PTS Feedback Thread for Player Housing

Danikat

I finally feel like I'm in a position to write some actual feedback instead of discussing a few specific points. It's still a bit limited because I normally play on the EU server so I've had to do everything on template characters with no achievements, no quest or map completion etc.

Did you complete the initial quest to acquire your apartment? Did you run into any issues?

Yes I did complete the quest and no I did not run into any issues. I was surprised when it sent me off into a delve on a 'higher level' map (still getting used to One Tamriel), but I suppose if new players don't feel ready to go there yet they can simply come back to the quest later.

Were you able to successfully preview a home and buy it with gold?

Yes and yes.

How did you preview the home? Did you do it via the Crown Store, Collections UI, or just walk up to the door?

All 3 at different times (and they all worked well). I've also done it by clicking on the map icon and selecting the preview option.

Most of the time I find it more useful to preview them through the crown store because they're sorted by price. I'm terrible at remembering which house is which so it's helpful to have them grouped like that; if I want to preview the altmer small house I just go to the relevant section and pick the one in the altmer style. I also like previewing them via the map for a similar reason; the location is a prompt as to which is which, or I can choose based on where I want to live.

(I also like the option to preview by walking up to the door, even though it's probably the one I've used least. Basically I like that there's lots of options.)

Were you able to figure out how to switch between previewing a furnished/unfurnished home?

Yes. But there seemed to be a bug where decorations would start appearing when I opened the menu even if it was set to unfurnished and they wouldn't all disappear when I closed it. Which meant I could never be sure if the ones which remained were ones that you got even if you bought it unfurnished, or if it was a bug and they'd vanish when I bought the house. (I can't see that being a deciding factor in buying a house or not, but it would be helpful to be certain exactly what I'm getting.)

Were you able to purchase and place furnishings from Achievement Furnishers?

No, because I was using template characters who had no achievements. I'll check this out when the EU server is copied over.

Were you able to purchase furnishings from Zanil Theran the Luxury Furnisher?

Yes, once I found him. (I didn't think to go to "a place of death, despair, and infinite cruelty" to buy furniture...even though a lot of mine is from Ikea.) He was only selling 4 items: Wedding Blossoms, Blue, Wedding Curtain, Wedding Flower Treillis and Wedding Lantern. I'm not sure if there's supposed to be more.

Did you get any Undaunted Busts from dungeon bosses? If so, which one was your favorite?
Were you able to find the reprints of Shalidor’s Library books, place them, and read them?

I wasn't able to get any because I haven't played on the NA server enough.

Did you understand how to use the various light sources?

Yes. I made a mistake at first where I bought firewood thinking I could light it and discovered if it's not on fire in the preview then you can't light it. But other than that all the lighting I tried to use worked well.

Were you able to sit on chairs, both in a home and throughout the world?

In most cases yes. I ran into the same bug a lot of people have reported where unless you're standing at exactly the right angle when you push the interact button your character will get up again immediately. But other than that it worked.

Was it clear which chairs you could sit on?

No. I expected it to be all of them, but apparently not. I tried buying houses pre-furnished assuming all the chairs would be properly placed and I'd be able to sit on them, but that wasn't the case. For example I bought Ravenhurst furnished, and didn't move anything. I can sit on any of the chairs except the stool by the door to the courtyard and the chair upstairs at the desk.

Then I tried moving the chair by the desk and this happened.



Were you able to allow or restrict other players to enter your home?
Did you duel inside your home? How was the experience?

I did not try either of these.

Did you like the housing-related achievements and titles?

They're ok. I'm not the type of person who is driven by achievements, if I get them I get them, if not I don't worry about it. But they all seem fine to me.

Which was your favorite home, and why?

Wow that's a hard question. I don't think there's one specific one. I think the most important thing for me is they need to have a good outside space, but also enough inside space that I can decorate it to look like a house (size proportional to cost of course - Autumn's Gate is as good to me as Dawnshadow). Any bigger than a small house without an outside space is definitely off the table for me. Also I especially like (in no particular order) the Imperial, Altmer, Khajiit, Nord, and (surprisingly) Orc styles.

The thing that's been frustrating me is that I wish I could move the houses around. There's lots I like which aren't in places my characters would live. But there's enough I like that I can find ones which are good for each character.

Incidentally I do think the description for Hammerdeck End should be changed. It's all about the outside space - the deck and all the things you could do on it, but that is not actually part of the house - all your buying and able to use is the inside space. That really disappointed me when I found out.

What did you think of the prices for each home?

I think the prices are reasonable for what you get and I was pleasantly surprised at the lower-end prices. I don't have much money in-game so I was worried that all of the houses would be expensive, but I think with the apartments being only slightly more expensive than the basic horse there's something for everyone.

I do wish there was something in between the small and medium houses, for example the breton one could use the model for the armoury from Wayrest (one rectangular room downstairs, one up). But I think that's just me being picky.

Are you an ESO Plus member?

No.

Do you have any other general feedback?

I realise it's not an option for this update but long-term I'd like to see more variety in the type of housing available. For example ships, caves, windmills, ayleid/dwemer/daedric ruins...

MLGProPlayer

Sylvis wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

7 houses with a yard, 3 without. This doesn't balance the small house distribution, so there's no consistency to maintain. As such, there's no real reason for the three houses without yards to not have them, as they all have the space for one.

Great post; I agree with all of it, especially this point. All homes should have some sort of yard or usable balcony, otherwise you won't be able to fully enjoy the location of your home...it's not like they have windows! Real estate is all about location after all. I was excited to see there was a house in Windhelm (as that is my favorite zone/city), but no part of the house allows me to gaze about and appreciate that I own my property in such an awesome city. Just a small balcony would be perfect for me to relax and enjoy the views of the city and gaze at the northern lights. But as it is, the house may as well be in Coldharbour.

