[UnchainedAcolyte]

I know several people have made statements about "playing house", but at the same time there should be some form of social/interactive hubs in the gaming world. Instanced housing is decent enough, but loses any element of immersion because there is no element of socializing involved; basically it is a storage and private decorating zone. Non-instanced housing, while debatable due to UO's problems, has had merit with games like SWG where you not only had houses (and the architect class to play as), but cantinas, medical centers, city halls, guild halls, varieties of buildings to serve different purposes, and an actual city system in place that could grow large enough to have its own transportation.

Do I argue that combat, gameplay, class design, and lore/the world or realm design should be second to this? Absolutely not. However, if you're looking to add depth and some non-combat fun and interdependence to a game, SWG cities did it well, and were fun when cities were hostile against one another.

Finally, for argument's sake, if you want to discuss "social hubs" for downtime and functionality for a game, look at the scout/ranger camps in SWG pre-CU/NGE. Great for downtime, socializing, and a base while you fished, hunted, gathered, etc.

Something comparable for a fantasy genre would be inns with NPCs who might offer quests according to race, faction, level/skill level, or even class; offered minigames, cards, etc.; brawling as it was suggested for AoC; drinking contests, darts or other tests of skill; entertainers (PC or NPC) who give buffs through their performances, etc.

Secondary activities for socializing would be great with minigames (chess, checkers, cards and other forms of gambling that were mentioned earlier). To me one of the big differences in classifying some gaming elements is that some help to define a setting, while others try to develop worlds with social mechanics (SWG). I wouldn't use them as a model for content by any means, but their social mechanics, harvesting, housing/building ownership, and social interaction were very fun.