I realize there are players that would really like to take up virtual interior decorating, but I don't think you're going to get a developer to come out and say "no, it's never going to happen" because its not in their best interest to crush your hopes and risk losing a subscription.

 

So we're left to rely on our own common sense in this situation, and I think it's fair to say there will be no personal housing in SWTOR in any foreseeable future. It's not in keeping with the direction the game's been headed, and if you're holding out for these features you're only going to be disappointed.

i have never played WOW or SWG but I dont see why people who want houses or to decorate the ships are complaining about that. first off you are really only in your ship to travel to different planets, there is no combat unless your doing a space mission. I highly can see when someone says in the chat LFG My house the first response will be no one gives a *****. This game is not about decorating its about storyline combat, play skyrim if you want to decorate with their new expansion (unless you have ps3). The point is im sure Bioware is well aware of what certain people want but they can only do so much and have to priortize. If this small little feature bothers you then dont play its simple. Everyone has to complain about something and just cant enjoy it. I dont complain when a small glitch happens or complain that they make datacrons a pain in the butt to get

i have never played WOW or SWG but I dont see why people who want houses or to decorate the ships are complaining about that. first off you are really only in your ship to travel to different planets, there is no combat unless your doing a space mission. I highly can see when someone says in the chat LFG My house the first response will be no one gives a *****. This game is not about decorating its about storyline combat, play skyrim if you want to decorate with their new expansion (unless you have ps3). The point is im sure Bioware is well aware of what certain people want but they can only do so much and have to priortize. If this small little feature bothers you then dont play its simple. Everyone has to complain about something and just cant enjoy it. I dont complain when a small glitch happens or complain that they make datacrons a pain in the butt to get

 

 

how about if players wanting such a small little feature bothers you so much then don't play yourself.

I get that some MMO players are all gungho about player housing. IF, this game was sandbox (and it's not sandbox, so let it go), I could see perhaps some point to player housing.

 

That said however, in my experience over the last dozen or so years playing MMOs is that housing quickly becomes nothing more then a place to store stuff. We already have that with our ships, so I really do not see the point.

 

Visit any housing in any non-sandbox MMO, even at it's height of excitement and shiny newness and what you find is a housing zone devoid of any actual populace or social interactions. Heck even Guild Houses way back when were largely just large storage complexes with a few trophies here and there. The players were out playing the game 99.9% of the time.

 

Guild ships? By all means..... give it a go and see what they can come up with, even though I am skeptical.

 

Housing...... pointless waste of developer resources IMO.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Andryah

how about if players wanting such a small little feature bothers you so much then don't play yourself.

 

it doesnt bother me one bit i am happy with the game but im not going to whin over something so small when or if bigger issues are on the priority lists. it annoys me that everyone has to complain about something to complain. IF SWTOR wanted to be more like WOW then i am sure they would have. Why would you want every game to be the same? its nice the SWTOR is seperate from other MMO's just like how other games are different from SWTOR

I'm rather pleased to have the ship as housing as it is. With a few Legacy purchases, it becomes downright homey.

 

The only thing I'd like would be to see a few cosmetic touches to go along with the story content as you progress.

 

As a BH, I'd like to see a few carbonite trophies on the wall, ala Jabba style. Maybe some bones and lightsabers of conquered Jedi on my Inquisitor's ship...That sort of thing. Little remembrances from past moments.

it doesnt bother me one bit i am happy with the game but im not going to whin over something so small when or if bigger issues are on the priority lists. it annoys me that everyone has to complain about something to complain. IF SWTOR wanted to be more like WOW then i am sure they would have. Why would you want every game to be the same? its nice the SWTOR is seperate from other MMO's just like how other games are different from SWTOR

 

It would seem to bother you quiet a bit as you took the time to make a post complaining about it and tellin players to stop or quit playing.

I'm rather pleased to have the ship as housing as it is. With a few Legacy purchases, it becomes downright homey.

 

The only thing I'd like would be to see a few cosmetic touches to go along with the story content as you progress.

 

As a BH, I'd like to see a few carbonite trophies on the wall, ala Jabba style. Maybe some bones and lightsabers of conquered Jedi on my Inquisitor's ship...That sort of thing. Little remembrances from past moments.

 

yea that would be pretty cool to show trophies of slain jedi or bosses you took out. As a warrior it would be cool to have your own marking or like if you went to a planet the NPCs knew who you were and were afraid of you

quickly becomes nothing more then a place to store stuff. We already have that with our ships, so I really do not see the point.