So I also think that all the homes should offer some sort of outdoor space, that way, as you said, you can feel more immersed in the world and not cut off from it.

As of righ now, a small home without a yard is basically just an apartment, but at 5-6 times the cost.

Medium homes without outdoor space are similarly terrible value. Cliffshade is a perfect example of that. Not only does the house have a tiny interior, it also completely lacks any kind of outdoor space.

A yard should be mandatory on all homes (although I can see why some of the ones "inside" cities can't accomodate them; but those houses should be accordingly prices).

I don't have an issue with the pricing overall. I think it's great. I just don't like that some houses are terrible value (this just results in less options for people as 90% of players won't consider them).

Totes-Bode

Bug

At the gate wayshrines in Cyrodiil, trying to recall to your house, the message "You cannot recall to a wayshrine while in Cyrodiil" appears.

Totes-Bode

Did you complete the initial quest to acquire your apartment? Did you run into any issues?
I didn't do this quest, I could not find the NPC.

Were you able to successfully preview a home and buy it with gold?
I used a template char to unlock all the houses.

How did you preview the home? Did you do it via the Crown Store, Collections UI, or just walk up to the door?
I did this through the Crown Store.

Were you able to figure out how to switch between previewing a furnished/unfurnished home?
Yes.

Were you able to purchase and place furnishings from Achievement Furnishers?
Yes.

Were you able to purchase furnishings from Zanil Theran the Luxury Furnisher?
No. This person was not there when I went to the zone.

Did you get any Undaunted Busts from dungeon bosses? If so, which one was your favorite?
I have not done a dungeon in the PTS.

Were you able to find the reprints of Shalidor’s Library books, place them, and read them?
Yes, though I felt there were too many to stack on each other and they do not link into bookshelves.

Did you understand how to use the various light sources?
Yes, I liked that feature a lot, though the Gold Coast Keg has "on" and "off" instead of "open" and "close."

Were you able to sit on chairs, both in a home and throughout the world? Was it clear which chairs you could sit on?
Almost all chairs do not allow for sitting. My character got back up immediately, or sat inside the chair.

Were you able to allow or restrict other players to enter your home?
Certain friends were unable to visit OR decorate even with permissions.

Did you duel inside your home? How was the experience?
No.

Did you like the housing-related achievements and titles?
Yes!!

Which was your favorite home, and why?
Strident Springs is really pretty. I like the houses with a small water feature. I like the gothic stone structures like the Stronghold.

What did you think of the prices for each home?
I think they are good, though some seem disproportionate and not making sense. Why is Sleek Creek as much as Mournoth Keep when one is much, much larger?

Are you an ESO Plus member?
Yes.

Do you have any other general feedback?
The item limit should be increased by at least 100 on medium houses and at least 300 on large houses.

visionality

I'll jump quickly over the first few questions: questing, previewing and buying houses all worked fine.

Buying furniture was not a problem either.

I tried (and managed) to craft some furniture myself. Actually this can be improved imo. I still haven't figured out why some pieces of furniture have to be crafted at the blacksmithing station, whereas others (same piece of furniture, but in a different style) have to be crafted at the woodworking or clothing station. Also the "indexing" could be improved. If I want to craft a nice little lamp, essentially I have to run through all room options (cause lights may hide in any of them), run to different crafting stations (cause I'll only see the craftable lights at the respective station) AND keep in mind that alchemy and enchanting station are also furniture crafting stations. Phew! A lot of walking and thinking for one little lamp. Maybe you could list all items on every station and highlight the craftable ones instead? And maybe you could improve your sorting? Or add a search function?

Improved sorting and a search function would be nice for buying furniture, too.

House prices are totally ok in my opinion, I dont think that every ESO player should be able to buy himself a palace.

I was a bit dissappointed with the sterility and non-functionality of homes. I invested real time (and even some thinking) into turning that tiny little first-quest-closet into something halfway nice, but even fully furnitured if felt strangely empty. (Well, emtpy in a stuffed way.) When you enter your home, it's like you enter a museum: a lot to look at, but very little to touch. It would be nice if houses had more functionality. Storage chests are the first that comes to mind ofc (why the hell CAN'T you use the chests in your house???), but there is a lot more. Why not give each house a postbox that receives the daily pledges? Why not add a shrine where you can change your mundus stone without travelling through half the world? Why not make some NPCs show up with random quests?

Mikesh

Access control
Option for Default access could be clearer if it is applied to every player account in the game or only those on your friends list, since visitors and guilds have their own settings.

Pricing
The prices up to medium homes appear reasonable. The large homes seem to be priced inconsistently. The range from 760,000 to 1,295,000 is appropriate and the Gardner House well suited in the middle of that range. But considering building size, material and appeal of the terrain they should be ranked in following order, from cheap to expensive:

1. Stay-Moist Mansion
2. The Gorinir Estate
3. Dawnshadow
4. Old Mistveil Manor
5. Gardner House
6. Quondam Indorilia
7. Mathiisen Manor
8. Strident Springs Demesne
9. Forsaken Stronghold
10. Hunding's Palatial Hall

The prices for the manors should roughly be 2.5 times the large home’s price.

