Topic

Custom Housing | How It Could Work

Preamble: Yes, details provided thus far by TS are sketchy; Yes, TS is made up of radically smart people; Yes, they're no doubt burning midnight oil trying to figure this out, and yes, what they finally unveil will no doubt be amazing.

That said, I've been trying to imagine how it might work in execution, as well; I also know there's a lot of brilliance in these forums, so I'm creating a thread that I hope will capture some of those ideas, and to solicit your feedback on the skeleton of a custom housing user experience.

First, let's parse how housing could work in the new year.  One might buy an existing home and then make modifications to it -- ie, drop a basement into one's Rasana 50K.  Or one might build a home completely from scratch.  I don't think these ideas should be mutually exclusive. Instead, while building a custom home from the ground up might be significantly more expensive than the old 50K home, it would also be a unique avenue for a player's creativity.  So what I imagine is that both options will appeal to discrete groups.  And perhaps, those groups would crossover over time.

From this premise, then, let's stipulate that there could even be three kinds of homes:
a) Relatively cheap homes that have limited upgrades (say, furnishings and interior decoration, but no architectural expansion).
b) More expensive homes that have unlimited internal upgrades (buy/make all the furniture/appliances you want) and limited architectural upgrades (perhaps a basement, or a second floor); expandable yard, the ability to eliminate animal containment centers to add more tree or crop plots -- these kinds of things.
c) Custom build: You buy the lot, contribute the blocks, the metal, the earth, the lumber, and can build (with some upper limit) the home of your dreams. 

I want to explore in this post, how the Custom Build might work from a player's perspective, since it's the most open-ended, and needs the most delineation.

a) A player buys a lot.  Where are the lots available? How does one buy one? I'm imagining that lots will be available much in the same way that housing is available now -- lots become available and listed, and purchasable through the existing realty engine.  The reason for this is because the code is probably already there, and because if players are allowed to establish lots anywhere, this could lead to a cluttering of streets as we know them.  Not saying I'm against players being able to develop where ever they so choose -- I just don't see how this avoids huge clusters of players gravitating toward Groddle, and the Firebogs. More ideas on this topic welcome.

b) Once the lot is purchased, what then? I'm imagining that the lot requires some development. One could clear the lot (removing trees, and piling up resources), level it, dig it out (more resources for later use), and lay a foundation.  The foundation would probably be built from blocks.  Here a barn-raising effort could happen, where the player could invite or summon friends to help with the building. I'm imagining this could take many days.

c) The foundation is laid.  What now? Here's where it might get interesting.  What if a player could select from a menu of architectural styles?  We already have a few -- Big White 50K, Bog, Cave, Cottage, Treehouse, etc.  But what if a range of new architectural styles became available -- with attending supplies needed and costs.  One style (let's call it Medieval) might take more bricks & blocks than an all-timber (let's call it Alpine) construction.  Another construction (let's call it Japanese) might involve wood and paper (think shoji). The style might mitigate the number of rooms one can construct.  After all, if you're going to build tall, you probably need some stonework. Another style (let's call it Persian) might take more earth blocks (research Geltaftan, and Cal-Earth) than stone, and require extensive creation of plaster (off to get more mortar barnacles).  There might be straw-bale constructions that use grain, and plaster, but again, cannot be built exceptionally tall owing to load-bearing characteristics of same. Finally, what about geodesic domes, ala Buckminster Fuller? The onion-topped buildings endemic to Eastern Europe? Yurts! Igloos! The possibilities, as you can see from this quick sketch are many, and to my mind, quite interesting.

d) The architectural style has been selected.  The player now chooses the number of rooms she wishes to construct, and defines how the rest of the lot will be used: Number of crop plots; number of tree plots; animal pens, whether or not trees will appear in the animal pens, and the like. Now she and her friends have their work cut out for them. Soil needs to be mitigated for agriculture (peat blocks); patches need to be dug and planted; the real barn-raising begins with all the resources needed to raise the rooms according to the plan.  This might take days or weeks, depending on the success of that player to rally her friends and raise her resources.

e) Construction (exterior) is finished.  Now the rooms need to be decorated and furnished.  Tinkering could play a role here (see my earlier appliance thread, and another, earlier thread) in making appliances and furniture. New skills might be added (woodwright, plasterer, furniture maker, painter) to create the interior.  Pigments might need to be gathered for paint.  Wood for furniture. Metals for appliance making.  Now the player must decide whether to furnish it herself, or develop the skills necessary to create her own.

f) Furnishing. There's been a number of eloquent requests for usable furniture in houses. And there's room for a great deal of creativity here.  For example: Are there different styles of furniture available?  Are these defined by the architectural style? Or are they unlocked based on skill? IE, at low levels of skill, one can make crude furniture; at higher levels of skill one can bang out a craftsman-style armoire.  This would connect quite well with 'Xad's Carpentry skill request.

