Topic

What if housing were time-limited?

What if there were houses with a time limit on how long you could own them? When this time limit ended, you would resell the house and put it back up for auction. Optionally, you could pay for the house again (at a slightly inflated price) and keep it for another period (after this second period, you would not have the option of purchasing again). This increases house turnover, encourages some degree of exploration (if you keep moving, it increases the odds that your new home is in a different location), and increases the development on a home you rent. Time limits would be long enough to allow for development on property and "settling in", but short enough so that turnover remained relatively high. Limits could even vary with property, from a few days on "prestige" property to a month on others!

I would recommend that the majority of housing in high-traffic areas should be time-limited, and out-of-the-way housing would still be purchasable, similar to "vacation homes".

What would be the implications of this? Downsides?

Posted 23 months ago by RobotGymnast Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Gaaaaah!

    Unless there's some easy way to move all your stuff, this sounds torturous to me.

    They moved my house from a desirable location (to me) to what I think of as an undesirable location one day. And I hate the new place, but I'm not moving because I have too much stuff. And also, because it will all get reset one day anyway. ;-)

    I can't really see the pros of the "forced moving" scheme.
    Posted 23 months ago by clare Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Down side is...there is just no point in decorating lol
    But what if some one plays Glitch for a while, enough time played to buy a house but then does not come back to Glitch for weeks/ months. Would there house still be there or have they been repossessed/evicted. what has happened to their belongings. Do they have to start over or is it just tuff luck! :)
    Posted 23 months ago by Misha Subscriber! | Permalink
  • annual leases would be a pain, but is an interesting way to consider introducing a housing market. it makes me wonder who gets the currants that you pay when you buy a house on an existing street. the giants? god?

    there has been talk of possibly letting groups reserve a street or housing project, in which case perhaps they might choose what terms they want to set for the housing (sales vs. rentals, etc.) and rent would go to the group piggy bank (piggy banker?).

    the abandoned housing question is a good one too. what if there was a way to peek in a house's windows? that way you could get an idea of the decor of houses on sale, and there could be a visual indicator of abandonment. maybe a lockpicking skill could open up the ability to squat in an abandoned house!
    Posted 23 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think they just need a timeout on accounts. If you haven't logged in for a month (or a game year?) then your house is repossessed.
    Posted 23 months ago by Johnny Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Let’s remember that sometimes people might be unable to access the game for an extended period of time - think being on a cruise for three weeks (real world time). During that time, many weeks/months inside of Glitch will pass.

    If there is going to be time-bound limits in game that are created, we need to have a mechanism available to proactively set that will "maintain" whatever is necessary in the game. This is like the Butterfly Milker and Meat Collector that are already in place.

    Otherwise you will get penalized for something that is out of your control.

    Just my $.02 worth
    Posted 23 months ago by Shadowy Time Subscriber! | Permalink
  • That seems a horrible idea. I chose my house carefully, as I will again after re-set, because it suited me. Like others I have been moved from preferred locations to others less desirable to me and I hope not to have to do that again.

    I agree that there would be no incentive to 'improve' property if one knew that it would all have to be abandoned at some arbitrary point. Unless one can be guaranteed another similar property and the ability to transfer all the things and creatures from inside the house and garden it would deter me from buying property at all, or from capturing or hatching piggies, chickens and butterflies.

    It would also make many of the quests impossible, since one really needs a garden or patches to grow things, and animals so that one isn't constantly nibbling piggies outside for energy.

    It would be better to make moving easier; unless I have missed something, it is necessary to leave behind animals etc. when changing houses (although I am prepared to be corrected on that) Maybe there could be a 'moving company' which would transfer everything for us?

    Perhaps there could also be 'rental' property for those who don't want to stay in one place and don't want the bother of caring for animals, trees, etc. But I think there should be the option to keep something which has been invested in and improved.

    If houses are left empty there could be a fine, but there should be some way to mark that one is returning even after a longish absence. (Not everyone is able to play as often as they would like!)

    I am not sure I would want people peering in the windows! ;-) I might be in the bath! but any house for sale could have a full description, including decor attached.
    Posted 23 months ago by Cassandria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I like my house. If you want to rent then that is you but I bought a house to have a permament home.

    Maybe there should be a little thing where you can say you will be gone for X, but even then life might hit you in the face and you will be busy.
    Posted 23 months ago by Ani Laurel Subscriber! | Permalink
  • no, i don't want people seeing the piles on my floor either! but i was thinking that window-peeking could show either a generic image that gives an idea of the decor, or a dusty cobwebby window to show the house has been abandoned.

    and there should definitely be houses for sale available. but if groups are going to be able to build and own housing, it might be interesting to have different options available for rental or timeshares or housing associations or whatever. and even with the quick glitch time you could have long lease options -- i've heard that people in england sometimes sign leases for 100 years! i'm not sure what that means exactly, but there you go.
    Posted 23 months ago by katlazam Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Where, say, there is a shared property, a home-owner will own the physical elements of it, but will be leasing the land from the person who owns the rights to the land (the freehold). It is the lease of the land for the property that is for 100 years. The lower it gets the harder it is to sell as renewing the lease is a potentially cost legal nightmare (relative to the minor piece of admin you are really doing). I think if you have less than 70 years or so, it can be more difficult to get a mortgage.

    I think we'd need to have Bureaucratic Arts Level One Million in order to accomplish something similar in Glitch.
    Posted 23 months ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I sure wouldn't want to be forced to move my house, but good point about people that have abandoned the game. Maybe after a really extended time and someone has not played, their house could be repossessed.
    Posted 23 months ago by Cabinwood Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm miserable enough at the thought of starting the game over again. Making me move periodically would probably be the icing on the don't-wanna-play-anymore cake, especially if we were out of the testing phase.

    If there's some sort of housing shortage, I could see closing long-dead accounts, but I think this is something for the developers/administrators to tackle when it becomes appropriate, probably long in the future. Personally, I'd see a shortage as a good excuse for starting a new project.

    Animal Crossing deals with a player's absence by putting roaches into your home when you haven't been around for a while. Then you have to stomp on them til they're gone (unless you want some icky pets). Weeds grow in your town, and the non-playable characters ask you where you've been. It's a cute, gentle admonishment, not a hassle. IMHO it would suck to come home from an extended hospital stay, for example, and find that your online home had disappeared, especially if you were paying to play the game.

    Glitch trailer parks could be fun: buy a trailer for less than the cost of a house, and move it to an available parking space by choosing one from a list, or trade spaces with another trailer owner. Spaces could have gardens, animals, gnomes, etc., and each park could have the look and feel of its surrounding area. This would allow people to try living in different areas without having to buy and sell homes.
    Posted 23 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Eep. Somehow, that got posted twice.
    Posted 23 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Bagsy the Breaking Bad tribute trailer.
    Posted 23 months ago by shhexy corin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • There should be very high prices for buying a house and then lower prices for renting houses.
    Posted 23 months ago by Alex Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I too thought of the idea of renting houses. I like the idea of lowering the level of house entry, but I think the bird nest and cave houses are cheap enough for most users to afford.
    Posted 23 months ago by Zaphod Subscriber! | Permalink