Why do Vanity items / Player housing / Pets exist?

[Caselia]

My question is, why is catering to casual players a BAD thing if it extends the game's lifespan?

It doesn't, casuals may be the larger market, but they're usually the ones to quit first because something "new and shiny" comes along and they move there. MMOs are meant for longevity which means shit should take a lot longer than it does now, but because devs are just aiming for a quick buck they kill any long term goals that hardcore players/"dedicated" players play for.

Edit: And this game has no identity, so much crap tossed in taken from other games makes it feel hollow and without improving these systems to give it great depth will drive people away. A theme park style does not work for this game.

[Malamasala]

Perhaps I should have mentioned I love vanity.

I just felt like being blunt and state that most stuff being worked on for MMOs are disliked by enough that it could seem like a total waste of resources. Story though is that one thing that people either like, or don't talk about.

[Malkavianqueen]

casuals may be the larger market, but they're usually the ones to quit first because something "new and shiny" comes along

I get what you're saying, but that's a pretty big generalization. To me, hardcore does not necessarily = dedicated. How many 'hardcore' guilds from this game do the same sort of mmo hopping as 'casual' players? How many already left or are going to leave?

I agree that the game should be harder to extend its lifespan...for those that choose to play that way. I sometimes wish that they had servers with difficulty levels or slower progression rates but I understand why that would be difficult.

I'm just saying from MY experience there is a large group of people who play games for other things than raiding/grinding mobs and that we shouldn't be excluded. For me, most of my crafting professions are higher than my battle ones. And that's why they're adding these vanity/fluff items. To diversify the playerbase and make money.

[Welsper59]

I'd like some insight as to who thought that we all "wet" ourselves in excitement over "cute" pets, mounts, and sunshades.

Stop wasting dev resources in "Player Housing" - Why should I care about a housing area that's just a deliberate attempt at adding more padding to time-consumption. That will have little to no effect to me. Seriously, they fleeced people already by saying "earn an Ahrman pet (that does nothing)" for 90days upfront. - Yeah you can wait but many people paid all upfront.

Why do people ride this horse? - I'd rather they invested this time into creating dark/complex looking Armour weapons.

MMO gamers gone soft? - Is this the norm for Japanese games to include full on vanity, or housing?. What is going on.

Please someone explain the reasoning behind all of this, and why it has started to become a big thing in all MMORPGs?

I don't think you understand the MMORPG genre if you're questioning these things. It hasn't "started" being a big thing in MMOs, it's always been a prevailing concept since the beginning, particularly the days of "advanced" MMORPGs (i.e. EQ). MMORPGs are immersion based games, they're originally designed for the role-player. It was NEVER a genre for the generic gamer until WoW (specifically around TBC expansion), be it because of tech limitations (computers weren't exactly popular/common gaming mediums) or media popularity.

Questioning these features is like going into an FPS game and questioning why you shoot things or why you have to be in first-person. The genre has deep-seated roots or traditions that exist regardless of whatever next-gen perspectives people might have about it.

[Kewhi]

A theme park style does not work for this game.

You mean it doesn't work for you. The game seems to be pretty successful thus far, and many of these "theme park" ideas were used as a main marketing point to boast sales & gain players.

- Non-combat pets
- Barbershop
- Player Housing
- Golden Saucer mini-games
- A vanity style "dressing room"

All these items were main points of focus during the marketing campaign to hype up this game, and all items are considered to be of a "theme park" style of game play. And the population continues to increase each day largely in anticipation for these things.

So how about we let the developers decide what works for this game. They seem to be doing a well enough job so far.

[TeaTimeBear]

says remove crafting and gathering
is currently lvling a 20 botanist????

are you just being sarcastic or are you serious? -_-

That post was full of sarcasm. I was poking fun at her. :|

[Jayded]

because farmville. and leveling your chocobo is endgame.

[ZephyrK]

I see that only three people in this thread really 'get it'.

EDIT: and what 'IT' is, that you all seem to be missing.... The op isn't saying take all of those things out, not at all. He is saying the resources, at this point and time, would be better spent elsewhere. The thing is, you guys will defend your vanity items tooth and nail, yet you will go into another thread, and say the responsiveness is killing the game, and that they need more instance servers, blah blah blah.

The OP is absolutely right. At this current time, the resources need to be focused elsewhere. Disagreeing is pure hypocrisy.

If you think the same guys designing vanity items and housing are the same guys working on responsiveness, you are just wrong. You can't refocus those resources because laying off the art designers to hire more coders or network analysts would absolutely tear the heart and identity right out of this game.

[Gungan]

Unlike Action RPGs, which are all about combat and action, and about doing combat and action at an increasingly grander scale as you progress, MMOs are primarily about existing and living in a virtual world.

Player housing and vanity stuff contributes to this existence, and the liveliness of the world. It allows players to become invested, the community to evolve, and in some cases impact the world directly to varying degrees (player towns in some games). It's wrapped into the RP part of MMORPG.

Wildstar has a pretty deep housing system that included a whole bunch of bonuses and conveniences players can make use of including putting a mine on your land to get materials, and so on.

http://www.wildstar-online.com/en/me...ak/#video-1501

[BlazeChronic]

You are in the overwhelming minority here.

So since we are the minority, we aren't allowed to like or dislike something. Nice to see the how much the WoW community has permeated my precious FF community