First Day Housing

Props to everyone who contributed a lot of money and are being rewarded for it, but, for those of us that don't want to drop $500 on a game and would rather earn our items in-game, God help us if this housing systems turns into a complete disaster.

If this is a true sandbox game, the housing system needs to be perfect, and to me that means enabling and allowing EVERYONE to get a home, not just those who can fork out $500 before the game has even promised or released ANTHING.

I have a lot of faith in RG and his crew, but some of the things I've been reading are really scaring me, and are probably also scaring a large of the population that are interestsed in this game.

Hope this house stuff works out or else I'll reconsider my interest in the game.

Give me a shitty little house near a dungeon or something, I don't care.

 

I can understand your concern. Having a house (larger inventory, and place to put crafting stations) does seem like a major advantage. One thing I'm really surprised about is the decision not to make an in-game mechanic to support "renting" homes out. It seems like this would solve a lot of problems.

 

A "renting" feature would be pretty rad. It seems that that would indeed solve a lot of problems, but not sure if it would solve the problem as a whole. I really wish we'd get some promises and details from the devs on how this stuff is going to work before I fork money over to them.

 

What provides value to the land in SotA is that it is limited and non-instanced. Ever played a game with instanced housing? If not, go play one and compare.. I cant even begin to explain how terrible it is. To me, or anyone who has played both systems, this is a no brainer and Portalarium knows and understands the value on a limited/non-instanced housing system. That's why it is being used and why it was a successful selling factor when announcing the game during the KS.

Again, housing is not a need but rather a luxury... You will be able to do everything in game without a house... It has been stated that you will have a bank for storage... You don't need a house to survive in SotA (contrary to real life where shelter is a need for survival - and even then you would be surprised of what some people out there manage to do without one), hence, not everyone needs a house to play the game.

The perspective used that "everyone needs housing" is not accurate or realistic and if housing is very important to someone, that person has multiple ways to obtain one. If one doesn't have the rl cash to pledge (help the game development with money - sadly money is necessary in order to make this game a reality), one will have in game opportunities to do so thru in game gold. However, one will have to compete against others who are in a similar position to get a land lot before they run out.

Again, housing is not a need. Limited availability and non-instance system provides value to the housing mechanic. I believe Portalarium has done an excellent job at providing people who believe housing is important with a fair number of options. IMHO, for someone to expect housing for free (unless one earns it thru contests or referrals or any other method Portalarium may want to offer) is selfish when the person understands the mechanics of why the selected system was chosen.

 

Instanced housing is lame. I want people to play in my house, fight in my house, and steal in my house, sneak in my house. But on the subject of first day housing. I would imagine everyone is gunning for planting real estate on the release day.

 

One of the draws for me was how housing was handled in UO. It got way over crowded there, so I'm pleased it will be limited this time around. Instanced housing seemed rather pointless to me, and the example of LoTRO is good. Other than added storage, I rarely bothered to visit it and in time stopped paying rent.

I liked having my home as a base of operations, a store front, and sometimes a safe haven. It's a key feature I'm looking forward to.

 

Short after players raised that concern they did ad the possibility to also purchase lots in the store. So there is your solution.

Most players ask why the housing is limited?
Or they ask why not instanced.

The answer no one ever mentions is:

Crowdfunded game. No publisher.

You need to create stuff people wan' t to give money for.
I will pay for a limited knights house. If it would be unlimited. I would pay nothing.

That simple.

And also we need to change our thinking in regards to the house owners.
When we see those house owners we have to see them as "the players who helped make this game possible"

 

Yep. This is still an active funding campaign as we're still at least a year out before launch. Reap the rewards of helping to fund this game, they're worth it. Or just wait for the launch and grind away to get enough gold for the "rush". By my rough estimation, there's likely still several thousand plots left, and that's just for Episode 1.

 

I'd like to have an answer to this by an official, if possible. Thanks.

