Searching for a house

Yes, I can imagine that, but then everyone would get bored after a month and quit because they have all the big stuff they wanted.

I in no way take this game that serious. It doesn't take long to get gold and get started compared to back in the day. I just think that by making things harder to get people will have to actually try and play the game more, thus increasing the active player count. I haven't been playing much lately because I have acquired almost everything that I'd want
so there isn't as much need to log in as often. I don't think people should have to log in all the time and grind forever but we can't make it that easy either. There are sandals that people literally had to just log in to get and they are selling for what most people are saying my fortress should sell for. I think you also missed my point about the snowflake comment.. How is me holding on to my fort any different from someone holding onto a unique rare that is just sitting in a bank or locked away in someone's house?

I would think that someone that only has an hour to play a night that is grinding non stop to buy a big house would be more discouraged to stop playing here by constantly being pked (like my friend IRL who quit) than the price of the actual property. (I am not discouraging pking or anything that's part of the reason i think a lot of people play this game)

No. Server growth isn't independently driven by the availability to place any house you want. In 4 years here I've never, not once, seen anyone say "I quit this server because I can't place XYZ house".. or "I don't think I'll be playing here long since I can't place a tower."

I've seen people complain that they can't find a spot, and I've seen people show these people where they indeed can find a spot.

I dont think its fair to compare rares to property. I cannot live inside my rare beehive...and I cannot store and display all of my cool items in that behive either. The banks fill up and people NEED houses. They dont NEED rares.

But you don't NEED a fort either..There are tons of other types of houses you store your stuff in...

I don't make money on the housing market. I own 2 houses; a small stone tower as my primary residence, and a villa I use as a tavern.
So....

These size houses are easily placed by any newb, and fulfill all my housing needs.

Right, but there are a ton of very good houses available. They might not always be keeps or forts, but we can't call those necessities.

The idea that open land and player retention are correlated keeps coming up, but I'm not sure there's any evidence it exists.

They also don't NEED a fort or NEED a keep. You can keep all of your worldly possessions in 10 small towers if need be, hell creative people have been keeping everything they own in villas.

The ONLY person here arguing with you that fits that label is me. So.. what's your excuse for the other people arguing against you?

Also, the bulk of what's generated isn't from real estate, it's from what's inside.

Any chance this thread could get moved out of trade?

I am being ganked here, so I will depart on these final words:
There have been MULTIPLE new players who have joined this server and complained about the lack of real estate and the lack of active players. Meaning, since there are so few people out in the world at any given time, why the hell are there so many empty houses all over? So, regardless of what you salty dogs say, there is an issue that has been identified. There have been a lot of solutions suggested, and it seems most of them get shut down by a lot of the same people who cannot see past their greedy eye lids, so whatever. Life goes on and so does UOR. I just wish more people were interested in trying new things to INCREASE the player base to bring more people in and keep them. I guess when you are on top of your mountain looking down, its hard to see what the peasants are concerned about.

Of course i'm using Telamon's #'s to support my argument. Why the heck would I use YOUR random #'s that you have admitted are completely inaccurate? Do you think both you and Telamon approached the problem in the same way, counting the page #'s of the shard character roster, multiplying that by 10 and dividing it by 4??? LOL

Housing and active playerbase needs to be treated as what they are - two separate issues. I don't think there's any shutting down happening. These discussions need to take place and in this case one side of the argument happens to be stronger than the other, in my opinion.

To increase the player base it's important to engage with and help new players so they want to invest time here. That's all we can do. If someone checks in and says "nah, dead server, too many houses" and leaves, well... they shouldn't be catered to.

I'm sure I'm not the only one in this thread who isn't sitting on top of any kind of mountain right now. I just happen to think housing isn't in a crisis, and that peoples stuff shouldn't be repossessed because there aren't enough forts.

When there are such great Animated Gifs present, there be no need for sound logic !\
No but really... there are some weird bullony houses out there...
HOWEVER I will admit there isnt a problem.. a new player can get their lil mittens on good stuff if they just wish hard enough.

I'll give you 25 gp for that thread of yours

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1. Yeah but that's how MMO's work in general, and that's how this server works in many other aspects. Large houses aren't unobtainable, it just takes longer and takes more money for someone to obtain one. I remember when plat was selling easily for 5k a piece, would you argue that it's unfair to new players that plat is 10k a piece now too? Should we devalue plat so that we can create an atmosphere where new players can achieve the same level of wealth as someone who has been here since inception?

Vanq Weapon of Repond/Ele Ban/Etc are the end game of slayer weapons, not everyone will get to own one.
Valorite hammers are the end game of BOD rewards, not everyone will get to own one.
Uniques are the end game of event rares, not everyone will get to own one.
Server births are the end game of rares, not everyone will get to own one.
Forts are the end game of housing, not everyone will get to own one.

We shouldn't devalue, or make more abundant, items or housing that holds great value for the sake of making new players happy. Should space be available on a server like this for a new player to freely place a villa, sure! It currently is, just go look for more than 15 minutes. Should there still be keep/fort spots available? No way. Even if it were possible for one player to own 15 forts and kept them all empty, that's UO man.

I label my fort as a vet reward because I was able to place it thus negating having to pay a premium this late in the game. The same premium you would have to pay if buying ANYTHING 1st anniversary. You want a 1st anni robe? 2.5M, for something that sold for 60k back then.

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@One

Any mechanic which is tied to limits on accounts will harm legitimate players and benefit players who don't care about account limits, it's smarter to think of mechanics which do not rely on the difficult enforcement on account limits. There are too many benefits to running 3+ accounts as it is.

I hope I don't offend all the "wives," "girlfriends," "siblings," and "children" who totally play.

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Bingo

Still looking for a house pixel pygmies