Topic

Quality housing supply and demand

I have a house with a 24-slot storage cabinet. Having made a lot of currants recently, I wondered whether there was anything better, so I perused the realty pages. What I found was that all houses of good quality like mine were sold, while the market was swamped with cheap low-quality houses with 9-slot storage.

Apparently there is very little demand for low-quality housing. As housing is instanced anyway, wouldn't it be better to offer less cheap houses with low storage capacity, and more houses people actually want?

Posted 19 months ago by Tobold Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • Personally I think the problem is that the housing is too cheap.  No one should be able to afford top quality houses after just a couple of weeks play.  

    I would expect some kind of rental to service charge too - this way people who stop playing cannot hog houses.

    A system would be required to store the persons property however as it would not be fair to remove someone due to absence and them loose all there 'stuff' (tm)
    Posted 19 months ago by Accy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't think the housing is too cheap. I agree with Tobold there just aren't enough of the larger houses available right now but there are blocks that haven't been opened yet.

    If people who own them stop playing and don't return within a certain time maybe the home should be resold if there are none available but right now isn't the time for that. As we will all be homeless again when the reset happens that would be the ideal time to make changes of this nature as they will apply across the board to both new players and experienced ones. Unless, of course, the person has stated they will not be returning. If that is the case then any of their property left in their home would have no reason to be stored. 

    Just my two currants...
    Posted 19 months ago by Leithwyn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I used to play a text based mud that had property as part of the game.  There was an office you went into to apply for rooms in a block of flats.  You didn't purchase them you rented them.  If you stopped paying you were evicted and your stuff could be retreived from the office.  This worked quite well.

    That said they also had houses where there was no office - if you lost you house you lost all the possessions too - it was tough when it happened but it at least kept the houses circulating.
    Posted 19 months ago by Accy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • 1) A big supply of houses will be added soon (it is pretty easy to do).

    2) Rent (or "upkeep" or "property tax", etc.) of some form will eventually be added, to keep circulation going.

    3) In the future (i.e., more than 2 months from now), houses will be upgradable in various ways (add a floor, another backyard, etc.) via projects similar to the ones everyone can contribute to in order to build new streets. (There will be new skills, etc., to go along with that.)

    4) Before that, we will add Group Halls, which will change the dynamics (at least for those who want to live in/work with tighter groups). They will both be upgradable and have upkeep/maintenance requirements.

    5) Not really related, but coming after the other features mentioned here: eventually houses (and group halls) will be just as customizable as avatars are now. That'll be neat.
    Posted 19 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sounds good Stoot. Thanks for the update. :)
    Posted 19 months ago by Leithwyn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @stoot those sound like terrific ideas.  Can't wait!

    PS - don't you ever sleep?  I'm up very early PST and you posted 3 hours ago...
    Posted 19 months ago by Tradescantia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sounds great
    Posted 19 months ago by Accy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I had a neat idea last night that ties into the expansion of housing-related skills. I think it might be neat if there was a skill based off of Bureaucratic Arts to become a real-estate agent. It would let you visit houses that are on the market, and possibly make some sort of commission if you take someone to a house and they buy it. It would also be a great skill for people who are trying to visit as many streets as possible -- you could visit all those unoccupied houses!
    Posted 19 months ago by duien Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Duien, like the idea, but seems to me the unoccupied houses shouldn't count into your street count. Basically, that means that people who didn't bother with that skill branch and who didn't go down that path of playing wouldn't have nearly as much of a shot at the leaderboards.
    Posted 19 months ago by Cupcake Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Hooray for these ideas, I'm really mad at myself I didn't mine for a few more hours to buy a bigger house in the Meadow now that there aren't any more available.  :(
    Posted 19 months ago by Fleep Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I was very, very fortunate when I got into the game.  Ppl who know me & got in earlier helped me get a house.  When I finally met up with the person who was going to lend me the currants to buy, the house they had in mind had been sold.  I looked through the real estate listings and was shocked to see only one house-type house (there were lots in Shimla -- too dark and apts and sort-of mud hut looking things).  It had a small closet so I thought about it.  15 minutes later it had been sold!  A day or two later I saw the house I bought!  It was a great bargain and I'm very happy.  Perhaps a week later newer blocks in the Meadows opened up and there were a lot of house for sale again.I know the DEVs have said everything will be wiped when the game goes live.  Perhaps Betas could keep their houses as a "thank you"?  Take them back to construction state -- smaller closets, nothing except patches in the garden.  It will be so hard to help newer players if we are all scrabbling to get enough currants to buy a house again.
    Posted 19 months ago by Marla Subscriber! | Permalink
  • the groddle forest tree houses are so underrated.

    i wouldn't give mine up for the most expensive house in meadow or mirch.

    that's right you heard me!
    Posted 19 months ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Houses will be upgradeable!!!!!  WOOT!!!!!   Add a floor....  add a garden....

