World of Warcraft’s biggest competition comes from Final Fantasy XIV, and though the two have plenty in common, Final Fantasy XIV has always been more known for its social side. WoW developer Blizzard Entertainment could be trying to change that dynamic, though, as it’s recently detailed some big updates coming to the massively multiplayer online RPG. Two recent blog posts spell out WoW’s plans for its upcoming housing system, as well as a broad outline of what Blizzard calls its Social Initiative to improve the ways that fans play WoW together.
For years, Final Fantasy XIV has offered players access to in-game housing and WoW players have been asking for a similar feature. Player houses act as social spaces where individuals or groups can decorate their own homes and use them as hubs for socializing and crafting together. However, Final Fantasy XIV’s housing system has several controversial quirks, limiting how many houses exist on each server and kicking players out of their houses if they go too long without using them. Blizzard explicitly says it won’t be following the same route in WoW.
