Making Home Romantic
by Keara22HI, HSM team writer
By now, you’ve read about the Lockwood photo contest based on romance in Home. Being a married woman, whose husband views Home with about as much interest as I might have for monster truck racing, I chose to pose with my favorite pet companion for the featured image of this article. But for those of you who want to go with the original purpose of this Lockwood photo contest, here are my suggestions for some great romantic locations in Home to use as background for your pictures:
1. The tropical hideaway estate — sitting together on a beach
2. The Lockwood Dream Yacht at night, watching the moonlight on the water
3. A hot tub in the Midnight Glade (with fireworks, of course)
4. On a rug by the firepit in the Silicon Lounge space
5. Dancing alone in the Musicality Suite
6. Looking out over the water at your weekend getaway place
This list can go on and on – but you get the idea. Home is packed with romantic scenery if you look for it. I hope others reading this will add their own location ideas in the comments section. Let’s fill Home with love on February 14.
Ah, but Home is all about the games, right? Why play dress-up in virtual reality and open ourselves up emotionally? Why not just go blow stuff up at Sodium and drink more caffeine?
Well, as Richard Garriott pointed out in his interview with NorseGamer, social games attract such a large audience because, quite frankly, they have something more to offer than mindless explosions. And while I am just as passionate about my gaming as anyone else on the PS3, it’s the wonderful imaginative freedom and social interaction which makes Home so much fun. Part of that is the novelty of replicating real-world behavior in virtual reality, but with the twist of being free to augment those experiences. In real life, I’m a grandmother with fewer days ahead of me than behind me; in Home, entropy has no teeth. I can be a young and a fashion-forward trend-setter, if I choose to.
Speaking of fashion: dressing up for a date in virtual reality is a good idea. No, a highfalutin outfit in Home usually doesn’t cost that much more than something more casual, but it’s the appearance that matters. When we go on dates in Home, we are probably seeking to recreate what we imagine we’d like to have in real life. Personally, I love those new Granzella Hakama and Yukata ‘skirts’ combined with some of the more romantic looking Lockwood, Threads, and Costumes tops.
I think a really romantic looking outfit for a date night can be pretty varied in Home, so long as the man is not wearing sagging jeans with underwear showing, a default t-shirt, and a backwards baseball cap! I might be old, but I’m still a woman, and darn it, a big date to me is not a Big Mac with fries. Is it necessary to combine fashion with romance? No, of course not; but, assuming it’s economically feasible, why not? It adds something to the image you’ll be trying to compose for the competition.
Which leads me to what a lot of females in Home would consider to be romantic male attire (and which a lot of males would shudder at the thought of wearing in public): the tuxedos! Also, some very nice looking suits are available these days. At the Grey Gamer parties, for example, most of the men show up looking like the front cover of GQ. There’s nothing wrong with looking handsome, fellas! Even if your pals laugh at you, you WILL get a lot more female attention.
In a real step in the right direction, Lockwood now has some very nice looking Drey outfits for men in their gift machine. In this picture, doesn’t he look handsome? No wonder he got the pretty girl he met in Home!
You SURE this isn't Loch Ness?
Keep in mind that there are serious limits to romantic poses in Home because of the limited positions and gestures available for avatars. Sometimes, the location makes a picture look romantic and the personal contact is implied rather than specific. Photography in Home is an interesting challenge — since the lighting conditions and scenery are easy to duplicate, it really is up to the ability of the photographer to frame and compose a shot in just the right way — but the results can still be quite amazing if done well.
- The point is to have some fun doing these. What I particularly like about this contest is that not only is it effectively free for everyone to participate in — since every Home citizen comes equipped with a digital camera — but it’s really a matter of what your imagination can conceive of. Lockwood’s asking you to create something beautiful; something which evokes an emotional response. And to do it within the framework of what we have to work with in Home.
To me, that’s where Home shines: when it’s used for creative expression. It is in those moments that Home transcends being a collection of games and truly justifies itself as something unique to be savored and remembered.
- And, who knows, you might just win a prize from Lockwood while doing it.
February 8th, 2012 by keara22hi | 2 comments
Keara is also known in Home as DarthGranny. She is a wicked little old lady with a wild sense of humor.
Many great suggestions Granny. I like a few of the personal spaces for these types of things as well. like the Dream Yacht and the other yachts as well. The Tropical would be good as well I think but the theme is first date so I think public settings are good for it. The new Lockwood area is set up for photo ops for the contest with a nice table and picnic area there. The main thing is to try and be romantic and try different angles with your shots til you find one that clicks.
Good luck to everyone who enters!
May the best avatar win