Suggestions

• A Greeting text on entering a house like a guild’s MOTD would be super nice to give the visitor info about the home, its owner or the area it is situated in (if the actual house is a stand-in for a roleplayed one that doesn’t exist in the game world).
• Walls and rocks don’t look good together throughout all homes. IIRC, in the main game world there are no walls growing inside mountains, which is very pleasant to the eye. Since the rocks are easy to jump on and one bounces off the invisible wall anyway, just leave a gap between built walls and natural rock formations. It’s easier to cope with invisible walls in narrow gaps than seeing your walls getting eaten by boulders.
• Ravenhurst is such a beautiful place and yet has no gate from the garden to take a quick stroll along the river. Having to walk through the house to get out into the open appears rather annoying.
• Make beds interactive! Once the issues with the chairs are sorted out, get to the next level and make it possible to lie down in your bed!
• Interactive doors/gates inside the instance would be nice as well.

Experienced bugs

• Lamps cease to be a light source when turned down, but still have a glowing texture. Eerie.
• A CTS when trying to jump from Ravenhurst to Gardners House without visiting permission via friends list.

Savos_Saren

Sylvis wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

7 houses with a yard, 3 without. This doesn't balance the small house distribution, so there's no consistency to maintain. As such, there's no real reason for the three houses without yards to not have them, as they all have the space for one.

Great post; I agree with all of it, especially this point. All homes should have some sort of yard or usable balcony, otherwise you won't be able to fully enjoy the location of your home...it's not like they have windows! Real estate is all about location after all. I was excited to see there was a house in Windhelm (as that is my favorite zone/city), but no part of the house allows me to gaze about and appreciate that I own my property in such an awesome city. Just a small balcony would be perfect for me to relax and enjoy the views of the city and gaze at the northern lights. But as it is, the house may as well be in Coldharbour.

So I also think that all the homes should offer some sort of outdoor space, that way, as you said, you can feel more immersed in the world and not cut off from it.

That's absolutely true, @Sylvis! What's the purpose of having a large, Redguard House on your own private island- if it doesn't even have windows to look out. I understand the concept of adding windows may be impossible- but you're 100% right. Any "house" (apartments and inns excluded) should have a balcony or yard to enjoy your surroundings!

Totes-Bode

Shadowshire wrote: »

Totes-Bode wrote: »

What do you think of giving players an achievement for max mount traits (Carry Weight, Stamina, and Speed) and corresponding housing item for a stables?

The reason that should not be an "achievement" is that every player does not want to maximize the Speed, may not want to add much, if any, Bag Space, and Stamina is mostly useful when you have the mount sprint through a group of hostile NPCs which you would rather not bother to fight.

No one should gain an advantage or benefit simply because they spent the coins for the "riding lessons" to maximize all three of the aspects of riding a mount. Buying things is not an "achievement".

At least one of the "Notable Houses" has a stable on the grounds, which has stalls for 3 or 4 mounts, if memory serves, but sometimes the service isn't too good and I cannot recall which house has that feature.

What if the horse training was changed from money and crowns to some action you do every 12 hours like jump a fence or something like that?

scrobey

I just want a small cave to call home. Like away from everything else...

Fudly_budly

I have been spending a little more time on the PTS and absorbing the many comments and suggestions from fellow players. The assessment from my perspective is that the housing element for Homestead should be modified prior to going live.

There have been many comments related to the size and price equity between the various housing tiers and space included in their instancing. This should be addressed and changed.

There have been many comments about the lack of functionality of homes. For example, working crafting tables, cooking fires, alchemy and enchanting benches. It seems to me that fairness would be achieved by making these more readily available and not hidden behind the Master Writ wall. While there are assuredly several avenues to pursue in this modification, one simple solution would be to have these available for crafting once all of the materials have been collected at any woodworking and/or blacksmithing station. Further, sorry but, storage space is simply a must. There is far to much MMO Precedence and player expectations have long been set.

There have been many comments about the lifeless pets who once place simply stand there. How difficult will it be to animate them?

There has been an overwhelming negative reaction to the amount of crafting materials required for players to craft their own furnishings. The amount of racial style stones required for furnishings needs to be reduced to parity with gear and weapon crafting. Same thing for the quantity of rune stones required by some furnishings. Additionally, the drop rates for housing mats needs to be substantially raised.

One more question. Why is it that I can teleport to my home from anywhere in the world at any time for free but I cannot teleport out of my home without incurring the recall fee? This would be less of an issue if the homes were all near towns where you can conduct business, crafting, banking more conveniently. As it stands right now some of the homes require a grinding horse ride to the nearest way shrine.

I in no way intend to be presumptuous. I hope my fellow players on the forum will take this opportunity to comment on this post with their top few meaningful and positive suggestions for the team at ZOS in order to make Homestead a resounding success when it goes live.

I hope that my fellow players can agree that in general there needs to be more value for the player with regard to the housing element of Homestead. As things stand right now on PTS the value versus cost equation is out of balance.

Lionheartt

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for player housing! Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

I apologize that some of these items might already been reported as feedback. I did a quick search and saw some parts of this but not all. So, here is a little more constructive feedback.

Were you able to find the reprints of Shalidor’s Library books, place them, and read them?

Yes. However, I expected an interface similar to some of the mods we had in Oblivion and Skyrim where you could place a book on a bookshelf and then read it later. In Homestead, trying to place two books next to each other on a shelf was very difficult. Maybe a change to consider in the future is some bookshelves that automatically aligns the books you place in it. On my Skyrim role-playing, I loved to be able to stand next to a bookshelf full of books and be able to read each one of them. It makes the home more realistic and interactive.

Were you able to sit on chairs, both in a home and throughout the world? Was it clear which chairs you could sit on?

Yes, but I have seen other reports on this as well. You can sit correctly on some chairs. in others, you are either too far to one side or too far forward. There is also the issue that in some chairs you sit and then stand up immediately after it.

What did you think of the prices for each home?

