World of Warcraft’s new housing feature has been available for those who pre-purchased the upcoming Midnight expansion for over a week now, which naturally means folks have had plenty of time to get really, really creative with their new library of decor. One of the wildest player discoveries early on was finding a trick that would make houses float in the air, which a number of people have used to make wild flying creations. Better yet, instead of patching it out, Blizzard has surprisingly given its blessing for airborne abodes.
Lofting one’s house was discovered almost immediately after the housing feature dropped, with players initially using it simply to raise their homes in the air as a fun gimmick.
Apparently, flying houses are surprisingly easy to do. If you’re just using the base creation tools, you’re never going to be able to do this on accident, as the most you can do is move the house around on the ground within your lot. However, players using Advanced Mode can raise a house by moving any decor object inside or attached to exterior of the house, and then lifting that object up in the air. The house goes with it!
As time has gone on, players have gotten even wackier with their flying houses, using them to create elaborate constructions such as airships:
Mechanical wonders:
And other assorted creations:
Since this discovery was made, players have been understandably concerned that Blizzard would patch it out, as it didn’t seem to be intended behavior from houses. However, Blizzard has taken a surprising step in sanctioning the hovering homes, and even actively trying to make it easier to create them. A recent post on the forums from community manager Kaivax reads as follows:
Almost immediately after the 11.2.7 patch went live, we saw players using keybinds to elevate houses off the ground, even though there weren’t UI controls for that. We quickly began work to enable the controls so that it would be easier to move a house upward.
We have two concerns, of course:
The underside of houses aren’t modeled or textured. Players who lift their houses may decide to hide that part behind other things.
If you lift your house up, clicking on the door could become difficult. You might want to consider building a ramp or a jumping puzzle or a mount landing spot, etc.
Honestly, totally fair PSAs from Blizzard there, though it does lead one to wonder if long-term we might see some decor aimed at flying homes specifically if they get popular enough. Now if only we could have an entire floating city-wait, we what? Uh, scratch that. I’m going back home.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].
