When Guild Vault was announced and added, I remember hearing many concerns that the Guild Vault system was what the game would have for a Guild Housing system. At this point, I'd like to say that they weren't exactly wrong, since the Guild Vault is a better system.
Problems with Guild Housing
There are many problems with the current system:
Probably the biggest problem is that it is a selective lottery. Since only the 10 guilds who buy the most tickets are eligible to win the lottery, it will provide large and/or rich guilds the opportunity to buy out the entire list, leaving small guilds with no option to obtain a House. More on this later.
- The second biggest problem is the fact that the biggest perk of having a house, the Greedy Mine PvP dungeon (with poor drop rates), has shared access with those who win the Guild Vault through WoE. With this, even if a small guild does manage to win a house, they will not be able to take advantage of it easily, as they will either be killed by other players or by the bosses, depending on character levels.
Returning to the first point: having 10% of money put into lottery being given to the winning guild isn't fair to those who buy what they can, and hope that they might get it. After all, in all really lotteries, you really only need 1 ticket to win. The real lottery is more fair because those who purchased only a small amount of ticket are not removed from the overall pool. If the lottery system has to be kept, then extend it to include everybody who entered, and the 10% return will no longer be completely unfair. After all, if a small guild that bought 1 ticket did win, and got the 10%, it would balance the money out a little bit.
- As some of you may know, I do run my own guild. It's fairly small, and most players are casual, but we generally have a good time. I'd love the ability to allow my guild members the opportunity to explore the new content and to feel somewhat important by having an area for us. I was really looking forward to housing.
- I'd guess that most players are extremely upset by this system, considering the feedback in this thread and others, as well as what I have seen in game. At best, players are indifferent. I have not heard anybody say anything they liked about this system, and I don't honestly expect to.
- The game really benefits PvP players, which isn't really surprising, since most MMOs do. The problem is that this new content has been effectively taken away from non-PvP players before they even get it. Why is this a bad thing? Not all of the players who pay are PvP. Some people buy all the mounts and costumes they can, because that's how they enjoy playing. Others spend money on items for their gear because they like how it feels to have good items or a weapon that glows. Do all of them pay directly? No, but they trade with others who do, so therefore they pay indirectly.
Benefits of Guild Vault
The biggest benefit of the Guild Vault is that it can be earned, even though it's really only an option to the biggest, strongest guilds. It contains the boss monster which can be killed for decent loot, and now contains access to a dungeon that is, honestly, something that the owners of a Guild Vault would be interested in if it weren't for the poor drop rates; it is not something that all guilds would be interested in.
What it Could Be
Guild Housing could, and should, be so much more. While I am aware that this kind of feedback has already been given and more or less ignored, I would like to take the opportunity to add my opinion. At the very least, it should be a place for members of any eligible guild to:
- Spend time together away from other areas
- Utilize various services offered in the House
I stated in an earlier post that a guild must be Level 20 to purchase a lottery ticket; I have no problem with a level requirement for purchasing a guild house. In fact, I support that, because it means that a player cannot just start a new guild and have a house to themselves, they would have to earn it. Here is how I visualize true Guild Housing:
- A guild meets a certain level requirement to purchase a Guild House. This should be about the same level as storage; perhaps before storage (there's a few dead levels where points are gained but there's no place to put them).
- The guild raises enough zeny from their members to meet the purchase price for the house type they wish. Perhaps there is only one type of house, and the amount is the same for all houses.
- Multiple house types: This can either be size of house (small, medium, mansion, etc) or the location. For example, there could be houses in each of the 3 cities, to be themed as such, and the price for later cities would be higher since the game has progressed that way. The exit portal of this guild's house would be in the city it is themed as. Since many guilds have favorite cities, this would allow them to pick the city they already reside in.
- Periodically (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly), the guild is required to pay a "rent" or "mortgage" fee to keep their house. This would prevent dead guilds from continuing to own a house.
- The Guild House would contain a number of basic NPCs, perhaps purchased with zeny, such as the ones in the current housing system, except scrap the Master Level NPC. This would provide services to guilds who can't afford:
- Cash Shop Items! (Yes, I'm suggesting Cash Shop Items :v deal with it) The Kafra Item Shop may contain certain additional items to be added to a guild's house (I've listed some examples below). Like other items from Kafra Item Shop, they would be tradeable to other players, which would allow those who can't spend money to also have nice things. You may be wondering how some of these items would be viable as a Premium item, but guilds die and are created fairly often, and once the content is created it doesn't have to be created again like a physical product would.
- Long-Distance Flight Kafra (or equivalent portal): would have the exact same functionality as the regular Long-Distance Flight Kafra, including the tiny fee (unless portal is used).
- Master Level NPC: In my opinion, it's not really important to have an extra Master Level merchant, since there's one right near all of the Master Level areas, so it would be more of a luxury item.
- Extra Storage: Think of it like a lockers in a school. The one(s) in charge add it, and it's there for all members to use as personal storage. If a player leaves or is banished from the guild, the items in the locker would be mailed to the character; if they do not have enough space in their normal storage or bags, it will be up to them to make space. This would also encourage players to at least check on their characters once in a while, to ensure that their items are not about to be deleted by the mail system.
- Decoration Items: Offer various decorative items that are themed along with the game (I would want a Poring in my house). New ones can be released periodically, much like mounts and costumes, which will keep interest. This would be the item of constant interest, while the previous two would be more like 1-time purchases.
- Do not give it a dungeon! This is completely unnecessary, and it seems the interest isn't there anyways.
In the end, players are being chased away because they feel they are being ridiculed by not being allowed access to new content. The Dark Whisper update was available to everybody, but the grind is really hard on people who can't play often; not only that, but the sudden jump from easy grind to hard grind is a gap that many aren't even attempting. True guild housing would offer something for existing players of all types to enjoy and spend money on. New players would be able to look forward to the day when they, too, can purchase a guild house of their very own.
My head hurts from typing all this. I hope I didn't forget anything >.<;
EDIT: Crossed off stuff to do with the lottery system, since it seems to work more like a regular lottery now.
Edited by Emilizzard, 12 November 2014 - 08:46 PM.