Massively: The Daily Grind: Should player homes decay?

[Zosimus]

Less than hour ago Massively's Brianna Royce just put up a quick little article talking about housing in MMO's. As UO always should be considered in such topics it caught my eye and thought I post it over here to share it with you.


Source

[URL='http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/03/01/the-daily-grind-should-player-homes-decay/'][URL='http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/03/01/the-daily-grind-should-player-homes-decay/']The Daily Grind: Should player homes decay?[/URL][/URL]

by
Brianna Royce on Mar 1st 2013 8:00AM



One of the issues plaguing player housing in MMOs is what to do with those houses after the player-owners have left the game or stopped paying for their subscriptions. In
Ultima Online, the granddaddy of all MMO housing, your home drops to the ground if you haven't paid your sub in 90 days (and your shardmates can loot all your stuff in a grand free-for-all!). In Star Wars Galaxies, your house stayed standing until it ran out of pre-paid maintenance money, which worked pretty well to help the active players reclaim city space until maintenance was turned off for a few years in consideration for hurricane victims.

Even games with instanced housing feel the space crunch. In Lord of the Rings Online, failure to pay your maintenance fees in-game leads to the eventual return of your lot to the public pool and your having to buy back all your loot from an escrow NPC.

MMO developers are torn between the desire to lure back former players with the promise that their houses are still intact and the desire to keep the world, instanced or not, clear and open for paying or active players. So what do you guys think -- what should be the more dominant goal? If you step away from a game, should your character's home decay? And if it did, would you ever return to the game?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/03/01/the-daily-grind-should-player-homes-decay/

http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/03/01/the-daily-grind-should-player-homes-decay/

 

[Zosimus]

Just wanted to add a quote from another article from mmorpg.com that wrote an article back on Jan 18th/2013 related to the housing of UO.


Source

Lesson 3 – Home Ownership? More Like World Ownership.

Houses, towers, and castles where a huge deal in Ultima Online. Many sold for a fortune in real money around the turn of the millennium, which heralded the first online trades for real currency. In a sandbox giving players their own little homestead creates an attachment to the world itself. It is not just about grinding for gear; it is now about having your own location in the world. This is always done simply on the good side of things by having castles and guards. What if, in the sandbox players could choose an alignment like classic D&D? If they were Lawful Evil they could make deals with Vampires?

Now you can build a player based home that becomes a secret lair in a dungeon. A place where monsters would come to serve you, demons would come to make deals with you, and players would come to adventure. Think about that scenario. So many MMOs are based upon players being a Hero. Even games that allow you to play as a villain give you an experience, without a location to feel attached to. Ultimately this type of world brings out the best in every player of the game. There will be challenges across the board for both good and bad. As a player I would absolutely have two characters, one on either side.

With 2013 bringng in the return to the sandbox worlds, developers need to look at a lot of what worked back in the original sandbox in the 1990s. Keeping players invested in your world is the real key to MMO success. Not creating endless content that costs a ton of money. Players will go back if the world remains and isn't static. Let’s hope some of the persistent worlds that are coming out this year will follow a few of these lessons. Thanks, Ultima Online for fifteen years of fun.

 

[Goldberg-Chessy]

I sold a lot of those overpriced houses for a small fortune back then woot!

 

[Zosimus]

I sold a lot of those overpriced houses for a small fortune back then woot!

I bought a house on ebay for a $100 bones back then. Bidding was tight till the final second and it was a small tower lol.

 

[MalagAste]

The home does keep people playing..... but IMO if they aren't paying for it.... Then they no longer want it. Plain and simple. Homes NEED to decay. Should the contents go to some storage??? I am torn there. Honesty I think the current method is probably one of the best. It keeps things from becoming lost forever. Many who leave never return. Some who leave check out from the Real World as well. But I'm fairly sure notifying UO is the last thing on most families minds. Heck some families wouldn't even know about the community they left behind especially if it followed a long absence because of illness. Of course I've long instructed my children to certainly tell my online friends in case anything ever happened to me... but you never know why folk leave when they do.

But a home does keep one tied to the game. Infact it's often one of the things I look for in other games. Would I be interested in another game... more often than not NO. Because there isn't a house to customize and deco. Or because owning something like a guild hall or town would require you to be in a large group. It's just not the same. There is nothing quite like the feeling of placing your first house. If they never decayed well we'd have what we had had...... 100's of houses blocking up space where new players could place. I remember when I first started it wasn't long after Trammel and homes never fell... I remember when I bought the game the thing that attracted me more than anything was that idea of owning a house. And when I realized it was likely I might not ever get one.... I almost quit. I recall when a small tower cost a LARGE fortune. Back then the "price of gold" was about 20$ per million.... and a tiny small tower often sold for 5 million... That's a 100 dollars. Was a LARGE chunk of change to anyone especially the casual player. The idea that I would EVER have 5 million when I could hardly keep 5k was an impossible dream to me and most everyone I knew was in the same boat. But the dream that one day I'd own a house kept me playing.

