One of the issues with instanced locations is that (I believe) they cease to exist when there is no one in them, along with any items left there. So as long as there is a way to keep them going while empty, I think that's a good solution to the issue.* I think a good length of time to vacation would be 11 Ur days, which is 1 day 20 hours real time. And I think vacationing twice per Ur year would be a good limitation overall. Vacations are occasional, not all-the-time things.
I love the idea that your leftover vacation items are shipped to you by moving box once your time is up. I was thinking along similar lines. It's a good way to reuse that item, and who doesn't want some moving cartons in the attic? Great memento.
I think that you should be able to rent as a singleton or an informal group, and that as a group, you all have keys. Maybe there aren't any cabinets in vacation homes to avoid having to rewrite that part of the code. But I don't think you should be a ble to give keys out to those who are not on vacation. Invite them in, sure, but there are property management guidelines that would prevent you from letting vacation tenants just copy keys willy nilly Along those lines, I think that maybe, in addition to not being able to go home (a Very Good limitation, which keeps the idea from being game breaking) you should maybe not be able to visit homestreets at all while on vacation. Both of the two above ideas help make vacation significantly different from just getting a temporary extra home base in Ur.
I love the idea of campfires and special vacation food.
I'll be honest though, as much as I am starting to really get behind the vacation idea, I'd be more excited to see new locations built for this idea expressly, and keep old style homes as nostalgic party packs. I think vacations are too big, and too game changing, an idea to use the old homes. But that's just a personal preference I know isn't shared among everyone.
* edit: actually, I think parties did continue as long as someone belonged to them via chat and there was time left. So, yay?
I like the idea of vacation homes but im not sure a whole new system for it is something thats feasable or needed. For the most part ppl seem to want to be able to visit old style home types (nostalgia / curiosity) and do activites there, campfire, or marshmallows, or popcorn for instance, or want party packs more suited to smaller groups. In either case Party packs are easier to add, and are only around when activated. If there was a vacation system it would have to have time limits, + can only vaca x amount of times per year or x amount of time apart (from the last vaca) limits, if it wasnt set up somewhat like Party Packs , or Pods, which in world ones would need limitations or avaibility would be an issue. Plus due to it being for vacations, not being able to visit home, would be a good idea. However if Party Packs and Pods were done itd be nice to be able to activate it with only one person.
Concerning the rest of housing, we have Home Street Houses, as our main house, Group Homes / Club Houses were under discussion and something the devs said they wanted to add ( although a long long way off) concerning them if Group Homes were set up similar to Home Streets, no resources though , but more like Towers on thier own streets which you can only access if you are part of the group or if you are invited by a member of the group. Also the - if not occupied they wont exist - applies to this type of setup as well. The last type of housing however if we were to have it , needs to be in world, Temples, one for each Giant, (not sure where Rook, Trisor, and Scion of Purple fit in) So a Temple for each Giant, each with a different theme, this would be nice to give them more presence in world, and for the holiday they would have, social spots non party pack or group related, and roleplay or whatever else
Thanks so much Scarlett! When I get home and can spend some time, I'm going on a serious dig through the assets to see if I need to rebuild these or not.
I do too @"Zany Serendipity"...I so miss the old style houses, but know we gained a lot when we got the new homestreets. Look forward to some way to pay homage to the original homes.
Both systems had their +'s and -'s, as a whole i much preferred new housing. However a way to revisit the old house styles for parties or vacations would be very nice to have, i lean towards parties since its the simplest to implement, in either case the buildings should be instanced and have a timer to avoid availability issues.
@ladyceres - I think you already got a few of these, but I just found some more bog home photos in some of my old pictures. Here's a link to various old home pictures - Couple of firebog ones, Alakol (both large and small) and one of the old Groddle Meadow homes.
I had another idea about vacation homes: if you start with a limit of two vacations per Ur year, and a 11-Ur-day limit on each vacation (2 months and just under 2 days IRL), you could potentially buy upgrades for longer or more frequent vacations (vacationing for 17 or 23 days, or vacationing 3 or 4 times per year). The upgrades could be unlocked with achievements for vacationing a certain number of times (5,11,17) and maybe you could get another fun upgrade for vacationing in all the types of vacation spots, or unlock extra vacation recipes. At maxed upgrade you'd be able to vacation a bit over 7 days per month.
