Massively OP’s 2020 Awards: Best MMO Player Housing

December 20, 2020 11:00 AM

MassivelyOP’s end-of-the-year awards for 2020 continue today with our award for Best MMO Player Housing, which was awarded to The Elder Scrolls Online last year. MMORPGs eligible for this award may have launched in any year as long as they are still alive (and legal) and still offer player housing; nominees should be judged based on the quality and depth of that feature and that feature alone. Don’t forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end!

And the MassivelyOP staff pick for the Best MMO Player Housing of 2020 is…

EVERQUEST II and ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE

Andy McAdams: EverQuest II and ESO. EQII is still my favorite because for me, the house strikes the perfect balance of gameplay and being able to commemorate my journey though Norrath. I put ESO out there too because, well, it’s one of the few contemporary MMOs that even offers housing.

Brianna Royce: Lord of the Rings Online. Unlike most of the MMOs that win this award for having the best housing in the genre, LOTRO actually did something huge for housing this year in the form of Rohan housing, and so I think it deserves this award more than the usual suspects, which frankly coasted on their accolades. Plus, even though I play a SWG rogue server for my hardcore housing fix, I had a ton of fun with my LOTRO house and yard this year, in spite of the annoying hook system. If I had to pick best overall housing in any living and legal MMO, though, it’d be EverQuest II.

Carlo Lacsina: RIFT. I originally voted for WoW since it didn’t have one. I’m more of a murder-hobo kind of guy, but Justin convinced me to go with RIFT. It’s like EQII, but since RIFT is the newer game between the two, I’ll go with that. From what I understand, you can also look inside the house from the window, which doesn’t happen often enough in player housing.

Chris Neal: Star Wars The Old Republic, Elder Scrolls Online. I’m actually going to back Tyler up on this one here and admit that SWTOR has some pretty good housing stuff going on. I’ve not been playing the game enough to really want to settle in, but in some return trips I’ve made, I have to admit that the options for in-game housing have been a lot more interesting than I had given them credit for. I especially dig on that Alderaan house.

Eliot Lefebvre: Let’s give the nod this year to The Elder Scrolls Online? I have some gripes for all of the possible candidates.

Justin Olivetti: RIFT, EverQuest II. MJ and I fight every year about whether EQII or RIFT has better housing. RIFT does, of course, but that’s only because it stands on the shoulders of EverQuest II’s incredibly flexible and deep housing system. Elder Scrolls Online isn’t as good, especially if you consider its horrible placement tools, but I do like the housing variety and the commitment that the studio has to making this an important part of the game.

MJ Guthrie: EverQuest II. Sorry, but this award still goes to EQII. In addition to the tons of houses available (everything from rooms styled fittingly in the main cities to themed premium ones to match various zones throughout the game), there are innumerable housing items to decorate with so your creativity has no limit. Want to build a riverfront and wharf in caves? You can. Want an opulent castle high on a flaring island? Yup. EQII even gets me to raid just to get housing items. Of course, gettingyour hands on tons of decorations is easy peasy, too. EQII is very generous with decorations: So many items that are player-crafted, and each in-game event brings additional items to place as well as new recipes to make more items for houses. This year, players could even earn free prestige homes. Free!

Tina Lauro Pollock: Elder Scrolls Online.

Tyler Edwards: As in the past, SWTOR gets my vote. Houses in that game actually feel like homes, not just trophy rooms.

EverQuest II and Elder Scrolls Online tied for our award for Best MMO Player Housing. What’s your pick?

Reader poll: Which living MMO offered the best housing in 2020?

EverQuest II (16%, 84 Votes)
Elder Scrolls Online (23%, 120 Votes)
LOTRO (6%, 29 Votes)
RIFT (8%, 41 Votes)
SWTOR (9%, 47 Votes)
Final Fantasy XIV (16%, 82 Votes)
Black Desert (4%, 20 Votes)
ArcheAge (2%, 12 Votes)
Ultima Online (5%, 25 Votes)
Wurm Online (3%, 14 Votes)
Legends of Aria (0%, 2 Votes)
Trove (1%, 3 Votes)
Aion (0%, 2 Votes)
Shroud of the Avatar (1%, 6 Votes)
Villagers and Heroes (0%, 1 Votes)
Albion Online (1%, 7 Votes)
Something else (tell us in the comments!) (4%, 18 Votes)

Total Voters: 436

Loading ...

How does MassivelyOP choose the winner?

Our team gathers together to nominate and discuss candidates and hopefully settle on a consensus winner. We don’t have a hard vote, but we do include written commentary from every writer who submitted it on time so that you can see where some of us differed, what our secondary picks were, and why we personally nominated what we did (or didn’t). The site’s award goes to the staff selection, but we’ll include both it and the community’s top nomination in our debrief in January.

How does MassivelyOP populate this poll?

Poll options include all MMOs nominated plus a few others with housing we thought should be included.