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Revered Plague

35,450 Points
  • Abomination 100
  • Alchemy Level 10 100

User Image

We got Housing updates!
May 1, 2013
Towns 2 Houses now available.
Announcement is here. Gaians can now choose from four different locations (each with its own theme) where they can place their house and can also choose the design of the house's exterior.
October 23, 2012
Halloween-themed house items available at the Cash Shop and Faktori.
Announcement is here.
November 16, 2011: Improved housing editor. Official Housing Feedback thread is here.
Announcement is here.
There are new housing items as well.
Tried it out and these are the changes I found so far:
1. We can now upgrade the house into a much larger size.
2. No need to drag items from the inventory to a separate home items inventory.
3. Changed the lighting.
4. We can now put smaller items not just on tables but also on top of the shelf, pedestals, etc.
5. Some of the items are interactive (try clicking on your TV). I made a THREAD listing all the interactive items. Feel free to post if you find more interactive items.

November 23, 2011: Additional updates. Dev notice here.
December 6, 2011:New Christmas items for houses is out. Announcement is here.
December 17, 2011: Steaming Mug of Cocoa, a 12 Days of Christmas item, is available.
December 19, 2011:Ornaments from the Gaia staff are available. Just look for presents with Diedrich on them in their profiles.

Thread for Housing Update in the Spring Cleaning forum is here.

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Welcome!
This is a comprehensive proposal or petition to make our homes better. As you may have noticed, this petition covers the home and all its features, the garage, and a possible garden. Although a petition is supposed to address only one issue or problem, the petitioner would like to address the problems and issues that covers a normal home. A typical house has a garden and sometimes a garage.


Thanks to everyone who signed, especially to the following people who have contributed a lot to the success of this petition: OG LoLo, Tiina Brown, Jenalei, and Chouryou. I dedicate this thread to OG LoLo. I'll miss you!

Reminder: Please post I SIGN or I SUPPORT or I AGREE or CONCUR or all the other equivalent ways if you want to be included in the signatures list in this petition. You do not need to quote the list of supporters or send me a PM. You can also post your suggestions and don't forget to press '<3'. If you're not sure you've signed this already, press CTRL+F to find your name.

Note: Issues such as interactive home or furniture and towns will be discussed briefly but are not the main points of this petition. There are separate petitions for them (see affiliates).
The images used are examples of what the house and its features might look like. The illustrations are just outlines.



Contents

Part 1: Introduction
Rules
Questions
Problems
Objectives
Proposed Solutions
Solutions (with Illustrations)
Future Problems
!!!Gaia Homes as Goldsink!!!

Part 2 (second post): Comments, Suggestions, Discussions

Part 3 (3rd post): Acknowledgement, Banners, Links

Part 4 (4th post): Signatures

Part 5 (5th post): Affiliates




Introduction

I think homes are so unloved these days. I know of only a few people who have actually spent time and gold to decorate their homes. I'm well aware that most of us would rather not spend it on furniture because we can't use them anyway. There are no rewards or other benefits in decorating our homes even in the Art Arena.

This petition aims to change that. Homes need a lot of changes. This will benefit both Gaia and its users if done properly.

The only way to make people spend time and use gold or Gaia Cash on their homes is to make it profitable and useful for them. But in order to do so, there are things that need to be improved in the current version.

If you don't know what homes are or if you don't know how to design your house visit nanieru's Sweet Home Gaia Guide.

If you want to suggest any home items, this is not the thread for that. Look for home items petitions in the affiliates section, but I will mention adding furniture as part of this comprehensive petition.

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Rules:
1. Please follow Gaia's Terms of Service.
2. Respect other people's opinions.
3. Bump only if this thread falls off the first two pages.
4. If you'd like to become an affiliate, send me a PM or indicate it on your post here.
5. If you support this petition, just type "I sign" or "I support" or "I want" or you can even type your name for your signature to be counted. Opinions and suggestions are welcome. And don't forget to LIKE this thread.


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Questions
1. How to improve the interior of the house?
2. How to improve the exterior of the house?
3. What items are needed or are missing?
4. How does a garden work and how will we benefit from it?
5. How will users get these features or items?
6. What are the problems when decorating the current version?
7. What will be the future problems when homes are updated?

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Problems
Some of the problems that need attention are the following:
1. Few choices in furniture and appliances. There are only a few sets currently available, including the following: Tiki set, Nitemare set, Angelic set, Medieval set, Gothic set, Japanese (Honorable) set and the Egyptian set. There are also modern and vintage items.

2. Only a few Gaians invest in their Homes. Worse, some don't even decorate their homes. A change in the attitude would do a lot to improve this.

3. Some problems occur when users want to decorate their spaces (e.g some users can't save their homes).

4. There are items in Towns that most Gaians consider useless, such as the following:
bugs, inks, old tires, boots, cans, papers (Update: they're now used as Alchemy items but why not make them useful for Homes as well).

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Objectives
The objectives of this petition are:
1. To diversify the choices of items for housing
2. To encourage Gaians to invest in their homes and use it more often
3. To make improvements in decorating and arranging the items
4. To make more stuff out of items found in Towns and other games

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Proposed Solutions
I've classified these changes into four categories, namely:
1. Interior
-space
-adding rooms
-adding a second floor
-more choices of furniture and appliances
-aquarium
-ability to use furniture and appliances

2. Exterior
-ability to choose the color and design of the walls
-add a garden for flowers and bugs
-add a garage
-use the mailbox to access mail
-add a veranda or terrace

3. Add more options and links
-use furniture to access the option usually found in "My Gaia"
-music option
-additional security for account

4. Love our homes
-change attitude towards Homes
-encourage more Gaians to decorate homes

These solutions will be discussed further below.