This is a long, wall of text post -- if you've had the patience to read what I've delineated here to the end, thank you, but most importantly, what would you add to this crude sketch?  I know the best ideas are still out there in YOUR heads -- I wrote this to tease them out to share with the rest of us.

All best,

~Crash

Posted 12 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I'm personally in hopes that the sky's the limit, structure-wise. Why not be able to build a four- or five-story house with a basement and two subbasements below that, given that (a) it'd provide something for people to endlessly improve upon (in much the same way as my dad endlessly adds on to his house), (b) provides a much-needed currant-sink that isn't dependent on huge collections of mostly random toys, and (c) it'd give those who feel there aren't enough truly player-alterable parts of the game something to put their creative energies into? 
    I can only get behind choosing an architectural style before building if a wider range becomes available... right now, the only style that really vibes with me personally is that of the bog-houses, and a few of the available styles of housing currently leave me cold- the GM cottages and the 50K Ikea-boxes in particular. If we end up with the same handful of styles, I'm going to end up living in basically the same sort of house I live in now, only at greater expense.
    I do like the idea of both being able to build a house from scratch as well as add on to existing houses, however. I'm kinda OCD about my address, as anybody who's helped me move endless times can vouch for, and don't really relish ending up sinking money and resources into a house with '7552' as the address. That's probably a smaller issue, but one of the reasons I certainly support add-ons. 
    Another reason is neighborhood- a lot of people live in the quarters they do because of their proximity to friends, business and trade arrangements, subway stops, resources, etc. Causing people to completely start over from scratch with houses has its pros and cons. On the con side is what I just mentioned- losing close-knit communities for a more random assortment of neighbors. That could also be a pro- getting those who've become entrenched to move around and rub shoulders with new people, and for a lot of people, for the first time since beta. Really depends on the viewpoint, but I can see both sides to that.
    I'm in hopes that houses can be built anywhere- I'm sure it'll be structured a lot like housing is now, with specific streets and quarters of open plots. But it'd be interesting to see where people might choose to build their houses given the opportunity- I'd probably be tempted to build in Siuruan Untold (Chakra Phool), Koumbahm Bahm (Rasana), or Kelba Vallu (Kalavana)- I like the multi-level streets the best. I'd also love to be able to build houses in currently house-less regions like Ix or Uralia. Perhaps those could be structured as quarters (after being opened by a player building on a street) and accessible the way quarters are now, but instead of being predetermined, it could open the way to building a house nearly anywhere... maybe Callopee or Ilmenskie Deeps, even.

    Just some thoughts I've had on the matter. Sorry for the text-dump :)

    ETA- I'd really like to see housing integrated into group-halls when they arrive, as well- they could be rented out by the group to outsiders (which would require some form of mechanics for payment like tithing an Icon does, or perhaps an auto-deduction), and could be rented more cheaply than an apartment can currently, possibly with an equal reduction in features. They could also be used as storage, and I think it'd be ideal if they didn't count as owning a house- people could rent space in a group hall to keep their bulk-goods in these spaces, like blocks, earth, and cherries, use them like workshops, freeing up space in their house, or keep their "prized possessions" like rare Cubimals, beta pickles and music blocks there. The housing/storage could also be used by group members as houses (that's where the "doesn't count as owning a house" would get a bit sticky, admittedly), and at a lower rent-rate or for free. The only thing a group would need to do to keep fifteen thousand people from trying to join in order to use their housing would be to make the group invite-only. I think there should also be a one-group-house-per-player rule as well, to keep people from having 35 vaults scattered across the map.

