TOR PLAYER HOUSING...Is just having a ship to decorate good enough??

Lord_Paladin wrote:

Actually from what we've seen, the ships are scaled according to their interiors. Which I think is pretty cool

Yea was fun watching the actual character walk up to the ships, they're pretty damn big.

Right now we don't know what TOR plans to do for community grouping spots. Place my bet on a cantina being the ultimate gathering spot with a stage and perhaps with the auction house being inside it. But until we see for certain I'm going to hold off on deciding if ships will be good enough in the long term.

For launch, if I can bring along my storage planet to planet and bring player characters along for the ride, it's good enough.

Lord Pal, Kai, Vel, Az, Go-Bar',

I have vastly scoured the TOR boards/ Site/ Rumors/ Yadda Yadda. I think that starting off with the storyline the focus of each player at launch, ships would work out fine...Guild capital ships being great...and...hopefully..one day having at least Apartments in the big cities to decorate with loot/ hang out and clown around/ etc would be my "TOR got it right" Schwen-ario...

The reason I posted this topic, was I would like to get the RiG gangs opinions, hopes, dreams, complaints on the housing topic. Thx all for the input. Its much appreciated!

Keep em coming!

At this point, given what they've said about Player ships and possible Guild ships... housing is sort of a non issues for me. We can brings our friends onto our ships and travel. Ships should feel very much like it did in Mass Effect 2, where it's actually almost a character itself.

That being said, would I use an apartment? Maybe for RP on occasion, but if they never made housing, I wouldn't care. I'd rather they make chairs in the cantina that I can sit in.

Lord,

I really think that they will try and put the community "focus" on the Cantinas. They will, most likely, be a "meeting place" for all kinds of IG activities...

Schwendo wrote:

Lord,

I really think that they will try and put the community "focus" on the Cantinas. They will, most likely, be a "meeting place" for all kinds of IG activities...

Everyone knows that if you can't figure out what to do, or need to start an adventure, you HAVE to go the bar/cantina.

It's a universal law.

I hear ya! And, that works for MMORPGIRL as well!!

Well, least it does for me

Schwendo wrote:

I hear ya! And, that works for MMORPGIRL as well!!

Well, least it does for me

MMORPGIRL = MMORPG for girls?


Haha, I know you probably meant in real life

<....



Yuppers!

I really like the way Bioware is handling this right now. I enjoy the player ship "as a base" thing just like in KOTOR and Mass Effect and such.

My main concern is really making it viable. I mean...how often WILL we be returning to our ships? I really hope there is a ton of things to do on our ship that we can ONLY do on our ship. But then again...you don't want to be too restrictive right? Because if you are...then everyone in the community will be holed up in their ship doing activities and crafting instead of out at the cantina/city and doing it there while socializing with everyone.


It's a really slippery slope, and one that I think requires a careful medium. Here's hoping I suppose : )

Schwendo wrote:

*Apartments on major cities I/E Corucsant/ Coronet?- (not-announced)

This has been all over the SWToR forums in recent months. Actually, I feel this is an idea that can REALLY make the "feel" of Corucsant...or any large city for that matter, vastly immersive. Not just .."Ok your in a town, now what?". But like, "I need to go drop some items off at my apartment, then we can hit a Cantina and oogle hawt Twy'leks."

I have read the SWToR book "Fatal Alliance" (its ok), They go into some detail on the Imperial Agent having a "flat" on Corucsant. He was actually sending messages to Dromund Kaas via his Flat. It was kind of a "safe house" if you will.

Another thing a few intelligent posters on the main TOR forums were saying, was to have "instanced apartement space" to where you goto one of these giant skyscrapers, and "load in". low level apt's are small, the mid level ones are medium, and the upper "penthouse" levels are on par with Amidala's penthouse suite off SW EP II & III. I think that idea is brilliant.

Once again, I think every player should be able to purchase and use apartments...

I just think there's vast possibilities in having player Apartments

I really like this idea. Not because I care about player housing but because I care about the in-game economy. The problem with the in-game economy is that is is being flooded with credits through constant questing. Eventually, the server economy is so inflated it is impossible for new players to afford anything in the AH. This leads to gold buying...but that's a different discussion thread.

The economy needs certain money sinks to remove credits from the game. Mounts were one of the money sinks WoW. This kind of player housing could work the same way. I also thought of buying better Pazaak cards would be a great money sink (if they ever implement Pazaak). If the do implement Pazaak, I think it should only be PC v. PC for credits, senate rules for practicing against NPC's. That way beating NPC does contribute to server inflation.

Schwendo wrote:

I hear ya! And, that works for MMORPGIRL as well!!