This is a touchy issue. I see the opinions vary a lot. Some think homes should be expensive others think that they should be very affordable. As I have seen in other MMO's, I think it all comes down to the type of players we are. For the casual player, the homes are very expensive. For the dedicated player, they are quite affordable. I'm in the middle, I play regularly but my schedule doesn't allow me to join my guilds in dungeon runs and many other activities. So, my feedback here is biased to my situation.

I was actually surprised about how the prices somewhat relate to housing prices in US Dollars in some areas in the US. :-) I think that the difference in price between the small, medium and large homes is too big and the large homes are overpriced. My suggestion is to bring these prices closer to each other. Realistically (if the is such a thing in a virtual world), the small homes could be priced a little higher with the most expensive being around 100,000. The medium homes could come down to around 200,000 and the large homes would be more correctly priced at around 500,000. That would create a huge price gap between the large homes and the manors. Of course, I would like the manor to come down too but, if you are going to buy the Daggerfall castle, you need to have some money. :-)

I also noticed that he value of some homes is not compatible with similar homes. For example, Ravenhurst is priced at 260,000. It has a nice main floor area and a smaller loft bedroom with a pretty nice courtyard. Grymharth's Woe is priced at 280,000. It is a standard two-story Nord home but with no outdoor areas. Maybe is the price you pay for living in the city. :-)

Are you an ESO Plus member?

Yes. Since some time in 2014.

Do you have any other general feedback?

1) I'm sure that someone else has seen this, but I have not seen a note about it in this thread (that doesn't mean that it isn't here). The animation anchor points for most of the crafting stations are off. I only tried this with the stations that come with my test character, but I believe that the ones you purchase in game are the same. For example, when you use the clothing station, your character is literally inside it. The woodworking station has the animation on the opposite side of the foot pedal. The others have similar problems.

2) Still on crafting stations, the Cooking Station does not animated fire. I tried "merging" an animated fire with a Cooking Station but then the station doesn't work. On that topic, it would be nice to have a couple of options for the Cooking Station appearance, one of them being the one the fits and works inside the fireplaces like the ones we find in the world.

3) On an item preview, you can just rotate it. Can we have the option of zooming in and out and moving it up and down? Some items are very large and you can't actually see them unless you can zoom out. Others have their anchor points too high so they are placed below the floor during the preview.

4) Others have said this too. Can you do something about the grass. It does clip through everything. You can build platforms high enough to cover it but some would have to be pretty high.

5) More animation on placed pets would be nice. I got a statue of my dog in my house. I even put a mat for him in front o f the fireplace, but he won't lay down. :-)

6) Some of your, assistants, pets, and horses disappear after you place them. I didn't test enough to figure out when they disappear though.

7) This one may not be possible. It is a request from an old modder... Could you have an option to fly the camera in edit mode? It takes a lot of patience sometimes to place an item from the characters perspective. Also, it would be nice to be able to adjust the placement of an item (position and rotation) with keyboard commands (sorry, console players). It takes some time to get something aligned the way you want when the alignment is just slightly off.

8) Forgot one more: when you place carpets and rugs with the Surface Drag on, sometimes they place under the floor. The only way to get them back is by using the Retrieve feature.

9) Ok, remembered one more. It would be interesting to have an option to add a basement to a home that doesn't have one at additional cost. You could buy or build (craft) the basement. You just get a placeable trap door that you can put somewhere and it leads to another editable cell for your basement.

In general, I think that Homestead is very well done. I've been waiting for it for a while since collecting your player homes is a Elder Scrolls "tradition". The number and variety of homes and the ability to actually collect all of them is very nice. Of course there are many things that can be improved and I saw a lot of good ones in this thread.

Zarrakon

Which was your favorite home, and why?


Mathiisen Manor was my favorite, Daggerfall Overlook a (distant) second. I like the outdoor space of Mathiisen, and visually I think it looks a lot nicer (and will be much cheaper to decorate, since trees/plants are pretty cheap and go well with the theme).

What did you think of the prices for each home?


They're about right, though I don't see e.g. why Daggerfall Overlook or Ebonheart Chateau should be worth 3x the price of Mathiisen manor (they certainly seem like they should be somewhat more expensive, but I don't the dramatic price difference is warranted).

Do you have any other general feedback?


My main issue was the placement controls were very annoying to use - I really really really wanted to be able to place things from a bird's eye-view, but the camera won't let me do that, and that makes things impossible to center. The ability to reflect objects (e.g. statues which are oriented) would also be nice.

I didn't like that most of the bigger AD homes were located in the Reaper's March - I don't like the feel of the zone (and give that it was a battlefield, why would anyone think it's a good place to build luxury homes is beyond me).

I'm guessing that /zone chat in a home doesn't extend to the zone the home's located in (I couldn't test this, because I didn't know anyone on the PTS), but I think (if this is not the case) you should strongly consider letting e.g. people in Mathiisen Manor participate in Auridon's /zone chat. Homes felt a little quiet, and if you're not in an active guild, it's easy to forget you're in an MMO. And I think that, as people get houses, the /zone chat in even the bigger zones will die down. People who don't like /zone chat can turn it off anyway, and maybe you could implement /yell or /house for in-home chat.

The achievement furnishings felt extremely expensive, especially without the ability to preview them. And speaking of previewing furnishings, the crown-purchased furnishings preview is barely functional. Anything larger than a table will get clipped off vertically, and it's impossible to tell what you're getting because I can't zoom out to see the whole thing, and I can't rotate/translate the parts I can't see into view.

