In this week's article of The Scrying Pool, I look at possible player housing in Guild Wars 2.

In each article of The Scrying Pool, I look at what is and what could be. After taking a look at what is present in Guild Wars 2 now, be that lore or game mechanics, I then ask What If? What if this happened in the lore or this feature was added in a future patch. For this week however, I wanted to do something a little different and tell you a story.

“And that's how I commanded the Pact forces, who, along with the legendary Destiny's Edge, defeated Zhaitan,” I proclaimed, finishing with a triumphant flourish.

I was sitting in the finest arm chair in my house. It isn't anything special, I purchased it from a furniture vendor in Divinity's Reach, but it looks nice and reminds me of my home city.

On the floor in front of me are kids from my neighborhood sitting in a half circle so they can all hear my story and see the trophy of my adventure that is the focus of my tale. Most of the children still have their jaws on the floor, enthralled by my heroic tale of defeating an Elder Dragon. A young Charr boy, however, piped up to ask, “So you have actually met the Destiny's Edge?”

“Yes,” I said with a little chuckle. “I've met everyone in Destiny's Edge and multiple times on many different adventures, not just during the fight with Zhaitan.”

This garnered some oohs and aahs from my young audience which made me laugh a bit. The Charr cub continued to ask, “Can you tell us another story about the adventures you had with Destiny's Edge?”

“Yeah,” the Human girl sitting next to him said in excitement, “can you tell another story?”

I got up from my comfortable recliner to cross the room where one of my trophy shelves hung on the wall. I placed the trophy, a scale from the Elder Dragon Zhaitan I helped to defeat, back in its place on the shelf. The trophy on the shelf next to it was a replica of the sword Magdaer.

I recall helping Eir Stegalkin defeat the ghostly King Adelbern in the catacombs under the ruins of Ascalon City to recover the legendary blade, but every time I look at the replica on my shelf I can't help but wonder where the sword is now. Eir said she knew a blacksmith capable of repairing the shattered blade to its former glory, but it has been a long time since our adventure to recover Magdaer. New enemies have arisen and been defeated, yet no word of the blade has surfaced in almost a year.

“Some mysteries are better left for another day,” I said to my little audience. Their shoulders slumped at the news that another story wasn't coming. “But,” I continued, “I bet if you come back another day I could tell you the story of how Rytlock and Logan came to trust each other again.” With that they all jumped up and ran out the door, only slowing down to wave back at me and shout their goodbyes.

In their haste they almost knocked over a vase I had picked up at the bazaar. While my chair is easily replaceable by visiting that furniture merchant again, the bazaar is only around a couple weeks every year. Getting another vase like it would take months of waiting if it is even being sold there again. You never know what you are going to find during that ragtag event of pirates and artifact fencers selling their rare valuables. Maybe I should consider moving that vase somewhere else in my house, but it matches the rug I placed in the entryway so well--

I broke out of my reverie as the sun hit my face, blinding me in the process. I put my hand up to shield my eyes as I looked out over all the activity going on outside my house. The front of my house faced a small road lined with the other houses.

My neighborhood was one of many at the edge of Lion's Arch and the houses along the street were as varied as the inhabitants of the port city. My house was designed after the architecture found in Divinity's Reach, but looking out I see some designed after the other major races and the naval style famous in Lion's Arch. With how popular quaggans are these days, I'm surprised I haven't seen a quaggan house in a fish tank yet. I think the idea is amusing, but I never share it lest it gives some nut crazy ideas.

The sun shining on my face was already setting at the end of the day. Some days I could swear only last a couple of hours here. With night quickly approaching, I decided to lock the door to my house and head out to find some more adventures.

A couple of weeks ago I talked about Guild Halls. A big part of that article was how everyone has their own reasons for wanting them, and personal housing is the same situation. Some players want it to store and collect valuable items, to personalize to their own liking or just to have an area of the world that they can call their own.

I think that whatever your reason for wanting personal housing, it is less important what the features are than it just feels right. That is what the story above is all about. I could list all of the features you can have in housing, but if those things don't mesh together in a way that feels good then personal housing would flounder as it has in many other games.

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