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Proposal: The solutions

Here are some of my ideas as well as contributions from other Gaians:

1. Interior
There is not enough space to experiment on different designs inside the house. Even after upgrading, it's still crowded if we attempt to put together furniture that are typically found in a normal home. For example, there is not enough room to create a bathroom. There should also be an option for us to create rooms inside the house. Bookshelves can act as dividers but they will take up space as well. Perhaps movable walls and detachable doors for the rooms would do the trick.

Adding a second floor to the house would also provide more space. A Gaia home would look like a dollhouse then. A detachable staircase will provide access to it.

We wish to see more decorations we can place in our homes. Like Christmas trees for the holidays, or a fireplace, and even a mini version of our aquariums.

There's also a scarcity of furniture to choose from. There's no kitchen sink for example. And Gaians need a bathroom too. There's a toilet and a bathtub in the Faktori however there's only one design.

Here is a list of the items needed:
1. separate gas stove and oven
2. kitchen sink
3. kitchen bar
4. dining utensils such as plates, cups, etc.
5. Seasonal decorations such as Christmas or Halloween decorations
6. pillows
7. personal computer or laptop
8. radio or stereo component
9. gaming console
10. bathtub or jacuzzi
11. shower set
There are columns available for the house, however they do not reach the ceiling level so they look awkward.

It would be nice if we could use our furniture as well. Some Gaians think Homes are useless. It would be a good investment if we could: sit on our chairs (the avatars don't fit), display our aquarium and cars, access our inventory through a cabinet or dresser (the item would act as a link. In zOMG! there's a link to the Fishing game so it's possible to do the same in Homes), access mail through the mailbox, and listen to music (I think this is possible because the aquarium has a music option right?).

2. Exterior
The shape of the house outside should be similar to what it looks like inside. Some users have suggested that this isn't necessary. Whichever will work better is fine.

The design of the windows and doors should also look the same when viewed from outside. Currently there are 3 types to choose from.

We should also be given an option to decorate the exterior of our homes like the ability to choose the paint for the walls or build a fence around our properties. There should also be an option to choose the design and color of the roof as well.

Attaching a garage to display our car/s OR link it to the Garage page would also be fantastic. The look of the Garage does not need to change. The user or visitor can click the door to the garage attached to the house to access it.

Adding a small garden on our backyard might interest a lot of Gaians as well. Wouldn't it be nice if we could plant the flowers we pick up at Towns and grow them in small garden? Just like Aquariums, flowers would also have a life span and it could also be a source of gold (1 gold per plant wouldn't hurt the economy too much) and other rewards for us. The bugs that we also pick up at towns could also be placed in our gardens. They will have a lifespan as well.

How will a garden work?
1. Plant a flower.
2. Water the flower.
3. Adjust temperature (applicable only to a greenhouse).
4. Customize the pot.
5. Let the flower grow.
6. The owner gets a random item from each flower (a new seed, a gardening item, other items, gold, etc.). Update: Maybe we can get Alchemy items from them as well.
7. The owner can buy, sell, gift or trade a plant (like the fish for Aquariums).
8. The owner can pick up flowers in Towns and plant them later in the garden.
9. Visitors can water and take care of plants and get random items and gold (similar to Booty Grab).
10. When a flower dies, it leaves an item, just like the fish has drops.
11. The number of plants in a garden will be limited to a specific number. There should also be a limit of one garden for each user.

Here is a list of possible gardening items:
1. pots
2. fertilizer
3. soil or loam
4. water or watering can
5. shovel - can be used to plant or pick up flowers in Towns (already available)
6. wheelbarrow - to move plants
7. net - to catch and move insects (already available)
Note: No need for insecticides because the purpose is to have a use for these items, the bugs, as well.

Adding a veranda or a terrace would also be a good idea. If we can sit on our chairs outside, more people would be encouraged to stay at their homes and decorate it.

Some users have suggested that we should also have an option to add a pool or jacuzzi. This can be done in Towns so I don't see why we can't have one in our backyard. This will cost more than the usual items and might even be a good potential to become a premium item.

3. Add more options and links
I've mentioned the aquarium on the first item and I would also like to suggest that it could also serve as a link to our Aquarium.

Why not add links for all these options in our homes?

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There is already an option to view a user's profile or journal when visiting another Gaian's home. Maybe adding more buttons wouldn't be impossible.

For extra security only the homeowner would be able to access private stuff (such as mail, inventory and others). A safebox icon can be used for this.

The owner may also choose not to let others enter their house by locking their homes (this option is already in the Account preferences).

4. Love our Homes
Even in the Art Arena contest, there are no prizes for the competitors. I'd be willing to pay an entry fee (like the one for Avatar contests) to compete. It would encourage more Gaians to love their homes. It won't be considered as a waste of gold anymore.

Being able to use our furniture at home would be great! Gaians wouldn't hesitate to buy an expensive bed if they can actually sit or lie down on it.

Gaians need to be encouraged more to decorate their homes as much as their aquariums and cars.

Additional items that most Gaians consider useless can be used to improve Homes. The list provides proposed solutions:
1. Inks- can be used to put colors on pots.
2. Bugs- can be places inside the garden and help in the pollination of flowers.
3. Papers (Zerox papers, newsprints, newspaper, paper bags and constructions papers)- a specific number of each color can be turned into one book (using Exchange or Alchemy) and placed in a bookshelf or table inside the house to add more decorations.
4. Tires, cans and old boots- can be used to exchange for gardening items and decorations.