Elara_Northwind

I don't know whether this has already been said, but I cannot seem to craft or buy firewood for my fireplaces on pts that is actually alight... I found one in the high elf house in auridon, so they do exist, so I don't know why these aren't available to create or buy. Its quite annoying having an empty fireplace that doesn't work. A small thing, but frustrating nonetheless

ixie

Lionheartt wrote: »

9) Ok, remembered one more. It would be interesting to have an option to add a basement to a home that doesn't have one at additional cost. You could buy or build (craft) the basement. You just get a placeable trap door that you can put somewhere and it leads to another editable cell for your basement.

Some really good points in this post, I particularly like this one as I'm interesting in buying the Strident Springs Demesne and being able to purchase or build a basement would give it more of a Vile Manse feel.

It would also be great to be able to add a fireplace and chimney breast, some houses don't have them and some would be better with more.

Sweetpea704

So, today, I really put everything in the new patch to the test. I did the quest. I had no problems with it. I did my writs and got a Master Writ. I got it to my crafter by RTS-ing it to be opened by my crafter. I had trouble because all the "Rewards of the Worthy" junk filling my mailbox. I solved the problem by grouping and trading in person. Just let us bank them please! Geesh.
Next, I went back to my house, Daggerfall Overlook. I really like this house because it had a large open building that can be used as a workshop. I added a second floor and steps. Yes, the steps look right out of minecraft. I would like to be able to buy sections of steps. But, I was able to attune my crafting stations and place them on both floors. It was brilliant! Everything worked.
Finally, I tested dueling in the building and that was an absolute blast.
There are a few things that I think would make things more fun. Add fishing holes to houses that have water. Let folks store at least a token amount of items in the storage, like 50 items in all the containers. Let us plant alchemy items that can then be farmed. I would like to see more usefulness. In closing, this is a good start. But, without more interactive items, there is very little use to many of the houses, besides role play.

MLGProPlayer

SadieJoan wrote: »

I don't know whether this has already been said, but I cannot seem to craft or buy firewood for my fireplaces on pts that is actually alight... I found one in the high elf house in auridon, so they do exist, so I don't know why these aren't available to create or buy. Its quite annoying having an empty fireplace that doesn't work. A small thing, but frustrating nonetheless

You have to interact with it to light it, like lamps and candles.

ixie

I found this guy in the house above the Vile Manse public dungeon, it would be great to have these to display armour

Shadowshire

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Cooking Fires for Provisioning

While reviewing each and every Notable House, I discovered that any principal building which does not include a structural fireplace and chimney also will NOT be furnished with a stove or any other evident cooking appliance.

If a player chooses to buy a Homestead with Crowns, then it certainly should be furnished with a hearth or stove where PCs can cook Provisions -- at no extra cost.

If a player chooses to buy a Homestead with Gold Pieces, then maybe there is some justification for being required to craft or to buy a cooking hearth or some kind of stove, to equip a kitchen and cook Provisions.

Fishing Holes

Like just about every other player who has visited the Notable Houses, I believe that the developers must add at least one Fishing Hole to each water feature that is a pond or creek, or where there is a beach or access to the ocean.

Chat and Groups

The ability to communicate with other players and to act as a group are the cornerstones of a MMORPG.

Whether we can access Guild chat channels is crucial to whether a Homestead will be worthwhile, regardless of anything else. Also, our characters should be able to join a group that is outside the Homestead and use Travel to Player with the group UI.

When my character enters a Homestead, the chat feature changes to preface every entry with "Say:". I don't know whether /group will work while my PC is in a Homestead (especially if all members of the group are not in my Homestead), or whether I can /whisper another PC while in a Homestead unless that PC is also there.

Apparently the chat feature was broken. Albeit, I saw one or two PCs here or there while my PC was not in a Homestead, but I did not have an opportunity to interact with anyone. I do not recall seeing any chat from another player displayed at any time.

The /bug command works while in a Homestead, though there is no Feedback category specifically either for Homesteads or for the Crown Store. I didn't test /reloadui.

Shadowshire

@Totes-Bode

Totes-Bode wrote: »

Shadowshire wrote: »

Totes-Bode wrote: »

What do you think of giving players an achievement for max mount traits (Carry Weight, Stamina, and Speed) and corresponding housing item for a stables?

The reason that should not be an "achievement" is that every player does not want to maximize the Speed, may not want to add much, if any, Bag Space, and Stamina is mostly useful when you have the mount sprint through a group of hostile NPCs which you would rather not bother to fight.

No one should gain an advantage or benefit simply because they spent the coins for the "riding lessons" to maximize all three of the aspects of riding a mount. Buying things is not an "achievement".

At least one of the "Notable Houses" has a stable on the grounds, which has stalls for 3 or 4 mounts, if memory serves, but sometimes the service isn't too good and I cannot recall which house has that feature.

What if the horse training was changed from money and crowns to some action you do every 12 hours like jump a fence or something like that?

Oh, you could do that independently of paying for "riding lessons" that train the rider how to maximize the abilities of a mount. For example, the software could tally 100 (or more) successful jumps over hedges, stone walls, fences, water features, etc. while riding any mount(s) during the course of play as an achievement. It could limit increasing the tally to one successful jump each 24 hours or perhaps a few more during the course of a day.

Actually, there is an achievement for jumping from the top of a particular waterfall in Wrothgar and surviving the plunge. You have to avoid hitting anything solid instead of the water, at the bottom or on the way down. Nobody told me that you should do it on foot, so I might be the only player to have done that while mounted on a horse.

Achievements are rewarded with Achievement Points, which are added into subtotals and grand totals that are summary Achievements. Each score is the reward for the player. So you can brag that the score for your character is higher than that of some other player's character.