    There, I think I'm done for now :P
    Posted 12 months ago by Djabriil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Love the text-dump, Djabril:

    I agree that there ought to be a wide range of architectural styles; what I'd add to your sky's the limit notion is that there should be a cost.  IE, making a 17 story igloo is not going to fly.  If you want to go super big, there should be some structural realities baked in.

    You also raise the issue of themeliness.

    Which raises the following questions:

    a) is it appropriate to, say, build a bog house in a non bog location?
    b) should architectural styles be restricted by microclimate?  Can't have an igloo in the desert, right?  Probably can't have a cave-house in Groddle. Can't have a tree-house in the plains.

    Re: Neighborhoods & location: Yes, groups of players are going to cluster according to the following attributes:
    a) Proximity to goods & services (I like living near gardening vendors; some like living near subways).
    b) Proximity to neighbors.
    c) I don't know what to call this, except maybe aesthetics -- but let's define it as an attraction to the landscapes. I prefer Rasana. Others really like Groddle & Bortola.  Some really enjoy the swamps. It's some combination of an attraction to art & music.

    In any case, thanks for your thoughts, and keep them coming!
    Posted 12 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think the microclimate idea's a good one, provided there's more than one option per region (and a few options that span multiple regions). I don't think, like you say, a bog-house would really work in a non-bog location, like Groddle Heights... it doesn't fit with the neighborhood and general aesthetics. But it would be nice if there were, say, three types of house native to Groddle Heights, maybe the cottages, the caves, and perhaps some sort of castly tower-house or something, and an option or two that could be built elsewhere as well- perhaps the Japanese-style houses could be built in Groddle and in the bogs, for example.
    I'd agree that some structural reality should play a part. I think at a certain point a giant house would be too giant, and a little bit ridiculous. I just hope that there's a high enough limit that a player could stretch out creatively. A 17-story igloo would be on the excessive, and unrealistic, side, but maybe that could simply be a function of a particular kind of house. For instance, maybe a house composed mostly of stone or brick or carved out of a tree would have a somewhat higher limit than one that is composed of ice or earth.

    I also really hope we can go on our roofs- it was kinda disappointing to move into a 50K and find out that hanging out at the very top wasn't possible, but that might just be me lol.
    Posted 12 months ago by Djabriil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • While I don't have any specifics to add, you've given me some wonderful fodder to ponder over. What type of house would I build? Where? How big? And layout is very important. I don't like how I can only go one direction in the bog house I have now. 

    I wonder if the new street building will heavily factor into this?

    I have faith that Tiny Speck will make it as fun as it sounds it should be. I hope it comes out soon! I am so eager to see it. :D

    Thanks for the interesting, thought-provoking post. :)

    EDIT: Almost forgot, I sincerely hope building my house is not dependent on getting other people together. I enjoy playing by myself & very much do not like relying on other people to get stuff done. I don't mind if it takes a bit longer doing it by myself.
    Posted 12 months ago by Wynella Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I wish the house will be more like a project, you just buy the terrain and then build the project, like street projects, but preferable more real, without making food or bubbles lol, that doesn't make much sense to me, instead use only just raw materials, like wood, paper, earth piles, rocks, etc...

    Loved your idea of choosing a house type, like Japanese, etc... and building it with wood and paper ;D

    I'm sure they are going to explore the floor and caves, building your own towers and perhaps allow you to make them appear in a street.

    I have no objections to make the houses appear in normal streets, I'm not the one that is going to solve the crowded spaces problem, but I really prefer to pass in front of them like a little village, instead having to press in a board sign.

    Also I really would love to see community gardens inside the houses, like in the tree houses, the house is in top of a tree!  So the garden should be a community place, and not a private one...  why not make them more real? hmm? I would love to be at home and see my neighbor at his window... 
    Posted 12 months ago by arizoo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't want anyone else dictating the size or appearance of my house; otherwise, what's the point of customizable housing?  There are caves in Groddle -- I have lived in one for a year -- and if I want to add barnacles, a batterfly, and a gun turret, what would it matter to anyone else?  You can only see my front door anyway. 

    The idea of renting space to others, or running some sort of hotel, is baffling to me, since anyone can learn teleportation, and can go home whenever they please.  I'm under the impression that the storage problem will be solved by adding different types of furniture. 