Illustrations

Instead of having only a studio-type house, the new houses will look like this:
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This will serve as a preview for a two-storey house. If the user wants to view one particular room, the rest will fade so that only the selected room is shown.

A two-storey house without a garage will look like this:
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As you can see this house has an extra room that can be turned into a second bedroom or into something that the owner wants to have. It also has a basement and an attic.

Before this can be achieved, let's look at some of the problems of the current houses.

We should have more options to choose from when selecting the style and shape of the house. We currently have three types.

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Gaians should also be able to select more options in the exterior of the house. For example, we could click on the mailbox to go to our Mail.

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We don't have the option to create rooms as well.

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Homes will then look like this:

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1-Homeowners should be able to choose the design and color of the walls
2-There should be an option to choose the color and design of the roof as well
3-Garage
4-Garden Area
5-Stairs
6-1st Room
7-2nd Room

I've divided the viewing options into four, namely: exterior view, interior view for the first and second floors, editing view and Garden view. Each one will show the view of the home or garden area and the options that can be included in each page. A detailed explanation for each is provided below.

Exterior view of the house and the options
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The mailbox in front of the house will serve as a link to the inbox.

There should also be a link to the garden area.

The user or visitor can also click on the garage door to access the garage and view the cars. The current look of the garage can be retained by doing this. The garage must also contain an option "exit garage".

The front door will serve as a button or link to get inside the house like the one we have now.

Interior view of the house and the options
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*This image can also be applied to the second floor area

The aquarium will serve as link to the Aquarium.

The stairs will serve as a button or link to the second floor of the house (if available). The top of the stairs at the second floor will serve as a button or link to the first floor.

The front door will serve as a button or link to exit the house.

The options "My Gaia" and "Edit my home" can only be seen by the owner.

The first five options can be viewed through pop-ups.

View when editing the house
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This view will appear when the owner chooses to edit and decorate the house.

Garden view and the options
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This view will appear when the owner chooses to plant flowers and edit or decorate the garden.




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Future Problems
If improvements are made in Towns or Homes, there are some issues that might arise. Such as:

1. Affordability and Accessibility of Items and Upgrades: The Issue of Gaia Cash vs. Gold
The recent trend in updates makes it possible to predict that if there will be an update on homes, the items and upgrades will be purchased using Gaia Cash. Although some users can afford to purchase items using GC, a lot of us cannot do so. This should be taken into great consideration. However I should also point out that even if some users will sell these items at the marketplace, there is still a possibility of overpricing.
The solutions:
1. Items that can be bought with Gaia Cash
Note: These can be sold at the marketplace just like all the other items purchased using Gaia Cash.
-upgrading the house to add a second floor
-adding a room
-upgrading all the current and furniture set-up so that the owner can sit on the chair or bed, This will give them a reason to spend more time at home and maybe invite some friends over. By doing so they will need to furnish the house.
-stairs or an elevator to access the second floor
-any item that is animated
-unique sets (like the Nitemare and Angelic set)
-rare flowers or plants for the garden
-rare pots
2. Items that can be bought with Gaia Gold and Gaia Cash
-items that are currently available
-furniture that will be added. I think this is important because even if the user does not want to upgrade, s/he can still furnish his or her house
3. Free items
-garden
-gardening tools and items such as pots, soil and water

The garden is free just like the aquarium. Some of the flowers (the ones currently available) can be found and picked up in the Towns while the new varieties of flowers are sold in the Faktori. Gardening tools can be sold both as GC or gold items. While water and soil are free.

Gardening items can be sold at the Faktori.

2. Longer loading time
The solution: There should be an option for a low / medium / high quality resolution for the gardens and homes (this is available in the games we have).

3. The features or items that are listed here will still not make other people use their homes IF they cannot use it or they don't get anything from that investment. It's not the lack of items or space that keep Gaians away from their homes.

Adding a quest to make them decorate their homes might also help. Achievements related to Homes can be added.


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Gaia Homes as Goldsink

Lately there have been several requests to create more goldsinks to reduce the gold we have in the system. I highly recommend that Gaia use Homes as a goldsink.

I've listed some items or features that will require Gaians to pay in gold to upgrade and decorate their house. These are the ff.:

1. In the current set up, a house can be upgraded for 5,000 gold but that is the only upgrade that can be made. So I propose that for each upgrade, there is an increment of 5,000 gold.This is similar to the charges in changing the username. However, we have to distinguish what 'upgrade' means. This could be 4 kinds of upgrades. First, an option to increase the space in one room like the only upgrade we have right now. Second, is an option to add walls. Third is to add an attic, basement or a 'secret room' (as suggested by the others who signed). Fourth is to add another floor.

Walls should have a fixed price because it will be impractical if another 5,000 gold is compounded for a second wall. I suggest that each walls costs not more than 5,000 gold.

So for the other upgrades, the charges can be applied. If the user wishes to add 3 rooms for example, s/he will have to pay 30,000 gold ( 5,000 + 10,000 + 15,000).

I also suggest that secret rooms should cost more as well as the attic and basement. For adding a second floor, the fixed price should be more than 5,000 gold as well.

2. Wall and floor tiles, carpets, and wallpapers 'equipped' for each room should be different as well. The prices of these items at the Faktori should be the same and only the new items that will be added in the future will have a higher price.

3. If a user wishes to add the garage, s/he should also pay a fixed amount of gold.

4. If a user wishes to add a garden, s/he should also pay a fixed amount of gold. Gardens should also be expandable like homes, and the same rule in number one can be applied here as well.

5. More appliances and furniture should be sold at the Faktori. There are a lot of items usually found in a normal home that aren't available for Gaians. Also luxury items that cost more than 50, 000 gold perhaps should be added (like the D*C items maybe).

