Ah, but that's exactly the issue. The nodes bought pre-patch seem to be acting character bound even after the patch. As for why I bought it? I suppose it's the completionist in me who is building a full home instance. And I am spending my gold on what I want. According to GW 2 efficiency, home nodes are the fifth thing I've spent the most on, after skins, shared inventory spaces, outfits, and gliders in that order as opposed to Mailcarriers and PVP Heroes that I've spent 0 on. :) And one of the great things about stocking a Home Instance with Nodes is that you can share these items with Friends, Guildmates, Random Strangers, and New Players...Y'know - the Community that GW2 was designed to be.