category:Game terms
Category:Rumors