    As for neighborhoods, staff has said that it should be even easier to live near your friends in the future, so I wouldn't worry much about that.
    Posted 12 months ago by glum pudding Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @glum- I wasn't so much talking about a hotel as much as micro-apartments. There are quite a few people who don't require great deals of room and use their houses seldom, or choose not to have a house (e.g. to prevent hoarding, for whatever reason :) Using a smaller storage-room/boarding-house would allow people who wish to mine and don't want to have a house to be able to dump off a few things in order to free up space. I wouldn't do it; I like having a house. But I could see how it might appeal to some. 
    I would use something like that as a workshop/crafting room- move my Blockmakers and Fuelmakers in, as well as the raw materials and finished products. Then I won't have to devote an entire room in my house (like I do currently) to blocks, and another room-and-a-half to machines.
    Posted 12 months ago by Djabriil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Some of your assumptions may need closer examination:

    The reason for this is because the code is probably already there,
    We've also heard that current code is going to undergo some revisions of the basics.  In fact, the revisions may be so basic that we need to be reset.    Most of us are assuming that one reason for going back to beta is that housing as it is currently coded and imagined will not scale adequately.''
     this could lead to a cluttering of streets as we know them. 
    But what if streets aren't going to stay the way they currently are?  What if housing is recoded so that you can have an infinite number of "homes" on a street?  Suppose you went to your home by typing in the numerical address, rather than clicking on a residential quarter, then clicking on a door?  
    Posted 12 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • OMGiants Djabrill - I could never sleep if you were running your Blockmaker right next door!

    I have read every word of this thread because the custom housing is the most exciting prospect for me!

    I do not think custom housing should be allowed on public streets, but I do think there should be LOTS of land available in all environments for housing. Why not a 4 house lane off of any of the through streets? The buyers would pay for the priviledge, but we do that in RL. Quarters street could continue as neighborhood of many homes, with community gardens, animals and services - whatever the neighborhood wants to support.

    Not all housing styles are appropriate for all environments. Not just the obvious bog house and caves. But flat roofed homes should not be allowed in snowy territories, tree homes won't work in particularly windy areas, wood homes are not well suited to hot dry zones. I can see a fairly broad list of possibilities - we make our choices amongst those many options.

    I would like to see limitations or "zoning regulations" for different housing streets. If you want to build a six story Disney-esque mansion, you should be able to. But not on my street. I would prefer to buy a lot on a street with certain size and style limits - not just one size or style, but I do not want tar paper shacks or Donald Trump-like palaces on the same street where I live. Two streets over, the restrictions on size are much more expansive - go ahead and build your Moorish dream there.

    My dream is that I can "design" my house (or more likely pick a style and ammenities and the design is generated based on my choices), collect or buy all of the materials, provde the labor either personally, with friends or by hiring skilled craftsmen to do the work (other Glitchen with requisite skill sets). The house has to reach a certain level of completion before I can move in, but it does not need to have a finished interior or be furnished. I can do that as I earn the currants to pay for it (or do it myself).

    Later, if I want to change the floor plan or add to the home, I would have to follow the same procedure, assuming it will still meet with the zoning restrictions in my neighborhood.

    Personally, I want a very boggy house with more space and ammenities (storage rooms, for example), along with functional furniture and custom decor.

    I can't wait!
    Posted 12 months ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @WindBorn: All really great points -- I do not disagree that my assumptions may need closer examination. Or my head for that matter. :)

    But I had to start somewhere.  I would love to see your (or anyone's!) suggestions about how housing should be located and accessed from the streets, because that's where my imagination failed me.

    So...to your point, how do I go to my home by typing the numerical address from a street? Is there a dialog box...how do I access it...how do others find it if they want to see me? Help me see this in my head as clearly as you seem to see it in your own.

    Stimulating to ideate with you as always,

    ~CTP
    Posted 12 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Kookabura:  V. nice addition to this thread.
    Quick question, and this speaks to WindBorn's point, albeit slightly.
    Should we be asking the question as to whether or not there ARE streets and neighborhoods?
    I can see up and downsides to both alternatives.
    Posted 12 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Addendum on the sub-topic of Building Methods:

    I dunno about you guys and gals, but when I visit the bogs, it occurs to me that the houses have an appearance of having been GROWN, then hollowed out and built around.

    When I visit the tree homes, I'm reminded of the idea that if one were to build these on a purchased lot, one would have to climb the tree with materials, and build it on the "site" of that branch.