 

[claudia-fjp]

*looks at the handful of castles, and many many dozens more old non RTB bugged houses on home server that haven't had anyone pay for or use them in 9-15 years*

 

[Dermott of LS]

...

Seems like the obvious answer is "Yes, they should."

 

[Orgional Farimir]

I bought a house on ebay for a $100 bones back then. Bidding was tight till the final second and it was a small tower lol.

Last home I sold was a Luna home on Sonoma that I placed the day Luna came out. I used that money to buy my wife's engagment ring.

What a love story that is haha

 

[Voodoo Bad Mojo]

i sold a account years ago that had 5 houses on it.
they where all side by side, large L shape on each end with 3 smalls between all in a nice tidy row.
i wont say how much i got for it, but it was enough to pay for my UO play time for a couple years.

i know the castle that i have had for years once sold on ebay for $2,000 US back in the hayday.

funny how things change.
i was trying to give away a castle a while back and i had to beg a guild mate to take it!

 

[Ashlynn_L]

I think the UO system works well. Homes do decay but there is a 90 day grace period so it's not like OMG if you can't pay your subscription one month, and your home doesn't linger in the world for too long if you have quit. It's a good compromise. Furthermore, all the stuff in it drops which creates play for the IDOC hunters. Like them or not, it's something some people like to do and I don't begrudge that.

 

[DerekL]

I think the UO system works well. Homes do decay but there is a 90 day grace period so it's not like OMG if you can't pay your subscription one month, and your home doesn't linger in the world for too long if you have quit.

UO has to work something like that - because housing isn't instanced, it exists "in the world" taking up playspace. Instanced housing on the other hand should last more-or-less forever.

 

[Lady Storm]

Claudia-fjp Where do you get such info??
I seriously want to know....
For one this last run of housing drops wiped tons from the shards... from the castles to the lowly little 7x7....
oh I will admit i have seen a few still standing that are RTB but to be honest they are so out of the way and sooo small I'd not bother with them unless its for house count sake.
So I ask you ... "HOW DO YOU KNOW"?
If you ask Mesanna she herself is not privy to that info, or I grant you with a flip of her little finger that house would be gone.
Owners such as myself have many homes all over the shards... some are castles. I am not there all the time as I said I play many shards... so how do you know its abandoned?
No you wont see the owners who have their own hours to run in UO ether... Why the hell do you think you know these castles are absent t home owners?

Your all so wound up on housing size and limits ........ are you all on Atlantic??

Geesh I have in the last week been over many shards looking for the odd castle upgrade so I could cut back... On many shards the place is soo barren in some places I could place not only keeps up the ying yang... I did find castle spots.

Malas .............ohmg!! there were soo many areas open IT was frightening.. I was sad to see many homes of friends gone..... Goodness over 100 18s could go in!!!

Zento was so vast and spots open that on many shards I was getting worried.

I went to TerMur...... eekk was all i said as i went from 1 house spot to another that was empty.

New Mag..... on one shard there is over 1/2 the spots in tram alone open. I didnt go to fel on some as I was getting more worried.

Oh I know there are shards that have healthy housing... and a good size player base to keep their heads above water...

I just worry you all have pushed for housing removal only to show the Dev how vacant some shards are...

Mesanna could easly give every player a gift ticket to place a house of tower size and still leave plenty of room on many of our shards*.
* other shard would be my choice for each account... but thats me.

UO has been my place to evade the real world for a hour or 2 ..back in the hayday I was on 8 to 12 hours some days... I enjoy the play I can do alone and the play I want company doing... I miss going to the blood eles and having my WW kick tail with my best bud while I gained skills..... I love UO for all the good it did to keep this lady from going stir crazy when RL was well.................... not the brightest thing in my life.
Think before you pancake about those last remaining homes ..... I do know they do need to go.... but Mesanna I ask you to walk the shards some night you got a 20 minute stretch as your old self in the game .... look around... see what I have seen. We need to make Atlantic stretch back to the other shards with the players but I dont know how.... many have asked for that second home to go play with a friend. Siege P is a great shard and needs players..... but so do the others too...

 

[claudia-fjp]

Claudia-fjp Where do you get such info??
I seriously want to know....
For one this last run of housing drops wiped tons from the shards... from the castles to the lowly little 7x7....
oh I will admit i have seen a few still standing that are RTB but to be honest they are so out of the way and sooo small I'd not bother with them unless its for house count sake.
So I ask you ... "HOW DO YOU KNOW"?
If you ask Mesanna she herself is not privy to that info, or I grant you with a flip of her little finger that house would be gone.
Owners such as myself have many homes all over the shards... some are castles. I am not there all the time as I said I play many shards... so how do you know its abandoned?
No you wont see the owners who have their own hours to run in UO ether... Why the hell do you think you know these castles are absent t home owners?

