FFXIV should take a note from SUIKODEN

[Duelle]

And even though Suikoden did it way earlier, WoW fans would still say that FFXIV copied Garrisons if this feature were to be added.

Depends. The garrisons in WoW are very lackluster when it comes to choices available. You're sort of placed into the garrison and at most you just have to run chores (mining ore, picking plants, assigning and collecting work orders). Nothing in it can really be customized outside of trivial things (what color drapes are placed over buildings and what race the guards that patrol the garrison are). The only real notable thing about it is that a LOT of the story characters you run into while questing on Draenor hang out at your garrison after you meet them. For example, you encounter WoW's resident master hunter (Hemet Nesingwary) and after doing a radial quest for him he decides to hang out at your garrison.

I guess the comparison in FFXIV terms would be if you were given your own castle, and as you complete quests some of the involved NPCs would start hanging out at your castle because, well, who DOESN'T want to hang out with the Warrior of Light? Say that after completing the stuff in Forgotten Springs some of the girls from the U tribe decide to hang out at your castle. And then you run into Fufulupa from the MSQ and the moogle involved in the bard questline. Perhaps Sylvie from the CNJ questline decides to sometimes pay you a visit. Or maybe Aldis. You get the idea.

The fact that WoW can have their current bug-ridden garrison system but not instanced housing after 10+ years of subscriptions fueling them still irks me somewhat. F2P games have instanced housing/personal spaces and have for decades. Why the bloody hell can't games like FF14 and WoW?

There is this. I wasn't thrilled with Garrisons and if you check out the WoW forums, they're compared to facebook games rather than an actual housing system.

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I'm on the fence as far the OP's idea goes. I liked the Suikoden games but the castle was the place to bring everyone together and little more. That's why the protagonist (and Thomas in III) is the Tenkai Star, AKA the one that is the gathering point for the other 107 stars of destiny. I guess you could argue that the WoL is the gathering point for everyone, but I don't see the type of character variety to support a Suikoden-like castle system or something based on WoW's garrisons.

On the flipside, if this were a Suikoden game, Hildibrand or inspector Briardien would be the one who collects info on everyone. And I'm sure lots of people who jump at the opportunity to make Hildy a permanent part of their lives.