Wow, I really got carried away on the MMO notions, and ignored the single-player elements. Hmm... That's a whole new ballgame.

To be honest, I don't really like a lot of customization in a single-player game. I didn't understand why there were millions of outfits for your character in GTA: San Andreas. Nobody ever saw them except you, and there was one outfit that had all the best stat enhancements, so why wear anything else? Sure, once you got yourself levelled up and finished the missions, it was fun to make CJ look like Shaft, but that's about all there was to it. Too much hassle, not enough fun.

So don't go crazy with decor and floor plan. Maybe let them choose a theme, so their house matches their character's race and class, but if you make it possible to arrange flowers on the mantle and arrange the furniture in the music room, people are going to feel obliged to do it, because they'll expect some sort of reward, like arranging the town in Dark Cloud.

If you go that route, fine, but it's tough to have a prize that's worth the huge effort of collecting and arranging items in the house without making it adversely effect gameplay.

I like the idea of training in your home or on your property, so you'd install the equipment necessary to buff the skills you want to work on and then have your character use them to enhance skills or raise levels. This could take the form of mini-games (Kengo II) or just be a simple "use" command and cutscene. It's up to you.

In conclusion, I think the house should be absolutely functional, and require minimal attention.

I agree that most items within a home should be both practical and functional in their use, otherwise you just end up with fluff, though i admit i do like decorating (to a certain extent) an area to suit my own particular style/tastes, especially if i'm supposed to live there. Installing training equipment, security systems, lighting and/or seating that you can actually sit in, but going into excessive detail like specific flowers in your flower vase, cutlery and diner plates on your dining table, or assorted knick-knacks on the mantle piece may go a little to far, especially if they don't really do anything other than look pretty.

Most items in the home should illicit a reaction from any visiting NPC's so as to not make them solely for the players own ego.

You can have all the eye candy while still not making it tedious to manage. Make the "house" a representative of the game state - let it reflect how far, how well and how thorough the player has played the game (in it´s most simple state - a large storage bin and a fancy quest log rolled into one). You can always tie minor boni to those achievements if you absolutely feel that they have to "do" someting, but I don´t think it´s necessary.

for example:

* Dragon Slain -> Dragon skull is mounted over the fireplace.
* Rescue princess quest completed -> King grants you an estate, effectively adding rooms to your house (like an alchemists lab, which allows you to brew potions).
* Horse thieves quest completed -> Horse trader gives you a horse, which can be seen in the stable and cuts travel times on the map in half.

...

One thing I think is important is that once you have a house, NPCs should be able to find you on their own. Which kind of people come knocking at your door obviously depend on the nature of your reputations (if you are known to be rich, expect to receive sollicitations for charity, as well as thieves; if you're a smuggler, expect police inspections; a do-gooder, pleas for help). Same thing is true to some extent if you are known to stay for a while in a given location (planet, country, town, hotel). The longer you stay in place, the easier you are to locate. As was mentioned before, actually owning a house (or any variation on this theme) is a matter of public record, and does act as a focal point. And if you leave your house innocupied, you risk, in addition to common thievery, to find, when you come back, that it has been used by squatters, smugglers ... possibly causing damage to your local reputation.

And remember - they know where you live.

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Original post by Fruny One thing I think is important is that once you have a house, NPCs should be able to find you on their own. Which kind of people come knocking at your door obviously depend on the nature of your reputations (if you are known to be rich, expect to receive sollicitations for charity, as well as thieves; if you're a smuggler, expect police inspections; a do-gooder, pleas for help). Same thing is true to some extent if you are known to stay for a while in a given location (planet, country, town, hotel). The longer you stay in place, the easier you are to locate. As was mentioned before, actually owning a house (or any variation on this theme) is a matter of public record, and does act as a focal point. And if you leave your house innocupied, you risk, in addition to common thievery, to find, when you come back, that it has been used by squatters, smugglers ... possibly causing damage to your local reputation. And remember - they know where you live.

Sweet! [cool] Man, love this idea! Beautiful for tightly linking the adventuring portion to property ownership. I really like the possibility of your house becoming a magnet based on the kind of player you are.

