New Housing FAQ and Housing Article on Polygon

Based on the photos, the lower one on the right is certainly accessible through the second floor as shown on the left of this picture:



As the description says AN outdoor deck, that is likely the one one of those you can actually access. Of course, they may have other plans, but the pictures seems to say that is the only one.

 

Yeah, unfortunately, that is what I am left to assume. The house has great appeal to me, but without a good walkthrough of it I won't be purchasing it. I would probably only purchase it if that large deck wrapped around the center is accessible.

 

This is a problem I am finding with Portalarium's addon store. I know they are busy, but there are plenty of ways they can boost pledging simply by communicating certain details. The insides of these houses is an example. Not everyone will splurge based on the front view of the house. Floorplans for layout and scale, shots of each room from different angles, and knowing just how exclusive and for how long each design will be sold... All this would go a long way toward convincing people to jump on them sooner rather than later.

What you want to do is communicate exactly what people are getting and create a sense of scarcity and urgency. I hate to keep mentioning Star Citizen because they have way more people and money to create these kinds of things, but you could do much, much worse than emulate what Chris Roberts and his team are doing.

Each digital item for sale should have it's own page with full details and as many images as needed to show it off in it's entirety. Perhaps in-game objects and environments could have video walkthroughs in addition to the still shots. Throw on some background music or someone talking about it. Make it an in-world story for fun.

Just putting the item on the store with a couple pictures isn't doing the game justice. I don't know who would be in charge of organizing this kind of stuff. @Dallas? @FireLotus?

 

LoneStranger I agree.

Well, I made the offer to create video walkthroughs of the houses for them, but my offer was left unanswered. BTW...my offer still stands...I'd be happy to create video walkthroughs of the houses for you Portalarium.

 

I fully agree. It is a shame they are putting the time into the actual houses but falling very short in the presentation. It makes all that hard work a waste. Yes, it takes a little more time, but I think they'd get back a lot more than they put in.

Many of us here would help, but without knowing the specs or having access to the game, we can't really do anything, so it's up to them. If it was alpha time and I was running around the houses, I probably would have had a real estate section with walkthroughs on my site already lol.

 

I agree with Dame Lori and LoneStranger. I believe that the developers would see a hugh increase in add-on sales if the video walkthroughs were available for the houses. Unfortunately, they probably don't have the extra manpower needed to develop these walkthroughs and don't want to grant early access to the game to supporters willing to undertake this task for them (Kind of you to offer, Koldar!)

 

Yea, it would be great if we could help, but there isn't much we can do without access to the models in the same or similar environment.

 

I agree that a larger adoption rate would happen if we had at least the floor plans and video walk through. However, I bet they are getting sales of these things now... Just think of the cash in rush they will get in the December to March timeframe as we get access to the game and can see this for ourselves? Aka those that bought on PURE BLIND faith will have them, those that want a teaser can get it then... Let them focus more on getting stuff ready for December, let them work on the $2.5 Million raised which exceeded all stretch goals for now. They know the burn rate much better than I do, and if they see they need added revenue (which they have stated they do not for Episode 1... they will entice us all more... To that I have BLIND FAITH.

 

I don't deny that they are selling. What I am saying is that they aren't selling to their full potential. The thing about the addon store is that some of them are limited time offers, which means they may not be available when the Alpha hits, and new ones might be gone before Beta.

If you want to sell more, tell people how long they will be available and show them exactly what they will get.

 

Actually telling how many you have, might not allow for folks to buy them as quickly. Right now YOU ARE AT RISK, buy for a LIMTIED TIME ONLY, before they are gone... and you see there is 997 left you go, I will go watch Ender's Game and take my friend to dinner, etc.. and wait until there is only 30 to go...

Actually agree that it might spur some, but the concept of limited numbers is not as much as you think... They only had X Baron level... sold out... Wait there is more Baron 2 same rewards, but you pay more... goes a while and sells out... But wait there is more Baron 3...

Ever have a store going out of business for years in your area? It got so bad in my state we pasted a law that they could not be any business advertising going out of business without "going out of business" for last least 12 months within 6 months...

Either you have faith, concerned about limited time... or you should just wait 2 more months and lets start seeing. I mean have you notices how much they have improved each of the 3, 6, 9 month status of the game? They have the plan, and I would personally prefer that they work on more important game content and as far as selling to their full potential... If they have adequate spend rate, and exceeded all stretch goals, revenue is not necessary at this early stage...