Why the hell do I think I know? Deductive reasoning, and I'm not bloody moron. I've hunted IDOCs on the same server for over a decade. It wasn't magic that almost every single house I suspected of being bugged from RTB actually did fall recently. So when I say "Hey this Felucca castle that is still set up for security from before there was secure housing, has very few items in it, none of them modern, and not a single item has been added, moved, or removed in over a decade, I think it's bugged!" I might have an idea of what I'm talking about. I believe you also questioned HOW WE KNEW about the damn RTB houses before they fixed em...

Another thing that doesn't take a genius to figure out is all of the old style houses with signs that say "FOR SALE ICQ (insert different number here)". They too remain unused and unchanged for a decade. Inquiries and offers of 1 billion gold get no replies. I'm pretty sure they aren't paying $10 a month in the hopes of selling a 7x7 or villa when there are open Keep spots.

Or how about those mid sized to 18x18 non-grandfathered custom houses that also sit unchanged, have had the houses around them all fall over the year and are now sitting in castle spots. If they actually still paid and played I seriously doubt they'd shrug and say NAW I don't need a castle, I'm fine paying $10 a month for my 1800 storage borg cube that is sitting in a castle spot.

Even public houses, decorated, full of items, holiday suff, but haven't changed in many many years, not a single new holiday decoration added. Hell one of the prime Luna 18 x 18 spots hasn't changed or had an item moved or added since the Samurai Empire expansion came out.

This last RTB a guy logs in, hasn't played or paid for the game in forever, he has 5 grandfathered small houses I think and was quite happy and shocked they were all still standing... because they shouldn't have been.

They only fixed the Return to Brit houses, but that wasn't by a long shot the only housing bug.

People don't want this crap fixed to rub the lack of players in anyones noses. Hell at EA they have numbers for log ins and income from paid accounts to look at. They don't judge it by housing density. What people want is when we actually still play and pay for accounts, we don't want some bugged crappy house next door blocking us from upgrading ours. It's that simple.

P.S. As to your claims about Mesanna I call BS. She IS privy to the info, she's in charge of the damn game. Not only that she REQUESTED the players email the locations of ownerless houses (yet another flavor of bugged housing) to her. Well guess what, I documented every single one on my server and sent the info to her... Two years ago now, and counting.

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

I would have lots of ideas acording houses.
The DECAY could be different, not decay stages, but HOW it decays...i would love to see animations...and on the colapse i want to see fire and explosions and if you happen to dont pay attention and your inside, well, killed by a clock falling down the wall!
After the decay, every item goes to a STORAGE container - the Dev's could build up a storage city were all the items go to.
If the former house owner doesnt show up there after 30 days - its STORAGE WAR TIME!!!
You get a qick peek into the container, and than the bidding starts...
Wouldnt this be the hell of fun?
hehe
greets

 

[FrejaSP]

I do find we need some kind of decay, it should not be enough, that a house is paid for, if not used in a month, no co-owners visiting it x times in 60 days, the context should be placed as a moving crates in the owners bank. I the owner then place a new house, it will be placed with the context in the moving crates if a customizing house, he will then have 2 week, to get rid of items that extend the new house's lockdowns. If a classic house, the moving crates should be locked down in the house, and he will have 2 weeks to emty it.

The moving crates will stay for 90 days in the bank, then it will decay and only leave soulstones in the bank. I know that would remove the joy from IDOC but maybe we could make this decaying items spawn somewhere.

If an account is cancelled or a new house is placed on an account, houses should go IDOC as normal, this should only payed accounts, where a house is never used. That could be a house on a second account, owned of someone with several accounts and houses. Some do have houses the never use.

 

[Olahorand]

The Felucca guild tower of one of the oldest Drachenfels guilds is such a case (paid account, not actively used house).
The guild leader still pays for the account, only to keep the peace of history up.
And there is no point to enforce using houses - Felucca on Drachenfels is empty enough as it is.

 

[Cycloknight]

Of course they should decay. There is limited space and if you're not even paying to play the game or keep your account updated then you shouldn't get one of those spaces. It's a financial decision, really. Those extra houses and their contents costs money to maintain and if the owners aren't paying to help maintain them then they lose their houses. Think of it as renting a file server, because that is basically what it boils down to.

 

[DerekL]

I just worry you all have pushed for housing removal only to show the Dev how vacant some shards are...

The Dev team has acess to the subscriber numbers and the login servers - they have no need to wander the shards to see the state of the game.

 

[Lord Frodo]

I do find we need some kind of decay, it should not be enough, that a house is paid for, if not used in a month, no co-owners visiting it x times in 60 days, the context should be placed as a moving crates in the owners bank. I the owner then place a new house, it will be placed with the context in the moving crates if a customizing house, he will then have 2 week, to get rid of items that extend the new house's lockdowns. If a classic house, the moving crates should be locked down in the house, and he will have 2 weeks to emty it.