6. Exterior decorations should also be sold at the Faktori. The user should be given an option to choose the color of the roof or exterior walls for example.

7. Also, There should be more choices of doors and windows.
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Revered Plague

35,450 Points
  • Abomination 100
  • Alchemy Level 10 100
Suggestions, Comments and Discussions


Here are some sample elevators by Tiina Brown:

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A sample of stairs also by Tiina:
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More samples made by Hazerbot and retouched by Tiina:
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Here are some comments and suggestions from Lord Darkstarr, including an image of what the exterior of a bigger Gaia home might look like:
Quote:
I definitely sign! Homes needs a major overhaul and some dramatic improvements, to put it mildly...

Now, I hope you don't mind if I make a few comments, observations, and suggestions of my own:

First, I've noticed that (just like with avatars) there are item layering bugs in Homes that drive me up the wall! For example, I've tried to stack my stereo system and DVD player atop one another, only to see them in View mode as though one were floating a few inches above the other. That's one thing that I'd love to see fixed in the worst way.

Second, there's an Angelic furniture set? I never knew! Which just goes to show that they seriously need more furniture sets and items. It would also be nice if there were "dual-purpose" items, such as the globe they gave out during last year's back to school event--in other words, the item could be either equipped as an avatar item or placed in a house as a furnishing. (The plushies all come to mind as excellent candidates for this--who wouldn't like to be able to display them on a bed or on top of a bookcase when not equipped on their avatar?) That alone would dramatically increase the number of items available for us to decorate our homes with.

Third, why are we only allowed homes outside Barton? Does nobody live in Aekea, Durem, or on Isle de Gambino? I think it would be nice to open up the other three towns in Gaia (both in Homes and in zOMG, but the latter is a different petition, I know...) so that we have a choice of hometowns. Sure, it would mean having to totally re-do the address system, but since the current system is confusing and a little difficult to use currently anyway, why not completely revamp it once and for all.

Fourth, I agree that homes need further expansion size-wise. I hadn't thought of the "dollhouse" view that you suggested, but I like the idea--it would definitely let us look at homes either room-by-room or all at once.
The idea I had to expand houses was to have doors act much like the directional arrows in zOMG, in that you click on it and it 'pans' the camera from one room to another just like moving from one part of a zOMG map to another, using a modified version of the zOMG game engine. Stairs up and down would work in a similar fashion, with the camera panning up or down from one floor to another as appropriate. (I suspect that, if done right, this would work well with your 'dollhouse' idea.) The only downside I can see to this setup would be, as you pointed out, longer loading time both for arranging and visiting homes, but OTOH, I think that the larger and more elaborate homes would be worth putting up with a little inconvenience.

Fifth, I think that you raise a good point about charging cash versus gold for houses and housing items. What I would propose is a system similar to avatar items: namely, that "rare" items and exotic houses (for example, a treehouse or a castle) should cost Cash (and possibly be soulbound like cars currently are), while 'ordinary' houses and non-exclusive items would cost gold. I dislike Gaia's current apparent policy of focusing primarily on Cash items because I'm on a fixed income, and so don't often have cash to spend on virtual goods, so by demanding more items that cost gold, this would (as you suggested) turn homes into goldsinks as well as being fairer to those of us with limited incomes for whatever reasons.

As can be seen in the picture below, the capacity for multi-story and multi-room houses DOES already exist on Gaia; the developers simply need to be persuaded to let us take advantage of them.
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So, if they can do this for a sponsor (the movie Area 51), why not for us "rank-and-file" Gaians as well?


The following are suggestions from Kitsune Nyuu:
Kitsune Nyuu
I have some suggestions. My english is not very good, but I'll try the best to make it understandble.

01. Bigger/Smaller Rooms:
How it works: You can decide, in porcentages, how much space each room will occupy.
Details: Using the example given in the first post, you would have 2 bedrooms, a living room and a dinning room, like the image:
User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.
But, let's say I want the Bedroom 02 bigger. Then I change the proportions, like this:
User Image - Blocked by "Display Image" Settings. Click to show.
obs: The change is automatic. That means, if you enlarge a room, the one that is next to it will decrease.


02. Minigames in the garden:
How it works: You can rise your garden, take care of it and gain some garden related items.
Details: The game would be like the one that we all know in Facebook and other similar sites and games.
Jade Dynasty have a minigame where we need to take care, water and fertilize our garden and our friend's one. The final result (the flowers) are exchanged for some in game money. In Gaia, that could be garden coins (doesn't have any other value outside the garden) or the tickets that... well, everyone knows what the tickets are used to XD


Well, that's it. If I was too boring in the Garden Games, sorry, I don't use Facebook, so I don't know if it's the same way the Jade Dynasty's minigame works.
Hope this can help and if someone have any question or didn't undertood something, I'll be pleased to help :3

EDIT: Damn!!! Forgot about the 3rd and most fun of the suggestion, lol

03. Seasonal Decoration
How it Works: A more individual decoration for the holidays.
Details: We already have a default decoration in the special holidays. In the Halloween, the roof is all coverd with bats and stuff like that. But I don't like bats, I prefer wolfs (lol). So I could change the roof style to one with wolfs and werewolfs and stuff like that.
You could, like I said, choose between some defaults decorations (let's say, bats, wolfs and mummys) or buy a different one in the decoration shop. One with some shining stuff or whatever Gaian Staff think would sell well.
obs 01: Aiming to make the users don't spend all the money in each new season, they could have defaults prices. Like, I bought a pumpkim for 150 cash this Halloween, in the Christmass, I can exchange this for a 150 cash Christmas Tree. (maybe with a 50 cash fee, just to gain a little bit)
obs 02: Stuff that you could costumize: The roof decoration, the walls decoration, mailbox (that doesn't need to be seasonal, but it would be nice to costumize that) and that box we can pick the candys (Halloween) and sing some carols (Christmas).


wahmbulance Please read. wahmbulance
Here are some points to be considered. These are suggestions and comments from some Gaians who have posted here:


1. If Gaia did make changes with Homes some items or features might be exclusively bought with cash. Not all Gaians could afford them. Hopefully only the new items could be purchased in cash and not the upgrades or features (from Flux's post).