In my humble opinion, introducing an Achievement as a prerequisite for buying a Homestead with Gold Pieces sets a bad precedent, especially since One Tamriel does not require a player's character to follow any prescribed quest chain(s) to acquire any particular benefit such as being able to move to another zone in the character's Pact or to move to zones in other Pacts.

Buying things should seldom, if ever, be considered an achievement. Although there are some that you can buy, such as "Superior Attire" for having a character equipped only with Superior quality armor, jewelry, and weapons. Oddly enough, the software ignores any item which is Epic or Legendary in determining whether a character has satisfied the requirement for that achievement.

Shadowshire

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Notable House : Gardner House, Wayrest (Stormhaven)

It is really interesting that this is the only Homestead that has three entrances / exits. However .....

(1) BUG (?): When a character exits the homestead, per se, the software places the character outside of the entrance through which the character previously entered the homestead, and not adjacent to the door, or to the yard gate, which the character actually used to exit the homestead.

For example, when my character exits through the "side door" of the house to the street, then I expect the character to be on the street, not on the rear terrace or in front of the yard gate. And when a character enters through the yard gate, then uses the front door to enter the house, but uses the rear door to exit the house, the character should be on the rear terrace, instead of adjacent to the yard gate.

This behavior of the software produces a rather jarring temporal displacement which trashes immersion utterly.

(2) It would be a wonderful feature to enable the owner to put a sign, symbol, banner, or crest on the exterior of the yard gate, or on the frame above the gate, in particular. It would be easier for visitors to identify the house while moving into or through the city, without needing to use the interactive prompt on the gate for that purpose.

Although I don't expect visitors to ordinarily arrive through either of the doors with access to the street and to the rear terrace, respectively , I suppose that they can, unless the software is changed to allow the owner to make them usable for visitors only as exits.

Please read also message #459 below in this discussion for two suggestions for improving the "notability" and uniqueness of Gardner House. I really like this city homestead and its possibilities!

Shadowshire

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Notable House : Hunding's Palatial Hall, Island Stros M'Kai

This is a beautiful and amazing place to call "home". But I have some suggestions:

(1) The Crown Store tool-tip for Hunding's Palatial Hall states that it has "docks". But it doesn't have any pier or wharf.

On the shore "patio" which has steps leading from its east end down to the beach, remove the banister wall on the west end. Then either add a wharf along the northern walls of the higher patio, or extend a pier northward over the shallow water to where it is deep enough for a boat or ship to dock.

(2) It would be beneficial to either:

(a) add stairs to the ground on one side of the elevated walkway that extends from the rear of the Hall to the elevated observation platform that overlooks the beach, or add the stairs to one side of the platform itself; or,

(b) replace the rear balcony on the northwest outside wall of the Hall with a landing and stair to the ground.

(3) It would also be nice to be able to swim to the small island that is just offshore without being killed by slaughterfish. I suppose doing so implies adding the isle to the Homestead instance. However, if there is no particular reason for it to be separate, then that isle could also serve as an entry point to the Homestead grounds.

Shadowshire

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Notable House : Mathiisen House (Auridon)

The grounds are huge, but their content seems to be mostly cultural decoration. There should be some area in one of the courtyards which has an outbuilding large enough to stable mounts or to place crafting workstations, etc. And I should hope that Z.O. is not expecting players to buy construction materials from the Crown Store to build one, or to buy one that will thereafter just be placed wherever the player can find space for it. .....

Shadowshire

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Notable House : Old Mistvale Manor, adjacent to Riften (The Rift)

(1) There is not much open space between the walls and the main building. On the side opposite the side which has the barn/stable/workshop please move the two tall lamp-posts closer to the edge of the respective hard-surface areas on which they cast their light.

(2) The architecture of the main building is as weird as it is for other buildings like it in The Rift or Eastmarch. Basically, the entrance hall leads to a long room across the rear of the building which is smaller in area than the exterior structural walls of the entire building. They form a T-shaped space inside of a larger square one.

Which is to say, there is no access from the room across the back of the building to the "missing" spaces to the left and to the right, respectively, of the entrance hall. There should be two rooms, one on each side of the entrance hall, each with access to/from the back room.

The size and position of the upper floor, with access directly to the balcony which is over the front porch below, are inconsistent with the square area which the structure occupies on the surface of Tamriel. The upper floor as a whole should be much larger than it is, however it may be sub-divided.

Thank-you for your time and attention to these matters.

Shadowshire

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Notable House: Quondam Indorilla, near Mournhold (Deshaan)

This Dunmeri styled house with two floors and a basement has its charms. Unfortunately .....

The walled grounds are cluttered with objects. In the center of the grounds there are two huge light posts along the walkway that runs from the gate in the exterior wall to the only door into the building. In other areas there are small boulders and broken ground, and the giant mushrooms which are typical of Deshaan terrain are the only ones that I have ever seen that appear so dull, gray and lifeless.

BUG: That is, sometimes the clutter is there. Sometimes it is not. It was there when my character entered the homestead via the front gate and moved into the building. When he exited the building, the clutter was gone and the grounds were bare (!). When he stopped moving toward the gate and I looked at the Map, then closed the Map, the clutter re-appeared.

Frankly, I think the grounds would be better without the two large walkway light posts and the clutter. Let the player choose whether and where to place the giant mushrooms, if any. There are also plants in Deshaan which move in place that would be better decorative options.

More to the point: there is no outbuilding which the player can use for stabling mounts, for crafting workstations, or anything else. It is hard to imagine a homestead worth having without such a structure. Then again, there isn't much space on the grounds for one, and with all the clutter there's no good location for a combat practice and testing dummy.

