Dwellings - Unpersonalised?

[Elke]

During an ask it was explained to me that dwellings are on hold, until further notice. Which I can completely understand, seeing as there are many areas needing building and I'd imagine that individual, unique, PC-specific dwellings are low on the priority list at this time.

Thinking about this, I wondered if it might be possible to put in a dwellings area of non-customised dwellings for rent (or possibly purchase)? What I'm thinking about is an area, a courtyard say, with a shared well and several houses leading off of this main courtyard - houses with the complete basics, a room to sleep in and a room to store in. An NPC would hold the keys and insist on yearly rent being paid - with any house where the rent isn't paid up emptied into a single storeroom for holding and then the dwelling being available to re-let?

I suggest this because rather than having unique dwellings, I think a lot of people would be happy to have somewhere just to put their head, and more importantly, stuff. It would stimulate and improve rp, partly because it would be great to be able to invite other characters back to one's lodgings, and partly because there are a lot of characters wanting a place to stay - especially ones involved in pregnancy rp who nevertheless have nowhere to settle down into.

If there were, say, ten dwellings that people could move into and out of, with a kismet requirement/cost for being allowed to rent them at all, then when characters/players moved on there would still be dwelling-space available for use by new players.

Just throwing the suggestion out here.

[Mele]

If you have an idea like this which is building you should check out the building lessons and make it your own. :)

You can find a 'hard builder' to team up with who will help you through the code process, or code it completely.

(I hope that didn't come across as rude - I think it's a great idea. It's literally a building project though and those suggestions are things that you a person can act out on your own, whereas suggesting it may not do any well as builders have projects from their own bits and ideas! :) )

[Harroghty]

Elke: This is a great idea.

I have seen something similar in the past with a Simutronics MUD. They featured a few neighborhoods of various classes (middle class, wealthy, etc.) in one city and then added shops for furniture and amenities that you could have moved to your house. It was a big hit with the player base.

[Arnof]

And if you're looking for a hard-builder to help make it happen, I'd be happy to work with you.

B

[Kallias]

I love this idea. I actually like it more than unique homes. This way you'd have a little community and actually have "neighbors" and such. The biggest problem with the current dwelling system is that it damn near doesn't exist.

And the homes don't have to be cookie cutter. They can reflect cultures from all over faerun based on whoever writes up the descriptions...which is about the only thing I'm any good at.

Elke if you don't wish to invest your time into something like this I'd love to tag team up with Benji. We can have a tag team name and everything. We can be the Rockers. But I call Marty Jannety. I hate Mr. Michaels.

[Elke]

Oh no, I -have- looked a bit into the builder's lessons and I'd -love- to do something like this, especially with a team or hard code builder's help. I have some free time at lunch at work - although I should really get on the Waterdeep descriptions I'm meant to be doing, too...

Anyway, count me into your team..please?

I would like now to gear the discussion toward whereabouts to site these though? (I was originally thinking Waterdeep, but honestly I think that -all- Waterdeep would be just a bit much?)

[Aveline]

I would like now to gear the discussion toward whereabouts to site these though? (I was originally thinking Waterdeep, but honestly I think that -all- Waterdeep would be just a bit much?)

I think there should be little 'settlements' of them all over. Bigger cities like Waterdeep and Zhentil keep could have more. Westgate, Daggerford, and Silverymoon a few less. Somewhere in Ardeep there could be a collection of two or three huts or something, and the same in the High Forest.

[Harroghty]

I recommend making hubs in Waterdeep and Zhentil Keep. I believe that each neighborhood should have houses like Elke proposed, but also a kind of furnishing store. Maybe a room to sell chests, a room for chairs, and a room for tables, for example. The house purchase could set a QBIT on the PC "You own number 221B Baker Street" and then the store could just transfer goods to the appropriate rooms whenever the home owner purchases a piece of furniture.

Test it out in the cities and then move on to other places, but best to start small.

Edit: One more thought. I recommend adding a personal shrine to each house also and then have a room in the store that sells icons, shrines, or idols appropriate to all of the coded faiths (at least).

[Briek]

I think this is an excellent idea first of all. In these hubs would there be different levels of dwelling available, as in better options available for higher rent?