2. A pool or a patio would also be great features (from BloodstarMiraku12's post).

3.We can also use our Gaia home as profile (optional) so we can send messages and even display our inventory if we want to (Nick Icewing's post).

4. Instead of a garden, we can have a greenhouse instead where we can control the temperature, lighting, etc. for growing our flowers (zhen_ji19's post).

5. Include a music option inside our house. (Memeraw's post).

6. A driveway instead of a garage where we can display our cars would be a great addition. And a trophy case for our zOMG medals can also be displayed (Catalyste's post).

7. There have been some problems as well whenever users try to access their home. This is one scenario taken from Tudorose's post: "Although,I haven't been able to load my home for two years now. I don't know what the problem is but it will not load. I have a lot af money tied up in it too. What's worse is that that's the only way to get to your locker too. I have a bunch of stuff in my locker that has shot up in value but I can't retrieve any of it. I wish we could access our locker from our My Gaia page." It's unfortunate to hear that even the Gaians who invest in their homes encounter such problems. I hope this will be fixed soon.

8. If Gaia makes changes and updates on Homes, we hope that the items or upgrades will not be purchased solely using Gaia Cash (operaphantom21's post). Some of us will not be able to afford these and I think this will create a gap between wealthy and poor Gaians.

9. Being able to display items we have earned from other games here in Gaia. This is taken from Jenalei's post: "I have a veritable plethora of game items I would love to place in my home. If there was a way to encourage the developers / artists / whoever in charge to make these items as home-friendly as the other items, I would be utterly ecstatic." Not only will we able to display these items but also have some use for them as well. A normal home after all contains our trophies, medals or prizes we've earned from school, contests, etc.

10. Make aquariums clickable or accessible for booty grab. Here's a quote from Jenalei's:
Quote:
"Out of curiosity, I was wondering if you might have heard about the suggestion to make our aquariums available for the homes as well. I remember hearing something about making the tanks clickable so visitors could play booty grab when the tanks glow.

I think it would be a great addition to homes, but I haven't a clue what kind of coding would be involved with that, or if it is even possible. If we can convince them to make our houses larger, possibly with actual rooms, then I can imagine an aquarium would look wonderful."


11. Here are some interesting suggestions from OG LoLo:
Quote:
I'm wheelchair-bound, so I feel we should have some house items accessible for people like me too. For example, I would like to be able to add: a ramp (instead of that HUGE steep at my front door), elevator (if we get the lvls implemented here), and sliding doors - to my dream home options. And for the outside garden - fountain (like aquarium item), a swing set, maybe a playground (for those who have kids - I don't, but I'm sure plenty of Gaians do), and for pets (I'm thinking a doghouse/kettle/birdcage/scratch post for cats... here) - they need a home too.

Quote:
I'd like to have a different view of all my placed items to see if it fitted & matched w/ the surrounding area of the room. I can't visualize from one-angled view only. House should NOT be one-sided, simple as that.


12. This is taken from Tiina Brown's post:
Quote:
On Garden:
I'm not a Gardener like that, i'd more likely make a labyrinth of pathways .... i mean, i like the look, but i don't want to extend it to an Aquarium Effect.


13. Another suggestion from Anabaena:
Quote:
The only thing I'd like to add to your ideas is that the towns need landmarks. Like a certain river, and you should be able to place your home beside a river, on the beach, in the forest etc.
So I like to see different landscapes..

The directory isn't user-friendly. It doesn't really tell us where we are or where we wanna go. Some people are also not aware that homes have addresses.

14. Here is a discussion of Tiina Brown's idea ( this can be found on pages 12 to 13):

Ping of Death
Tiina Brown
Really, some might be REALLY into that with House & Garden, and those few would eventually wind up making a kind of Mansion or even Castle, requiring a whole Square (or more ....) !

I also think of the idea of Joining Houses, turning them into .... shesh, i don't remember the correct word in english .... Fraterneties? Corridor Homes? Chapters? Noooo .....
But i think you get the idea.

I don't remember the exact word as well but yes I think I know what you mean. I was also thinking maybe we could share the "village" or "street" with our friends.


Jenalei
Oh, and I guess I'm a bit confused about the Joining Houses idea. Would that mean a sort of arrangements like apartments, where each Gaian has their own sort-of house in a larger all-encompassing building (or town-homes, which are separate-yet-joined), or would they just be rooms like they are now, in a dormitory-type setting? sweatdrop


Ping of Death
Tiina Brown
Jenalei
Oh, and I guess I'm a bit confused about the Joining Houses idea. Would that mean a sort of arrangements like apartments, where each Gaian has their own sort-of house in a larger all-encompassing building (or town-homes, which are separate-yet-joined), or would they just be rooms like they are now, in a dormitory-type setting? sweatdrop

Dormitory!
That was the word i was looking for!
..................................
Thing is, some would easily satisfy with a Dormitory, while some, like me, would like to have an actual house, with 2-3 .... or even 5 Rooms!
And some, like Ping, would like a functioning Garden, while some, like me, don't.
................................
I guess that the Makers of Gaia could add these things, without any greater problems:
* Join houses - Adding corridors between them- causing a "Dormitory-Effect".
These corridors must be Bought, and it's buyer may even Decorate it, but you may buy it "half", and so may the neighbour.
If not Joined, the buyer can treat it as a Hallway, or a Storage room, kind of.
* Make the Chosen windows & such to be visible from the outside.
This may mean enlargening of some houses on their outside.
* Adding Rooms .... Underground!
That way, the surface look need not be touched, .... and you don't need windows underground, either.
* Add Attic/another floor uppwards.
* Allow the immediate outside Garden Area to be .... Designable.
* Allow the Aquarium to be added as a visible ITEM in the House, if so is desired, maybe with a link to looking at it, and such.
....................................................
As i see it, these are the most probable ones ......

