More Hideout deco variations, ease boundaries, more MTX decor, larger tiles, deco counter, etc.

Below are a list of suggestions to make Hideouts more appealing and fun to decorate and own.

* Add a decorations 'counter' while in 'Edit' mode to allow players to actively see how many decorations they have used. There can even be an option to turn it ON/OFF in the Hideout settings. This will help players use their decorations more wisely and know ahead of time when they are reaching the limit.

* Implement larger-scale 'Terrain Tiles' and modular ground decorations to default Hideouts (unlockable in-game) and to MTX-bought Hideouts (especially).

The Problem: Decoration limit vs. surface area

Currently, one of the biggest deco 'budget eaters' in Hideout creation is the floor. For example, to change the texture of a Hideout from grass to stone or sand, players must overlap dozens (sometimes hundreds) of small tiles... This then consumes the 750-decoration limit rapidly, leaving much less of a 'budget' left for actual detailing, NPCs, lighting effects, etc.

And to prevent visual tiling (the 'checkerboard' effect), the large assets should include randomized micro-variations within a single placement, maintaining the high visual fidelity we expect from the Path of Exile 2 engine.

* Existing Hideouts, MTX-bought Hideouts from the Shop, and from Mystery Boxes (especially) need to include more theme-oriented decorations, more theme-oriented NPCs that fit said Hideout(s), and need to have more variations to them (think foliage like 'Chaos Crawling Leaves' and 'Leaf Pile' with only 4-5 variations) that quickly get repetitive when placing them.

Using the 'Maraketh Guards' has also gotten old after a while, and pulling Hideouts from Mystery Boxes with very low pull rates that have 0 exclusive decorations is very chintzy and pretty much cheats players out of what they could have after receiving new Hideouts.

In other words, the game could be pulling in more $$$ from MTX Hideouts alone if you simply gave players more of an incentive to buy them. Instead, decorations, etc., are very limited or we get a layout that is just a blank layout...

* Please increase the decorations limit from 750 to at least 800 or 1,000. It may not seem like much for an increase, but that would help a lot, especially for players who attempt to decorate very large Hideouts (think Vastiri Plains or Alpine Plateau).

The 750 deco limit, therefore, inhibits players from being able to decorate bigger Hideout layouts and really needs a bump after all these years.

* Add 'time of day' toggle buttons to Alva's UI in the 'Select Hideout' window, as shown here https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3913167

* Expand Hideout boundaries for improved decorations placement/creation freedom, as detailed here https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3913787 with screenshot examples.

Hideout work I have done in PoE 2 so far (speaking from experience)

Felled Hideout - https://hideoutshowcase.com/hideout/show/8637/title/The%20Felled%20Standard

Shoreline Hideout - https://hideoutshowcase.com/hideout/show/8636/title/Antheian%20Strand



Thank you for your team's time :)
HeavyMetalGear