    So, there may be room for different construction methods.

    IE, in the bogs, you would need to grow your house, which would likely involve a lot of soil tending, fertility dust, and other resources -- very different from the brick & mortar styles one might employ in different microclimates.

    Something to keep in mind as we flesh this idea out together...

    ~CTP
    Posted 12 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Blah, I would hate to have to build my home from the ground floor up.  Having to "build" our decorations and get certain skills and such for just that is already going to be a pain in the arse.  :<
    Posted 12 months ago by ♪♥~ Auren ~♥♪ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ Crashtestpilot, Windborn:  I think that Windborn is right to question the idea of real estate and location.  We know from dev comments that the issue of choosing to live next to particular people and in particular locations will essentially cease to be an issue after the housing reset.  We also know from earlier comments (so they may now be moot) that housing will be able to be either located on or accessible from Group Islands.

    I think that one way for this to occur is similar to Windborn's conjecture above.  Housing is accessed through street signs much as you now select a housing block from a street via the housing block sign.  However, instead of selecting "1300 Lorme Rush Housing Block" from the housing sign, you will have an icon for selecting your house, and possibly the houses of others - your "neighbours" who you designate, or possibly those houses you have keys to, or via some other unknown mechanism.  

    It's possible to speculate further that you might only be able to access your house via housing block signposts in particular areas, depending on what kind of base house you select.  It's possible that instead of a menu-based interaction, you'll get a street created with your house on it and maybe the houses of your friends who have similar housing styles, but that seems more server-intensive.  

    An implication of this theory is that some of the resource-rich harvesting areas will disappear as a consequence, like the housing blocks in Groddle Heights.

    On another note, we also know from dev comments that we will not likely be able to perfectly replicate, say, our favourite cottage, but that we will have lots of options and room for expansion later.  
    I also think that building houses will require Imagination (as the replacement for XP) for at least some components.

    There's a nice post from Saucelah here.
    Posted 12 months ago by Scarlett Bearsdale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm pretty sure that the Door potions are precursors to the way new housing locations will work.

    Your "starter" house will come with one Door, which may or may not be customizable. Eventually, you'll be able to add Door portals that go where you designate: out one Door to Cebarkul, out another to Inari Deeps, for example.
     
    You could probably also have Doors that go directly to the houses of friends for which you have keys. Voila: instant neighbor!

    Further, if that's NOT the way it's going to work, it oughta be! :D
    Posted 12 months ago by Pascale Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oooo, I like the idea of virtual neighbors that I pick.  That way I won't have to worry about riff-raff buying up the houses in my neighborhood.  Or the paparazzi hanging around to get pictures of Cat1524 like they do today.  
    Posted 12 months ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Scarlett: Thanks for the Saucelah post, that's great stuff! Also, to chime in with Kookaburra, "virtual neighbors that you pick," is a great addition to the ideas piling up in this thread.
    More please, yes, yes, yes, thanks.
    Posted 12 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Kookaburra - I typically run two or three different Blockmakers at a time, too ;D
    Posted 12 months ago by Djabriil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I was just browsing my blog stats and found that not only did my self-promotion in the update feed bring me hits, but I got a few from this thread . . . 

    Thanks for pimping my blog Scarlett.  

    Some things I would add to that post:  

    Long after publishing it, I realized in my second part that I did not make clear that I suspect group halls and homes might not be linked to any streets in the static world of Ur after the update.  In that case, I imagine we would have a dedicated "take me home" teleport.  

    And while I kind of like that anyone can visit my block with little effort and that the quarter sign is a physical presence on a street, I think moving homes off the streets would eliminate a lot of community angst over who has the prime locations.  

    When I try to think of how we would access other blocks, I think back to my days in City of Heroes.  In that game, your supergroup's base (the equivalent of a guild hall) is accessible from base teleporters located in most zones.  Because my supergroup was part of an alliance, I could use those same teleporters to access their bases as well.  I imagine we might find something along the lines of "Residential Portals" replacing quarter signs.  

    All speculation, of course.  
    Posted 12 months ago by Red Sauce Subscriber! | Permalink
  • OMG, Saucelah just posted in this thread.
    We are not worthy!

    <bows out; sends porters with intoxicants; also dancers with lithe figures and diaphanous negligee. also other polysyllabic words...>
    Posted 12 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • ha!  It's not that popular of a blog.  

