by FEMAELSTROM, HSM team writer

I was in my Harbour Studio the other day and as I got ready to redecorate from square one, I got to thinking that in the nearly two years I have been on Home, I have seen a lot of changes. The changes that we have seen have been rather amazing, and it dawned on me that they come from the interaction of the ever growing wish-list of the users with the increasing capabilities and attentive ear of the developers. This is where it is important to stop and recognize that the developers in Home really do pay very close attention to what the users want. When we see the first of a given type of item, the developers work hard and sometimes very fast to put competitive pieces out on the market. This all is a great process, and it helps push advances in the market here in Home.

The things that have come to Home of late are truly awe-inspiring. There are people that have been on Home since the first day that the doors opened, and they certainly have seen far more than I have. But in my time, I have seen some really cool things come onto the landscape. Let’s take a moment to examine some of the really amazing things we have here in Home that may not have been here two years ago. Some of the changes have been gradual, and others were fast and unexpected. Today, let’s look at personal living spaces, and how they have changed.

Waterfall Terrace, an example of an older, yet stunning environment in a home estate.

In the days that I first arrived in Home, shortly after the PSN outage some two years ago, the apartments were very static. There were elements that were beautiful, but not very interactive. The homes I had then or saw were very well rendered and full of great detail and atmosphere, and well put together. But they lacked the interactive nature of the apartments we see now.

Now, our personal homes come equipped with so much it’s almost beyond belief. The first thing we see is an increase in owner gifts. Take, for instance, Lockwood’s yachts — the owner simply has to go to the yacht and find the floating medallions to score a small mountain of furniture. Some homes also now give you a signature gift, that the owner can also give to visitors. The Tuscan Villa offers a free pizza to hand out to friends, and the Nebula Air ship offers a replica of the craft that can be gifted to anyone that comes over. Mount Olympus has a lightning bolt hand item.

Juggernaut has raised the bar for in-house games with its Bramblenook Farm. Here one can grow crops, raise barnyard animals and chop wood to make furniture, making the experience a lot more immersive. The furniture can also be presented to visitors as gifts. LOOT took a different path with its Space Station, which lets you connect to Twitter and Flickr accounts. Twitter serves a constant data stream running like a Wall Street ticker along the rim of the home, while Flickr provides images and slide shows for picture frames. Private spaces such as these have come a long way here in Home, and are more and more worth their premium prices.

Bramblenook Farm, complete with farm, livestock and wood chopping games, is an example of a great home with games included.

Granzella has done some amazing things as well. They came out with the Tea House — an apparently simple house set in secluded bamboo woods, but a space that upon further examination had so much more to it. The garden is full of kiosks that explain elements of real tea house elements. And once inside, participants can partake in a fun, interactive tea ceremony. Another added bit of fun, was how to open the second part of the property, though some balked at the idea that to open the second part of the tea house, the owner had to play the Defend Edo game in the Edo public space to buy a certain key item. This writer, though, thought that it was a fun concept, and willingly paid the real money to get the items needed to play the Defend Edo game.

When one developer comes out with a great idea, it is not long until others have equally as great ideas and soon implement them. One idea that comes to mind as head and shoulders above a basic dwelling is having a homes that is also available as a club house skin. It’s a great idea, and so far the developers that have done this have done a great job of making it all affordable as bundle packs. This allows us to buy the home, and as a bonus, if one has a club, a version of the home that serves as an alternate club skin. The Palace of the Seven Winds and LOOT’s Dr. Who TARDIS are examples of this, though there are many more.

Another great idea is giving the user more control of the elements in terms of the weather, seasons or time of day. The previously mentioned Granzella Tea House gives the user this ability, as does the new Season Themed Apartment. It’s great to be able to go to a control panel and simply change the time from day to night, or the season of the year. Some places really have done this extremely well, with the imagery of the changed season or time of day changing the entire mood of a space.

Lockwood Dream Hideaway, a beautiful, large estate that gifts owners and guests with medallion coins that are cool items.

Some homes offer mini games. And yes, that idea has been around for some time now, but whether it’s an older place like the Waterfall Terrace with its fishing game or the Aurora Island with its built in Island Defense game, or the more recent Savage Manor or Xi Continuum that are attached to lengthier games, in-home games are definitely a plus when you are deciding whether to buy a specific Home property. They add a lot of extra value to a space. Our personal homes on Home have to have an appeal factor to begin with, to persuade us to buy them. But when a game is added, it makes the estate more desirable, since we can return time and again to play and advance at the game, and perhaps even win prizes.

All the developers involved with Home have a good idea of what people want. People are increasingly asking for more and more, and the developers are us giving more and more. And though the developers may ask for a little bit more money for some estates, in most cases it is worth it. The estates are made better and with more details and added features that can make us buy them and spread the word to others.

Home developers have raised the bar time and again, and that is good as we, the home buyers, want more and are willing to pay for it. I am always looking for a new place, and the quality is certainly a plus in the decision making. So, developers, keep up the good work and keep looking at what the others are doing. Only in competition can one excel.

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One Response to “The Evolution of Home: Living Spaces”

1. Gary160974 says:

   June 12, 2013 at 5:04 am

   Two if my favorite spaces still are two older ones the sunshine yacht by loot and the log cabin, these new ones where you can change wall papers are just money grabbers that for a few weeks you get different themes released, and changing the decoration is the oldest feature out there as you change your wallpaper in harbour apartment. The newer spaces have had to evolve as more and more spaces get released there has to be a reason to buy. We had early signs of what could be done like Neptune space which had games rewards and was massive, sunshine yacht is a good older space, but after that we went backwards again for a while, Whether you like the beauty of the dream collection or the features of granzellas Paris apartment or the games of bramblebrook, the choice is certainly there. What’s coming next. Id like to see decent game related spaces as most of them have been poor at best.

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