 

In my experience well implemented player housing becomes a focus for community events, role play and helps give players sense of ownership and immersion in the game that they do not otherwise get. Which one of us is right? Well in the absence of any actual data on the subject I'm going to say both.

 

Some people will just use it to store stuff, nothing wrong with that. Others will put huge amounts of effort and take great pride in decorating it fantastically and showing it off to friends and guildmates. They will use them for social events, roleplay and all sorts of things. It will give them great pleasure and help immerse them further in the game.

 

So where is the harm in that? The only arguments against it are purely selfish 'I'm not interested so the developers shouldn't waste time with it'.

 

Also people need to stop bringing up SWG and sandbox games like they are the only games with player housing, that is utterly false and really quite stupid.

In my experience well implemented player housing becomes a focus for community events, role play and helps give players sense of ownership and immersion in the game that they do not otherwise get. Which one of us is right? Well in the absence of any actual data on the subject I'm going to say both.

 

Some people will just use it to store stuff, nothing wrong with that. Others will put huge amounts of effort and take great pride in decorating it fantastically and showing it off to friends and guildmates. They will use them for social events, roleplay and all sorts of things. It will give them great pleasure and help immerse them further in the game.

 

So where is the harm in that? The only arguments against it are purely selfish 'I'm not interested so the developers shouldn't waste time with it'.

 

Also people need to stop bringing up SWG and sandbox games like they are the only games with player housing, that is utterly false and really quite stupid.

 

No, why should we when the people who are the ones bringing it up in the first place are Ex-SWG vets using it as a thinly-veiled pretext to whine that this game isn't SWG 2.0?

 

You phase those people out of here, and I'll be happy to discuss player housing with anyone who isn't some bitter old crab just looking for attention and acting like some self-entitled brat.

No, why should we when the people who are the ones bringing it up in the first place are Ex-SWG vets using it as a thinly-veiled pretext to whine that this game isn't SWG 2.0?

 

You phase those people out of here, and I'll be happy to discuss player housing with anyone who isn't some bitter old crab just looking for attention and acting like some self-entitled brat.

 

which is another way of saying never because anytime someone even mentions housing, without saying SWG mind you, they are immediately jumped on and severely told this is not SWG!

The cutscenes are done in engine, so why they couldn't reflect your furniture in the background? I think it would be tremendously primitive to make certain zones that are utilized in NPC movements "blocked".

 

What are you talking about?

 

Let's say you have a square room, and within that room you have chairs, tables, couches, etc, and all of those objects only line the edge(s) of the (square) room. That room then has a scripted cutscene where a character walks through the middle of the room from point A to point B.

 

Now let's say wanted to redecorate that room or were given the ability to move the furniture in the room around and you decided you wanted to put some tables in chairs in the middle of the room where there was originally nothing. Well guess what? You can't because you have a pre-scripted event that requires the character to walk through the middle of the room where you now have furniture placed which would result in one of two things

 

A) The collision detection of the furniture would block the character's path preventing the cutscene from playing out properly.

 

or

 

B) The character would just walk/clip through all the furniture and look completely ridiculous.

 

There is no way around that issue unless you redo the cutscene(s)

 

The characters/NPCs don't have AI routines in the cutscenes, they are pre-scripted to do a very specific thing. You can move furniture around in a game like The Sims because everything is always running in real time and the characters/sims have routines set up within their AI that let them know an object is in their path when walking from point A to point B which is what allows them to walk around that object in that game. TOR was designed differently than The Sims (go figure) and that functionality is not possible.

 

If the characters just always stood around in a single place and never moved around that be one thing, but it's not the case.

 

You could swap out things like chairs, beds, etc, with other chairs and beds but they would need to be roughly the same size and shape. You can't do anything that drastically alters the layout or objects without conflicting with the pre-scripted cutscenes.

 

Didn't you ever wonder why there are companion conversations that can only take place on your ship and not a cantina? Like when your companion says "let's talk when we get back to the ship." or whatever. Why do you think you can't just have that conversation in a rest area? It's because that conversation has been pre-scripted to take place within the ships interior. The conversations in rest areas are those that don't require the characters to move around the area, sit down, lean against something, etc.

