How creative is the housing system?

qsnoopyjr

How do you rate ZOS creative team in their housing system?
Now before you answer, think about the following games and there creation systems.
2002, The Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind Construction Set
2004, Sims 2
2011, Minecraft
2016, EQ Landmark
Apples and Oranges?
Now think about EVE Online
Everquest and Everquest 2
World of Warcraft
EQ Landmark (intentionally for EQ Next)

NightbladeMechanics

Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations

Give me storage, guild store access, guild tabbard theme decorations, a larger occupancy cap, and a wayshrine in my home, and I'm happy.

DeadlyRecluse

Zenimax Online creative team just made average housing system. They didn't try hard, they just met a goal

...but there is a lot of room and time for future development. Could be very special in a few patches, could be a grindy waste of time.

SnuggleMePlease

Zenimax Online creative team housing system is below standards for housing system. Dissatisified

I've seen the point made that every house model is simply a copy and paste from an existing structure in the game. If you're going to charge hundreds of dollars for content, it should at least be content that doesn't already exist in-game. Aside from this, housing doesn't really add any sort of functionality. It is simply a huge gold/crown/time/effort sink for little to no rewards besides having a cool place to hang out in with friends. In its current state, I think that there have been a ton of games that have had way more successful and innovative player housing systems.

P.S: Instanced housing sucks, but I understand why it is necessary in a game like ESO. It would have been way more convincing if ESO had set aside rooms and buildings within cities when the game was first released.

Katahdin

NightbladeMechanics wrote: »

Give me storage, guild store access, guild tabbard theme decorations, a larger occupancy cap, and a wayshrine in my home, and I'm happy.

Your home is a wayshrine

I agree they need to add storage.

I would also like the option to be able to change the color of the walls and couches, bed coverings, rugs etc

Rex-Umbra

Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations

It's a good system just needs storage and furniture shouldn't be such a grind.

qsnoopyjr

It does feel like that, you only decorate pre-designed houses, rather than build your own house on a plot of land. No one is going to see it either, because, people could really care less about going to your house.

I know in Sims 2, you can build walls and everything. Even in Everquest 1, you have a plot of land in a open world city (so people will at least see your place on the way to their place), build your house the way you want it, build the inside and decorate it the way you want it.

I should have mentioned 2003 game, Second Life too, it's an MMORPG just a big housing system MMORPG.
In my mind Second Life is like the Linux of MMORPG housing, EQ Landmark from what I have seen... Very close, although the graphics are very outstanding compared to Second Life.

Sigtric

Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations

I don't necessarily jive with all the wording of the poll choices, and treated it as more of a "on a scale of 1-5"
"Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations"

I think they improved what the standard should be. Once you get used to the controls for placing items it's a very powerful tool allowing for some very precise and creative placement of items. I don't agree with the exceeded expectations part however. It has the potential to in the long run, but currently the system is lacking some important things.

I am also ignoring comparison to any single player games, and any builder games like Minecraft or Landmark. You simply can not compare them due to tech reasons.

SWG housing is still the top.

Bouldercleave

Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations

For me the benchmark would be EQ2. I LOVED housing in that game.

I think we fall short here on the functionality, but I'm not overly disappointed either.

Cosmetically they did a great job and hit all the racial differences VERY well. I also like how they worked the placement of items.

We are missing a bunch of things that I would love to have (hopefully in the future). I do think they are very expensive for the size, and crafting / gathering mats seems very grindcentric (is that even a word?)

qsnoopyjr

Sigtric wrote: »

I don't necessarily jive with all the wording of the poll choices, and treated it as more of a "on a scale of 1-5"
"Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations"

I think they improved what the standard should be. Once you get used to the controls for placing items it's a very powerful tool allowing for some very precise and creative placement of items. I don't agree with the exceeded expectations part however. It has the potential to in the long run, but currently the system is lacking some important things.

I am also ignoring comparison to any single player games, and any builder games like Minecraft or Landmark. You simply can not compare them due to tech reasons.

SWG housing is still the top.

how come you didnt vote for the last option?
2003 SWG, a older than 10 years game has better housing system than 2017 ELDER SCROLLS GAME? Say What???
You kidding right.

I do have a question though, should games 10 years older have more options/freedom? How old do games how to be, for new games to be considered bad when a game of such an age is more creative than the new game?

Wrubius_Coronaria

Zenimax Online creative team was very innovative with the housing system. Went above and beyond

Extremely creative system, with so many furnitures to use. They designed a really good and complete system for housing in my opinion. I regret one thing, actually the lack of space for use everthing I want.
But more interactive objects would be better, also pets walking everywhere instead of being static.

Here some screenshots about what is possible to do. (Mathiisen manor renamed Jungle of housecat, plase note it was empty before).

qsnoopyjr

Bouldercleave wrote: »

For me the benchmark would be EQ2. I LOVED housing in that game.

I think we fall short here on the functionality, but I'm not overly disappointed either.

