Over the years, I've built and demolished many homes in Sosaria. In fact, one of my passions is designing homes and decorating them. As much as I enjoy being able to toss a new house together in an hour or so, it has always seemed that, like other things in-game, there should be more player to player involvement.
Recently I began playing FarmVille. Compared to UO, FarmVille houses are primitive. There are no interiors, and you can't add decorations or furniture. Sometimes, the buildings don't even follow the same scale as other structures on the property. (My chicken coup is taller than my winery - must be some monster chickens living there!)
Where they hit the nail on the head is the building process. To complete a building, you need to supply brick nails and boards. You can get these from your friends or buy them, but the point is that you actually have to build a building.
Now think of how this would benefit housing in UO. If players were required to accumulate building materials before a home could be finished player crafters would have a new market for raw materials like boards, granite and ingots. Player crafters could even supply finished items such as nails, floor tile, iron gates, etc. The home owner would not be required to purchased player crafted parts, they could use raw materials exclusively if that is their preference. Using player crafted parts would just accelerate the building process and require fewer raw materials.
My recommendation is that you can place a house plot just the same way you do now. When you place the plot, a building crate would appear and this is where you would store the raw materials needed to build your house. Then you would enter the customization menu, and design the house. When you save/backup the design you would receive a list of all the materials needed to complete the house.
Building materials you have in your building crate would be applied to the house. Perhaps you would then see partially constructed walls while your home is being built. As you add more supplies to the building crate, the house goes through stages of construction up to completion. You could then place interior furniture and decorate the house.
As I envision it, the new system would not require home owners to have any special crafting skills to build a house. In addition to supplying raw materials, the home owner could also purchase finished items from player craftsmen. Doors, iron gates, windows, finished stone and floor tiles could all be player supplied construction materials.
I realize one objection to this system is that many folks won't want to wait for a house to be built. For them, leave an option to build the house for gold by hiring NPC craftsmen. NPC crafters could bypass the materials gathering phase. The more you hire, the faster your home is built. Perhaps using "skilled labor" (a real player with the appropriate skill) would allow your house to be completed with fewer materials, or in less time. The current ship repair system allows for fewer materials to be used if a skilled craftsman repairs the ship.
Player run events could now include an old-style "barn raising." Wouldn't it be cool to invite your neighbors over some weekend to help build your new house!
Ultima Online is a game of the imagination. As I wander through towns, I see memorial statues under construction, yet everything else just seems to appear instantly. I think the ability to mark time by watching the development of homes would add to the unique experience this game offers. It would offer players additional ways to interact, and new markets for raw materials and skills.
Recently I began playing FarmVille. Compared to UO, FarmVille houses are primitive. There are no interiors, and you can't add decorations or furniture. Sometimes, the buildings don't even follow the same scale as other structures on the property. (My chicken coup is taller than my winery - must be some monster chickens living there!)
Where they hit the nail on the head is the building process. To complete a building, you need to supply brick nails and boards. You can get these from your friends or buy them, but the point is that you actually have to build a building.
Now think of how this would benefit housing in UO. If players were required to accumulate building materials before a home could be finished player crafters would have a new market for raw materials like boards, granite and ingots. Player crafters could even supply finished items such as nails, floor tile, iron gates, etc. The home owner would not be required to purchased player crafted parts, they could use raw materials exclusively if that is their preference. Using player crafted parts would just accelerate the building process and require fewer raw materials.
My recommendation is that you can place a house plot just the same way you do now. When you place the plot, a building crate would appear and this is where you would store the raw materials needed to build your house. Then you would enter the customization menu, and design the house. When you save/backup the design you would receive a list of all the materials needed to complete the house.
Building materials you have in your building crate would be applied to the house. Perhaps you would then see partially constructed walls while your home is being built. As you add more supplies to the building crate, the house goes through stages of construction up to completion. You could then place interior furniture and decorate the house.
As I envision it, the new system would not require home owners to have any special crafting skills to build a house. In addition to supplying raw materials, the home owner could also purchase finished items from player craftsmen. Doors, iron gates, windows, finished stone and floor tiles could all be player supplied construction materials.
I realize one objection to this system is that many folks won't want to wait for a house to be built. For them, leave an option to build the house for gold by hiring NPC craftsmen. NPC crafters could bypass the materials gathering phase. The more you hire, the faster your home is built. Perhaps using "skilled labor" (a real player with the appropriate skill) would allow your house to be completed with fewer materials, or in less time. The current ship repair system allows for fewer materials to be used if a skilled craftsman repairs the ship.
Player run events could now include an old-style "barn raising." Wouldn't it be cool to invite your neighbors over some weekend to help build your new house!
Ultima Online is a game of the imagination. As I wander through towns, I see memorial statues under construction, yet everything else just seems to appear instantly. I think the ability to mark time by watching the development of homes would add to the unique experience this game offers. It would offer players additional ways to interact, and new markets for raw materials and skills.
