Homesteads Look To Deliver Exactly What Guild Wars 2 Players Wanted (And More) Out Of A Housing System

Sure, home instances are fine. When Guild Wars 2 releases the Janthir Wilds expansion next month (August 20th), they aren't going anywhere. The MMORPG's mush-desired player housing system will not replace home instances, but you'll probably be hanging out at your homestead a lot more because they're looking fantastic so far. However, anything you've done in your home instance, like nodes, will be available in your homestead, so they work in tandem a bit anyway.

The team partnered with PC Gamer on a preview of the new system and there's a lot of cool things happening in homesteads, including a few small features that really add to the "making this feel like a home" aspect.

Thanks to the preview post, we get a great look at the building tools and crafting tools used in the new system. Unlike currently available guild hall decorating tools, the new homestead tools allow for a much broader range of sizing, scaling, modification, and anchoring. These advanced tools will eventually make their way into guild halls in the future. Crafting items for your new digs will work on its own crafting system so things should be a lot cheaper to create and yes, there will be some items available via the gem shop, too, so ArenaNet will be able to monetize homesteads a bit.

The instance itself isn't built like a neighborhood like in FFXIV, but this also has the trade off that you won't have to randomly get lucky in a lottery to get a homestead. You'll gain access to yours via the main campaign in Janthir Wilds.

It looks like a great compromise of systems and reminds me quite a bit of Wildstar. Yes, you can invite friends and even give them permission to help you decorate if you like. Placing statues of yourself in specific gear, displaying your legendary weapons, having your alts running around and your mounts stabled are all the exact kind of small touches that I love in the system.

Check out the full preview video below.