Cosmetically they did a great job and hit all the racial differences VERY well. I also like how they worked the placement of items.

We are missing a bunch of things that I would love to have (hopefully in the future). I do think they are very expensive for the size, and crafting / gathering mats seems very grindcentric (is that even a word?)

What kind of stuff do you see missing, or they need to improve on?

MasterSpatula

Zenimax Online creative team housing system is WAY below standards. HIGHLY Dissatisfied, games 10 years older have more creativity options

The option I picked is worded pretty meanly, butI had to pick it to be honest. Star Wars: Galaxies had a better housing system in 2003.

Sigtric

Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations

qsnoopyjr wrote: »

Sigtric wrote: »

I don't necessarily jive with all the wording of the poll choices, and treated it as more of a "on a scale of 1-5"
"Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations"

I think they improved what the standard should be. Once you get used to the controls for placing items it's a very powerful tool allowing for some very precise and creative placement of items. I don't agree with the exceeded expectations part however. It has the potential to in the long run, but currently the system is lacking some important things.

I am also ignoring comparison to any single player games, and any builder games like Minecraft or Landmark. You simply can not compare them due to tech reasons.

SWG housing is still the top.

how come you didnt vote for the last option?
2003 SWG, a older than 10 years game has better housing system than 2017 ELDER SCROLLS GAME? Say What???
You kidding right.

I do have a question though, should games 10 years older have more options/freedom? How old do games how to be, for new games to be considered bad when a game of such an age is more creative than the new game?

As I stated, I don't mesh well with the wording on any of the poll choices. I picked the one that closest resembled my thoughts and overall feeling of the system.

SWG did indeed have a better housing system.
You crafted the house, you built it basically whereever there was room to do so. Every single item in the game was able to be used as a decoration + the same ability we have in ESO to move and place things exactly as we wanted it, though I recall SWG's editing system to be a bit easier to use (not that ESO's is difficult, but it has some pain points)

What we've been seeing in a lot of modern MMO's in general though? Sure, ESO has improved on that, I think. It did not however exceed my expectations.

azoriangaming

Zenimax Online creative team just made average housing system. They didn't try hard, they just met a goal

the new housing system for me is just painfully average and I've lost interest in it already

esotoon

Zenimax Online creative team housing system is below standards for housing system. Dissatisified

My answer is based solely on Creativity.

Pros:
- Wide selection of furniture, trees, plants, etc.
- Allowing furniture to clip through walls, especially when combined with rotation allows for some creative non standard furniture/features.
- Visitors can be given "Decorator" privileges, so others can work with you.

Cons:
- The houses are all predesigned houses using the housing models already found in the game. Not only does this make your house less unique, but many of the styles of houses are better designed for players running through them whilst on quests, than they are for making actual functional houses (e.g the Khajiit larger houses, are effectively two long thin corridors)
- Houses can not be altered structurally.
- The crafting system is good, but the scarcity and resultant grind in farming the materials and patterns needed, combined with the amount of materials needed to make furniture, means that furniture is 'expensive'. This in turn makes it much harder to get creative with builds. Just see some of the structures made on the PTS when furniture was more readily available, and people didn't have to worry about the cost of furniture.
- Similar to last point. When you buy furniture from the Crown Store, there is no, try before you buy option. This makes it harder to get creative with decorating because you can't easily do things, such as comparing which chairs go best with a specific table table. As a result people are more likely to stick with the same styles as they know they go together, than they are to experiment.
- Whilst decorator privileges is a plus, the fact that decorators can not have access to the furniture inventory, or even the furniture crown store really hampers the creative process. It effectively means there can be little discussion about what pieces to buy/make, and makes the process of more than one person decorating a house much more difficult than it need be.
- The limit on the number of items that can be placed in a house will always limit creativity.
- The limit to the number of pets you can place in the house, and the fact that they have so little animation, again, limits creativity and the feeling that this is your house.
- Not allowing horses to be ridden in some of the grounds of some of larger houses, limits their potential usage. Think of the horse racing/show jumping circuits you could make if you could.


These points are just off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more.

It's a good start, but when it comes to being creative, it is limited in it's current form.

Asha_11_ESO

ESO's Homestead just doesn't compare to games like The Sims, or Minecraft, which are based upon being able to create. It isn't at all like those that's for sure. It's not too amazing, nevertheless I'm quite happy with what we've got so far.

One thing I do wish we could do though - be able to murder and steal at least one home. I have fond memories of travelling around Morrowind, murdering unsuspecting people for their homes in every other village, so I had a place to store all my gear, mats and stolen goods.

Knightpanther

Zenimax Online creative team just made average housing system. They didn't try hard, they just met a goal

I love the houses but the furniture crafting system is so far behind Everquest 2's system its a joke, and look how old that game is.