    Or I'd be merchandising and advertising and just playing Glitch for a living, that's for sure.  

    But I will take the barely dressed sexy dancers if you pass them along.  
    Posted 12 months ago by Red Sauce Subscriber! | Permalink
  • They are in your inventory, sir!
    Posted 12 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1
    Posted 12 months ago by Avariella Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just a quick note, partly to keep this thread going, but also to plug Jessup's post of GREAT EXCELLENCE over in General.  He's thinking along somewhat similar lines, but his ideas have some differences in execution.  Well worth reading!
    Posted 12 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • love this thread crash and all you commenters!
    I have simple ideas of what I'd like to see ,but none of the complex "guts" of how that might be implemented or how hard "x feature" might be to implement with current game status.etc. :)
    I do have question please : above peeps ref this : " think that Windborn is right to question the idea of real estate and location. We know from dev comments that the issue of choosing to live next to particular people and in particular locations will essentially cease to be an issue after the housing reset. " - is there a link to that dev comment ? .. I find choosing my neighbors to be an AWESOME idea ;)
    Some (not all) what would i like to see : decorating- Paint my walls whatever color I want (perhaps this could be "organic" paint making skill - say the base is butterfly milk and then you add in-game items to "color" up the color you want like say add 10 tomatoes to 10 butterfly milk gives you pink , add 20 tomatoes to 10 butterfly milk = red (medium shade . add 30 tomatoes to 10 butterfly milk=dark red (or intense red -ie bright) .
    This would be a learn a new skill plus animal gather, plus plot garden resource. (wouldnt a wall the color of silvertounge be cool!) .
    Need lockable doorsteps. I really enjoy walking a neighborhood to read the gnomes, see decorations, and such -and also enjoy feeling like there are little micro-communities (ie neighborhoods) all about me in the glitchy world. So I hope "walking through a neighborhood" will still be an option. I'd be sad to just go to a portal stone or street sign and "beam" straight to someones singular, non-neighborhood doorstep.
    Other things I'd LOVE _LOVE to see - I want a house and garden like the google tea house!!
    I dont care if i build it myself or buy it for astronimical sum pre-made . I seriously would be "died-gone to heaven" for the google tea house in glitch . ( no copyright infringement intended ,or course) . I think ,( IIRC) a Glitch artist ,meomi , worked on glitch and tea house both! (see this thread for more info www.glitch.com/forum/genera... ) .
    More ideas to come. Love this thread ;)
    Posted 12 months ago by serenitycat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Love the painting idea, Serenity!  Very thoughtful.
    Also, plus 1 for lockable doorsteps.
    Could be an optional feature that the player elects to purchase/create.
    Posted 11 months ago by CrashTestPilot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'd like the option to adopt the new housing changes at my own speed, as I like my address number (Djabril also noted an attachment to his), neighbors, region geography / music and location of my residential street a LOT. I like my house. 

    I'd be excited about building furniture for it, or painting the walls, or adding doors going to other places (as noted above), or customizing the art on the walls, or even digging a basement for different trees / herb patches. I would be less excited about having to live out of bags while researching which lot to buy and where and slowly / painfully collecting the needed resources, then nagging friends to help with tasks (please make this optional if you do it at all), and, basically, living in an ongoing construction zone for weeks or months on end before I am restored to having a fully complete and functional home again (like I have now). 

    (IRL, I am living in a construction zone (old house needs upgrading), and it is not as entertaining or fun as some seem to imagine to deal with constant expansion / painting / repair / construction issues / permits / paint matching / you name it. In fact, it is pretty much the opposite of fun. So...at the very least, make sure it is actually fun enough to make up for anything--IF anything--players might have taken away, like location / address / nearby resources or friends or amenities like subway access / a complete structure that needs nothing more to function as intended as a secure home base, etc.)

    So, YES to creativity, new paint / wallpaper / artwork for walls, fun new customization options, possible basements or attics / multiple kinds of tree and plant plots, possible lockable mail slots or welcome mats or door sills on houses for dropped presents, possible functional furniture and the OPTION to deconstruct down to a dirt lot on your property IF YOU WANT TO and rebuild in a variety of styles IF YOU WANT TO; but a big DNW or a MEH to having functional housing taken away and replaced with nothing or replaced with, say, a dirt lot that requires MANDATORY building projects dumped on everyone which also demand that multiple Glitchen work in a team to complete them. 

