It's an exciting Friday because our latest update to the Spiral is finally live!
First things first, let's talk Castle Tours. I can't tell you how much fun I've had wandering through others' amazingly decorated houses over the last few weeks on Test (and today on Live), but I certainly am not ready to let folks into my own home, it needs a little (lot) of tidying up first!
So, my question this week is: have you toured any Castles or listed your own house yet? If no, do you plan to? I want to know if and when I can explore your creative abodes!
Have a wonderful weekend, and enjoy the new updates!
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Standard disclaimer applies: We do not guarantee to use each and every idea submitted, and questions we pose may or may not be pertaining to things we are currently working on, or will ever undertake. Sometimes, there are just technical limitations that make changing things difficult to impossible, and though we possess all manner of magic wands here, there are technological beasts out there that are beyond our grasp. Sometimes, we may not feel it is within the spirit and vision of the spiral to add or change something. Also, we realize that some of these topics may have been addressed before in other threads - sometimes it's good to pick up a discussion again. Chances are I have read your threads and would like to hear more!
“If the Mind is like a candle, the Heart is like the sun.”
Professor Falmea
My friends and I missed visiting many of them. We admit to skipping over the update when we saw "castle tour" because we thought it was the usual tour before you buy. Would be great if we could see the castles and homes as we strolled (or rode) down streets, in the countryside, in the city, etc in maybe a neighborhood area; would be easier to pick and admire. We enjoyed the tours we did get to, though.
I showed my Celestia crafted castle on test, and my kids showed a couple of theirs. We had a great time looking at others and got some fun ideas. This is a fantastic feature. I have a bit of work to do on live before any of mine will be show-worthy, but I expect to do so.
Suggestions: please add more custom sign options, and more housing categories.
I'm not particularly proud of my decorating skills, and I'm still busy training my pets since the mega pets update but I guess in an effort to be helpful, I might buy a really cheap house, fill it with housing dungeons (if I ever get any), make it public, and then never set foot in it again.
Why not just use my dorm room you ask? Because after a few more dungeons are released, there wouldn't be enough room for all of them. I thought that was obvious.
Yes, 4 of my castles are available for touring. I signed them up yesterday. I went and looked at a lot of the castles that were highly-rated. Some of them were REALLY good, some of them I cannot understand how they got high ratings, but that is okay. Everybody has their own style, and nobody is going to like everything. So, congratulations to all. LOL, I will say it is a little weird to be walking around somebody else's home though when they are not there. Well, off to tour more castles!
Today, my Level 90 Pyromancer, signed up all her houses. I have not cleaned up, not washed floors, but if other players can enjoy themselves by going to visit, should they be allowed. And Professor Falmea are warmly invited.
I have not been visiting other spillerers houses, I do another day.
I've listed my two actual houses for the tour, yes. I've toured a whole bunch more. :) Some are amazing, some seem to be storage for tons of pets, but all were fun. I love this update!
Added a few of mine. One as 'crazy' since it's just a giant collection of stuff, a couple as decorated. One has Winterbane and is at the Dragon's Fjord house (and I decorated the area to be creepy/scary to fit the theme). The other has Pagoda at the Tranquil Cottage which is slightly decorated to set the mood.
One thing that a friend of mine mentioned, when discussing the ability to tour houses of others, is wanting the ability to see a list of ALL houses, not just a top rated. Either that or be able to filter by type of house or by the name of the owner. Perhaps click on a letter and see all houses by wizards whose name begins with that letter, or be able to type in a partial name or something.
One wizard that I think is being underrated is named Liam. He's not a friend of mine but I was highly impressed by his houses (he has more houses than I do and I have 10). One house in particular had a Christmas setting that gave a feel of visiting a 'Department Store Santa' and others that ended up there were equally impressed. His name dropped off the list (slowly got moved down in ranking) and the houses at the top of the list now are no where near worth the ranking they have.
I guess in time, the rankings will be more reliable, as the newness wears off and people aren't giving 4 stars left and right randomly.
Again though, being able to view a list (or search a list) of all houses would be wonderful. Another improvement idea would be to somehow indicate if the house listed has extras like Bane or Pagoda. Since I have both, if I want to do one or the other then I only need to form a group. Other people though might want to find houses with them so they can get a group of friends together to go. For me, I would like to see if anyone else has decorated their Bane/Pagoda areas.
I am still debating if I will be putting my house up for tour. I like being able to go to my house for quiet time. I have looked at others and some are very nice but disappointed that many houses I have gone to are not decorated or look like yard sale or storage units.
would it be possible to add an item limit to posting a house in the tour? maybe the house has to have at least 150 items in it to be posted.
i really like the house tour idea and have enjoyed it (even random people popping up in my house when i am there has been fun), but 80+% of the houses i visit in "added today" or "random" are empty or next to empty.
would it be possible to add an item limit to posting a house in the tour? maybe the house has to have at least 150 items in it to be posted.
i really like the house tour idea and have enjoyed it (even random people popping up in my house when i am there has been fun), but 80+% of the houses i visit in "added today" or "random" are empty or next to empty.
I went and looked at a lot of the castles that were highly-rated. Some of them were REALLY good, some of them I cannot understand how they got high ratings, but that is okay. Everybody has their own style, and nobody is going to like everything. So, congratulations to all. 
LOL, I will say it is a little weird to be walking around somebody else's home though when they are not there. 
Well, off to tour more castles!