And as to the spots themselves: I am imagining they could work a lot like old housing (I know the code is gone but in terms of interface.) I'm thinking a street sign on a picturesque street and if you're on vacation there, you can use it to access your vacation street. ("Everything's Beachy! Vacation Spot"). If you are not vacationing, you don't have access unless invited. You have to use this sign to access the vacation spot, or set your TP to the front yard.
Once past the sign, you find yourself in a common front yard area much like the individual blocks in old housing had. This area would be instanced as for a party for a week. This is one place where we find the main campfire or its themed equivalent. I think also there'd be access to a location-appropriate resource that you don't normally see in homestreets. After all, when we come home from vacation we're always talking about easily obtainable some exotic item was. There are five or seven vacation properties accessible via this vacation street instance. I think you would also find helikitties. Perhaps here you get a new mood-lifting interaction with fireflies if present. This location should have a special vacation vendor (could use the meal vendor graphic) selling a limited number of groceries and drinks ingredients, plus some exorbitantly priced meals and drinks and "necessities". Maybe also an ingredient specific to the vacation enabled recipes. Anyway, I'd like to see different food at the different kinds of vacation spots.
To rent the vacation property you go to something akin to the old real estate interface. While the front yards and vacation properties themselves are instanced for one in game week, I think that it would still be good to limit the numbers available for any one spot, and those limits could be adjustable with player demand. The fun thing that would encourage some unique player behaviour would be arranging to rent a spot on the same street as your friends for the same week. Let's say there are a bunch of streets' worth of spots available, and like an airplane seating chart you can see what's rented already for a given week. You can plan a vacation farther in advance to get what you want at popular spots. There could be more than one level of vacation spot: one cheaper and one more expensive, maybe with more storage and space. you could also limit how far in advance bookings are taken, so it opens up to everyone when a new block comes on the market.
Each person on vacation gets their own teeny vacation home, with limited storage and no SDBs, themed decorations that can be stood on but not otherwise moved around, and either a wee balcony, or a mostly decorative backyard with a few location appropriate resources. Perhaps in the backyard there is a kind of inhabitant that you can't normally get in your backyard, like a sloth or salmen. You can invite people in and they can move between the house and the yard as long as you are in one of the locations. But if you leave they are booted. At the end of the vacation, items in your vacation home are mailed back to you via moving box (unpacking after a vacation is such a pain!) Items in the common front yard are lost.
There should be different styles of vacation spots: beach, winter alpine, camping both forest and bog, festival*, and city, perhaps. - Beach: you'd get a beach hut or a modern alakol style house depending on price, maybe some underwater action out back of the house. Image one storey near the top of the area, and then seeing an underwater area taking up the lower/underneath area. And a few salmen in the water. - Winter Alpine: log cabin or Wintry Place style. Maybe some fun sliding physics, to mimic skating, downhill or cross country skiing. Access to ice nubbins. - Camping: you'd get a yurt or a treehouse/bottletreehouse. Might be fun to make a fancier style of treehouse! And the yurt could be really minimal in terms of price but also most available. Think of all that forest across Grumbala. They might have access to a fox or sloth depending on location. In the bogs, probably the inhabitant here would be something they haven't introduced yet. Maybe a lizard that throws up honey, or whatever. I'm sure it was on the list because everything else can already be farmed, - City: Abbasid themed. Old apartments and alakol houses or something new, like a new game of crowns board in the front yard. Maybe it'd be at a hotel and you'd get a concierge who provides cheap tickets to games, and maybe has some exclusive races and other games.
- *Festival: I was thinking in conjunction with the temples for the Giants, they could become vacation spots once a year with unlimited instances for their followers to celebrate their holiday. But the rooms would be tinier and with even less storage and no backyard or resources, and with less opportunity to choose who you are in close quarters with. But a bonus on donations during the holiday period if you're attending the festival. Just a thought. Could be fun!
Anyway: why go on vacation? What's different about being on vacation?