[Orplar]

maybe

low class - rate AA
low class + shrine - rate AB
Middle Class- rate BA
Middles Class +shrine -rate BB
Upper Class - rate C
Upper Class + shrine - rate CB
Ungodly rich mystran wizards - rate ubber

[Elke]

low class - rate AA
low class + shrine - rate AB
Middle Class- rate BA
Middles Class +shrine -rate BB
Upper Class - rate C
Upper Class + shrine - rate CB
Ungodly rich mystran wizards - rate ubber

Ridiculous. Whoever heard of a rich wizard?

I was thinking about more siting them in appropriate areas. For example, a cheap dockside set of tenements in Waterdeep, a set of small cottages in Fisher's Edge, say? maybe some very elven buildings in Tethyr or Tangled Trees?

[Orplar]

It sounds like an incredible idea with huge amounts of potential. All the palces named above would be excellent, though I would keep to Harroghty's suggestion and start small. Fishers Edge, Waterdeep (just because of how many people are there), Ardeep, Tethir.

[Kirkus]

I also heartily agree with this idea. I have had similar thoughts in the past. There would be plenty of places like this scattered around the cities of the realms.

Waterdeep for instance has the Warrens, this comes straight out of the City of Splendors book, it is a unique neighborhood that caters to the 'small folk'. Gnomes, halflings and the occasional dwarf make their home in this secluded Dock Ward neighborhood. It is reachable only by narrow winding tunnels and dark alleys made by the result of Waterdeeps reach for the grander and taller.

I think it would be awesome to build an area like this. Put in some shops, restaurants and inns. Specialize it to the area. But the most important part would be the 'dwellings'. Make them somewhat cookie cutter, and add a mob land lord who would sell the keys and take the rent.

Or if you don't want to make an entire area per say, make a row house. That, in my mind is exactly what we need. One building which would have a number of 'dwelling' rooms in it. This would be really cool for the lower level pc's. They would obviously be less secure than a dwelling dwelling, but still a place to call your own.

I think you could get something like 12 'dwellings' in a building made out of 20 rooms. Thats a lot of bang for your buck.

[Balek]

Low Income Housing Thread from 2005 when we discussed a similar idea.

[Arnof]

Low Income Housing Thread from 2005 when we discussed a similar idea.

Elke, Kallias and myself went through that thread and added to our list the things that haven't already been mentioned here. As far as Mystra's blatant denial of the idea... Well, I reserve comment but add that the current administration has been very open to creative ideas like this and I'm optimistic about the outcome.

So... For those of you that have been following this thread or even glossed over it, if you haven't commented yet, please do to show your support. Can't hurt, right?

B

[Gwain]

One issue I can think of is people purchasing these dwellings then disappearing from the game, while active players lose out on these dwellings. I think something of a communal treasury like the luggage system with noremove chests inside that can be accessed and locked. Also simply making the dwellings into bunk houses with communal hordes could work.

[Elke]

One of the things mentioned in the application was trying to work out some sort of system to move belongings from a private room storeroom to a general warehouse type storeroom if the contract wasn't renewed after a couple rl months, followed by retrieval within a few more months if the character returned (with a fee for their return) or just removal after an extended period. That way, if the room has been unoccupied it gets released back into the community...

[Dovan]

I don't really have anything meaningful to add to the thread, but I do wish it to be know I support the idea.

[Harroghty]

An option that occurs to me for long-absent players is some kind of token to be redeemed later on. For example, player A buys a home and occupies it for a few months (the duration is not really important), but then player A goes away from the game and is gone for six months (or whatever arbitrary number you decide upon). Player A's things are put in a store room (perhaps a list of the generic, coded items like the area's furniture will be placed into a chest with the player's belongings) and Player B moves into the home. Player A will receive a token in their inventory. Upon the time of their return, they may redeem that token for the next available dwelling instead of kicking player B out into the street.

[Casious]

To deal with the absent players and used up space issue..
What if there was a main lobby, a single room, with a clerk or guardman. The player can then present themselves to the guardman or clerk and be transported to their room. The room itself could be elsewhere, not actually taking up limited space in a real coded building. This would solve numerous problems involved with space, people coming and going and coding.