Be safe

Dawnblade

Zenimax Online creative team housing system is WAY below standards. HIGHLY Dissatisfied, games 10 years older have more creativity options

Copy / paste model and art assets, no new / never seen / unique functionality, the only creativity put into the system was in making decorating such a convoluted grind, and even that idea was ripped from Korean style cash shop grinders.

olivesforge

Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations

It seems important to note that in this thread we're comparing a 1.0 release to systems which are either have a decade of work behind them (EQ2) or were specifically designed to be the main mechanic of the base game (Minecraft, Sims, SL).

...that's very good company to be compared to. As far as the rest, ask me after Zeni's had a few years to fine-tune housing.

Bouldercleave

Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations

qsnoopyjr wrote: »

Bouldercleave wrote: »

For me the benchmark would be EQ2. I LOVED housing in that game.

I think we fall short here on the functionality, but I'm not overly disappointed either.

Cosmetically they did a great job and hit all the racial differences VERY well. I also like how they worked the placement of items.

We are missing a bunch of things that I would love to have (hopefully in the future). I do think they are very expensive for the size, and crafting / gathering mats seems very grindcentric (is that even a word?)

What kind of stuff do you see missing, or they need to improve on?

I would like to see:

armor racks / displays

Pets that walk around and are interactive

TRUE bank access

Guild Store access

Craftable storage boxes (like in EQ2)

To name a few

Myrrah

Shazah wrote: »

Extremely creative system, with so many furnitures to use. They designed a really good and complete system for housing in my opinion. I regret one thing, actually the lack of space for use everthing I want.
But more interactive objects would be better, also pets walking everywhere instead of being static.

Here some screenshots about what is possible to do. (Mathiisen manor renamed Jungle of housecat, plase note it was empty before).

wow! this is beautiful. and yes i agree. i am having to choose whether to cut back on inside items or outside items due to the limits and neither is finished. The item cap really needs to be raised for the larger houses.

Knightpanther

Zenimax Online creative team just made average housing system. They didn't try hard, they just met a goal

olivesforge wrote: »

It seems important to note that in this thread we're comparing a 1.0 release to systems which are either have a decade of work behind them (EQ2) or were specifically designed to be the main mechanic of the base game (Minecraft, Sims, SL).

...that's very good company to be compared to. As far as the rest, ask me after Zeni's had a few years to fine-tune housing.

That's exactly my point, EQ2 is ten years old so plenty for the game developers here to look at and for someone who has played EQ2 from day 1 I can tell you that when the housing craft system was implemented back then it was far superior than this.

When car manufacturers look at creating a car as good as this years Aston Martin do they try to produce one similar to the model made 10 years ago?

Be safe

Agobi

Zenimax Online creative team housing system is WAY below standards. HIGHLY Dissatisfied, games 10 years older have more creativity options

Looks,functionality and everything else is so lacking its *almost* funny....

Gots to do better than this

DigitalShibby

Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations

"Zenimax Online creative team housing system is WAY below standards. HIGHLY Dissatisfied, games 10 years older have more creativity options"

^ and they have also had 10 years to work it. The housing update is the foundation that they can expand upon. They are only going to be adding more and improving it from here.

Glaiceana

Zenimax Online creative team improved standard for housing system in games. Exceeded expectations

I think it is very creative! And way beyond my original expectations.
I wanted a crystal garden, I've already been able to achieve that

I'm already seeing some great things people have come up with. You can do so much, its all in your imagination

Today, I built a working stairs to access a mini floor in my barn/stable. The fact that I can do this is great, yet its just simply a stairs

The only issue right now is finding recipes for furniture crafting, right now I can probably craft about 8 ugly things. But in time, maybe I will find the nice stuff.

NewBlacksmurf

Zenimax Online creative team just made average housing system. They didn't try hard, they just met a goal

It added some things but omitted others all while creating a feeling of cash grab.....IDK that your poll selection is best but it overall didn't exceed any existing games

Gilvoth

Zenimax Online creative team housing system is WAY below standards. HIGHLY Dissatisfied, games 10 years older have more creativity options

when i buy a home in eso, i expected it to have a chest that i can go to and store my personal things into.

Gilvoth

Zenimax Online creative team housing system is WAY below standards. HIGHLY Dissatisfied, games 10 years older have more creativity options

DigitalShibby wrote: »

"Zenimax Online creative team housing system is WAY below standards. HIGHLY Dissatisfied, games 10 years older have more creativity options"

this ^

theher0not

Zenimax Online creative team just made average housing system. They didn't try hard, they just met a goal

The houses aren't creative at all. But some of the houses have nice surroundings to make up for it.

For example I love the big house outside Rawl'kha, it is almost as the 3 mannors.

Gilvoth

Zenimax Online creative team housing system is WAY below standards. HIGHLY Dissatisfied, games 10 years older have more creativity options

all i see was a copy paste of existing houses.
they made some indoor furnishings but, the grind to get them and the cost in real life US Dollars [$] and or ingame Gold is just not worth it.