- Can't go home, or to homestreets at all. You're tied to a location in Ur, and need to do all your gathering there for the Ur-week vacation lasts. But maybe you get a vacation buff that reduces your mood loss. - Your home is locked up for the duration - no key holders admitted either. Make provisions for your piggies ! You can't access your stored inventory in home's SDBs. Have to live on what you can carry to the vacation home in one go. And maybe what your friends can carry for you. And what you can gather, of course. - Access to inhabitants, resources, and recipes you do not otherwise have at home. Possibly adjusted mood or energy loss or use rates while in the vacation spot. - Feeling of living "with" friends for the duration of the vacation. Group activities and vacation achievements encourage that. Placement of the large campfire out front promotes coming together in a big group. Smaller campfire is available inside for those who want quiet contemplation or privacy instead.
While I'm throwing all the ideas together and pie-in-the-skying ...
Campfires: - You get a mood boost while you are "sitting at" the campfire (within radius of glow). The mood boost is greater the more glitchen are there together. - You can interact with the campfire to play campfire games. Think about how charades is, but via the fire and involving all the glitchen at the fire. It would be nice if it announced to newcomers what game is being played when they arrive. - You can use the campfire as a tool to cook certain recipes. Like, maybe Mirchmallows are only available from Vacation Vendors, and you can roast the or use them to make riced crispies treats and smores and rocky road and maybe vacation sammiches. Popcorn. I'd like to see a recipe for Hotdogs too, but the it shouldn't contain any meat, maybe mushrooms and grain, and a flavour pack and a lot of salt. - Using your cauldron at the fire should give you a bonus or buff for brewing potions. - Social potions should work better/longer when used at the campfire.
Campfires would look different depending on the style of vacation spot.
Thanks b3achy! I reread the thread and my brain started churning over the ideas everyone mentioned, and the only way to make it stop when that happens is to put down how it might all work together.
One concern, of course, would be making it TOO awesome, with the result that people use the vacation homes as a way to grind or otherwise exploit and unbalance the game. I think that you could avoid that by limiting the number of resources present - one or two things to interact with on the home street (one rare, one common to homestreets) is nowhere near what you'd find on a regular street. If you also limit what's present in the small backyards to something rare, then I don't think that gaining sole access to it would be unbalancing. I think you'd still get some people forming associations so that at least one group member can go on vacation any given week and invites the others freely. I think that's okay though?
Resources and storage should be limited, to discourage hogging of locations, and to make the main houses still be the main residence, since its not the main house. But this depends on how its set up. The more i think of it having a item to access a vacation home near / at a beurecratic hall, that has a timer, but you can exit it even if you are the last person inside and come back to it. Would be a nice idea. The timer would still be active even when you exit. And limit how often you can rent, something like maybe 2 times a IRL month? However anyone on vaca can invite anyone else. I do think they should be set up in their own thing and not live in world. To me anything added in world should be something that would not potentially need constant expanding, or activity. Things such as our Home Streets, Group Homes, and Vacation Homes, Party Packs, img card locations, game ticket locations, should not be in world IMO. Things that should be would be just about anything else, resources, animals, beurecratic halls, a Temple for each Giant (if those are implemented) , streets, hidden locations, etc etc
Maybe vacations are introduced with a quest where you try going on vacation for 1 day (4 hours) in order to qualify for a Vacationer's License. During the process, you get some quick tutorial in what happens (You Can't Go Home Again, Campfire Games, etc)
I love all of these ideas. My love for Animal Crossing made me think it would be cool to have NPC neighbors that have quests for you to complete. For example, a neighbor is having a party and needs 50 Cheese Plates and 50 Choice Crudites. When you complete it you get to go to the party and talk to random NPCs (maybe some you have already met) and get a badge or item. But you would have to complete any quests within your set vacation time.
I love the ideas so far, this is getting me far too excited for something that might not even happen! I think it would be best if you couldn't just invite friends, but like someone (I think t was Scarlett Bearsdale?) said, it would have to be that if friends want to vacation together, they have to choose houses near each other at the same locations at the same time as opposed to just inviting them and them coming along so that nobody makes groups to be on vacation all the time.
