Back when I was still excitedly saving up to become a homeowner in New World, I thought it might be fun to publish a virtual tour of my abode and showcase my excellent sense of style. What a sweet, naive child. Now that I have a wee two-floor house I can't think of anything less appealing than showing it off. But it's on my to-do list, so here we go. With great shame, I present to you 1 Windward Lane.
You're probably thinking that it looks quite nice from the outside. It's certainly the best property in Windward that I could afford. Or rather, it's the best property in Windward that New World will let me buy. I can actually afford something pricier, but I'd also need a better territory standing. New World heavily implies that you can buy a home when you reach level 10 in a territory, but so far I've only been able to find homes that unlock at 15 or higher.
In Windward, most of the homes available to me were little one-floor deals, but then I found this one, hanging out at the end of a street, and I thought I'd lucked-out. A whole additional floor, some pretty vines clinging to the exterior, and conveniently located right next to the settlement gate. With the 50% discount first-time buyers receive, I only had to drop 5k on it, and then immediately got stuck into some decorating.
Naturally, I plonked down the two dogs I already owned first—I still feel guilty about lugging them around with me in my pocket for 30 hours—giving them pride of place right in front of the fire. Looking at my faithful hounds getting cosy in my new home, I allowed myself a brief moment of happiness, before going back to my natural state of profound disappointment.
See, while home ownership is pitched as a rather big deal in New World, a major milestone, there's not actually a lot you can do with your property when you first splash out on it. In the workshops scattered around Aeternum's settlements, you'll be able to put your crafting skills to use by knocking up some furniture and decorations, but while New World provides a long list of crafting projects, there's not really very much in the catalogue for interior decorators.
And that's why my dining area and tragic little table will make you too depressed to eat.
The workshop crafting menu is dominated by plain ash furniture, accompanied by a list of decorations that contains exciting props like a wicker basket and an ugly yellow rug. There are also some blue drapes that go with nothing. Though New World contains a bunch of dyes, furniture and decorations unfortunately have a set colour. It's slim pickings, and impossible to make something that doesn't just look a bit sad.
Homes can be used to increase storage space, and you can eventually make trophies to hang up that give you various buffs. Beyond rearranging objects, however, there's not much you can interact with. What's the point of a cauldron if you can't brew some noxious potions in it?
At least I'm able to use an emote to sit on my bed, surrounded by blank, low-res walls, and contemplate my bleak existence. Sometimes I dream of hanging up paintings of ships. I like ships.
The one bright spot when I return to my home is the ability to pet dogs. Specifically my dogs, but any of Aeternum's pooches are fair game.
You might, like me, find the lack of trinkets and personal touches a bit disappointing, but fear not. See, the crafting list doesn't represent everything that you can make. All you're seeing is the list of things you'll automatically unlock when you hit the appropriate crafting level. You can grow that list by finding rare schematics, eventually allowing you to craft things like stoves or furniture made out of different materials. You'll also come across objects on your adventures that you can display in your home. That's how I got my dogs and one large vase.
If you'd rather not wait to find new schematics and props, you can always head to the trading post and reap the rewards of other players' hard work. Feeling a bit down about how shitty my home looked, I decided to indulge in some retail therapy.
While this is likely to change as players become wealthier and more of them start purchasing things for their homes, the prices for furniture, schematics and decorations on my server are surprisingly reasonable, with most items going for a mere 100 gold, some even less. With schematics, you'll still have to craft the item, which also means being at the right crafting level, but for everything else you'll be able to add them to your home straight away. That means my ornate golden stove will have to wait, but I've already been able to spruce up my home with all sorts of pirate-themed paraphernalia. Still no ship paintings, though.
I couldn't find any toys for the dogs, but I did find some dirty dishes, from which I hope they will be able to derive some enjoyment. My real-world canine pal goes wild for gravy-smeared crockery, so I think we're good. And now that I've added a bunch of crap to my house, maybe it's time for a proper tour.
Things are starting to look up, then, even if I'm far from ready to host fancy dinner parties. Maybe putting dishes on the floor was a bad idea? And it sure would be nice if I could pick the colour of the rugs and drapes. As a member of the Syndicate, I demand more purple. But there's potential here, despite the fact that it's still a dump.
Before I get back to spending more of my hard-earned gold on purely cosmetic stuff for a house I'm hardly ever in, I should highlight one of the biggest practical advantages of home ownership. Traveling in New World sucks. It's just awful. Most quests will see you hoofing it across the map to do something for 10 minutes before running all the way back again—without a mount—with few interesting diversions along the way. The limited fast travel alleviates some of this, and is even better once you can travel to your house.
Teleporting to a shrine costs Azoth, a resource also used in crafting magical gear, and can only be done while you're next to another shrine. Your house, however, works more like an inn that you've registered at, letting you teleport there for free from anywhere on the map. Better yet, you can end the cooldown by spending a tiny amount of Azoth. Eventually you'll be able to afford multiple homes, but for your first one I recommend somewhere central to where you're currently questing. Or you can do what I did and just buy a house in the first place where you have a high enough standing, even if it's controlled by another faction and miles away from your quests. Delayed gratification is for cowards.