    But I will live with whatever happens and be interested to see how it works out.
    Posted 11 months ago by ✰ Lorelei ✰ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • lorelei- I can see where you are coming from.
    I agree with most of what you said in your last paragraph--bring on the creativity! .

    I would LOVE to see flexibiltiy and player choice above all else in whatever TS gives us.

    I really ,personally ,like the idea of the realty pages selling each of the basic houses that are 4,000c and below. So players could have a basic "home" to live in as new home owners (ie NEW players) or existing homeowners could have a home until they up=grade or whatever. OR option 2 ) for existing home owners - It'd be nice to leave our current house as is until changes can be completed. HOwever I doubt that would happen . With the storage containers being mentioned though (i think a dev comment said Moving boxes) -I do not know if a basic home will be an option at all or what.
    AND yes , I think if home building projects require "manual labor" then the option should exist for those that prefer to play solo -to STIll be able to build their place solo -but maybe just at a much slower rate of completion than people who get friends to help build.

    Furniture- Really want some things been asked for in other threads- including: A jukebox (that is customizable to decor scheme ,like say i can make it wahtever color or wood grain pattern that i want) that I can drop my music blocks into and just push play to let them play in the background.
    A refrigerator for storing food and drinks and the supplies that go with them - but I want it to have LOTS of internal slots-and I want it SEPARATE from my storage cabinet.
    A toy display shelf (for pair of dice and cubimals and such -have it act like a trophy case-but have nice visible area for showing things ) . Separate from trophy case though.
    ALso agree witgh - ability to build and "color" furniture (plus a million for couches and chairs you can sit on !!! -and if sitting in your house then your mood/energy drain is halved) , fountains , light fixtures .Oh and while I am wishing --all that furniture and wall art and "stuff" i want it fully place-able and turn-able (ie if I want 2 charis to face each other -one would slant in left and one to the right --THIS would be far preferable than just a chair graphic that is "one face forward " in it's placeabilty. kinda like people asked and got it so that you can place gnomes to face left or right.) i'd want fully place-able furnture if possible .: )
    Posted 11 months ago by serenitycat Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm writing an article about this for the ImaginatUr, I really like the concept of building your own house much like a street project! I hope the ideas here are really thought through by Tiny Speck.
    Posted 11 months ago by Sir Runalot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sorry to say it folks, but I think you need to let go of your current concepts of address and region locations for your homes.  I know that some players really like their address and region and street within that region, but it seems I meet many more players who are jealous of those that like their address, region, and street than I actually do players that are satisfied.  

    Also, in the Unlaunching thread and the Massively interview, there were a few things mentioned that seem to hint that current housing locations will be meaningless.  For one, Stoot directly said that current housing allows no room for expansion to the land or the "face" (the front of the home that appears on the block) of the home because the homes are too packed together.  I find this is even true of my Alakol 50k home: I may only have 4 neighbors, but there is not much space between the edge of my home and the edge of the next home.  They've also said that just the basic structures of current homes do not allow for the customizations they have in mind.  Between these statements, I find it incredibly unlikely that you will be able to stay on your current block, never mind your current home.  

    Considering that the unavailability of certain locations and styles seem to be the two biggest issues, other than customization, that staff gets hounded about, I think that any update to housing that fails to render the old address and location systems completely meaningless will fail the majority of the community, even if the alternative upsets a minority of the community.  I say this as someone who is quite satisfied with his home and location.  I don't really want to move, but I see any update that maintains the status quo as not really addressing the downfalls of the current system.  

    I fully expect that our current understanding of blocks and addresses will have no meaning under the new system.  I also fully expect the old system to be phased out and that there may eventually be a deadline in which holdouts have to move it or lose it.  I fully expect there to be a day when I say, "I used to live on Dyran Notion in Alakol" and new players respond, "But how could you live on a public street?"

    I could be wrong.  But I also think that if it were possible to maintain even the smallest feature of the current system under whatever system they envision that they would not have felt the need to go back to beta.  In fact, just the need to return to beta alone is enough to suggest to me that everything we currently know about housing will soon be meaningless.  
    Posted 11 months ago by Red Sauce Subscriber! | Permalink