Also, I thought there should be certain rare items only available for sale in the vacation spot, like souvenirs. That way, not only can you bring back something nice that you can't get anywhere else, but you have a momento to remember the trip. This could add more rare items to the game as well, and maybe make some of the things rarer over time. In order to avoid making the items common and just more items without purpose, you could cycle the items out every half year, two months, etc. So, for example, there's a small snow globe for sale in the Beach vacation spot that somebody sees, so they go and vacation to buy it. That item is purchased, and their vacation ends, and the item eventually cycles out and another item comes. Say they also want this item, but they can't go back on vacation yet since they just returned from one (or, the idea i like best, they can only vacation twice a year, and in this situation, they already used them both). This adds the rarity factor to it, because people will be all over the forums offering lots of money for this item because it's limited. Also, adding on to this idea, the item could come back another time later in the year or the next year, but there's no guarantee that it will ever return (it's completely random). So somebody could spend millions of currants on something that they were sure wouldn't return, but it returned right after they purchased it for just 100 currants. Of course, this could disappoint people, but it adds more mystery to the idea, and it can get patient people reward for waiting for it for so long. And, it can give people second chances if they missed an item they really want last time and add more of the item into the game, decreasing the rarity. Oh, and the person can buy one of the item, so they can't bring back any or buy fifty only spending 5,000 currants and sell each for over a million. Just a thought!
I was. Thinking about excursions today - you know, like the scuba diving trip you take while you're on vacation. It would be nice if there were some excursions you could buy from the vendor/neighbour NPC, but they've gotta be overpriced. They could work like the summers day kind of instanced location.
Grumble forests: one of those upper storey rainforest walks in the canopy? Mountains, like Aranna: zip lining Coastal areas: something in a boat, maybe waterskiing or scuba diving
Comments
I think a good length of time to vacation would be 11 Ur days, which is 1 day 20 hours real time. And I think vacationing twice per Ur year would be a good limitation overall. Vacations are occasional, not all-the-time things.
I love the idea that your leftover vacation items are shipped to you by moving box once your time is up. I was thinking along similar lines. It's a good way to reuse that item, and who doesn't want some moving cartons in the attic? Great memento.
I think that you should be able to rent as a singleton or an informal group, and that as a group, you all have keys. Maybe there aren't any cabinets in vacation homes to avoid having to rewrite that part of the code. But I don't think you should be a ble to give keys out to those who are not on vacation. Invite them in, sure, but there are property management guidelines that would prevent you from letting vacation tenants just copy keys willy nilly
Along those lines, I think that maybe, in addition to not being able to go home (a Very Good limitation, which keeps the idea from being game breaking) you should maybe not be able to visit homestreets at all while on vacation.
Both of the two above ideas help make vacation significantly different from just getting a temporary extra home base in Ur.
I love the idea of campfires and special vacation food.
I'll be honest though, as much as I am starting to really get behind the vacation idea, I'd be more excited to see new locations built for this idea expressly, and keep old style homes as nostalgic party packs. I think vacations are too big, and too game changing, an idea to use the old homes. But that's just a personal preference I know isn't shared among everyone.
* edit: actually, I think parties did continue as long as someone belonged to them via chat and there was time left. So, yay?
http://www.glitchthegame.com/snaps/PHFLLUB980D2F9R/1252-2d0d1b11c0/sizes/s/
http://www.glitchthegame.com/snaps/PHFLLUB980D2F9R/10619-fe7afb7f73/sizes/s/
http://www.glitchthegame.com/snaps/PHFLLUB980D2F9R/10614-6ca4bb31c5/sizes/s/
Concerning the rest of housing, we have Home Street Houses, as our main house, Group Homes / Club Houses were under discussion and something the devs said they wanted to add ( although a long long way off) concerning them if Group Homes were set up similar to Home Streets, no resources though , but more like Towers on thier own streets which you can only access if you are part of the group or if you are invited by a member of the group. Also the - if not occupied they wont exist - applies to this type of setup as well. The last type of housing however if we were to have it , needs to be in world, Temples, one for each Giant, (not sure where Rook, Trisor, and Scion of Purple fit in) So a Temple for each Giant, each with a different theme, this would be nice to give them more presence in world, and for the holiday they would have, social spots non party pack or group related, and roleplay or whatever else
Here are snaps of one of the smaller bog houses. This is the one I lived in, but they're not my snaps! I loved the little ledges, very handy for organizing things and keeping your pigs in one place.
http://www.glitchthegame.com/snaps/PUVEU98NFTF2C1O/2773-985fc92fb2/
http://www.glitchthegame.com/snaps/PUVEU98NFTF2C1O/2774-4e7c76520f/
I loved also that there were so many hiding places, behind the big root, behind the wall, and I think a little sliver of space on the top ledge behind the big yellow guy there (I forget what glitch botanist called them).