Well, least it does for me

Many Men Ogling Realy Pretty Girls In Real Life = comic conventions ^^

I whould love to see guild ships ,or something along the lines of the space station orbiting yavin from the first kotor.
altho it whould be great to see player city's ,since i imaging much of the game world will be used as a storytelling vehicle i dont think this will happen.

in city of hero's we had super group bases that were totaly customisable ,many rp groups used this and created some rather stunning answers to guilds offering a personal rp stage for their members

while i do agree with the earlyer remark that housing in daoc was to spread out to be social,the guild halls they offerd where actualy well made in both space and functionality.

So anything bioware can come up with to allow guilds to have a "home" ingame will find a happy camper in me

Schwendo wrote:

Haven and I were on this thread on the main SWToR forums,

What do you think would be the best form of decorative player housing?


*Player ships as housing- (announced)

*Apartments on major cities I/E Corucsant/ Coronet?- (not-announced)

*Full Player housing- (not-announced)

*Merchant store/tent/housing- (not-announced)

*Player Cities- (not-announced)

*Other- (please specify)


We would like your opinions!!!

Might as well throw my 2 credits in here...since I haven't really been posting much or paying attention lately, lol.

Player ships as housing- (announced)
For the individual players, this makes sense to me. We're in the middle of semi-cold yet maybe slightly hot war in The Old Republic, and having a mobile base of operations with a wet bar, massage chair, and twi'lek dancers is definitely going to come in handy.

*Apartments on major cities I/E Corucsant/ Coronet?- (not-announced)
Apartments, while being a nice touch, would also seem out of place for some of the chosen professions during this time period (ie: The Jedi Knight who just finished spending most of his/her life on Tython suddenly having to figure out what to do with an apartment on Coruscant while addressing the imminent threat of the Sith). I do however, have a slightly modified idea based on this which I'll get to later....

*Full Player housing- (not-announced)
*Merchant store/tent/housing- (not-announced)
*Player Cities- (not-announced)
For these three, with how the game is seemingly set up, it would appear fairly difficult and/or unseemly to implement. While I would love to have the old days of SWG where my favorite armor shop was in an isolated area nestled in the hills of Dantooine, for this game, it would seem fairly out of place in comparison. (especially if you leave an outpost and find "Bobo's Candy Shop" right in the middle of what's supposed to be a hostile area)

*Other- (please specify)
Now I'll get back to my modified idea for the apartments, lol. While it would feel odd for say, my jedi to have an apartment of his own, plus a ship, plus current galactic turmoil, PLUS however many companions to recruit, PLUS COOKIES....I wouldn't mind having "Guild Offices". Not saying I'd want to be able to visit "Eclipse HQ"....but it'd be nice for there to be an "Eclipse HQ", lol. The instanced apartment idea might work fairly well for this, as it'd keep world clutter down, and provide guilds with a central company office in which they can conduct meetings or whatever.
An instanced apartment idea might also work for player vendors as well (On a larger scale). Give the players who don't want to deal with the auction house a decently sized building to do their trading in. If no one can think of what to call the instance, simply call it "The Mall".



Anyhooo, now that I've posted something, I can go back to lurking for a while with a sense of accomplishment for the evening, lol.

I'm okay with having our housing being restricted to just being our ships considering their size (large enough for multiple friends or groups to come into) and even for the auction house and 'bank' to be linked to our ships as well (hello technology). I just want ample storage.
If people are aiming to socialize, then they're going to search out effective ways to do it; and the designers have already stated that cantinas are in game and are intended to act as the social hubs. (If there are mini-games such as Pazzak, etc., it's a fair bit closer to being a social reason to interact with people instead of the "Hold on, need to bid on this" of an auction house or "Could you move your mammoth please, I can't see to click on the mailbox".

I've read unofficial reports that seem to lean towards the goal being to keep you up and going forwards in your heroic adventures; not running back to a town vendor to sell off your vendor trash, hopefully they're thinking outside the box for other small things too.

As for any customization comments that I've ever read: yes, there will be customization, but they are not commenting whether <rough quote> they will be statistical (ex: new engines) or decorative (new paint), or to what extent in either case.
So long as the stock design is perfectly acceptable; someone wanting to further play designer through an optional component of the game affects nobody except those interested.

Although stated already by others here, a few thoughts on the different points: it all comes to to guild ships again (despite my 'who owns it' issues)

-Crafters could have areas to set up in within a designated area if they want to sell 'in person' and not on the auction house. (possible bonus to being in a guild in the first place? We know the designers are pro-guilds)

-It would eliminate world clutter (I'm looking right at you Aion and your personal stores)

-There's the MASSIVE added bonus of having a guild gaining name exposure due to the notoriety of particular members. You go to their big, impressive *branded* ship to do your shopping. (solve the issue of some players not wanting others trampling through 'their space' to buy things by putting promenade/public area with the stores; the guild-centric things behind an invite-only/member portal.) Of course, trophies and whatnot would have to be placed out in the open for everyone to see (isn't that the point for many people?)