Shadowshire

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Notable House : Serenity Falls Estate, near Rawl'ka (Reaper's March)

This "rural manor" definitely appeals to those who like to live in the countryside.

Suggestion: There is only one door for the entire residence that gives access from or to the grounds outside (!). So, on the second floor, add a door and balcony on the other side of the building which already has one (or add a door in the rear wall) with a stair to the ground. Every house needs a safe way to escape danger, such as a household fire, that blocks egress via the front door.

Comment: It is unclear why there are two walls which project outward from the rear of the house and prevent a character from moving in a circle around the main building. They simply create an inaccessible space between them which contains a large tree, one branch of which appears to protrude into the rear wall of the building.

MrGorv

I don't really know if that is right thread for this, but still.
As far as I figured this out, decorative shields for Alliance Hero achievments are sold only by vendors in Cyrodiil, and they sell only their 'native' items. Which means, that even if I complete all these achievments, I can buy only one shield, and to buy them all I need 3 characters for 3 alliances, each with their own alliance main quest completed. Uh... At this point, I suggest allowing purchase of all of these shields from each alliance furniture vendor or passing them to other vendors in Tamriel.

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Shadowshire

@ZOS_GinaBruno

Notable House: Strident Springs Demesne, north of Arenthia (Reaper's March)

Second Empire Style -- although the location is a bit remote, I like the prerequisite to buy this one.

The grounds are spacious, and it is possible to move in a circle around the Manor, which has a front door and back door. The multiple small, L-shaped rooms remind me of English Victorian-era mansions.

Recommendations:

(1) Please add a Fishing Hole to the pool fed by the waterfall.

(2) There is no outbuilding usable as a roofed workshop or stable. A medium-sized one with a high ceiling can be added in the northeastern corner. Probably the designer would have to remove a large stone pillar and low wall, reduce some bordering rock, and move the tall lamp-post a bit southward.

(3) The watch tower is excellent. However, (BUG -?-) it can be difficult to find a spot on the upper level where the software will display an interactive prompt, so that the character can use the hatch to return to the ground floor. (Endodoc mentions this too, in post #450 below)

(4) There is no fireplace or chimney, and no cooking hearth or stove is furnished when the homestead is purchased with Crowns.

*** It would be a significant improvement to add a fireplace and chimney to the northern alcove of the wing to the right of the main room on the ground floor, along the rear wall of the manor. A fireplace could also be added to the corresponding alcove on the second floor, using the same chimney.

Thank-you for adding Homesteads to Tamriel. It remains a bit new and raw, but we hope that it can and will be improved in various regards, preferably before it is released to the live megaservers.

Danikat

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

SadieJoan wrote: »

I don't know whether this has already been said, but I cannot seem to craft or buy firewood for my fireplaces on pts that is actually alight... I found one in the high elf house in auridon, so they do exist, so I don't know why these aren't available to create or buy. Its quite annoying having an empty fireplace that doesn't work. A small thing, but frustrating nonetheless

You have to interact with it to light it, like lamps and candles.

As far as I can tell you have to buy a fire, not fire wood. I've bought a few things I thought were fires through the crown store and the rule there seems to be that if it's not burning in the preview then you can't light it.

For example I bought 'Rough Firewood, Fireplace' and wasn't able to light it, the interact option didn't appear.. I had to buy a campfire from the Cooking section of the Hearth menu to actually be able to light it.

And the one that appeared when I bought Ravenhurst (breton medium house) furnished, which is called 'Firelogs, Ashen', isn't in the crown store at all. I'm not sure where that comes from.

Enodoc

Notable (large) houses:
bug: these are listed with a House Type of "Classic" in the Collections Housing UI, but are correctly listed under "Notable Homes" in the Crown Store, and in the notification "<X House> has been added to Notable Houses".

Dawnshadow
This is the Khajiit-style house near Dune. It has a pretty big yard, which is all flat and easy to decorate. The interior has one medium-sized room downstairs, and a slightly larger room upstairs. There are two tiny balconies on the front and side. The house is overall a bit smaller than I would have expected; it has the same design as the Fighters Guild and Mages Guild in Dune. What makes it 'notable' I guess is that it's not a stilt-house.

Take home points:

1. A bit smaller than I would have expected.
2. Nothing else particularly 'notable'.

Forsaken Stronghold
This is the Orc-style house near Viridian Lake/Lakewatch Tower. It has a very large yard, including a path that goes all the way around the property. There are two watchtowers, but you can only get in the bottom of one of them, and can't get to the top of either . Scratch that, you actually can get to the top of one of them from the balcony (which is not very intuitive). You can't get into the other one at all, which is a shame, as it should have a nice view over the Viridian Woods below. The walls are too high to see much of the surroundings otherwise. There's a large front patio, and a big balcony space accessible from behind the house. There's a stable with two stalls under the front steps. The interior is massive as well, with one large room off to the right, and a smaller one to the left with a fireplace. The upstairs is pretty big as well, being a large H shape with a door to the balcony in the middle.

Take home points:

1. A really nice house with a lot of nice features.
2. Providing access to the top of the lookout tower would really make this property 'notable'.

Gardner House
This is the Breton-style house in Wayrest. The yard is reasonable but a bit smaller than I would have liked. It has a stable at the back. The interior is very similar to Ravenhurst, but with the addition of a full-sized basement room, and the upstairs is fully separate. There are no interior walls, but partitioning should still be possible around the columns.