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/aovg95js5b8aubd/AACy4BqJ-Pbt8uQXLqacUWSOa
And as to the spots themselves: I am imagining they could work a lot like old housing (I know the code is gone but in terms of interface.) I'm thinking a street sign on a picturesque street and if you're on vacation there, you can use it to access your vacation street. ("Everything's Beachy! Vacation Spot"). If you are not vacationing, you don't have access unless invited. You have to use this sign to access the vacation spot, or set your TP to the front yard.
Once past the sign, you find yourself in a common front yard area much like the individual blocks in old housing had. This area would be instanced as for a party for a week. This is one place where we find the main campfire or its themed equivalent. I think also there'd be access to a location-appropriate resource that you don't normally see in homestreets. After all, when we come home from vacation we're always talking about easily obtainable some exotic item was. There are five or seven vacation properties accessible via this vacation street instance. I think you would also find helikitties. Perhaps here you get a new mood-lifting interaction with fireflies if present.
This location should have a special vacation vendor (could use the meal vendor graphic) selling a limited number of groceries and drinks ingredients, plus some exorbitantly priced meals and drinks and "necessities". Maybe also an ingredient specific to the vacation enabled recipes. Anyway, I'd like to see different food at the different kinds of vacation spots.
To rent the vacation property you go to something akin to the old real estate interface. While the front yards and vacation properties themselves are instanced for one in game week, I think that it would still be good to limit the numbers available for any one spot, and those limits could be adjustable with player demand. The fun thing that would encourage some unique player behaviour would be arranging to rent a spot on the same street as your friends for the same week. Let's say there are a bunch of streets' worth of spots available, and like an airplane seating chart you can see what's rented already for a given week. You can plan a vacation farther in advance to get what you want at popular spots. There could be more than one level of vacation spot: one cheaper and one more expensive, maybe with more storage and space. you could also limit how far in advance bookings are taken, so it opens up to everyone when a new block comes on the market.
Each person on vacation gets their own teeny vacation home, with limited storage and no SDBs, themed decorations that can be stood on but not otherwise moved around, and either a wee balcony, or a mostly decorative backyard with a few location appropriate resources. Perhaps in the backyard there is a kind of inhabitant that you can't normally get in your backyard, like a sloth or salmen. You can invite people in and they can move between the house and the yard as long as you are in one of the locations. But if you leave they are booted.
At the end of the vacation, items in your vacation home are mailed back to you via moving box (unpacking after a vacation is such a pain!) Items in the common front yard are lost.
There should be different styles of vacation spots: beach, winter alpine, camping both forest and bog, festival*, and city, perhaps.
- Beach: you'd get a beach hut or a modern alakol style house depending on price, maybe some underwater action out back of the house. Image one storey near the top of the area, and then seeing an underwater area taking up the lower/underneath area. And a few salmen in the water.
- Winter Alpine: log cabin or Wintry Place style. Maybe some fun sliding physics, to mimic skating, downhill or cross country skiing. Access to ice nubbins.
- Camping: you'd get a yurt or a treehouse/bottletreehouse. Might be fun to make a fancier style of treehouse! And the yurt could be really minimal in terms of price but also most available. Think of all that forest across Grumbala. They might have access to a fox or sloth depending on location. In the bogs, probably the inhabitant here would be something they haven't introduced yet. Maybe a lizard that throws up honey, or whatever. I'm sure it was on the list because everything else can already be farmed,
- City: Abbasid themed. Old apartments and alakol houses or something new, like a new game of crowns board in the front yard. Maybe it'd be at a hotel and you'd get a concierge who provides cheap tickets to games, and maybe has some exclusive races and other games.
