In the 21 years since World of Warcraft launched, one feature has been asked about and requested above all others: player housing. Despite being the premier MMORPG for over two decades, housing in WoW has always felt like a pipedream. Now, that dream is finally a reality, as an early-access version of player housing is launching December 2 for those who preorder WoW’s eleventh expansion, Midnight.
It’s been a long time coming. Housing as a feature was experimented with in WoW’s earliest days but never came to fruition. In 2014, WoW’s Warlords of Draenor expansion gave players a taste of what a full-fledged player housing system could be in the form of Garrisons. These large, base-like personal towns met nearly all of a player’s needs in one location.
But Garrisons quickly became more of a lesson in what Blizzard shouldn’t do when it came to player housing. Barely customizable, Garrisons were also extremely isolating. With access to so many amenities in one, private location, players didn’t need to be out in the world or hanging out in one of WoW’s capital cities. Garrisons whetted players appetites for housing, but whenever Blizzard was asked about when a proper housing system might arrive, it always replied that it wanted to do the feature justice and was waiting for the right moment to make it happen.
It’s exciting to see WoW housing finally come to life after so many years of anticipation! It’ll be interesting to see how this feature evolves and what it brings to the overall gameplay experience. Looking forward to seeing how the community embraces it!