A Neighborly Gift

I discovered an addon for player housing called Guestbook and it inspired me to see how many of my neighbors' homes I could break int.. I mean.. enter due to granted permission settings so I may leave them a note just in case they too have the addon. My house is in Public Neighborhood, so there are quite a few homes that don't even allow players to enter their yard! But there are a still a few carefree folks like myself who leave their doors unlocked, one of them being my neighbor, Dãlinar.

I first noticed their home a couple of weeks after Player Housing early access was granted for players who pre-purchased Midnight. They were one of those clever players who figured out how to lift their home and make a tree house out of it. It had a staircase made of Stormwind Beam Platforms so the yard was fairly empty due to the limited outdoor decor budget. I don't remember if I attempted to enter their home at that time, so if I was allowed inside back then I can't remember what it looked like. But when I went flying around my neighborhood this time with the intent to jiggle door handles, I noticed that the outside of Dãlinar's tree house was completely redesigned! The staircase was converted to a ramp with railing that freed up more decor budget for new trees and cobble paths. Seeing how beautiful the outside was now gave me hope they allowed at least neighbors to enter the house and I was not let down!

Upon entry, you are welcomed to a large lobby-like room that may double as a grand hall for hosting gatherings and a corner for polite conversation or relaxing reading. In the back right corner resides a couple of couches and a coffee table with wall treatments and a rug that give cozy living room vibes. To the left of the entry, there are two long tables with lots of seating framing the doorway of a skinny hallway that leads to small guest bedrooms built with Stormwind Interior Walls. You'll even find a washroom with a curtained off bathtub, 2 toilet stalls and 3 basins complete with their own mirrors.

To the right of the entry, you'll find a Light-infused Fountain that I am guessing functions as a holy-water font before the entry to an octagonal room designed very much like a church. It has rows of benches, a dais and lectern, and the "The High Exarch" Painting hanging front and center as if Turalyon is Jesus on the cross. To complete the Catholic church vibes, they even have a curtained off closet confessional! 

There is one stairwell leading up to what I assume is Dãlinar's living quarters complete with a humble study full of bookshelves, nicknacks, and a writing desk, a living space with a fireplace and couch, and a small personal bathroom with a very throne-like toilet (more opulent than the coffin + barrel toilets downstairs). 😄 The top floor of the stairwell also has a cozy living room type space with couches, a coffee table, and bookshelves. The bottom floor of the stairwell is the kitchen area, and it is a very well used space! There is a bar/island in the middle of the room, two working stoves and countertop complete with a white marble backsplash. The coolest and most unique feature in the kitchen is the hand made brick oven in the corner built completely out of various Elwynn Cobblestones. There are wood logs under the base of it and a roast inside atop a Razorwind Cooking Grill and it just looks amazing!

After thoroughly admiring their home, I decided to hop on an alt I happened to have on their server to write a proper letter and mail it to them instead of leaving a note that they may not even see in the Guestbook addon.

Hi Dãlinar,
    I am your friendly draenei Shaman neighbor at 39 Clear Sail Hamlet (northwest of you.) I just wanted to send my compliments about your beautiful and creative home!
    I noticed you changed the stiars outside to a ramp and it looks amazing! Your guest room hall is impressive! And the confessional gave me a giggle. I'm also totally stealing your toilet design! Coffin, barrel, fountain? Clever!
    And thank you for opening your home to public entry! 

Sincerely,
    Isolte-Daggerspine

That's all the characters I could really squeeze into an in-game letter so while I wanted to say so much more, it would have to do. And while the character I sent the letter on is a max level 80 toon, I rarely hop on that one so it was 3 days later that I noticed the mail icon next to her name in my character election screen. To my surprise, there was an item attached to the response! A Boralus Bottle Lamp! And their letter in reply read:

Thank you for your kind message it was well received. I had to replace the spiral staircase because it took too much of my housing budget . And I wanted other things than just a staircase hahahaha. Here have a housing gift !

I was so touched that they sent a gift in reply. ♥ I placed the lamp on the mantle of my fireplace so it's one of the first things you see when you enter my home. I even left a note for myself in my guestbook to remind myself who gave it to me. "Boralus Bottle Lamp on mantle - Gift from Dãlinar". I plan on crafting them a gift in return, something jewelcrafting since that's my main's profession. I just haven't decided what yet. I might include a pie too, just for the added cozy 'welcome neighbor' vibes. Or would that be too cliché? 😂 Well, anyway, the whole reason why I'm even writing about this occurrence along with describing my neighbor's house is to simply share that good neighborly feeling with all of you. I also want to be able to look back and remember that feeling too because I love familiar interactions like this with strangers on the internet!

 

I hope that you all are enjoying Player Housing as much as I am. I'm sure I'll eventually write up a post about my own house. The only room I'm really happy with at the moment is the kitchen, so I'll just have to spend more time fleshing out the other rooms. ^.-.^