- *Festival: I was thinking in conjunction with the temples for the Giants, they could become vacation spots once a year with unlimited instances for their followers to celebrate their holiday. But the rooms would be tinier and with even less storage and no backyard or resources, and with less opportunity to choose who you are in close quarters with. But a bonus on donations during the holiday period if you're attending the festival. Just a thought. Could be fun!
Anyway: why go on vacation? What's different about being on vacation?
- Can't go home, or to homestreets at all. You're tied to a location in Ur, and need to do all your gathering there for the Ur-week vacation lasts. But maybe you get a vacation buff that reduces your mood loss.
- Your home is locked up for the duration - no key holders admitted either. Make provisions for your piggies ! You can't access your stored inventory in home's SDBs. Have to live on what you can carry to the vacation home in one go. And maybe what your friends can carry for you. And what you can gather, of course.
- Access to inhabitants, resources, and recipes you do not otherwise have at home. Possibly adjusted mood or energy loss or use rates while in the vacation spot.
- Feeling of living "with" friends for the duration of the vacation. Group activities and vacation achievements encourage that. Placement of the large campfire out front promotes coming together in a big group. Smaller campfire is available inside for those who want quiet contemplation or privacy instead.
edited for clarity
Campfires:
- You get a mood boost while you are "sitting at" the campfire (within radius of glow). The mood boost is greater the more glitchen are there together.
- You can interact with the campfire to play campfire games. Think about how charades is, but via the fire and involving all the glitchen at the fire. It would be nice if it announced to newcomers what game is being played when they arrive.
- You can use the campfire as a tool to cook certain recipes. Like, maybe Mirchmallows are only available from Vacation Vendors, and you can roast the or use them to make riced crispies treats and smores and rocky road and maybe vacation sammiches. Popcorn. I'd like to see a recipe for Hotdogs too, but the it shouldn't contain any meat, maybe mushrooms and grain, and a flavour pack and a lot of salt.
- Using your cauldron at the fire should give you a bonus or buff for brewing potions.
- Social potions should work better/longer when used at the campfire.
Campfires would look different depending on the style of vacation spot.
One concern, of course, would be making it TOO awesome, with the result that people use the vacation homes as a way to grind or otherwise exploit and unbalance the game. I think that you could avoid that by limiting the number of resources present - one or two things to interact with on the home street (one rare, one common to homestreets) is nowhere near what you'd find on a regular street. If you also limit what's present in the small backyards to something rare, then I don't think that gaining sole access to it would be unbalancing.
I think you'd still get some people forming associations so that at least one group member can go on vacation any given week and invites the others freely. I think that's okay though?
Also, I thought there should be certain rare items only available for sale in the vacation spot, like souvenirs. That way, not only can you bring back something nice that you can't get anywhere else, but you have a momento to remember the trip. This could add more rare items to the game as well, and maybe make some of the things rarer over time. In order to avoid making the items common and just more items without purpose, you could cycle the items out every half year, two months, etc. So, for example, there's a small snow globe for sale in the Beach vacation spot that somebody sees, so they go and vacation to buy it. That item is purchased, and their vacation ends, and the item eventually cycles out and another item comes. Say they also want this item, but they can't go back on vacation yet since they just returned from one (or, the idea i like best, they can only vacation twice a year, and in this situation, they already used them both). This adds the rarity factor to it, because people will be all over the forums offering lots of money for this item because it's limited. Also, adding on to this idea, the item could come back another time later in the year or the next year, but there's no guarantee that it will ever return (it's completely random). So somebody could spend millions of currants on something that they were sure wouldn't return, but it returned right after they purchased it for just 100 currants. Of course, this could disappoint people, but it adds more mystery to the idea, and it can get patient people reward for waiting for it for so long. And, it can give people second chances if they missed an item they really want last time and add more of the item into the game, decreasing the rarity. Oh, and the person can buy one of the item, so they can't bring back any or buy fifty only spending 5,000 currants and sell each for over a million. Just a thought!
@SnackyP I like the idea of the "local" neighbour NPC ... maybe the vendor could do double duty as this?
Grumble forests: one of those upper storey rainforest walks in the canopy?
Mountains, like Aranna: zip lining
Coastal areas: something in a boat, maybe waterskiing or scuba diving
Other ideas?
Don't forget snow skiing...
And maybe some paddleboarding in the water areas too?