I do wonder what Ping thinks, though.

Yup maybe we can share the plot or area with a friend so that the cost of upgrades and other items will be divided between the two. It will also reduce the need for more windows if houses are joined.
Maybe we can also suggest to whoever is in charge of making Towns to add more choices in the types of houses. Some would like only a single-room house or the studio-type we currently have. Or some would like the duplex or two-unit apartment or condominium that you suggested. I think the more choices, the better.
And I like the idea of an underground room and an attic!


Jenalei
The attic / cellar idea is fantastic. It would allow Gaia to make new items (I can think of a couple wicked stair designs they could spit out) and would allow for item storage, those separate rooms without necessarily having to widen the exterior of the house, etc. I imagine that it would be easier to build up, rather than out... particularly in those areas where the housing is practically bunched together. The cellars would require absolutely no alteration, and attics... Might cause some problems, but with the square housing, at least, it looks like it could already be included.

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Tiina Brown
Further Comments from Me:
* Joining Houses-Hallway
Each one Buys, and has their own part of the corridor, and decides whether to use it as Hallway, Corridor, or even small Room.

I considered to have parts of it "Unblockable", but some may want to block it, especially if they use it as Small Room.
.............. Subterrean/Cellar Hallways is also nice. ( heart )
EDIT:
....................................
Oh, how i'd LOVE to get to get in touch with any of those designers:
That way, i would understand better what obstacles that exists, and possibly help puzzle together a few of the suggestions........
.........................................
And, of course:
Stairs for multi-level Houses is Definitely a good idea, Jenalei! (Really a neccessity.....)
I can also think of a few nice ones ....... 3nodding


OG LoLo
Ofc... where U would want stairs, I would b opting for elevators. But yea, me 2 - I'd like get in touch and throw in some ideas. razz idea


Here are some awesome suggestions from jasyxox3:
jasyxox3
I sign!

wahmbulance wahmbulance wahmbulance wahmbulance wahmbulance wahmbulance
Alerts
My other idea is having a little alert in the corner of the screen telling you if someone has entered your home, because you might be in a different room and might not notice if your friend(s) has entered your house. The alert should be just like the one in zOMG, except it will be a triangle and has the words "ding dong", and when someone enters the home it should flash red. But it will only flash if you are in towns.

Inks
Like in the olden days I think they used berries to make ink in which they used to make artwork. I decided that in towns they have a lot of bushes and trees, why not add fruits to them? And the fruits could be picked off the trees and bushes to use for inks or use for decoration. The inks won't be like the inks we get from the daily chance because these should only be used for the art work people will make from using their easels and canvas.
wahmbulance wahmbulance wahmbulance wahmbulance wahmbulance wahmbulance


XxCute_ThreatsxX
I sign, but while we're on the "gaia world" topic I'd like to make a suggestion for a mini game. Its kinda like booty grab.

heart I think it would be really cool to have a mini game for trees. If you find one thats glowing gold you can click on it and try to catch gold that falls out of the tree and into the basket. And if you find a glowing white tree you could get a cute gaia item heart

The kind of items you should get from the glowing white trees:
Golden Compass (10/11 chance of getting this)
Snowy Griffin (3/11 chance of getting this)
Fairy wings (2/11 chance of getting this)
Blue Magic Hat (11/11 Chance of getting this)
Unicorn Horn (5/11 Chance of getting this)
Fai Coat (4/11 Chance of getting this)
Titans Legacy (11/11 Chance of getting this)
Tiny Terror Doll (11/11 Chance of getting this)
Stage Makeup (1/11 Chance of getting this)
Peter Pan (2/11 Chance of getting this)
Rainbow Pixie Wings (1/100 Chance of getting this)


Pinko Sacredheart
I sign♥

I love all the ideas, I'd also like to add one if it hasn't been done already:

if we had a pool or pond to keep fish in, during winter it could freeze over and we could ice skate on it.



More suggestions from flutterbyxbutterfly:
flutterbyxbutterfly


My thoughts:
I love so many of the ideas people have discussed. Our homes on Gaia really are just too small, even with the maximum upgrade. Many people are attracted to Gaia because they get to personalise their avatars (and cars, aquariums, etc.) - so why not let us have more options in personalising our homes?

I enjoy going into Towns and looking in others' homes and I think Towns would be far more popular if there were more features added to it. It could go from a feature most Gaians only use for carolling once a year to an amazing place for people to really hang out and have fun.

I have always wanted to put a bathroom in my home but have never had the space and there aren't any walls to make it a separate room. Now, it's "okay" to have the kitchen, lounge room, bedroom and leisure space as open-plan but bathrooms simply can't be - they NEED walls. As a result, my house has always been deprived of a bathroom and I don't like it. It always feels incomplete.

I love the thought of multi-storey homes as this would allow us to have more space to divide rooms and would make the living plan far more realistic.