 

Thank you for bringing up this point. It made me mentally run through cutscenes of all my characters - and also existing modifications to ships that we get. You already mentioned textures. Here are some more thoughts.

 

• Corners are probably safe; that's how we got mailboxes situated.
  
• One of companions talks about adding "exterior rooms" to the ship, like pods that hang outside of it. There are even a couple of extra doors that could be used for the purpose. So some customizable add-on space can happen.
  
• People could customize the existing geometry. For example, change the way the existing chairs and the bed look.
  
• We could use some holo-objects that are visible, but don't need collision mechanics.
  
• We could use objects that appear and disappear, like a fold-out sofa. Their variable can be set to "disappear" once any on-ship cutscene starts. There is a mechanic for it in the game already: helmets. Some cutscenes force helmets to become invisible.
  

 

Yes, you are correct and those are all very good ideas and ways to get around alot of the problems of the pre-scripted cutscenes.

 

Also when I mentioned geometry earlier I was referring to the placement of objects, ie moving a table that was in the corner of a room to the middle of the room.

 

I guess you could allow players to have other ships, that they could fully customize, but it would have to be made clear to them (somehow) that no story related cutscenes could take place on that ship. Meaning if they needed to use the holo communicator or talk to a companion they'd need to do it on their original ship.

Even if it were to be added, the only place where it makes any realm of sense would be on the capital worlds. I doubt alot of the sandboxy types will like being limited to only one planet.

 

Than there's the matter of it needing to be instanced to accomodate the lack of open terrain for it on the world(s) its implemented on, when many players who like player housing want the ability to "show off", which you can't easily do with instances.

 

At the base of it though, in my opinion, you don't add "fluff" things like player housing in a narrative-based game that's all about war, conflict, and the entire galaxy caught up in turmoil. It completely throws off the rhythm and motifs the game has.

Edited March 6, 2013 by Darth_Halford

how about if players wanting such a small little feature bothers you so much then don't play yourself.

 

It's the concept of opportunity costs that bothers me. By working on Star Wars HGTV, that takes people, time, and funds away from the facets of the game that were always meant to be there and can/should be expanded or improved upon.

 

The Old Republic is a war-themed, narratively based "Themepark" MMO. Ideas that distract or take away from that should not be considered.

No, why should we when the people who are the ones bringing it up in the first place are Ex-SWG vets using it as a thinly-veiled pretext to whine that this game isn't SWG 2.0?

 

You phase those people out of here, and I'll be happy to discuss player housing with anyone who isn't some bitter old crab just looking for attention and acting like some self-entitled brat.

 

I grant you that a lot of the ex-SWg players are a little silly. I played SWG, and it was a good game with a lot of potential that went to waste. A lot of ex-players can't differentiate between that potential and what it actually was. It gets annoying when they compare SWTOR to SWG to it.

 

But that has NOTHING to do with player housing. SWG was not the first nor the only MMO to have player housing. It is a feature many people want regardless of SWG. Saying 'you can't have player housing until SWG players go away' is mind-boggling stupid.

 

It's the concept of opportunity costs that bothers me. By working on Star Wars HGTV, that takes people, time, and funds away from the facets of the game that were always meant to be there and can/should be expanded or improved upon.

The Old Republic is a war-themed, narratively based "Themepark" MMO. Ideas that distract or take away from that should not be considered.

That is so illogical I don't know where to begin. For a start a war themed narratively based themepark MMO is not antithetical to player housing, that is a laughable proposition. Unless you are arguing that people don't need houses during a war or that stories can't involve houses. It's ridiculous. The length and breadth of SWTOR is far beyond that of a battlefield, much of it takes place during a cold war and none of the characters we play are dedicated front line troops that can never leave the battlefield without permission. They are free-agents accepting missions as they see fit, there is no reason why they wouldn't take a break between missions to visit home.

 

As to your first point, that is simply a case of 'I don't want it so BW shouldn't waste time on something I don't want'. If there is demand for player housing (which evidently there is) those people have as much right to developers time as you do. More and varied content is only a good thing for an MMO and while, of course, BW should prioritise things that will benefit the most people there is absolutely no reason why people who want player housing can't continue to campaign for it.

I grant you that a lot of the ex-SWg players are a little silly. I played SWG, and it was a good game with a lot of potential that went to waste. A lot of ex-players can't differentiate between that potential and what it actually was. It gets annoying when they compare SWTOR to SWG to it.

