Houses in RPG games IMO have more of a "save here and store you loot here" purpose than "I'm gonna spend most of my time here".

Meh, all players want is to "Herp Derp, kill dragonz derp. I lova ma lootz cuz iz all i carez aboUTs. I killz everyonez and has no friendz! I DoNt CaRE FoR RoMAnCez Or friendz or eatinz or buyin houzes cuz I killz dragonz cuz uma dragon-bOne"

In other words, the majority of people are awed by hacks and slases and spells and whatnot. They think all good games are just fighting and leveling up.

I loved the cool houses you could buy and furnish in Oblivion, but no NPC's ever entered them or came calling. I would love to see some sort of SIMsish NPC behavior and have the people who like in your village/town/city drop by. Borrow a cup of imp gall? Find you inside to ask you about progress on a quest or start a quest? Drink ale? Maybe Bethesda could script some companion interactions that takes place in owned houses? Maybe an NPC who hates you will look for you at home to settle an old score? Will keeping a well stocked wine rack encourage the return of the local drunkard ( till you get sick of him and bury him in the basemant )? If companions get separated from you you could meet up at your base of operations? Other cool ideas guys?

All fantastic ideas. I realize that this isn't a Bioware game and comraderie/relationships likely won't play much into the story, if it all, but hopefully with the new AI and radiant story etc living in a certain town will feel more communal and random mini encounters in a player owned house would really help build up on that. Companions recognizing your home and relaxing in it would be great, but from the sounds of things I'll be relying on mods for companions.

Kind of Interesting. I certainly wouldn't mind "Friendly" NPC's stopping over, but the other issue, is that the lodgings in Oblivion were pretty lonely. I wouldn't mind seeing, as sort of the lowest-tier of own-able properties, be residences in boarding(Common) houses. At least then, the up-and-coming adventurer can mingle with the locals, and it creates a cheap storage area for the player who hasn't earned enough wealth to invest in a better property. Two issues solved!