I suppose I will post this here, though I fear it is too late.
This is a review and selection of suggestions for Tel Galen, the Telvanni tower home that will become available at some point. It is on the PTS but remains unavailable for purchase, and can only be toured if discovered in person.
This house is listed, at least in the F5 preview window as a "Notable Home" yet there are many elements that make it notable only in that it is a Telvanni Tower.
The island itself is quite nice, though much of it is blockaded off by the entrance walls/doors. I am not sure why they didn't landscape the island to support more grounds, but the grounds that are there are actually very nice. A bit steep and hilly, but there's plenty of room down by the dock and a multitude of mushrooms.
The entrance hall/foyer:
To summarize briefly from a similar post I made in the closed beta forums, this room is completely underwhelming. It is too small, and the space there is is completely overwhelmed by the teleport pad structure.
The entrance hall of Tel Naga is exquisitely designed, spacious, high ceilings and of course the raised level around half the room adds so much in terms of basic interior structure. It is wonderfully designed and would make an excellent foyer for Tel Galen.
Failing that, the teleport pad structure needs to be toned down, or the room itself needs to be made larger/taller so it can actually be used as a room, because currently it is just way too small to do anything interesting with it.
The small side rooms:
These rooms need to not be named. Please just set the door text to say Tel Galen, as opposed to "suggesting" purposes for the rooms and making it awkward to use them for anything else.
The rooms themselves border on useless. So many rooms in other Telvanni towers are wonderfully laid out with alcoves, daises, high ceilings etc that make them feel so much more wondrous. Not so in Tel Galen. These side rooms are cramped, boring, and the fungal growths in 2/3 of the rooms either are nonexistent, which leaves us with a boring stone room, or overwhelming, making decorating nigh impossible.
The only exception is the room that has the fungal root cage thing, that is pretty cool and could be used for any number of things.
The upper tower:
This is just super disappointing. Small, low ceiling, and boring fungal growths. Tel Mora and the Council Tower both have amazing upper levels, and either one would make a better choice. Tel Mora with its height, its space, the intriguing alcoves and raised floors, the "skylight" which adds such wonderful ambiance etc.
But especially the Council Tower upper chamber. The overgrown soulgems, the high ceilings, the space, the wonderfully arrayed space, and the abundance of growths make is a superb upper tower.
Additional suggestions:
The basement in Givyn Tower would be an awesome addition! Perfect for crafting, dungeons, vaults, etc, it is simple, not too large and there's enough fungal growth to make it a clearly Telvanni basement.
The Adepts Hall in Tel Naga would make a superb addition to Tel Galen, either replacing the 3 small useless rooms outright or adding it as a 3rd floor ideally.
An outbuilding, like the small homes near Tel Branora or in Sadrith Mora would also be a welcome addition. Ebonheart Chateau has a secondary building, and I don't see why Tel Galen cant have one as well. It would also make a nice homage to the outbuildings of Tel Uvirith.
Rooftop access/balconies are a must in any Telvanni tower. Some kind of rooftop access for stargazing, rituals, dining, you name it, it would be an amazing addition.
Final thoughts:
If any or all of these changes/additions were to be made to Tel Galen, it would easily be the best house in the game. I would hand over 20k crowns (unfurnished!) without blinking. As it stands though, it has less usable space than Mathiisen manor, and at least Mathiisen has balconies and windows.
The Telvanni are near and dear to many, and I sincerely hope it isn't too late to see some changes/additions be made to Tel Galen before it is released.
TL;DR
Please make Tel Galen larger, more interesting and more in line with some of the amazing Telvanni Towers that are already in the game.
I am not asking for something 100% from scratch unique, just please copy/paste some better interior spaces.
To those who may respond;
I am not terribly bothered by the mushroom textures or the stone tower bases. I am not super happy about them but I can deal. Please don't derail my attempt at constructive criticism and suggestions with complaints about those two factors.
Edited by Earrindo on May 28, 2017 6:33PM