    Dang, I really like this game!!
    Posted 19 months ago by Pirate Apples Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've owned 8 different types of houses since March. I like to move :D
    Posted 19 months ago by Essie Kitten Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Stoot: As long as they're not just boring copy houses, I am SO EXCITED for new housing and SO glad that houses will be upgradeable!!!

    I would love a house in Alakol. It's SO GORGEOUS there.
    Posted 19 months ago by Jhennauchan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you stoot :) 

    I bought a cheap house to start with, but as soon as I made more money I bought the biggest house I could afford in meadows. But unfortunately the decor is horrible. Since I already planted in all patches, filled the cupboards, and have pigs, chicken and butterflies I just have to bear with it till the reset.

    I am excited about the future options and am looking forward to the house projects.
    Posted 19 months ago by gia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Really hope realty expands to Alakol and/or Uralia — they're my favorite regions, and getting to them is always such a pain! D: (particularly because Alakol is currently subway-less) Or maybe penthouse suites in the Tower? :3 

    Anyway, wild imagining aside, I really hope you get those items on the to-do list for housing done sooner rather than later.  My home is also my home base in Glitch, and improving that particular feature, in my opinion, would improve the entire dynamic of the game significantly. 

    But, of course, I'm looking forward to whatever Tiny Speck throws our way at this point! :)
    Posted 19 months ago by Jannisary Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes houses in Uralia :-)..of course in Uralia style (blue, shiny and mysterious ...:-)) Great!!!
    Posted 19 months ago by Atlantis Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Much like everyone, I'm very excited that houses will be upgradeable. One of my pet woes with one of my fave games was the lack of updates with housing. Customization of houses will definitely be welcomed! I spend a lot of time in my little house and I'd love to spruce it up with different colors and various knick-knacks, other than trophies. Plus, I'd like a door that leads out to the garden so my little creatures won't come into the house and ravage my pantry.
    Posted 19 months ago by Anty-pants Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I cant wait to upgrade and customize my house! Wondering if that 2 months is perhaps the start of 24/7 game!
    Posted 19 months ago by Gruff McGruff Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thanks for letting us upgrade the houses. I'm really looking forward to that. It means we wouldn't have to move and can stay in the neighbourhood. :-)
    Posted 19 months ago by Cantarea Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow, gia, that's strongly worded - I like all the house decors! ;)
    Posted 19 months ago by Cupcake Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I love my cheap-o tree house (Pasha's Quarters y'all!)... i do like the idea of upgrading it a bit though.
    If we ever have an island i would probably want to move there... or maybe the new area (Alakol), it's so pretty and peaceful.. but my little tree house.. not sure i could part with it.
    Posted 19 months ago by Niknik Subscriber! | Permalink
  • i like the house decor generally although the more expensive the houses get, the worse the decor.
    Posted 19 months ago by striatic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have a MrchMansion in Shimla.   I do love it, having waited an eon in Glitch years for the realty open up.  I really hope that the fact that people keep saying (in chat) that Shimla is "depressing" and "too dark" means my property taxes will stay nice and low...
    Posted 19 months ago by Nanookie Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow!! Awesome news...this means I'll be able to upgrade my house (that I love) to look more like the farm that I've been wanting!!
    As much as I love my house in Marylpole, I would have definitely bought a farmhouse...so now it'll be just perfect that I won't have to lose my home :)
    Posted 19 months ago by sgjo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This thread has made me realize that I want to buy a house in every neighborhood now while I can, before I fill all 18 slots in the cabinet with full bags, and try them all out before we go live so I can figure out where I want to live permanently!
    Posted 19 months ago by MaryLiLamb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I absolutely love the back yards in Groddle Heights....  But prefer the cabin look of my house in Groddle Meadows...  but I also love the different levels and ladders in the homes of the other areas... but would prefer windows and more light!    Not too picky, am I? <g>
    Posted 19 months ago by Pirate Apples Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Rent or Property Taxes??!?  Yikes!!!  Dont we have enough of that in RL!??!?  LOL  Anyway, anxiously awaiting upgrades too..... any upgrade will be better than my treehouse!!  LOL
    Posted 19 months ago by im4noles2 Subscriber! | Permalink
  • i'm wondering what advantages house ownership offers. Is it just storage? What am I missing by being a homeless glitch?
    Posted 19 months ago by The Cat Face Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Storage, garden plots, your own dirt patches to grow trees in, some place to grow your own animals for farming... I really enjoy my house a lot. :) It suits me quite well.
    Posted 19 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Storage, garden plots, your own dirt patches to dig earth/loam from... 


