Why do Vanity items / Player housing / Pets exist?

[Jess_Spark]

Some of us prefer the vanity/fluff of a game to everything else in the game. I get tired really fast of killing mobs...not really my fav part of the game...but when it comes to crafting and and housing etc it's the reason I stay longer with certain games. Like Ultima Online I played for 6 years because it was so much fun to sell things I found in my store which was inside my house.

It's just a preference. If you don't like housing/fluff then don't use it...but it's part of gaming and always has been.

[Nica]

Most stuff for MMOs are mind boggling that they even spend time on development.

PvP? Always fails in games that use class systems.

Mini games? So I am supposed to start up Final Fantasy 14 to play tetris? To play pokemon? Just pointless.

You are just as bad as the OP, only difference being the stuff that you want focus on.

If you ask me, all the time on a Final Fantasy should be spent on story driven content. Because everything else is probably available in a better version outside the game.

Good thing they didn't ask you then. FYI, there are better story driven content out there too, I guess you should jusr stop playing 14, or maybe videogames altogether.

[Z3M0G]

OP, do you remember what it was like when you played your first MMO? I can't speak for you, but I hope it was something like me...

I felt like I was LIVING in this virtual world... like I was not just a character killing monsters and collecting cool gear. That game was FFXI and I never even reached level cap... I think I made it to 52 or something like that.

I had a house. I purchased furniture that other people crafted "with their own two hands". I made friends. etc.

Playing an MMO is not only about a competitive gameplay experience. It is a world to experience. You ask why these features are coming? I say it is unfortunate that they couldn't be there from day 1...

Don't forget that in-game marriage is also an important feature they are adding. Yes, people will be getting married in the game.

Not everyone plays MMOs for the reasons you do. There are countless other games for that sort of thing.

[Jackl3]

Some of you have mentioned role-playing. Well if this was role-playing, my "hero" would be shacked up in the nearest towns brewery and up to no good, then waking up in a hay-stack. Does this game cater for my recreation? No, it shines bear naked guys rolling around breaking immersion because wearing vanity clothing (swimwear) is the said thing to do.

The vanity aspect is the role of npcs, or "non-heroes".

[DeadRiser]

Hey OP, how long did it take you to create your character? She's very pretty. And nice to look at.

Isn't that the same thing as vanity items and housing? If it didn't matter, then your character wouldn't look like it does.

[Jackl3]

Hey OP, how long did it take you to create your character? She's very pretty. And nice to look at.

Isn't that the same thing as vanity items and housing? If it didn't matter, then your character wouldn't look like it does.

That is your judgement of my character, it took less than 2 minutes.

[Makeda]

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.

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

Real "action heroes" don't need no fancy pants graphics. To heck with even 8-bit!



All that cute and fuzzy graphics is a waste of dev time. Back in my day...

Or maybe a lot of us LIKE this stuff?

You could always go back to Intellivision, or the Atari 2600. Or heck...

Text-based MUDs: to heck with ANY graphics!!!

Graphics are for wimps!

Because some people enjoy doing other things than killing poor little monsters that only wants to destroy the world.

Best D&D session I ever ran, way back in the 1980s... players arrived at the dungeon only to see Orcs and Kobolds outside holding up picket signs. The local Dungeons Monsters 101 Union was on strike for poor working conditions, lack of medical benefits, poor life insurance, and backed up plumbing...

The party had to find the local 'dungeon master' and school him on worker's rights. :P

Oh and yeah... in the 1990s I played in one where the had to stop someone from collecting all the cute and fuzzy animals of the world...

The point is, heroes aren't supposed to "fluff" around with 'cute' pets and housing. -

Vanity and cute items are catering to the Japanese high-school girl stereo-type.

No stereotyping there I guess?

I've been collecting mini-pets as long as they've been in these games. I love the housing and pets, as do MANY others. I'm in my 40s, came from an American inner city, military veteran... and have NO IDEA where your particular perception regarding cultures comes from...

[Jackl3]

Real "action heroes" don't need no fancy pants graphics. To heck with even 8-bit!

Nothing wrong with the representation of the games world in this form back in time.

However, the time of representing the world in 3D is normal. The point is, heroes aren't supposed to "fluff" around with 'cute' pets and housing. -

Vanity and cute items are catering to the Japanese high-school girl stereo-type.

[Sothis]

The point is, heroes aren't supposed to "fluff" around with 'cute' pets and housing.

Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion man.

If I want to be a hero with a cool house and a ton of cute pets while I'm saving the world, I can be. If you don't want to be, no one is forcing you to use minions or buy a house. That's the beauty of it.

[Jackl3]

Because you're a basement troll who has little to no money to spend. The people who spend the most on MMOs (older, family-oriented people, i.e. casuals) spend FAR more than you do, and the simple truth is, cute sells to those people.

Do I know you in person?
You've made an assumption on my job/wage and income based on my refusal to enjoy/buy vanity items? If you're making assumptions like that, then you're not to be trusted in general, poor lack of judgement.