The moving crates will stay for 90 days in the bank, then it will decay and only leave soulstones in the bank. I know that would remove the joy from IDOC but maybe we could make this decaying items spawn somewhere.

If an account is cancelled or a new house is placed on an account, houses should go IDOC as normal, this should only payed accounts, where a house is never used. That could be a house on a second account, owned of someone with several accounts and houses. Some do have houses the never use.

Way to go. You have just screwed over every military member that plays UO. You should be so proud of yourself, NOT.

 

[FrejaSP]

Way to go. You have just screwed over every military member that plays UO. You should be so proud of yourself, NOT.

If they played UO, they would use their houses. Im so tired of ghost houses noone use, I want life in the player towns.

 

[Lord Frodo]

If they played UO, they would use their houses. Im so tired of ghost houses noone use, I want life in the player towns.

LOL and just how are they suppose to do that while they are deployed, totally clueless.

 

[Lady Storm]

Listen to you ... I have news for you.
I have been doing idoc's for the life ofthe game... hell so many UO players have my guild and myself to thank for their first homes on many shards because of scouting out IDOC's.

You think just because you dont see any change or that the player hasent changed the contents of their home its abandoned???
Boy have I got news for you!
My first shard hubby was a no nonsence man who didnt care one wit about what was in his home.... 99% of his belongings were in bags on the floor! A single chair and a table in the most oddest placement.... he said when I was courious to ask him was as follows.... " I dont like to deco... not good at it so why bother .. this works for me."
His house was that way for over 10 years.... and no he didnt care for a castle spot even though over the years he could have upgraded his place 100 times over. So... little lady not everyone is castle happy nor the deco maven you want them to be.

I know full well there are alot of others out there over the years who felt that same way.

NOW for you idiots who would love to see a house go poof just so you copuld grab the spot cause you think they are idiots for not upsizing on a spot you would. Get over it and let it go. As the same answer goes for this idiotic idea. Let me tell you I own homes I have not been in in months ... does that mean I dont pay for them??? HELL NO I pay plenty.
My Son has run of Every home... he works out of all... it dont mean I personally have been in every house in 30 days... If that was the case of going back to opening the door every 7 days like we had in the first year ........ i can tell you this much UO will see the last penny from me and thats not chicken feed..sister!

I warn you.............. if UO ever changed that a home needed you to walk in and move something to show you play in a home thats the last you will see of me and many others.
This I am not joking about.... add it up 53 accounts x 13$ a month............... I am not alone in the thing that if it went to needing this to keep a home I pay for in its place UO will close its doors so fast you wont have time to place that castle you so despretly want in that persons place.

Sometimes I wonder if its the old "covent thy neighbors house" poping up here.
I know so many people who are play when they can players due to real life constraints... work hours, children, house and business work, significant others needing attention and deserving of it more then the game..... alot of reasons for not being IN the game... they pay for the account... it keeps UO's doors open and EA off our backs about #s... * added Yes the military men and women do not have time many instances they are in war zones and cant log in just to suit your fancy.
Why kick the cat if it sleeps soundly and does not chase you mice?

You want life in player house towns? Then best you ask the migrational atlantic players to go back home.... That heavy campaign for new blood they did to every shard paid off.. books telling them of the great pvp to be had and the old full shard feeling was there to be had and boy did that work........ I asked many who left where they were off to... answer was Atlantic The Syndicate did alot to kindle the shard migration along with the Transfer token.... without the Token though I think most shards would have a better player base. But thats my opinion.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Listen to you ... I have news for you.
I have been doing idoc's for the life ofthe game... hell so many UO players have my guild and myself to thank for their first homes on many shards because of scouting out IDOC's.

You think just because you dont see any change or that the player hasent changed the contents of their home its abandoned???
Boy have I got news for you!
My first shard hubby was a no nonsence man who didnt care one wit about what was in his home.... 99% of his belongings were in bags on the floor! A single chair and a table in the most oddest placement.... he said when I was courious to ask him was as follows.... " I dont like to deco... not good at it so why bother .. this works for me."
His house was that way for over 10 years.... and no he didnt care for a castle spot even though over the years he could have upgraded his place 100 times over. So... little lady not everyone is castle happy nor the deco maven you want them to be.

I know full well there are alot of others out there over the years who felt that same way.

NOW for you idiots who would love to see a house go poof just so you copuld grab the spot cause you think they are idiots for not upsizing on a spot you would. Get over it and let it go. As the same answer goes for this idiotic idea. Let me tell you I own homes I have not been in in months ... does that mean I dont pay for them??? HELL NO I pay plenty.
My Son has run of Every home... he works out of all... it dont mean I personally have been in every house in 30 days... If that was the case of going back to opening the door every 7 days like we had in the first year ........ i can tell you this much UO will see the last penny from me and thats not chicken feed..sister!

