High-Roller Casino or High Disaster Zone?
by Phoenix, HSM team writer
Like many of you, I have a room in the less than high-class hotel which houses Digital Leisure’s Casino. When I first acquired this room, I was stunned by the less then hygienic tub and sink in the suite. Rather appalled, to be honest. But the deal was sweetened by the free chips, so I smiled and thought I will never stay here…
Well, I didn’t stay there, but I must admit I did decorate it. I found it intriguing, and so went about adding some personal touches — and I admit I had fun doing it. I added a the little touches and dropped by every time I went to the casino to collect my chips and play blackjack. So when the hotel was flooded I was once again shocked by the seediness of this suite. I mean, for the money the casino has to be raking in…what the hell? Why did it take so long for them to clean the rooms? Why has no one cleaned that science project of a tub up, and what’s up with the black mold?!
Now we have been notified of a break-in in our less than inviting rooms. What kind of establishment is this, anyway? I would be inclined to think it’s an inside job! I wouldn’t be surprised if the headlines read, ”Dealer and chips girl arrested for the rash of burglaries at the Casino.”
That would be the most fun yet to me. I have to say I am on my seat’s edge, waiting for the next hotel hijinks from Digital Leisure. I don’t know about you, but I love this little bit of update — or “downdate,” as it were.
I say I enjoy it, but I wondered if I would, were it happening to a personal space I had paid for? Would I find it funny that my home was flooded and then burgled? I can say for certain I would not in the real world. But here in Home?
I can say it has given me some pause for curiosity. What next? I, like everyone else, went to see the damage both times. I was amused by the standing water and then grossed out by the mold. My furnishings were at one point floating, and I found that funny. This developer has a head for pranks, I thought. Kudos.
Back to the question before me. Would I like it if developers of a personal space did the same thing — or something similar — to a space I paid for?
I think it would depend. If the end result leads to a virtual remodel — some type of upgrade to the space, such as new wallpaper options added, or a free item for insurance replacement, then by all means, flood away. Burgle away if it means new furniture, as in the case of the Hollywood Hills House when LOOT upgraded the EOD. They removed the furniture and gave the owners a choice of furnishings. Now that would be cool. It would be fun as well. We could look forward to some kind of event and change now and again. No, I am most certainly not all about getting something for free; it’s not a bad thing, however. I just think there has to be a reason for something like that to happen to our paid-for spaces.
It happens in the casino hotel because they want us to come back and play the games. Some of us don’t. Some get the chips and go, never even going into the games area, let alone the hotel room. It’s like Darla’s Den: how many go to your personal space any more? Sure, you opened all the things in it. You had a blast doing that, but now what?
The casino’s the same way. You don’t frequent the casino as much now unless you are after all the rewards. Not everyone is. So Digital Leisure has come up with this unique idea to get us coming back and staying a little longer than just to get chips. I am curious as to whether they intend to give some kind of compensation for the burglary. We got our wall painted outside the window.
Nice that the curtain opens now after the flood and all. But that tub is still cruddy!
No, I wouldn’t mind if I purchased a personal space and the developer had in mind to have some disaster befall my space sometime in the future. I might get the same amusement out of it as I do now. I might even purchase the space if I knew that was a possibility. I like things that keep me surprised and on my toes. I don’t really know how far they could take things. Other then flooding and burgling, nothing else can really be done…can it? That means we would only have two incidents to look forward to. Unless you were in a high crime area. Or of course another inside job…this time I would say the developer’s staff did it.
(NorseNote: I want to see something in Home — preferably in a public space, like the Sportswalk — set on fire, and after a few days, reduced to a charred hulk. Do it. DO it. And don’t offer up any explanation. My god, it’d be incredible.)
All in all I can’t see it as a bad thing, either to the less-than-attractive hotel room or a purchased personal space. Let’s face it: most of us have more of them than we do anything with, so a little shake-up just adds to the possibilities of Home.
Besides, I like the idea of possibly buying virtual homeowners’ insurance for the possibility of virtual disaster. Now that’s funny! If you’ve ever played Animal Crossing, then you know what I mean. Again, the whole idea is to deepen the Home experience, not just broaden it. Broadening inevitably leads to saturation. What’s needed is to go deeper. And Digital Leisure, so far, has done a remarkable job of deepening the Home experience as a marketing tool.
May 16th, 2012 by Phoenix | 1 comment
Phoenix writes poetry and is a photography enthusiast, along with writing for HomeStation Magazine. She is currently studying for a BFA in Creative Writing and BA with concentration in Photography. psn ID phoenixstorm21
youtube.com/user/phoenixstorm21
Nice read Phoenix. I agree it would be nice to get some sort of unexpected upgrades to our already purchased estates occasionally. The Cutteridge one by Juggernaut has set the bar for that already with what they have and still intend to do with that space. It will be interesting to see who does what from here on in with these newer devs coming up with all of these innovative ideas.