I definitely agree that there needs to be more variety overall and more themes! A lot of the furniture in my home (I believe) doesn't really match. Different pieces are of different themes and it often can't be avoided when we are so limited as to what we can choose from. More interactive items would be great, too.

I would really love a garden, veranda/terrace, jacuzzi, pool and garage. I love the ideas about using the bugs and other trash to really make our home "our home". It's those little, personal touches that really add something special to the overall feel of a home.

As for linking, I actually wondered why we couldn't click our letter boxes and be directed to our inbox. I wondered that back in '05 and still wonder now. rofl

I love the music option idea - that could really help set the mood for your home and there could be different tunes for different events, i.e. birthdays, holidays, different emotions, nature sounds (if your home were jungle-themed, having sounds of frogs croaking could be cool), etc.

A mini version of our aquariums would be so cute and would really bring together the overall feel of Gaia really being our own virtual world, with everything neatly coming together and having its own place. <3 As it is now, we have aquariums and cars but they are just "floating" in cyberspace with no real location. Placing them in our homes would give them the "housing" they deserve. Oh, and the lighting in our aquariums could also light up the room it's in, in the house. :]

I love the idea of the inside and outside matching. When I first had to pick the Home Style, I was concerned that if I picked the smaller home that the inside of the home would also be smaller. lol Windows matching inside/outside would also be great!

Oh, and I love the idea for a fence around my home - even if it's only a little one. Not sure if it'd "ruin" the overall look but I suppose it depends how it's done. xp

The idea of living outside of Barton also really appeals to me, particularly combined with the landmark idea. I would love to situate my house near the beach or a river, jungle, desert, etc. There are so many possibilities!

Alerts for when someone enters home is a fantastic idea! So is having fruit/veggie plants that can be used to make ink for other things, but I also think that perhaps those foods could be used for other things, too. You can make countless bouquets with flowers - why can't we make recipes with the fruits and veggies that we grow? It doesn't need to be too complicated but it could give our avis something cute to hold. :]

I also love the idea of a "disabled-friendly" home where you can have ramps and lifts instead of stairs/steps. The possibilities are endless. <3

On a side note, I just thought I would mention that there are sinks available (you can see mine in my home) but a bit more diversity would be good.

Also, you -can- have a laptop, like in my home, but it'll cost you because it's a G9 Laptop - yes, that's right: an MC from early '06. rofl

One thing I haven't come across as being mentioned yet is completing chores to make gold. It might sound silly but in another way, if maintaining your home earns you gold, then you're more likely to go back and use it more! Plus, friends could help clean and earn gold, too. There would have to be limits set (of course) but it's still something different to do on Gaia. :]

Also, what about having an option similar to Outfits in our Avatar section, where we have a wardrobe option to quickly change into the appropriate attire for any given room or activity? For example, if we want to "go for a swim" we could have preselected outfits that we simply click and change into for what we're doing at the time. I'm not sure if this is possible but it would be cool. ^_^



Another suggestion from Csilla Silvana:
Quote:
Gaia Housing Addition Doors

Concept: Purchasing a special door from Faktori, or La Victoire will allow you to add a room onto your house. These rooms can be labeled, or named so you know which room you are in or can choose which room you want to decorate. Default labeling will be Room 1, Room 2, ect.

The Gold Shop door will get you one blank room starting at the smallest size, upgrading the room size will cost the same as upgrading the original house.

The La Victoire doors will also get you one small room. The bonus of LV doors is that different doors come with various tiles, and furnishings in different style and color themes. Consider it a room bundle maybe? For example a LV Kitchen addition Door: (insert color here) with kitchen items in the specified color.

How would this be executed? When you put an Addition Door on the wall of your house, when in towns that door will have a small arrow that will take you to the next room like the arrows take you from one neighborhood to the next.

Decorating: When opening the decorating page you will always start out at the original house room. A Room tab will allow you to choose which room you wish to work on.

Eventually perhaps staircases, and trap door could be implemented in a similar manner for additional floors to houses

I also have the older idea of Gaia Homes 2.0 Back Yard which I will be reworking to better fit the Addition Doors idea.


Suggestions from Tiggen_Nomir
Tiggen_Nomir

I also recommend that as part of turning homes into a goldsink New Furniture sales away from the MP become SoulBound,
The reason is that some of the 'luxury items' may end up as Daily Chance Prizes/random giftbox....If people can keep exchanging High value housing Items with other Gaias they dont want they they didn't pay for in the first place, then Less money is leaving the System on these item sales, in the case of using the Mini-Shops forum, No gold is leaving the system as people here are selling Via Trade so they are not being Taxed...


Suggestions from My Toilet Paper Is Cash:
My Toilet Paper Is Cash
I SIGN!
gaia_crown gaia_crown gaia_crown gaia_crown




Not sure if anyone has said this idea, but there was so many ideas!

My idea is that, instead of the rooms being on top of each other or directly next to each other, they could be next to each other but in different pages/screens? Like how you go into towns and you click the blue arrow and you're in a different section of the map.
So you go to your arrow one and you go into your supposedly "bathroom."
or your second arrow and you go into your "pool area."
and your third arrow, you go into your "kitchen"
Not sure if any of that made sense.
So like you can keep buying more "arrows/sections." until you have reached the limit.


Also, for the garage part.
You could see your RALLY cars sitting in the garage!
Like that would be an awesome option, like if we were to have a garage, we can put our rally cars in it!

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More threads from the petitioner (click one below). No need to post in them.

Bigger Homes, More Furniture and a Garden

Do You Customize Your Car(s) and Decorate Your Home?

