Why do Vanity items / Player housing / Pets exist?

[DokutoruGwydion]

Social aspects are fun for people. Having a FC house with me and my buds and decking that sucker out sounds like fun to all of us.

[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.

[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.

[Jayded]

because farmville. and leveling your chocobo is endgame.

[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

[TaranTatsuuchi]

There are plenty of other games without housing to play. This game is what they call "Sandbox." If you just want to kill things...maybe this isn't the game for you. Kind of an immature attitude to say we are 'girls' just because we enjoy doing things outside of die hard fighting...etc etc etc...

It is not FAR from being sandbox. Wrong. Sandbox games are games that offer more than just beating up monsters. You can have every profession, the crafting is very detailed and fun. There will be housing. There will be vanity. The characters are beautiful. There is a lot of story depth.

Where do you see this game not being sandbox? I don't think you know the definition of sandbox. Sorry try again.

Correct. That is what this game does and will do even more in the future. That's what makes this game awesome. I will play this game for years because it is Sandbox.

FFXIV ARR is unquestionably a themepark MMO.
It defiantly has sandbox elements, but at its core it is a themepark.


You progress from set piece to set piece that the devs have provided, each built to provide a specific experience. A themepark.


A sandbox typically doesn't have that 'leading by the nose' style to it, and the players themselves create most or all of the content.

[Jess_Spark]

FFXIV ARR is unquestionably a themepark MMO.

A sandbox typically doesn't have that 'leading by the nose' style to it, and the players themselves create most or all of the content.

I have been doing some researching on it and really there doesn't seem to be a label on this game aside from Fantasy. I guess my point would be that this game seems to be headed in a sandbox direction. Having housing which is extremely customizable is sandbox. Having the choice to play any class and every class is sandbox. Yes there are movement restrictions and exploration restrictions that I hope they will open up. IE Swimming, less invisible walls etc...

For me, if there are not enough sandbox elements in a game, I get easily bored. This game thus far has not bored me a bit. There is plenty that I can do outside of just hack and slash and that is my type of game.

[ZakarnRosewood]

I have been doing some researching on it and really there doesn't seem to be a label on this game aside from Fantasy. I guess my point would be that this game seems to be headed in a sandbox direction. Having housing which is extremely customizable is sandbox. Having the choice to play any class and every class is sandbox. Yes there are movement restrictions and exploration restrictions that I hope they will open up. IE Swimming, less invisible walls etc...

For me, if there are not enough sandbox elements in a game, I get easily bored. This game thus far has not bored me a bit. There is plenty that I can do outside of just hack and slash and that is my type of game.

Please check this out for your own reference. Read in Yoshi-P's own words what his vision for the game is since you dont believe TaranTatsuuchi.

Letter from the Producer XX

You’ll never hear me say there’s anything wrong with devoting your life to playing games. That’s what I do, after all. But if you keep doing the same thing, it’s easy to burn out, and there are people who can’t keep up. That’s why I think that in the world of the modern MMORPG, which should be everything like a theme park, diverse rides, facilities, and specs are an absolute necessity.

[Shehrevar]

Disagreeing is pure hypocrisy, he says.

[Koga_Edge]

IN XI housing was a big deal, to every type of player, it's where you change jobs, manage extra inv. space,get your mail, decorate it to your liking, the decorations also played a big role in crafting, Gardening, & Fishing, you could even invite people inside to show it all off.

Housing has been asked to be on XIV since 1.0, so clearly the majority of the old player base wanted it

As for the horse, well Variety is the spice of life. In early 1.0 you couldn't even ride a chocobo, when they introduced the Chocobo, they also said they'd be adding different types of mounts.

and no offense or anything, but just because the housing,different mounts/minions exists, and you don't like it, doesn't mean you have to use it