Topic

Upcoming Changes to the Housing System (and Moving)

I felt that this needed its own forum topic. Stoot has offered an intriguing glimpse of what's to come in the housing system:

"We're not ready to share the whole plan here (since we're still settling a few of the finer details) but we can say this: it will be at least as easy to chose your neighbors as it is now (and probably much easier). The change will not be moving from one of the current housing types to another, but changing it so that houses (and land) are something that you create: expanding the size, upgrading the frame, designing the interior, choosing resources for your property, and so on. So, while you might not be able to re-create your favorite of the current Meadow cottages down to the pixel level, you will be able to make something entirely your own.

"We will make every effort to make the conversion smooth and easy (including the aforementioned moving boxes for the items in your house) but it will be different no matter what. It will also be, in my opinion, infinitely better than what we have now — definitely a lot more fun. And I would be surprised if more than 1 person out of 500 is unhappy with the change in the end."

Original quote is here: http://www.glitch.com/forum/general/12982/page5/#reply-132524

It sounds quite interesting. I wonder if we will ever be able to buy land without a house, and build one from the ground up? Also, would we be able to "hire" fellow glitches as unofficial architects?

Posted 13 months ago by Wamari Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I don't care about the rest, but please, PLEASE, let me keep my Piggy picture!
    Posted 13 months ago by Whym Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This just occurred to me. What would be interesting, and really cool if they do implement it, is if we had the ability to create "templates" for buildings. Much like a Wordpress designer can create a template theme. Templates could then be "signed" by the original designer.

    Make it happen, Tiny Speck!
    Posted 13 months ago by Wamari Subscriber! | Permalink
  • ...this is so cooooooool. I can't wait!

    I love this game. :D
    Posted 13 months ago by Shiromisa Kaya Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am a bit worried about having to design and build my own place. For one I am not all that artistic and a bit fearful this will become a difficult task for those of us without artistic vision. I like my house the way it is and I like the quiet neighborhood. Nobody bothers me and I don't bother anyone else.

    Are we having now to be in a housing project where your neighbors are nosy and tell you what you can do and how you WILL contribute? I am a social person but outside my living area.. my living area is my peace and tranquility. I prefer going to functions like Xev's splanking fights and a party or two. I don't want to feel forced into complying to "well meaning" neighbors pushing you around.
    Posted 13 months ago by Casombra Amberrose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • But I like moving from place to place all the time.  Will we still be able to do this or will we be forced into customisation? :<
    Posted 13 months ago by ♪♥~ Auren ~♥♪ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • sounds fun.  Just so long as it doesn't suck everyone out of the public areas and into private areas where they spend all their time decorating/building etc.  I'd hate for Glitch to become a vast empty wasteland like secondlife.
    Posted 13 months ago by Treesa Subscriber! | Permalink
  • In order for the conversion to take place, is everybody going to get evicted? Will we have first dibs on repurchasing the land or house where we currently live? I really like the location where I'm living now as it's close to everything I want (plus the neighbors are nice) and I don't want to miss out on it. What's going to happen to the money we invested in our real estate?
    Posted 13 months ago by Vera Mars Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yes Id really like some clarification on this, the location is very important to me too!
    Posted 13 months ago by Merope Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I posted some speculation in the "Unlaunching" thread that I suppose I can share here, too:

    I'm a little sad AND excited about possible housing changes. I saved up and traveled Ur to find just the right neighborhood that had vendors nearby that I would use most, and I am only a few planks away from the regional subway. Even my house address number is easy to remember (a bonus for me). I would be bummed that all my careful research and patience when house hunting might be for naught. 

    I could deal with the vendor system being revamped. I could deal with having my current house become customizable in some way. The location of my house "lot", however, was a big factor in my decision to purchase the house I did where I did. Even if I max out my TP skills, I befriend newbies who find it convenient to use the subway to visit. I like that my region is well-populated and thriving, convenient to the very busy Groddles (and now a NEW region, yay!) and has a good balance of resources (another factor in my choice of home lot location), but is not so busy that I can't do a bit of quiet, solo harvesting now and then when I am in a hurry or not in the mood to have a long chat.

    I trust TS's intention to make the housing better. I'm just moping a bit that those changes, while great in the long run, MIGHT cause me to mourn the loss of my current home. 

    I am comforted that, supposedly, new "moving boxes" will preserve my hoards...er, I mean, my STUFF, if/when we do have to vacate our homes. I assume if vacating is not optional, TS will make sure everyone has their currants refunded, too, so I'm not too bothered by that.  