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Feedback: Is your thread open? I'm sorry if it's not, but you looked as if you were done setting up your petition.

Anyway, I read your original suggestion thread, and I noticed one user remarked that Gaia Homes were just a poor gold sink. While I like and support your ideas, I'd also like to see more ideas oriented around changing the attitude that Gaia Homes are just a waste of bandwidth. Promotion of Homes isn't going to be enough; Gaia should add more interactive features.

At the very least, users should be able to sit or lie down on furniture, watch TV, or turn the lights on and off. If Gaia wants to expand Homes someday, perhaps there could be an internal link to users' aquariums in the form of a fish tank in the corners of homes. (This could be optional, though. You can always choose to leave your aquarium out of your home.) Another good idea could be to allow users to access or display their subscribed threads on a virtual bookshelf, with the threads' length indicated by the thickness of the books on the bookshelf.

And there could even be a mailbox outside a user's home or a slot for mail on the door (along with a pile of mail on the doormat) as a link to your inbox. And while we're at it, why not throw in a PIN-protected safe as an alternative or a link to your storage locker? Hell, maybe even a closet that can display our inventory! Maybe a bulletin board too, so you can display personal announcements and status updates in your home. Hey, this idea's so flexible, you can extend it any which way!


Blinkie courtesy of Hikari_Sango. ありがとう! ♥


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Zhang He Beautiful signs this petition.


I think we need bigger homes.

Quote:
We don't have the option to create rooms as well. Although bookshelves could substitute for dividers, they take up space and leave no room for other furniture making the house look crowded.


Yes. I also have the same problem. I can't have rooms in my house.

And I agree with you that Gaians must be encouraged to design their homes as much as they do it with their aquarium and cars.

Wheezing Lunatic

CHOURYOU SIGNS THIS PETITION.


I am thinking of squeezing a lot of tables into my home (don't ask why), and I know I just have to have rooms and much bigger space to put in a living room and bedroom.

Quote:
At the very least, users should be able to sit or lie down on furniture, watch TV, or turn the lights on and off.

I also like the idea of being able to sit down and lie on the furniture. I can imagine my avatar eating at the dining room tables. It'll be epic win.

Also, more furniture choices. And dividers (if rooms aren't possible).

Revered Plague

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Ame no Yanagi
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Feedback: Is your thread open? I'm sorry if it's not, but you looked as if you were done setting up your petition.

Anyway, I read your original suggestion thread, and I noticed one user remarked that Gaia Homes were just a poor gold sink. While I like and support your ideas, I'd also like to see more ideas oriented around changing the attitude that Gaia Homes are just a waste of bandwidth. Promotion of Homes isn't going to be enough; Gaia should add more interactive features.

At the very least, users should be able to sit or lie down on furniture, watch TV, or turn the lights on and off. If Gaia wants to expand Homes someday, perhaps there could be an internal link to users' aquariums in the form of a fish tank in the corners of homes. (This could be optional, though. You can always choose to leave your aquarium out of your home.) Another good idea could be to allow users to access or display their subscribed threads on a virtual bookshelf, with the threads' length indicated by the thickness of the books on the bookshelf.

And there could even be a mailbox outside a user's home or a slot for mail on the door (along with a pile of mail on the doormat) as a link to your inbox. And while we're at it, why not throw in a PIN-protected safe as an alternative or a link to your storage locker? Hell, maybe even a closet that can display our inventory! Maybe a bulletin board too, so you can display personal announcements and status updates in your home. Hey, this idea's so flexible, you can extend it any which way!


Blinkie courtesy of Hikari_Sango. ありがとう! ♥


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I love your ideas. I never thought about that. I've listed them on the first post.
I really do hope more Gaians will be ancouraged to love their homes. Thanks for posting.

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Chouryou
CHOURYOU SIGNS THIS PETITION.


I am thinking of squeezing a lot of tables into my home (don't ask why), and I know I just have to have rooms and much bigger space to put in a living room and bedroom.

Quote:
At the very least, users should be able to sit or lie down on furniture, watch TV, or turn the lights on and off.

I also like the idea of being able to sit down and lie on the furniture. I can imagine my avatar eating at the dining room tables. It'll be epic win.

Also, more furniture choices. And dividers (if rooms aren't possible).


Oh yes, if we're able to actually use our stuff at home then more would be encouraged to decorate theirs.
muffin.WOman signs your petition~

I've been waiting for years to be able to actually do something to my home again. Over the years I have actually sold my furniture because I thought homes were dead.... D'; I would love to be able to purchase things again, and allow more new options with the design. ;]

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muffin.WOman
muffin.WOman signs your petition~

I've been waiting for years to be able to actually do something to my home again. Over the years I have actually sold my furniture because I thought homes were dead.... D'; I would love to be able to purchase things again, and allow more new options with the design. ;]


I understand how you feel. I know a lot of Gaians who feel tha way too and it's sad.

Unbeatable Hunter

i support the idea, i want to be able to make my house a place to spend my time instead of being a dead weight

Lucky Hoarder

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I will sign, however there is the possibility that when it comes back (if it ever does) there will probably be gaia cash involved, just like everything else on the site.

Want a bigger house? A garden? A garage for your car? Ready your wallets. xp Would be nice to raise a voice , maybe they will listen.

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Flux
I will sign, however there is the possibility that when it comes back (if it ever does) there will probably be gaia cash involved, just like everything else on the site.

Want a bigger house? A garden? A garage for your car? Ready your wallets. xp Would be nice to raise a voice , maybe they will listen.


There's that too. But if people are willing to spend on aquariums and cars why not on homes...better homes with useful features that is.

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