What I also REALLY like is the idea of how you become reknown. You're a big man/woman in the community when people come to you!. This can emotionally integrate you into the game's world and story.

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-General Question-
You need to know what's possible wrt people coming to your door. How do you indicate what's possible? I think you'd have two concerns:
*Are they going to harm my property?
*Are they going to come for me in my property?

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Original post by Hase * Dragon Slain -> Dragon skull is mounted over the fireplace. * Rescue princess quest completed -> King grants you an estate, effectively adding rooms to your house (like an alchemists lab, which allows you to brew potions). * Horse thieves quest completed -> Horse trader gives you a horse, which can be seen in the stable and cuts travel times on the map in half. ...

Very cool. Not only does it serve as a hall of fame, it's functional, too! I really think this has potential when blended with the idea of impressing the denizens of the game world. [smile]

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Original post by Iron Chef Carnage To be honest, I don't really like a lot of customization in a single-player game. I didn't understand why there were millions of outfits for your character in GTA: San Andreas. Nobody ever saw them except you, and there was one outfit that had all the best stat enhancements, so why wear anything else? Sure, once you got yourself levelled up and finished the missions, it was fun to make CJ look like Shaft, but that's about all there was to it. Too much hassle, not enough fun.

My friend drives me NUTS with customizing his character's outfits and armor in games like Phantasy Star and Champions of Norrath-- to the point that he won't wear stat improving stuff if it doesn't match!!!!

I guess it shows how much roleplaying is in the mind.

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I like the idea of training in your home or on your property, so you'd install the equipment necessary to buff the skills you want to work on and then have your character use them to enhance skills or raise levels.

I like the idea of making this a mini-game because it'll make it all the more fun. It would be nice if the game set things up so that you could either pay to use equipment or buy it outright and use it for free.

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In conclusion, I think the house should be absolutely functional, and require minimal attention.

The line begins to blur if something like a starship become your house! [grin]

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Original post by Gyrthok ...but going into excessive detail like specific flowers in your flower vase, cutlery and diner plates on your dining table, or assorted knick-knacks on the mantle piece may go a little to far, especially if they don't really do anything other than look pretty. Most items in the home should illicit a reaction from any visiting NPC's so as to not make them solely for the players own ego.

What happens if you start expanding out beyond hack & slash and start thinking, "How can this item influence this NPC so that I can get my goals?" Rather than just a reaction, what if even crazy small things like flowers could create openings to influence certain NPCs?

The way I like to look at the whole housing thing is as a part of roots. Once a player grows roots into their location they then start to gain the acceptance and respect of others in that location. From this point they can become a part of the fabric of society within a game, in whichever societal role they wish to play.

If you ask me the lack of a place to grow roots is the reason why most of these RPG-likes have wandering rogues and whatnot... Getting a house will get you the women, which will get you the kids... Isn't that what living is about? Growing, learning, then teaching (passing on your knowledge and growth).

It would certainly be a different game with these kinds of roots.

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Original post by dwarfsoft The way I like to look at the whole housing thing is as a part of roots. Once a player grows roots into their location they then start to gain the acceptance and respect of others in that location. From this point they can become a part of the fabric of society within a game, in whichever societal role they wish to play.

This is abstract but I find it compelling. The "need to belong" and the "need to be respected / acknowledged" are strong subconsciuos motivators. I wouldn't be surprised if they lurk in an RPG, where ostensibly you're part of a living world.

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Getting a house will get you the women, which will get you the kids... Isn't that what living is about? Growing, learning, then teaching (passing on your knowledge and growth). It would certainly be a different game with these kinds of roots.

Yes, I agree. I really think it would be fun to see how closely you can blend adventuring with these life sim elements without tipping the balance and driving hardcore RPGers away. Some of the great ideas so far about trying adventuring tightly to the function of the home might really inspire a non-MMO RPG.

Funny side thought: I notice that "what's living all about" can almost be thought of as a victory condition. After all, if you don't get these things, societies around the world would consider you a failure.

Hmmmm.... /scratch chin nefariously.... =)