I warn you.............. if UO ever changed that a home needed you to walk in and move something to show you play in a home thats the last you will see of me and many others.
This I am not joking about.... add it up 53 accounts x 13$ a month............... I am not alone in the thing that if it went to needing this to keep a home I pay for in its place UO will close its doors so fast you wont have time to place that castle you so despretly want in that persons place.

Sometimes I wonder if its the old "covent thy neighbors house" poping up here.
I know so many people who are play when they can players due to real life constraints... work hours, children, house and business work, significant others needing attention and deserving of it more then the game..... alot of reasons for not being IN the game... they pay for the account... it keeps UO's doors open and EA off our backs about #s...
Why kick the cat if it sleeps soundly and does not chase you mice?

You want life in player house towns? Then best you ask the migrational atlantic players to go back home.... That heavy campaign for new blood they did to every shard paid off.. books telling them of the great pvp to be had and the old full shard feeling was there to be had and boy did that work........ I asked many who left where they were off to... answer was Atlantic The Syndicate did alot to kindle the shard migration along with the Transfer token.... without the Token though I think most shards would have a better player base. But thats my opinion.

You go girl.

 

[Marquis de Sade 209]

Housing is important I was lucky enough to place a castle on Lake Austin the other day. I have played off and on for many years, now that I have the castle I will most likely at least keep that account active.

 

[FrejaSP]

To Lady Storm

First calling someone an idiot, because they disaggry with you and not ok.
Second, I don't find one player do have right to have houses they don't use.
When houses still needed to be refreshed, I did lose a few houses, I forgot to use, including 3 small houses on Atlantic, when I started playing on Siege. It was ok, as I really did not need them.
I don't care if the moving crates stay in bank as long you pay but don't play, I just don't want big treasure chests laying around where new players would love to have a house.
The land of UO is for playing players. Noone have time to play 53 accounts unless they have a lot of kids and grand kids who use them.
Sorry I got a little mad now, but calling me an idiot is not nice.

 

[Lord Frodo]

The land of UO is for playing players.

It must be nice to live in a perfect world where your loved ones never get sick and you may have to go live with them or you’re in the military and never get deployed. But as we know in your perfect world the internet is everywhere and you are always at home.

Noone have time to play 53 accounts unless they have a lot of kids and grand kids who use them.

If it was not for people like Lady Storm you wouldn't be playing UO at all. You should thank her for paying so much to UO and doing a far greater part to keep UO alive then you ever will in your perfect world.

 

[Zosimus]

Lady Storm

This article was not put up by me for to be a soap box prop to complain about such a small statement by another. Truly just shrug it off but to call other idiots because they disagree is not being constructive in this thread. This is why threads get locked and as I see it.......

EVERYBODY HAS A RIGHT TO SAY THEIR OPINION

...without getting in a bloody argument over what they said.

I am glad you have 53 accounts. I think we all know that. It's been stated over and over and your contribution you do to help keep the game going I applaud your efforts.

If I knew such an article would cause such issues I would of not posted it but I have seen many threads over time about UO not being advertised and such. The way I look at it, if other sites like to make an article or talk about UO in articles I would like the community here to be able to see it. As I know, some dont go visit other sites if it's not related to their game but this is from a gaming news site. What I do is try to help and make a positive community and should not be torn down because of forum drama.

 

[Lord Frodo]

Lady Storm

This article was not put up by me for to be a soap box prop to complain about such a small statement by another. Truly just shrug it off but to call other idiots because they disagree is not being constructive in this thread. This is why threads get locked and as I see it.......

EVERYBODY HAS A RIGHT TO SAY THEIR OPINION

...without getting in a bloody argument over what they said.

I am glad you have 53 accounts. I think we all know that. It's been stated over and over and your contribution you do to help keep the game going I applaud your efforts.

If I knew such an article would cause such issues I would of not posted it but I have seen many threads over time about UO not being advertised and such. The way I look at it, if other sites like to make an article or talk about UO in articles I would like the community here to be able to see it. As I know, some dont go visit other sites if it's not related to their game but this is from a gaming news site. What I do is try to help and make a positive community and should not be torn down because of forum drama.

What you did was a good thing and IMHO Lady Storm had no problem with it. It was the remarks of taking us back to the old refresh days and the idea of loosing your house after 30 days of non-play where IMHO was plain STUPID. I for one am glad that other sites still refer to UO.

 

[claudia-fjp]

NOW for you idiots who would love to see a house go poof just so you copuld grab the spot cause you think they are idiots for not upsizing on a spot you would. Get over it and let it go. As the same answer goes for this idiotic idea. Let me tell you I own homes I have not been in in months ... does that mean I dont pay for them??? HELL NO I pay plenty.

