Housing Item Limit and Building Blocks

               ==Why Item Counts Exist==
As much as those who love to decorate fantasize about unlimited items in a house, it does serve a purpose.

The least nerdy and most truncated way to explain it is that each item you place needs to load on the screen when you enter any space; in essence, the game program "builds" the house with all its items when anyone enters. The more unique items (unduplicated) and complex the items' structure, the harder it is for a computer to perform this task. 

When the housing system was first included in the game, computers were ''much'' less powerful and over time, most players tend to have systems that can "handle" more. There are still inherent difficulties tied to the legacy of the software that will also cause a bit of a gap between what our faster computer can do. And naturally, the speed of the internet connection also radically impacts the balance of item counts vs. load times too!

===Past vs. Present===
As these facets of the game gained popularity, significant changes to housing changed how both housing and "rooms" are perceived. 
*Additional rooms were added to were added to ''all'' [[Standard Housing|Standard Houses]] and, in 2010, large standard houses gained a balcony. 
*[[Prestige Housing]] added homes of various sizes and, because many are based on playbable zones within the game already and lack pre-built structures, Prestige homes lend themselves to ''much'' higher item counts and flexibility than players had seen in older housing zones. 
:*Even with the growth of prestige homes, the older standard housing remains very relevant due to the ease with which it can be obtained. Likewise, it can be a great pleasure to work within those spaces or even [[Housing Breakout Guide|break out]] into the world ''outside'' their walls.

===What Counts Toward the Limit?===
Now that you understand that item limits are listed for (general) items of every kind and for building blocks, just remember that ''most'' items you place while [[Decorating Houses|decorating]] a house will count toward the limits. 
:In fact it is far easier to state what ''doesn't'' count at all. That can be summarized as:
*Most [[Book Quests Timeline|books for/from quests]], including [[:Category:Lore and Legend Quests|Lore and Legend books]], no longer count against item limits. While it may not be a complete list, you can look for specific titles in a post on [https://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/index.php?threads/books-item-count-and-you.421500/ the official Daybreak forums]. [[Player-written books]] do ''not'' count toward the item limit.  
*In the past, items in the Moving Crate (a crate used to move from one house to another or store items) used to count against the items limit in houses, but this is no longer true. The removal of item count from the Moving Crate means it can be used to quickly move large groups of items around the house while you decorate or to stash items you want to access easily later (like holiday themed decorations).

===About Size and Room Count===
:'''An editor is currently updating this section as of 1/29/16'''
Floorplans and room counts have changed in older cities. As a result, the old system of counting rooms is confusing at the least and completely misleading if you're looking for a house with the maximum space for decorating. 

The [[:Category:User Interface|User Interface]] (UI) related to housing had a significant redesign and a system called [[Housing & Leaderboards]] introduced:
*The freedom to easily "publish" (share) homes you decorate
*Visit those published by other players
*The potential to "win" house item rewards like the [[House Rating Trophy]] when published houses are well received by the decorating community.
As a result, houses are published in categories by their '''size''', rather than a generic number of rooms or locations. 

Though there are no absolute "rules" for what determines a size, especially when [[Prestige Housing]] is taken into account, it often (more) accurately indicates a relative size compared to other housing.


Room count may always be somewhat debatable, but the counts listed in the tables below list ''interior'' rooms ''separate'' from any outdoor areas.