You want to show COMPANY investors are story, and how you plan to increase both top line and bottom line numbers quarter over quaters. If they have plans for IPO, etc there will come a time that they can focus on top line sales, and bottom line profits (selling those already digital stuff with additional cost of $0, can increase both numbers)... Just saying do not lose faith, and while your suggestion is good, you made it, they heard it... saying it 10 times is redundant...

 

You might go and do other things and wait. A lot of people might. And then again, there probably won't be 1000 houses available. Knowing how many there are available is just one aspect, and it can be visible or not depending on the item. It's an example of how to show scarcity. If there were only 30 of a particular house style available, and you could see them tick down, you might want to act fast if you want to get it.

As far as the Baron thing goes, if there is someone willing to pay that much, then why not take their money? The people who bought earlier paid less to get the same amount of stuff. If people knew how many positions were available at a specific level, they might commit early instead of waffling. It is true, if there were 100 available at $3700 it may let people wait, but as they are slowly used up the urgency rises and people will want to act befure Baron IV comes out that will cost another hundred or whatever.

What you are describing as negative about the 'Going Out Of Business' sales is exactly what is happening. We see that items in the add-on store are on sale, but we don't actually know the end date. I'm saying we should change that.

I think you're way ahead of yourself here. No one is talking about going public with an IPO or talking profits. They are still in a 'funding' phase, and if these items are meant to continue funding, then they need to be presented better.


The first point is that they could better convey scarcity and urgency by promoting an end-time of the sale, and limit on time or by quantity.

If the basements are on sale for 25% off, tell me how long they are going to be 25% off. As you get close to that date the urgency goes up. Should I buy them or wait for something new?

The village lots currently show 112 of 200 remaining, and added to that, they are being offered at 25% off. Tell everyone that they will go back to regular price on November 1st and watch them disappear over the next week. Right now no one has an incentive to act now because for all we know, they'll be at 25% off for the next three months.

The Tower is being sold for 50% off. We also have been told that they are exclusive to the add-on, meaning that once sold out you will not get the same exact style to purchase in the game. We don't know how many are left, and it's quite possible there is no limit. But if Portalarium were to say that they go back to regular price on November 1st, and disappear for good at the end of November, they'd have two bumps, once before the sale ends and again before it's removed from the store.

Basements are at 25% off 'Introductory' price. No clue how long that lasts.

The second point is the communication on exactly what they look like. Either show more pictures so there are no questions, and/or take advantage of the technology and do a video walkthrough. There are always questions in the forum about the layout of the houses/basements, how much space they actually have and how the floors connect. This kind of information can also be used by the community to show their friends the game.

 

Hmm!? i guess ill just have to camp outside of town. set up a vendor there!

 

I think they also need to make it clearer how the "add ons" work with the Pledge Items. I have a baron city home and a 2 story basement, can I extend the basement deeper with an add on? or does the add on replace my stone 2 story basement? How do I get a 3rd, 4th and 5th story Stone basement?

 

It's a replacement. They work like houses, where you can swap out which one is associated to the lot. We won't be able to modify each level's design until some later date, if ever at all.

 

Yep, it would be crazy to keep adding to it. Otherwise, I'm buying 10 5-story basements! All that...space!

 

I think it is pretty clear that as you can only have one house on a lot, you can likewise only have one basement. I gather the bigger city stone basements will either only be sold in-game, or they may be added to the add-on store at a later date. Either way we wont't know unless they say or do something about it.

I agree that a little more information and management of the add-on store could lead to further sales, such as limiting the availability and displaying the end-dates of the sales.

 

Can we replace a house with basement only so incase the world goes into an apocolypse ill have a bomb. survival shelter!

 

Yes but what is NOT clear is how to expand the basement you already have.

 

There is no expansion. That was made clear either in the FAQ or in the forum related to it. They work like houses; you swap them. You cannot change their design or number of floors.

 

Thats just fine except to date there is no way to "Swap my fine stone 2 level basement" for a fine 3 or 4 or 5 story basement.
Perhaps If I had a clear road map for where they are taking the houseing/basements it would be more clear.

The only option I see is a Stone and Timber basement.