-If private apartments beyond the personal ship are wanted; it would ultimate fall on the guild themselves to clean up abandoned spaces since it's happening on their own turf. I know it's not the Coruscant skyscape, but theoretically it could change if the guild ship can change the planet it orbits, no? (moveable guild ships. Whole other social aspect of who knows where a certain group is. Information trading of preferred crafter locations. Navicomputer co-ordinates. Head spinning.)

-If any guild abandons their guild ship, it's in orbit, away from the average player unless they choose to visit the area in the first place. (possible auto-dismantle timers to remove even that? Or just phase it out so it's not seen or reachable by anyone until players come back to it)

Everyone gets their places and their spaces and their set-ups; neither is it falling back on the company to keep it all cleaned up nor is everyone pushed to deal with it in their game. If the mechanics are put into place for you to fly your ship in orbit, you can still have the 'I was out <there> and came across this guild <town>' adventure many people say they have memories of.

I can't see this as segmenting the player base into socializing hubs any differently than what happens in every other MMO. A level restricted-to-get-to town in one game over there, a guild ship hub here.

Players will always make their own pockets in even the most social of games, or so I've found.

possibilities, possibilities...

I'm glad they decided to go with ships/instanced. It fits with what Bioware has done with KOTOR, ME and Dragon Age where you have a home base that you can talk to your crew or access the map and travel. Plus it makes sense in Star Wars for the adventuring characters to be based on a ship rather than some villa on Naboo or something.

If you guys played SWG you know how awesome player housing can be but it has it's drawbacks as well. Entire planets littered with abandoned houses, server lag, etc.

If they do anything besides the ships, I hope it's instanced. I don't feel like TOR is going to be the type of game where you set up shop, place houses and stuff like that in the open world. It'll probably be more like a game like LOTRO, where the housing is instanced and the open world is unchanging.

Bioware spoke on how players with houses stayed and played longer in MMOs as opposed to thosw ith out housing, so we should see the ability to really do something with our ships
The SWG system was a great idea poorly implemented, i did love the freedom but also hated the effect
Smaller feel on the world size, drastic reduction in wild spawns, players spreading out more, cities dying, the housing everywhere etc
I could be wrong but they promised much more to housing and player cities in SWG at first but once live never delivered at all,

Just a humble ship will be fine. With all the planet hopping we'll be doing I don't see the point of having an apartment anywhere - think of the cleaning/maid bills while you're away!!!!

And by humble ship I mean tricked out with airbrushed pictures of a Twi'lek dancer astride a bantha holding some form of weaponry wearing a gold lame bikini...that humble...

Thank you all for the great ideas/ opinions!!

I have neglected this topic due to work/ newborn, but, it is a very important topic to me. I hope they do a combination of Story Driven fast-paced gameplay, with a rock solid and social community. IMHO, i feel that the housing issue is the lynchpin to the whole community system in TOR. The Cantina's will be there, but, players will need a "place to call their own". I really hope Bioware "gets it right".


Be good to yourselves, and, each other...

Schwendo wrote:

Be good to yourselves, and, each other...

Long as Selven stays liberal with that whip!

What? I get lazy sometimes!

On a serious note, as Schwen says, everyone has had some really great ideas about how to approach player housing (and definitely educated me with my limited exposure)

So far I'm happy with just having the Star ship, but I'd not leave it out of the cards for Bioware to be cooking something bigger up down the road.

azarhal wrote:

I'm fine with just the ships. As long as I have lots of place to stash my collections of items, I will be happy.

A big NO to vendor stalls and other similar stuff, they are lag inducing.

We know that they are looking into "guild ship" for the future (well they liked the idea), but I really wonder what kind of Guild Hall they have in place right now.

In a way, you might not want them to put everything in at launch, they won't be able to do good updates if they have nothing to add into the game.

Id have to agree with you on this point- a no for vendor stalls.While it would not be lag inducing for myself, most folks will not have top end rigs like some of us do.

Im a packrat when it comes to these MMOs.You just never know when specialty items you find will come in handy in the future.I reference this to LOTRO's crit items for crafting and trophies.

Great thoughts, everyone. I never thought about the problem of empty neighborhoods and player housing.

For me, the player ships seem great as player housing if we are able to display achievement-type items or even decorate in some way. I still have not really heard a really persuasive argument for why we need a building in addition to a customizable ship we can invite friends to.

CRR_Kathy wrote:

I still have not really heard a really persuasive argument for why we need a building in addition to a customizable ship we can invite friends to.

That's because there simply isn't an actual need.
Anything that doesn't directly involve advancing your character is peripheral, so trying to make a conclusive argument as to why it's needed isn't possible.

On the other hand, sociology dictates that "down time activities" are a requirement for general happiness in an environment (as per Maslow, and a 1997 study which examines MMOs as "Third Places"), so.... the question then becomes "how far is far enough", not so much "do we need this".

But I do think that will help address your point...