    I mean, maybe we will get those "sticky Welcome Mats" / "mail slots" people have been asking for in the Ideas forum, where friends and neighbors can leave you little presents / notes and know they will be there, unmolested, when you return home and find them. Maybe we will get bulletin boards on residential streets like apartments have. Maybe treeless residential streets will get to add new tree plots. Maybe house keys will offer levels of access from "exactly the same as the owner in every respect" to "come in, but touch nothing, not even stuff I drop on the floor," as people have also requested. Maybe we will be able to paint walls and floors, change the view from our windows, craft chairs and beds to rest in, and tables and cabinets to put stuff on or in. Maybe we will be able to customize art for our walls, or move our trees and garden plots around. Maybe we will no longer be restricted to one kind of crop or a few kinds of trees in houses. Maybe we will get a gallery for our icons and be able to hang them on the wall, along with snapshots we have taken with the Glitch camera. WE DO NOT KNOW, yet.

    Heck, maybe houses won't exist in a "physical space", per se, anymore. Maybe we will all carry little portable Portals that we open (wherever we might be) to leap home, and visitors will have to find our homes via a link on our profiles or the key we may have given them or an interactive feature in a Group building or an invite link in an email. Maybe we will be able to email people directly by clicking on their Glitch name rather than searching out a mailbox, and send them an access pass or key if we like. (If we want the experience of a neighborly street full of friends, we might have to do that sort of socializing in the group islands / housing / clubs / areas / buildings / mini-villages / whatever I have heard rumors about. Maybe we will have the option to set up Portals in those Group areas, or more than one Group area if you wish to pay for that convenience, and then those Portals will lead to our housing.) MAYBE, in these Group areas, there will be a "wall" or "sign" that allows you to search for a friend or a particular "street" and navigate there that way. We just don't know what TS has planned yet, but that would solve the problem of people squabbling over particular streets in particular regions or agitating for more of a particular type of home (or worrying overmuch about whether someone is active enough to "deserve" their very desirable real estate holdings).  

    I'm just saying, maybe the new housing system will eliminate any concerns about specific location or special house number or number of neighbors you can have or being restricted to a particular type of home in a particular region / street. 

    I'm open to seeing what TS comes up with, but, yeah, IF the system remains bound to having homes on lots on streets in specific areas, I will be greatly disappointed to lose my close proximity to the subway, friends, vendors, resources and my house number IF that has to happen. 

    I suspect that TS is closely researching how housing et al "works" in other player-modifiable PC games and online MMOs (not that they haven't already done so; it may just be being done more intensely now, who knows?) and figuring out how to adapt the best ideas to Glitch. 

    I think as long as they focus on ADDING features and avoid taking away things that people perceive to be valuable stuff like hard-to-get badges or cash / homes / rare items earned, things will work out just fine.
    Posted 13 months ago by ✰ Lorelei ✰ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Whoa Lorelei, wall of text. Can you break it up somehow. I cant read that.

    My biggest question is, do we get compensation for the houses we currently own?  At least the 80% we would get if we sold it?
    Posted 13 months ago by Innie✿, Obviously Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Sorry. I was actively editing while you posted that. The paragraph breaks got lost when I copied and pasted. :)
    Posted 13 months ago by ✰ Lorelei ✰ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Casombra, where are you getting the idea that the new housing will not be private as it is now? I do not get the impression that that is a concern.
    Posted 13 months ago by Niqster Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am quite unlcear why anyone would think TS devs would do anything that would alienate players or make the game less "fun" unless it was absolutely necessary. They would not gain anything by simply taking your house away and leaving you on the street - so why would they do it?

    This thread and the unlaunch one are filled with wild speculation that has no grounding in anything Stoot or any other TSstaffer has said. Why worry about something that is not going to happen for months and even then will not significantly change your life? IT IS A GAME.
    Posted 13 months ago by Kookaburra Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm really excited about the new housing system. It sounds like a lot of fun!
    Posted 13 months ago by LittleMan Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I subscribed knowing that the game would evolve into something bigger and better. I have faith in the Giants as I've had a  rollicking good time in the worlds they've dreamed up so far. Change is good. Having a little gypsy blood can only make you stronger, I'd say.
    Posted 13 months ago by N2ZOrtolanaBlue Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I was thinking of posting an idea on the forums, and I searched before making a repeat post of someones thread. Good thing I did.

    I have to second nearly everything Lorelei said about house ideas but I don't really share too many of her concerns.

    Yes, it will be a big undertaking, and yes it will be an interesting, if daunting process. Especially if it becomes something that draws more and more people out of the streets and into their personal bubbles.