Your issues aside, I don't want any paid for houses to go away. I don't give a crap if people want to pay to keep houses they don't use. My issue is with the houses that the owners were BANNED or QUIT or used TRIAL ACCOUNTS to place a decade ago and no longer play. For you to insist that none of these type of houses exist is as delusional as when people argued that there weren't many RTB houses.

As for your whatever hubby not using his house much because he doesn't like decorating I have no idea what that has to do with what I'm talking about. Even if he doesn't decorate he as least uses the house to store stuff, if you play this game you aquire more stuff over a DECADE. The item counts would change, he'd log in and get gifts. The bugged houses I'm talking about NOTHING CHANGES. So quit argueing that I can't possibly know wtf I'm talking about simply by using some cockamamie unrelated anecdote. Is it so hard for you to admit that there are bugs in UO? What EA can do no wrong? Why are you arguing so hard when its not your houses I want dropped since you apparently pay for them? Why should the Keep I pay $10 a month be blocked by some guy who placed a villa in 1999 on a trial account, wanted to sell it, but the trial ran out before he could, hmm?

 

[Lady Storm]

On the contrary Claudia-fjp , I just sent in 3 on 3 different shards co ords to them to the proper athoritys to handle them.
You see the one thing they can do is double check the ownership of records and tell if the house/account is paid for or not and for how long.
I would be horrified if they didnt do that much to be absolutly confirm or deny the issue.

The claim you made was that the houses you have seen have no movement of items over years or even a change inthe furnature.... that is why I added in that statement.
I wish I had a picture of his home the day we met and the day he gave me his account... that house NEVER changed...

Now unless your monitoring the bag weight and number of items on a daily basis .... which is Stalking btw..... and could be considered harrassment in a way.

Oh there are bugs ............. up the kazooo!
I do understand your meaning in that there ae bugs in the housing system... but to the point you make it sound soooo dire that this one house go poof asap..... and you point out that this house is blocking your expantion......... I rest my case...
Look I understand you want that plot to go poof but if it is not a rtb home or a bugged one ..... how would you feel if it was reversed? he wanted your home to go poof?? And..... Pushed so hard to have it removed???

Your looking for that one house to go and it reeks of exactly what I said "Sometimes I wonder if its the old "covent thy neighbors house" poping up here."

If that is not the case then you should rethink how you are sounding to the rest of us.....

I agree that homes not paid for should go after the 90 days of their account being out of paid..... and I do agree that the RTB homes have been up too long and are not fair to the rest of us who have paid for storage homes while they got off scott free for so long. But I draw the line at stalking homes that are on plots of land we would covet for our own gain.

I suguest you contact Mesanna to look into that home and except her power in that matter to look see if it is bugged as you thik.. if it is not.... also to except that and stop stalking that persons home.

FrejaSP please read that post again dear... I am not calling poor Claudia-fjp an idiot... rather the horde who sit there drooling over the idea of more homes falling...... *shudders* We cant aford to loose players if mistakes are being made.... with the push for more looting.......... sorry all I was making a point and was not aiming it at anyone person.

Zosimus dear one... sugar I also apoligise to you if you took it to mean you as well... as I said to FrejaSP i am sorry if many of you took my meaning wrong.

To clear up something, I know 99% of my characters on my accounts ... the 1% i dotn know is ones my son made for gift getting... i consider them... well space savers.
I go from Origin to napa to atlantic to feed my fish water my plants and run around in the morning... with my cup of tea. Cats and baja get a little of my time sorting out my junk cause my son had fun digging up rares in my homes! I wish uo hada maid service hehe.. Sonoma, chessy, pac i have houses under deco mode... boy what i could do with a third hand!!! Siege i love to mine in the evening and Oceania is not alive till around 11 pm nor is hokuto where I just put up a new tower... geesh I couldnt find the footage fora keep even! Europa gets a few minutes on weekends for me to do a bit of shopping.... LS and lake A is shopping destinations and i like the mining there...

I use my babys with care and love... when you have played them for sooo long they are part of me... each is their own in mood and actions. I guess some might call that rollplaying but to me its just how they came off when I met them at creation... You dont forget your best times in a game.... the friends you make or the feelings of the times you had.
UO is a part of my day... inbetween feeding the cats and dog, washing dishes , sweeping floors and vacuming, shopping for dinner, cooking and clean up and doing yard work.
UO dont run my life and I have walked away for days on end when I have other things to do... I am an artist with paint and thread, i am a crafter... who has multi projects in multi genre of them... I am a short order cook (what mom isnt!) My life is not all UO. I like it that way.

p.s. I would like more friends in game.... to return back and new ones too... its why i yip so loud..

