So I just bought my first house during this last test! Woo! (2346 Sini Shake, Tamila--come visit me sometime!) And I own livestock!! Now I'll be able to provide dowries to my daughters, one day when I have them! Hot damn!
So, while wandering around my new digs, I got to thinking. Houses are currently sort of...limited in their uses, no? You've got space to store some of your stuff, you might have a garden or a nice view of the area, you can throw a party... But there's so much *MORE* you can do with a house. Here are some of my thoughts:
* Communal Ownership
I'd love to see some way for a group, club, or guild to collectively buy a house, which would then be automatically available to all members of the group. Related effects of this would also include roommates and the establishment of temples to a giant/giants. Having a house owned by a group, and available either publically (as in the case of temples, which anyone could enter) or semi-publically (as in the case of clubhouses) would make it easier for a group to get together for in-game hangouts, and it wouldn't have to depend on just one person as the "legal" owner of the house (remember that they wouldn't be able to buy their own, private house in that case).
* Home Improvements
As I've got a treehouse, out of the total screen-space that I have, I'm not using a quarter of it because it's empty air. What's with that? I'd love to be able to build a hanging bridge or platforms or something.
What about adding on rooms? These upgrades could function a lot like street projects: You could pay a visit to the bureaucrocs for a re-zoning permit, then work on collecting the materials you'd need to upgrade (Want another storey to your house? That'll be 1000 currants, 500 planks, 250 chunks of sparkly, and 100 each of beers and sammiches--to feed the workers, you know. Or, y'know, whatever--you could also build it yourself (we'd need a Home Improvement skill) for fewer currants, but it would be a higher energy cost and might take longer.)
* Decoration
The first thing I thought, upon entering my new house, was, "It's so bare! Can't I buy furniture or anything?" Seriously, even just some rugs or tapestries would make me happy. What about painting the walls?
If there WERE other furniture options, I'd like to be able to interact with them. If I have a bed in my house, how about making it similar to the Meditation Orb? Can I nap in it and get a boost in mood and energy? (And can Sleeping be a skill?)
What about outside decorations that everyone can see? One of the reasons I chose the house that I did was because I liked the little dream catcher hanging next to the door. Gnomes are all well and good, but what about flamingos?? Or No Trespassing signs? Or "Beware of Piggy" signs? Or windowboxes with flowers? Or door decorations (e.g. Christmas wreathes, knockers, etc)?
*Home Shrines
Think of the convenience!
I think, though, that they could function a little differently from the street shrines. Perhaps home shrines can't give out item rewards besides emblems. Perhaps they add some kind of buff to your house--like, you have a slight increase in your chances of getting bigger harvests. Perhaps they don't do anything except accept your donations and look pretty. XD
What do you guys think? What are some of the things you've wished for with your houses?