WoW's Player Housing is exactly what Azeroth needed

Finally, after players have been clamoring for it for years, World of Warcraft will add player housing at some point during its upcoming Midnight expansion. While not much is known about the feature, the potential alone is extremely exciting. Now players will be able to have a place to call home, a way to display all sorts of achievements, and the perfect place to hang out while waiting in the jail queue. But that might not be the only thing World of Warcrafts player housing will offer.




Ever since the beginning, World of Warcraft has struggled to keep its older content relevant. When a new expansion is released, players often just head to the new lands and leave all the old ones behind. There have been a few attempts to revive classic zones, but for the most part they've just been left to gather dust. With player housing, that may no longer be the case, as not only can it give players the ability to call these zones home, but Blizzard can also give them a reason to push through old content one more time.

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WoW's playerhouse can fix Azeroth's biggest problem


Player residences can make older zones important again

One of the major ways player housing could do old World of Warcraft zones that are relevant again is by giving players the ability to call their favorite zone home. Although easier said than done, players can be allowed to buy and build their home in any zone they want. Maybe they want to live out their days in the Ghostlands, maybe they've always felt that Stranglethorn Vale is the perfect retreat, or maybe the Thousand Needles have just been calling to them for years. Whatever kind of aesthetic they're looking for, player accommodation can let them explore it.

If Blizzard can't make such a system work, then it should at least try to let players live in whatever major city they want. Although almost every race has its capital, most players have spent their time in Orgrimmar or Stormwind. If they could place their house in one of the many cities littering the world, and the studio provided the city with all the vendors players need, then those cities could have a new life. Of course, some towns like Silvermoon need a lot of work to make them relevant, but if it was redesigned to accommodate these houses, it could go a long way to making World of Warcraft feel alive again.


The cosmetics of the playhouses can fit into old content

Not only could Blizzard let players call these many cities or zones home, but it can World of Warcrafts years of content relevant again by tying house cosmetics to it. Players could review old zones, track old ones Wow bosses and complete old quest chains to earn various cosmetic goodies that they could then fill their houses with. While it would require a lot of work on Blizzard's part, giving players something new would serve as the perfect incentive for them to revisit the past.

This could serve as a perfect form of endgame content, as players venture beyond the current expansion's zones to some of their favorites from the past. Additionally, it can also be a good incentive for those looking to raise new alters, as they can be rewarded with a selection of house collectibles during their journey. As long as said collectibles were worthwhile, players would likely try to earn them all. And once they did, Blizzard could introduce even more to other zones and keep them going for years to come.


Through all of this, players can once again venture out into Wow zones and dungeons that have largely become irrelevant. For too long, the game has felt more like the islands Warcraft rather than World of Warcraft. Players have had little reason to branch out past whatever the current expansion's zones are. But if a long-awaited feature like player housing was attached to all these zones, the world probably wouldn't feel small anymore.

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