 

Well mine is not official ofcourse but for me it is clearly stated that you need plot to place the house. Thus if you only go for house with out plot, you will not be quaranteed a plot and probably you wont be quaranteed plot even if you bought one and do not place it in time the masses will have enough gold to buy those plots that are left. As of now we have no idea how long it takes for even the most clever/hardworking player to accumulate enough gold to get plot.

Why not recerve plot for person indefinedly / why have to play rent? = ghost towns, they dont one those in.

 

From the FAQ:
When can I choose my lot?

First priority will be given to backers for lot choice. The order will be determined by amount of pledge. Backers will be given an exclusive window to choose their lots. Each backer can choose exactly one lot during the window. The next window will be given to those who purchase lots from the Add-On Store. After that, window lot choice will be open to all players.

 

The FAQ does speak to your question. However, i believe that you are asking about just purchasing a house and not a deed, correct? If you purchase just a house from the add-on store, you will not be guaranteed a plot unless you also purchase a deed or upgrade to a citizen+ level.

An exact count of plots has not yet been released, nor has an exact count of plots taken. So we cannot know how many plot are still availble or will be available upon release. Of the available plots on release, all players will be able to purchase deeds as they earn enough in-game gold. That value has not yet been released nor how difficult it will be to earn enough in-game gold to purchase a deed.

The bottom line is that if you want to be guaranteed a plot for your house (for episode 1), you should purchase a deed or upgrade your pledge. Otherwise, you will be taking a chance that you will have no place to put your home (until a plot becomes availalbe through attrition).

 

Very good point Koldar. If you only have a house but do not have a lot deed, then you are not guaranteed land. You will have to participate in the "land rush" unless you purchase a lot deed or upgrade your pledge t one that includes it as a reward prior to the game's launch.

 

While this is true, I think it being put that way implies there will be a total scarcity from day 1, which I highly doubt is the case. Anyone who has purchased a home from the Add-On store is halfway to having a house in game while someone who has not will have to earn enough in-game wealth to afford both the house deed and the land plot.

While it has not been stated how many, I can't believe there won't be *SOME* land plots available for non-cash backers to achieve through gameplay, possibly a majority.

 

Oh, I think there definitely will be some land reserved for the post-launch "land rush". For one, I don't think they've even sold half the current allocation reserved just for backers either through the store or as rewards. There's still a year to go so that allocation will get smaller or even be exhausted so it really does come down to how much they've reserved beyond that for the actual release.

 

New question then... how will you stop the gold farming industry from taking over all the remaining plots to sell them back to legit players for real life cash?

 

Portalarium probably can't stop this from happening.


There has to be a demand for a market to exist.
So, if people don't pay real cash for a land deed and plot, then the farmers can sit on their unsold inventory until the price drops so low as to not be worth the trouble, or they go inactive and revert.

But probably, there will always be players willing to spend real cash.

 

Quite honestly, I plan to do nothing to stop the gold farming and botting industry. That is for the development team to worry about, not me. They are taking measures to help alleviate the ease at which the game can be botted by their introduction of randomly available skills. Another reason I'm not conerned about this is because housing is not a requirement to succeed in this game.

We don't know the entire machanics behind the system yet to be able to say it will be [not|a little|quite|extremely] difficult to obtain a plot in game on release day. Which is why I say, if someone desires a plot of land to enjoy that aspect of this game, they should take advantage of the offer Portalarium is giving right now.

 

Spending 500.00 into this game sounds like a lot, until you go over what you all get. You get all 5 games, physical goods, house items. No tax on land. No subscription fee, The list is long. I think its well worth it.

Sent from my HTC-Z710a using Tapatalk

 

Once the game becomes Live in 2014 will plots only be obtainable with game gold and not Real Money from a shop.
I would not like to be putting in lots of time in the game to earn gold for a plot of land if any new player with money to burn can buy one spends a month or so playing then logs in once a blue moon to pay its upkeep.

I would accept the Plots going onsale in the Shop for Real Money in Episode 3, this would give backers who do not have the Money to buy a Plot $150 or Citizen Pledge $500 the chance to get one with ingame gold.