A couple thoughts regarding the Obervatory Prior...

TonyRockaroni

I just realized something about the Observatory Prior...the huge central tower in the middle when you first see it from the front?


When you view the observatory from the inner...well, observatory...the central tower doesn't exist. As a result, the observatory looks like a completely different building from the other side.


Also, that wall by the elevator (on the upper floor, I mean)? I feel there should have been a doorway there that to another side room. Like one of the side rooms from the second floor of The Cloisters (the inn in The Brass Fortress)? The ones with the curved staircases.

A room like that has an observatory feel to it, in my opinion. And it would've made much more sense than what looks like a door that doesn't lead anywhere (I know it's not supposed to be a door, but it just looks like one to me).

Maybe I'm just picky, I don't know. But one thing I do at least want is a manor where the size of the exterior matches the size of the interior...or at least not make a tower vanish when you go inside! >.<

M_Volsung

A lot of the houses have similar issues...

I own Mistveil Manor, which is shoved right up against the side of a mountain in Riften, but when you go inside there's sunlight streaming in through the back windows... windows that really shouldn't even be there.

patrick_smyth

I have similar problems with Daggerfall Overlook.

• I have found a window that exists on the inside but not the outside.
• There are many windows on the outside that are not on the inside.
• The floor plan is smaller and less complex than the facade would make you believe. This makes trying to install a believable pipe that appears to go from outside the house to the inside very confusing.
• There appears to be another upper floor (servants quarters?) from the outside view but there is no stairs, hatch or door to get there.
• There are nice balconies on the main house roof but you have to build your own access.
• Sunlight streaming through windows that are almost up against the curtain wall (at the back) which would be in almost permanent shadow.
• Wall parapets (battlements) that are completely inaccessible (without climbing over invisible walls).
• There is a rear "secret gardens" area on the outside that you can see (with difficulty) but cannot access.

There is also the frustration that in one place where I need more space, the basement, it is much smaller than the floor above. Try sticking some pipes through the ceiling if you do not believe me.

Don't get me started on the 700 item limit.

I could go on and on...

I don't regret my purchase yet but I feel the overwhelming sense that the Overlook could have, and should have, been better. I am not holding my breath for an updated version.

Delphinia

Completely agree with all the comments pointing out the various discrepancies.

I love that zos finally brought housing as an option into this game, but I really have my doubts about many of their "design" abilities and choices... ie. selling their customers an item they call a "fountain" that is actually just a large birdbath... *sigh

There are so many opportunities they had to really create something special with many of their homes, but so much of it just falls short. There are some nice touches here and there (the ceilings in Linchal for example), but so many wasted opportunities...

If they're going to put forth the effort to design a home at all, why close off so much of it from us? (like the "secret gardens" @patrick_smyth mentioned), balconies, rooms, views.. and disregard those certain details like @TonyRockaroni and @M_Volsung have pointed out with their homes..

There seems to be so much potential there and I would think anyone at zos with a creative touch would be doing their best to deliver. I can only hope that because housing is only about less than a year old, we're just not seeing these issues addressed, nor its full potential. I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are actually listening to us and want to deliver as much of what their customers are asking for within reason.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go back to my daily routine of crying by my clogged Imperial Fountain.

patrick_smyth

I am aware I did not document any of my claims about Daggerfall Overlook with pictures like the OP did.

I will leave it to someone else to count and compare windows on the inside to those on the outside. It is best done using the preview version of DO. I already have too much stuff.

Regarding the secret garden(s). This is my best view so far:

It is from high up on the left side (as you look at the house).

However others have had a more complete if distant view (at 2:41):

https://youtu.be/2IuChaLTI4Y?t=162

Note that there are two smoking chimneys at the back of the house (you get a better view of one from my picture above). The interior of this huge house has NO fireplaces.
I complained about some of the windows at the back which would almost always be in shadow. I now realise the wing that sticks out at the back has no windows on the exterior.

The exterior of the main house has lots of gables with windows. A lot of these gables are missing on the inside but I noticed that even the barn had a missing door on the inside:

So I did what any self-respecting ESO home owner would do and stuck a pipe through it

Note that you cannot do this to the main house because anything you poke into the exterior does not appear in the interior (and vice-versa). You can do this between interior floors/ceilings however.

I am sure the Overlook is not the only house with these problems. I suspect it may be typical of the earlier offerings especially.

This ends today's rant. I shall get back to figuring out what to do with what I have rather than worrying about what is missing.

davey1107

@patrick_smyth False dormers aren’t entirely uncommon in architecture. That one we could give them a “questionable architecture” demerit versus “violates the laws of physics.”

A lot of California houses built in the 1920s-1940s have false dormers. I always assumed they have something to do with air flow as well as aesthetics.