 

But that has NOTHING to do with player housing. SWG was not the first nor the only MMO to have player housing. It is a feature many people want regardless of SWG. Saying 'you can't have player housing until SWG players go away' is mind-boggling stupid.

 

 

That is so illogical I don't know where to begin. For a start a war themed narratively based themepark MMO is not antithetical to player housing, that is a laughable proposition. Unless you are arguing that people don't need houses during a war or that stories can't involve houses. It's ridiculous. The length and breadth of SWTOR is far beyond that of a battlefield, much of it takes place during a cold war and none of the characters we play are dedicated front line troops that can never leave the battlefield without permission. They are free-agents accepting missions as they see fit, there is no reason why they wouldn't take a break between missions to visit home.

 

As to your first point, that is simply a case of 'I don't want it so BW shouldn't waste time on something I don't want'. If there is demand for player housing (which evidently there is) those people have as much right to developers time as you do. More and varied content is only a good thing for an MMO and while, of course, BW should prioritise things that will benefit the most people there is absolutely no reason why people who want player housing can't continue to campaign for it.

thank you for being logical

Just returned to game, housing would be nice.

 

However I find this string depressing. B.W keeps saying in there vids and posts how this is not just their game, how its yours too....but everytime someone move foward with a personal idea...like this one... instead of being recieved with respect... it personal put down, name calling, general schoolyard mentality if you dont like it, you have to slam it and put it down.

sad really, another reason not to cooperate with the community

We Don't need a stupid house, this is not Galaxies. If anything, further customization of our ships would suffice.

We Don't need a stupid house, this is not Galaxies. If anything, further customization of our ships would suffice.

 

nobody said it was galaxies. Sheesh

It's the concept of opportunity costs that bothers me. By working on Star Wars HGTV, that takes people, time, and funds away from the facets of the game that were always meant to be there and can/should be expanded or improved upon.

 

The Old Republic is a war-themed, narratively based "Themepark" MMO. Ideas that distract or take away from that should not be considered.

 

Even when those ideas may broaden the games appeal and end up brining even more players into the game? That's rather narrow minded.

nobody said it was galaxies. Sheesh

 

But that is the point though isn't it. SWG was sandbox in design. SWTOR is not.

Where exactly are you going to put said player housing? There are only a few 'open' planets that could potentially accommodate it i.e. Tatooine.

I for one don't want houses blocking my path to objectives down the limited pathways that are available to us.

 

Face it, it's never going to happen.

 

I would love to have the crafting system from SWG imported into SWTOR, but guess what, that's not going to happen either.

 

Move on.

But that is the point though isn't it. SWG was sandbox in design. SWTOR is not.

Where exactly are you going to put said player housing? There are only a few 'open' planets that could potentially accommodate it i.e. Tatooine.

I for one don't want houses blocking my path to objectives down the limited pathways that are available to us.

 

Face it, it's never going to happen.

 

I would love to have the crafting system from SWG imported into SWTOR, but guess what, that's not going to happen either.

 

Move on.

 

Did you even read the thread? Housing can be instanced.

Did you even read the thread? Housing can be instanced.

 

^ This.

 

And I guess s/he did see my post or other who mentioned the early version of TOR had instanced housing on Coruscant and Dromund Kaas.

Did you even read the thread? Housing can be instanced.

 

It's not a question of "where do we put the houses?". It's a question of adding value to the game and direction.

 

If you take a non-sandbox game, and add random sandbox features, the game does not suddenly become an awesome sandbox game. It becomes a non-sandbox game with randomly grafted sandbox features. While this can work, the chances it would work are minuscule at best because SWTOR isn't a sandbox. Especially when you take into account the unsupported idea of "housing" in the sense of a planet-side, physical home as compared to a ship.

 

If you want something like player housing, I'm sorry to say but it's not going to be like SWG. You have a personal ship per character that is the focus and . This constitutes a thematic direction when you take all the action and activities that take place on your ship both in SWTOR, and the KOTOR games before it.

 

Your "house" is your ship. Any "housing" is going to be ship-based, be it the ability to buy a new ship in the future, and/or decorate the inside or outer hull.

 

Any "guild housing" they add to the game will, most likely, consist of a "guild fleet" made up of capital ships because it will keep with that already established theme.

 

Sorry. No white-picket fence crap.

I live on my ship. That's all I need.

 

Then again, my own personal starport would be nice. Gotta refuel, you know.