    FTFY :)
    Posted 19 months ago by Double Rainbow Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yea, I didn't know that you could do that until I started reading some of these debates about the issue after this test period was closed, so I still don't think of the patches that way, because I've had no quests or anything to introduce me to the digging part yet (or even projects- I know next to nil about them). 

    About all I've done with patches were to fill mine with trees for a quest. So I apologize for not mentioning it that way as well. If the digging were as much in my mind when I saw a patch as planting, then I would've said it this way:

    "your own dirt patches to grow trees in OR dig earth/loam from"

    I much prefer neutrality on the issue. ;)
    Posted 19 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Your house is also a safe spot where you can drop and organize your bags without worrying about passersby picking up your stuff. Also, without a house, you can not view trophies that you've acquired. Those only show up on a trophy shelf in your own house.
    Posted 19 months ago by MaryLiLamb Subscriber! | Permalink
  • While we're on the subject of new houses, a moving van would be nice.  I'm fine with purging before a move, but there should be some way of transferring the contents of your current house's cabinet to your new house's cabinet, the way trophies automatically move with the player.  If the old house has a larger cabinet than the new one, excess could be dropped onto the floor of the new house.  With our new ability to store bags in cabinets, this would make moving much simpler.  Also, since we can't capture our animals, other than a single pig, I'd like an option to move them automatically as well.
    Posted 19 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 for automatic transfer of stuff. I think a simple approach like glum suggested will be nice, rather than additional layers like moving van. Because it is very expensive to regenerate 11 butterflies, 5 chickens and 5 pigs for every move. This will also give players better chance to experiment moving to different houses without having to lose all the time they put in creating their backyard animal farms.

    Also it will be nice if people can auction their houses, or the house prices are scaled depending on the additions a player does to their house (assuming we have house upgrades options in future).
    Posted 19 months ago by gia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • A couple things to keep in mind:

    If the price of a house goes up based on the improvements made by previous owners, then the game needs to deliberately create new lower cost housing that does not spiral out of reach of new players.   I'd be in favor of a mix of bare-bones and improved housing in each neighborhood rather than allowing any one neighborhood to become exclusively for wealthy players. 

    In my mind there should be a layer of difficulty in moving.  Automatically transferring all your animals and items should not occur.  The moving van idea has a lot of merit, with a small charge based on the amount of stuff you want to transfer.
    Posted 19 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I love the moving van idea and think there should be a cost associated with it. When we begin to customize it's going to be a real deterrent to house hopping if we loose all of our personalized features. If we've spent lots of money and or energy on upgrades we should be able to get a return for them or take the upgrades with us. I would hate to feel bound to stay in a housing situation simply because I have invested so much in it. Lots of us like moving and trying out different neighborhoods. It's part of the fun. Not being able to move our things would be a prime reason for establishing mule accounts which may not be good for Tiny Speck. Don't know.

    One possible scenario is that we could have a decorators skill set and our wallpapers/siding/decor etc could be packed in our decorators portfolio.
    Posted 19 months ago by Riverwalker Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Not so sure about taking upgrades with you.  I certainly can't move my garden from one home to another, no matter how much effort I've put into expanding it.

    Nor can I move a new room I've added, or built in cabinets, etc. 
    Posted 19 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Agree with Striatic and NukNuk... I love my tree house in Groddle Forest so much! I've looked around and some of the newer, more expensive homes in the Meadow appeal to me (especially with the new custom decors! Hello, Wintry Palace!) but I'm not big on the cabin style dwelling and so would be hard pressed to leave the Forest; it's so serene.

