Is there a way to buy houses I can't afford so I can play around with furnishing them?

krashd · July 21

I saw someone mention in a Reddit, admittedly a really old Reddit, that the PTS has times where everything is free so that people can experiment with stuff.

Here is the link to the Reddit

Incidentally my problem is the same as the OP's, I want to find a way to factory reset some of my houses because I asset-stripped them and they now look silly without rocks and trees. I've since started using EHT to save a template of each virgin house before I start messing with them, but I have a dozen houses that I asset-stripped years ago and have no template for, that's why I need to buy them on the PTS so I can save a template and move it to the live server.

Cheers

Rob

SpiritKitten · July 21

But why can't you add the rocks and trees you want on the live server? There's a lot to choose from!

https://eso.mmo-fashion.com/furnishings-by-category/
https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Online:Furnishings_by_Zone

virtus753 · July 21

krashd wrote: »

I saw someone mention in a Reddit, admittedly a really old Reddit, that the PTS has times where everything is free so that people can experiment with stuff.

Here is the link to the Reddit

Incidentally my problem is the same as the OP's, I want to find a way to factory reset some of my houses because I asset-stripped them and they now look silly without rocks and trees. I've since started using EHT to save a template of each virgin house before I start messing with them, but I have a dozen houses that I asset-stripped years ago and have no template for, that's why I need to buy them on the PTS so I can save a template and move it to the live server.

Cheers

Rob

The PTS is always available for experimenting. You get free crowns, and things cost very little when they cost crowns. You get a ton of gold, AP, and Tel Var with a template character so you can buy things with those currencies. Some things can be acquired free using the template coffers. It is not dependent on time.

For houses, you can create a template character and use the container that has all the deeds to the houses. (You’ll have to look around inside some other coffers, as they recently consolidated them.)

virtus753 · July 21

When you create a character on PTS, you'll see a drop-down box in the very top left that does not appear on Live. The bottom option is the full template character (Max CP with all the testing coffers and extra currencies):

QoL warning: Select your template option before customizing your character, as changing an option in this drop-down box randomizes the race, alliance, class, and appearance selections. You then have to redo all your customizations.

Once you have finished character creation, you will find a number of gold coffers in your inventory. They are generally self-explanatory (although feel free to explore and ask if you have questions). As of the current PTS, you'll find The Homeowner's Crate in the top level of your inventory.

Open that and take the All Home Deeds Envelope. Once it's out of the Crate, activate that Deeds Envelope (double-click or E by default) to add all the homes in game to your PTS account, even ones that aren't actually available for purchase at the moment.

This provides the "unfurnished" versions, which should still have those basic rocks and trees you mentioned.

SilverIce58 · July 21

krashd wrote: »

I saw someone mention in a Reddit, admittedly a really old Reddit, that the PTS has times where everything is free so that people can experiment with stuff.

Here is the link to the Reddit

Incidentally my problem is the same as the OP's, I want to find a way to factory reset some of my houses because I asset-stripped them and they now look silly without rocks and trees. I've since started using EHT to save a template of each virgin house before I start messing with them, but I have a dozen houses that I asset-stripped years ago and have no template for, that's why I need to buy them on the PTS so I can save a template and move it to the live server.

Cheers

Rob

The best way I think, is to just wait til the PTS enters the time where the EU server is the main server source, so that way you can buy all the houses again since the house purchases don't carry over to the other server I'm pretty sure.

virtus753 · July 21

SilverIce58 wrote: »

krashd wrote: »

I saw someone mention in a Reddit, admittedly a really old Reddit, that the PTS has times where everything is free so that people can experiment with stuff.

Here is the link to the Reddit

Incidentally my problem is the same as the OP's, I want to find a way to factory reset some of my houses because I asset-stripped them and they now look silly without rocks and trees. I've since started using EHT to save a template of each virgin house before I start messing with them, but I have a dozen houses that I asset-stripped years ago and have no template for, that's why I need to buy them on the PTS so I can save a template and move it to the live server.

Cheers

Rob

The best way I think, is to just wait til the PTS enters the time where the EU server is the main server source, so that way you can buy all the houses again since the house purchases don't carry over to the other server I'm pretty sure.

They don’t carry over, correct. The only things that apply to both servers are entitlements bought with real world currency (the game itself, Chapters when they’re bought outside of the game, etc.) or otherwise applied in the account history on the website. Nothing bought with crowns or gold transfers across servers, despite being labeled “account wide.”

If OP owns these houses on NA, they won’t be able to get their own template houses right now, since the PTS is using a copy of NA. If they don’t own the houses on EU, they can wait until EU is copied shortly. If they don’t want to wait or if they have the houses on both servers, they can either use an alt account or ask a friend who doesn’t have the houses yet to get them on PTS and make a template from their instance of the house.

Kelinmiriel · July 24

Waiting until there's an EU copy is an excellent suggestion, though the reason why wasn't explained. For anyone who's not familiar with the PTS cycles, every time a new update is created, all the data from the NA server is copied over to the new version of the PTS: characters, guilds, etc. That information remains for two weeks. Then all the data from the EU server is copied over, and not erased again for three months (approximately) until the next new patch.

So if you start creating and decorating new PTS houses when it's on an NA copy, everything you do will be gone within two weeks or less. If you start on an EU copy, you have up to three months to play with it before it'll be gone.

krashd · July 27

I installed the PTS and created a new character with the full template but for some reason this virgin character already owns all of the houses my character on the live server does, complete with decorations, so that scuppers my plan to save a copy of the houses in their blank state. Is this to do with what Kelinmiriel said? I play on the EU server so do I have to wait for Update 44 copying the NA server before I can get clean slate houses?

Treeshka · July 28

krashd wrote: »

I installed the PTS and created a new character with the full template but for some reason this virgin character already owns all of the houses my character on the live server does, complete with decorations, so that scuppers my plan to save a copy of the houses in their blank state. Is this to do with what Kelinmiriel said? I play on the EU server so do I have to wait for Update 44 copying the NA server before I can get clean slate houses?

Yes until next quarterly update test server will not be updated with North America server.

virtus753 · July 28

krashd wrote: »

I installed the PTS and created a new character with the full template but for some reason this virgin character already owns all of the houses my character on the live server does, complete with decorations, so that scuppers my plan to save a copy of the houses in their blank state. Is this to do with what Kelinmiriel said? I play on the EU server so do I have to wait for Update 44 copying the NA server before I can get clean slate houses?

Before you can *on that account*, yes.

But can’t the add-on make a template from anyone’s house?

Anyone with a PC account (who has not modified those houses) can go on PTS and let you have access.

Send me a DM if you want. I don’t play EU, so I’ve never modified a house.

virtus753 · July 28

You can try using my houses on PTS now. All 105 houses that can be gotten have been set to Visitor access.

You can access the houses you want in one of two ways, depending if you prefer a script or a GUI:

Script option: use the command

The capitalization and other formatting needs to follow this exactly. # needs to be replaced with the House ID: see UESP's list here.

GUI option: get the add-on Port to Friend's House. Open the window (/ptf open), put in my account name, and select the house you want from the drop-down.

Note: These methods work on live as well to allow you to access houses other than someone's primary without a link, but they do respect permissions. (If a house is set so you don't have access or are banned, they will not get you in.)

The one house of mine that will be problematic on PTS is Grand Psijic Villa, as I claimed the entitlement to that on EU as part of the Summerfall event. The version granted by the event is completely unfurnished (literally - no rocks/trees/etc.), so I have a few items set up there for testing. If you need the "unfurnished" one (i.e. the one with rocks/trees), or if you want a furnished version of a house, or if you're having issues, let me know.