Take home points:

1. A bog-standard three-floored house with garden.
2. Nothing makes this property 'notable'.

Hunding's Palatial Hall
This is the Redguard-style house near Port Hunding on Stros M'Kai. This house is 'notable' by being on its own island. It has a very large yard with access to a decently-sized beach. You can swim quite far out without getting slaughtered, but if you go too far you hit an invisible wall anyway. You can't get to the island to the south, and you can't swim all the way around the house. There's also a stable and a pool in the yard, and the yard has a tower, which you can get to the top of (yay!), but you can't really see towards Port Hunding from it because a massive rock is in the way (boo!). I guess Port Hunding isn't completely rendered in this zone (it doesn't look like it is from the balcony.) There's then a an inner courtyard before getting to the main house. The interior has two floors with lots of furnishing space, and could probably be easily partitioned into rooms. There are seven doors leading from upstairs to seven separate balconies.

Take home points:

1. This is a very well-designed house with lots of 'notable' features.
2. Lowering the rock so we can see more from the lookout tower would be good, but the view from up there is great anyway.

Mathiisen Manor
This is the Altmer-style house in Mathiisen. It has a large yard with a pool out the back, most of which is flat and therefore easy to furnish. It's a shame you can't get into the wall towers. Mathiisen is properly rendered, so there may as well be access for the view. There's no stable, despite there certainly being enough space for one. The interior is the standard Canonreeve's manor you find in most Altmer towns and cities, making it feel more like a fourth "Manor" house than one of the Large category. That's a good thing, of course.

Take home points:

1. Provide a proper lookout tower on the wall.
2. Provide a stable building somewhere in the yard.

Old Mistveil Manor
This is the Nord-style house outside Riften. It has an average yard, containing a barn but no stable. You can't see over the walls and down into Riften. The interior is almost identical to Grymharth's Woe, which is unnecessary since larger and more extravagant Nord buildings exist, such as the Fighters Guild in Riften and Windhelm, or the Thanes Hall in Nimalten. The upstairs balcony is a decent size, and you can see a bit more of Riften from there.

Take home points:

1. Comparatively small and unremarkable.
2. The building should be the next size up.
3. The walls could be lower.

Quondam Indorilia
This is the Dunmer-style house outside Mournhold. It has an average yard with no stable, and you can't see over the walls. There's a tower in the back corner of the yard, but it would be nice if it was an accessible watchtower, so you could look down over Mournhold. The interior is the larger version of the standard three-level house you find in many Dunmer towns, including a ground floor entrance room with central firepit, and two medium rooms off to the sides, a single midsized basement, and an upstairs landing with two medium side rooms.

Take home points:

1. The watchtower should be accessible.
2. There's nothing particularly 'notable' about the house.

Stay-Moist Mansion
This is the Argonian-style house near the Hatching Pools. It's another mud hut, which is not really 'notable' and isn't much of a 'mansion'. The upstairs lodging room is a nice idea though. It has a very large yard, which in numerous places allows you to see down to the surrounding countryside. There's a ruined stable block in the yard. The interior is the largest mud hut design, also used as the tavern in Stormhold, which has a central Hollow treetrunk. This property would fit better in its surroundings, given that it has a stone wall and is located above the Hatching Pools, if it was a xanmeer with a couple of separate interior locations. This would also make it much more 'notable'.

Take home points:

1. The structure should be a xanmeer.

Strident Springs Demesne
This is the Colovian Imperial-style house near Arenthia. It has a large yard with a waterfall and an accessible watchtower. Bug: interacting with the trapdoor to leave the tower is not easy, as it doesn't seem to have a large enough interaction area. The view over Arenthia from the watchtower proves what can be done within a housing instance, and should be adapted for all houses which have a meager view of the surroundings. The yard does not have any stables, but certainly has enough space for some. The interior is big, with numerous rooms upstairs, including a balcony overlooking the entrance hall, and a side room off the main downstairs hall. There is no fireplace.

Take home points:

1. Give other Notable Houses watchtowers like this one!
2. Add a stable block to the yard.

The Gorinir Estate
This is the Bosmer-style house near Cormount. As a "palatial home", I was expecting it to be a tree house, but it's just a collection of pods, which is a waste. It has one open-air entry pod, and two enclosed pods of the smallest size. What would be infinitely better than this (and considerably more 'notable') would be to use the tree design seen at the Tavern and Brewery in Vulkwasten, the three spinners' homes in Silvenar, and the traders' trees in Woodhearth. This layout would give you an open-air entryway on the lower level, an open middle level with balconies, and a large enclosed 'top floor' the size of the Brewery, the spinners' homes, or the Silvenar's Audience Hall. The yard is a wide open space with undulating terrain (and certainly big enough to replace the pods with a tree). A few flat areas could be decorated nicely. You can't see over the walls, and there's no stable.

Take home points:

1. Scrap the pods, and give us a tree. It's supposed to be palatial!

Concluding Points
Given the name of this category, I was looking for something 'notable' in each of the properties to make them worthy of the title. Some of these houses are not particularly 'notable', as they do not have any interesting features. Adding some features would make the cost of these seem more worthwhile; the Breton, Khajiit and Dunmer houses in particular need something to make them 'notable'. Another disappointment is the Nord, Argonian, and Bosmer houses, where larger buildings of a completely different design in that racial style already exist, but are not used. Use of those designs would certainly make the houses 'notable'. All of the houses have a large enough yard for stables, but they don't all have stables. Any house without a stable block should be given one. Any house without a watchtower or some other way to admire the surroundings should be given one.

CaptFuse

Mara's Kiss Public House is too small
Why is it half the size of The Ebony Flask Inn Room?
It is also smaller than the The Rosy Lion.
They are all free starter houses or Staple homes Inn rooms.
This maybe the first house people see. I know I was disappointed after doing the quest and getting a small space. The size of the Rosy Lion is small, but reasonable.
Please increase Mara's Kiss Public House about 50%