    Regarding moving, I agree that we should be able to transfer all of our possessions to a new home and I think the Moving Van idea is a good one (price commensurate with the amount of items you're transferring). Don't know about including the ability to transfer animals since one of the factors that determines the cost of a home is that it may include a number of animals already "built in". Plus, it's fairly easy to incubate new ones or catch a few piggies as needed. I realize that for large herdkeepers this may not be a satisfactory solution.
    Posted 19 months ago by Petunia Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Being able to upgrade your house the way you want it took look is a great idea. (Maybe even learning a new skill or doing a project for it.) But I don't like the idea of buying a house with all the upgrades someone else put into it. I would hate to have to pay a higher price on a house because of the upgrades, especially if I like the house originally. I think being able to take your additions or getting 80% back (like you do with the house) would be a better idea. Plus, I think there could be problems with people or groups of people who will buy houses just to upgrade them and then turn around and sell them. 

    I'm with Striatic, NukNuk and Petunia, I really liked my tree house and would not have moved if it had the larger house options or gardens etc.... so I am excited about the new house upgrades. Might be moving back to the Forest now. :) Although I am curious about the Group Halls....

    As for taking everything with you when you move, I was surprise that wasn't the case in the first place. I think having everything transfer over, like the trophies, would be much nicer. If transferring everything over is not an option how about transferring all the items/bags in the cabinet as well as the trophy case (I'm not so worried about the animals). I do like the moving van idea too.
    Posted 19 months ago by Rilu Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I got a great deal on I house that I didn't know was so great. Since I only started week before last week, I didn't know so much, but I made enough currants to buy a 2,750 currant, 1 Dark Patch, 2 patch, 8 plots, 18 storage cupboard house, it was great deal and I love it!
    (I am in 3324 Lethensome Lift)
    I really look forward to the upgrades you are talking about, stoot!
    Posted 19 months ago by feifei Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm not sure I agree with the OP's comment about little demand for low cost housing.  Within about a half hour of moving out of my apartment into my house, my apartment was sold. I think the lower cost housing is key for the new players...then you get 80% back to 'move on up' to bigger houses.  Also note that if they say 9 slots, they really are 18 slots now. The descriptions of the newly added houses seemed to have the pre-slot expansion sizes for the cabinets posted.  My mid-range house which has 24 slots was only listed at 12 when I purchased it this past test period.

    I look forward to being able to expand, build, decorate my current abode.  I'd love to have additional furniture and I'd love for my avi to be able to sit down for a spell...especially if friends came over to chat.  I hope we will be able to decorate the exteriors as well, paint, change roof tiles, plant flowers, etc.

    Speaking of upgrades...I have the nautical themed house...any chance we can pay to get that fish on the mantle to sing when you click on it (like the cheesy singing bass fish?)...that would be so tacky yet cool!  I'd also love to be able to light a fire in my fireplace...
    Posted 19 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If houses will be added could we get a greater variety? For some reason most houses are pretty drab.  I mean, how many shades of brown and grey can possibly be used to color the homes? Quite a few apparently. The only colorful cheerful homes seem to be in one area, Groddle Meadow, and most have long been sold out. How about homes in winter areas with nice white snow ( yes, I'm canadian )? Or up in a mountain with a view of blue skies and clouds? Maybe some by the ocean? Come on Glitch devs put some more nice colorful homes on the market ( if you aren't working on them already...? ).
    Posted 19 months ago by Freeman Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd agree with you Freeman - most of the the houses are pretty repetitive and drab...would love to have a beach house near some tropical sand...agree that for my northern friends, a nice winter chalet would be primo!  Here's hoping the future decorating options will be able to help us with the drab factor!
    Posted 19 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It is pretty likely at this point that house decoration/upgrading is something that won't come till after beta (even though it is one of the biggest/most important features yet to come!)

    So, most houses will probably remain drab for a bit longer (some nice ones are coming up soon though!) And then some craziness will hopefully happen :)
    Posted 19 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • More pressingly, Stoot, how long till swamp housing has big gardens?
    I would love to more to Shimla, but I'm in Marrakesh because of my lovely garden.
    Posted 19 months ago by Murri Subscriber! | Permalink