 

[claudia-fjp]

The claim you made was that the houses you have seen have no movement of items over years or even a change inthe furnature.... that is why I added in that statement.
I wish I had a picture of his home the day we met and the day he gave me his account... that house NEVER changed...

Now unless your monitoring the bag weight and number of items on a daily basis .... which is Stalking btw..... and could be considered harrassment in a way.

Really? Stalking? Harrassment? How about I have a good memory and its not hard to tell a house hasn't been used in a decade, in fact after so long they start to stick out as oddities. Besides you can't harrass someone who DOESNT PLAY.

Oh there are bugs ............. up the kazooo!
I do understand your meaning in that there ae bugs in the housing system... but to the point you make it sound soooo dire that this one house go poof asap..... and you point out that this house is blocking your expantion......... I rest my case...
Look I understand you want that plot to go poof but if it is not a rtb home or a bugged one ..... how would you feel if it was reversed? he wanted your home to go poof?? And..... Pushed so hard to have it removed???

Again you seem confused. You admit there are bugs in the housing system yet argue that I'm making up stuff like its a fantasy of mine and I'm out to get other players houses dropped. This isn't about 1 house on 1 server blocking just me. My years of trying to get them to fix the RTB houses was never about a particular house either. I'm NOT the only active player blocked by a still bugged house.

Your looking for that one house to go and it reeks of exactly what I said "Sometimes I wonder if its the old "covent thy neighbors house" poping up here."

If that is not the case then you should rethink how you are sounding to the rest of us.....

I agree that homes not paid for should go after the 90 days of their account being out of paid..... and I do agree that the RTB homes have been up too long and are not fair to the rest of us who have paid for storage homes while they got off scott free for so long. But I draw the line at stalking homes that are on plots of land we would covet for our own gain.

Again, I'm not here talking about 1 single house. It's a system wide problem concerning the entire housing server. These other bugged house have actually existed LONGER than the RTB ones. So if you think THEY were right to go then you shouldn't be against fixing other older bugged houses. You act like I'm randomly picking a house in a spot I covet and want it gone. That's laughably rediculous and I've nowhere stated that.

I suguest you contact Mesanna to look into that home and except her power in that matter to look see if it is bugged as you thik.. if it is not.... also to except that and stop stalking that persons home.

If you think Mesanna has the time and is gonna start checking houses for individuals... and again its not just 1 damn house...

FrejaSP please read that post again dear... I am not calling poor Claudia-fjp an idiot... rather the horde who sit there drooling over the idea of more homes falling...... *shudders* We cant aford to loose players if mistakes are being made.... with the push for more looting.......... sorry all I was making a point and was not aiming it at anyone person.

Listen, you called me out. When you say things like "HOW DO YOU KNOW" and "Why the hell do you think you know" and call ANYONE of us idiots, it's not me who should be worried about how I sound. I calmly stated several different types of bugged housing and ways one might deduce that a house is bugged. I can understand you being hung up on the idea of apparently unused houses since you horde accounts of long gone players but really this has nothing to do with you at all. Because these aren't your damn houses I'm talking about, yours are paid for, they'll remain untouched.

 

[FrejaSP]

I do know, many dont understand, why I have this opinion. I guess I miss the time, where half of the houses was not left with no active players using them. Even when I own two castles, I would love to se castles and keeps removed from the game.
My best memories are from the time, where playertowns had alot of citizen, and UO was like a virtuel world. That why I also want overlands spawn back, newbies will hunt and where players will gathering resources.

I know, alot would hate to lose a house, but if they are not using it, it do block the spot, and I rather saw their items stored in their bank until they are back.

Lady Storm, no hard feelings, sometimes we get carried away, when we feel strong for something.

 

[Lady Storm]

very kind of you FrejaSP...

As for you Claudia-fjp... I give up your hopeless dear....

I for one cant imagine how you know a home is unusd if you cant just walk in it... I saw a plot blockinga path that was open to public... so i ran over it .... I nearly fell off my chair at what I saw once on the steps!!! that plot looked barren! it was covered with stuff to the nth degree!!!

You keep saying how you find tons of houses still out there including this one you fixated on for the spot.... You my dear take too much into account because YOU dont see anyone there.... I cant tell you how many times I have sat at my tower in fel and seen people go by .. they didnt see me as i hide to keep the monsters from making noise as the kids are sleeping when I sort bods..... at midnight... My homes are private unless for vendor use... so I for one cant see how you know for a fact these homes are bugged and no owners .
And NO i am not talking about RTB homes.

As I said I give up .... your bound and determined to give that poor owner a run for his place no matter what I say or what is the truth..... I for one hope the owner comes up and bites you in the tush the next time you go snooping his place.

 

[Viper09]

So much drama here over this topic...however I want to give my own input here. Will leave it at that though, don't care to enter this messy argument.