    I know I spend quite a bit of time in my own home, but that is mostly because my hoard of junk is there, and it is easier for me to craft at leisure - picking and dropping items without fear of having them nipped by passing newbies.

    But I don't think TS would introduce anything that could be continually harvested, say rocks, in a home. There is no reason for it, and it would detract from the rest of the game. Trees, piggies, and all the other things you can have in your house have a limit, and I like it that way. It forces me out into the world and exploring.

    That being said, I do have some form of hesitation towards this update.

    Unfortunately, because I have so much stuff on the ground in my home, I am fearful to let anyone in, even long time glitch-friends. Worse, since if it does entail a move I am going to need quite a few boxes, assuming the boxes are able to hold everything.

    If the key were possible to have multiple levels, or even a master key for a master bedroom/closet, where we could enter and drop everything when we have guests over, then lock it so no one else may enter. I would enjoy that.

    Especially if it allows me to host parties and leave certain items out, refreshments, food, game items, ect - without fear of having other items snitched or accidentally carried away. Reason for my hesitation is a glitch on a party street not too long ago picked up someones cubimal and refused to come forward or return it. Since there was a crowd, no one was quite sure who did it.

    And yes, the cabinet is wonderful in the sense that I can store items, and store bags in the cabinet, but buying multiple bags, keeping track of their contents, and the fact that the cabinets are limited in space - even the very big ones in the more expensive homes - the current bag set up would not allow me to fill it with everything that I want to have kept to myself.

    Anyways, that is mostly what I wanted to say. Thank you for reading.
    Posted 12 months ago by Wyrd One Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Pulled this section out of the larger post above, for special consideration.

    Perhaps, if we could get club rooms? Similar to a party room, but there are multiple clubs on Glitch, and groups that enjoy participating in various activities. For the most part they are using streets, either hard to get to streets or public streets. Most times that is okay, but sometimes people stumble upon it, and help themselves to whatever is available, then leave. Often times that isn't an issue. But sometimes, what they do in the process destroys their club-street project. It is not clear if it is done in either ignorance or malice, but the damage tends to be done. A few of you may know what I mean.
    Posted 12 months ago by Wyrd One Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The really important questions I haven't seen answered so far are also the ones that have me the most curious.  

    Specifically:
    1 - Because we are being forced to move, will "old style" houses sell for 100% instead of 80% once the official move time is upon us?  (In other words, it would be a shame to be forced into taking a 10,000c hit to your finances when you were otherwise not planning to move.)

    2 - What are the prices of the various housing plans?  I realize this is intentionally undisclosed information at this point, but it's one of the things I'm curious about.  Mostly because I'd love to have a ballpark target for saving up in the time between now and when new housing is released.  You know, is 50,000c a good amount to get started, or should you really expect to blow through 1,000,000c when moving time comes?  (Something like that.)

    Everything else I have to ask falls under the "we're not telling yet" category so I'm not going to bother asking for now.  :)
    Posted 12 months ago by Nerd of Epic Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'll be happy if I can build 47 levels of basement...My potion making lair will be level 48.
    Posted 12 months ago by Malus Agricola Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I didn't see this here yet, but all the words began to blur together. Sorry if any of this is a repeat. Please let me know where to find an answer if this is has already been covered.

    House stuff:
    1) What if you don't want the key that Johnny Whats-his-name just sent you? When will the receiver of a key for his/her key ring be able to refuse/return this key?

    2) There are bulletin boards in apartments and machine rooms... Why not in our homes as well? I don't know about the rest of you, but I really get annoyed at 9 million notes cluttering up my floor and yard. Can't we just have a spot (that isn't the floor) where our roomies and/or friends can leave us a quick note when they've stopped by our homes?

    and

    3) Is there any way to make our skies at home (in our yards, right outside our windows) reflect the current game time on the clock? So if it's midnight, we can leave our FF jars in the yard and they could act as luminaries? Or the stars could twinkle? Or the full moon is bright? That would be way cool.

    That's all that I can remember for now. Thanks for reading and letting me know if I'm repeating something already addressed in topic or bringing up entirely new thoughts.

    xoxo
    ~Coffee
    Posted 11 months ago by CoffeeSnob Subscriber! | Permalink
  • 1) You can already return the key.
    Simply block the person, and then unblock them.  It will remove the key from your keyring
    Posted 11 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @CoffeeSnob: I love your idea of making the sky reflect the game time. Maybe also send that idea over to the ideas forum, where it might attract more attention? Either way, +25.
    Posted 11 months ago by Flowerry Pott Subscriber! | Permalink