Houses should indeed decay. If someone is not paying for it then the house should decay. The last thing we needed were hundreds of ghost towns preventing the current players from placing houses they wanted, constructing player cities, etc. Due to the recent and long overdue decay of several houses many players were finally able to place their dream houses (namely castles). I have nothing against military personnel who are deployed, in fact have one in the family who finished his tour, but they have a lot more to worry about than houses in UO. There are plenty of options for them to keep what they want in UO, packing up prior to closing account, leaving it open somehow through friends or relatives, etc. Bottom line, RL is more important. But, again, if players aren't paying their subscription, they shouldn't get the luxury that existing players have in keeping their houses. Ultimately, housing is a part of the subscription fee, hence trial account not being able to place one.

 

[FrejaSP]

I for one cant imagine how you know a home is unusd if you cant just walk in it... I saw a plot blockinga path that was open to public... so i ran over it .... I nearly fell off my chair at what I saw once on the steps!!! that plot looked barren! it was covered with stuff to the nth degree!!!

On Siege Perilous we know each others, when I see the name of the house owner, I will know if that player is active on Siege. We only have one char slot, that make it much easier, may not be that easy on normal shards. Also with unused, I don't mean emty, but that noone is living in it. A big treasure chest in form of a castle, may be paid for and used for storing, but if noone hang out there,it block the spot for members of a player town, who want to settle down there.

 

[claudia-fjp]

very kind of you FrejaSP...

As for you Claudia-fjp... I give up your hopeless dear....

I for one cant imagine how you know a home is unusd if you cant just walk in it... I saw a plot blockinga path that was open to public... so i ran over it .... I nearly fell off my chair at what I saw once on the steps!!! that plot looked barren! it was covered with stuff to the nth degree!!!

You keep saying how you find tons of houses still out there including this one you fixated on for the spot.... You my dear take too much into account because YOU dont see anyone there.... I cant tell you how many times I have sat at my tower in fel and seen people go by .. they didnt see me as i hide to keep the monsters from making noise as the kids are sleeping when I sort bods..... at midnight... My homes are private unless for vendor use... so I for one cant see how you know for a fact these homes are bugged and no owners .
And NO i am not talking about RTB homes.

As I said I give up .... your bound and determined to give that poor owner a run for his place no matter what I say or what is the truth..... I for one hope the owner comes up and bites you in the tush the next time you go snooping his place.

So now you've gone from calling people idiots to hopeless?

Show me where I said I couldn't walk into these homes? They are PUBLIC for crying out loud so yes I CAN see all the crap in em and even count the items in secures.

As for fixated on one spot did you even read my posts? I referenced dozens of houses giving examples yet you choose to focus on one that is next to my keep, that I didn't even mention until the second post. Apparently you didn't even bother to read how I know it's been long abandoned.

If you'd like Lady Storm PM me and I'll give you a tour of several of the bugged houses on my server that I mentioned so you can see for yourself in person and slowly explain each one to you.

P.S. The 'poor owner' doesn't even play anymore, and hasn't since servers were full and you could sell houses on E-Bay for RL $. But hey who cares about current actual players when you have so many ghosts of old ones to keep you company.

 

[Zosimus]

I just seriously facepalmed after reading all the recent posts after I previously posted.

This was not the intent of the topic at hand. Thank you.

 

[Lady Storm]

poor Zosimus (btw i like the pilsbury dough boy and its saying )

Yes you right we have bent the topic.
The house if the account is daed and unpaid for it should go poof after the 90 days.
If the house is a RTB it too should go poof but as soon as it is found forget the 5 day decay I say just poof it when found.
If it is a bugged house and again the unpaid status has gone well over the 90 days again I say it needs to go poof like the RTB houses.
What shouldnt go poof is a home that is paid for, just because no witness of the owner can be had.
Does that quallify your need for on topic ? I hope so. Didnt mean to make a mess with the other poster of your thread.

 

[Viper09]

I bought a house on ebay for a $100 bones back then. Bidding was tight till the final second and it was a small tower lol.

That brings back memories of everyone camping around Trammel waiting for the precise second that housing was turned back on just to place small towers North of Minoc. I was one of those campers and I scored a nice small tower before the other guy could place his
I miss the days when housing was so compact that it was just awesome enough just to have a house placed.

 

[Aran]

I don't think houses on open, paid accounts should ever be subject to decay of any kind.

 

[Lady Storm]

Way before the tool for housing we had to buy deeds to the size home you wanted to place.... this was fine if you had enough gold to have a few different sizes in your bag in the case of ether finding a bigger plot or the worse case bit of not having that size plot open up...
We dont have the people for that kind of house wars these days .. unless your on atlantic ... and the tool has made it too easy with macros to plop one in so fast heads spin..
Not long ago a 18 x 18 commaneded a good price for it, now however unless your on a major shard you can drop in keeps most times and not have a single person blink an eye if you try to sell it... no one wants them....