Would you like to see future Homestead Reps included in the “Class/Community Reps” program?!

TwIsTeDReDQuEeN

Congrats to all of the recently announced Reps who will be playtesting the new Elsweyr content prior to PAX East! As the list seems to include more PVE content creators, I thought it odd to not see Homestead represented among the list of invitees.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom, It would be awesome if our beloved and growing housing community could be represented in all the amazing playtesting in the near future. As a GM for a growing xbox housing guild (and a member of a growing Homestead Network of Guilds on XBox) this is bittersweet.

We have some AMAZING homesteaders and epic home build designers out there who would love to “play test” anything in the housing dept. Housing in ESO has expanded and with it a multitude of issues effecting the homestead playerbase.

Please consider including a Homestead Rep in the near future! Here’s a list of our fav Homesteaders! Thanks for all of the amazing homes you bring us every quarter, here's to many more (+ much needed improvements!) 💜

@Currygaminginc / @JHartEllis / @Elara_Northwind / @Ninjamonkey0169 and Tezzer-005 (PS4), to name a few!

commdt

I agree, right now very little is heard about housing and economy, look at those jewelry writs...

Zypheran

Anything that improves the communication would be welcome.
The devs probably do listen as they say they do but without any feedback it just seems like people are shouting into the void.
If housing devs have neither the platform nor opportunity to engage with the housing community then I think having some community reps with whom they can communicate would be an improvement.
Keep in mind however, we did have community reps last year that would post on an occasional thread to complement people on their designs. It was a nice touch but didn't really address any issues. In order for a housing rep program to work, the participants would need a platform that would allow them engage with the housing dev team in order to get some meaningful results.
They would also need to be able to sign a NDA to allow ZOS show them future plans for housing in the game. I think that the right people (certainly any of those mentioned in OPs post) would be able to give constructive feedback on new houses in the context of being able to influence the designs to better suit the needs and wants of the community.
A rep program would also need to be able to challenge the housing devs periodically when it comes to certain decisions. For example, the choices being made each week for the luxury vendor, or the decisions to introduce new furniture items each quarter in dlc's that nobody has asked for, while perhaps neglecting the many lists of requests that appear on this forum.
Finally a successful rep program would need to be given sufficient insight from ZOS so as to update the community on progress, thoughts, actions & barriers around the big elephant in the room.... item limits. If no meaningful dialogue can happen around this issue, then any rep program would be seriously limited in terms of benefit.

R_K

I’d second the notion of Housing Reps. The community has become quite large and represents a fair share of potential future growth for the company; it would likely be in everyone’s best interest on all sides of the equation.

Shimmer

I am a housing rep....and housing content creator.
If you need proof, here is a compilation of my housing videos and guides.

I actually attended last years as well, and grilled the housing team hard and pushed for more smaller homes. Im pretty sure thats why Frostvault was released (small home) If there is anything in particular you would like brought up while I am there, please let me know. I spent a lot of time with the housing team last year.

Aliyavana

shimmer might as well have a housing rep title on her forum page. shes done a nice bit for the housing community. @Elara_Northwind and a few others too.

VaranisArano

As a Community Representative, sure. Ita a part of the community.

On par with the Class Reps, no. Housing is not on the same level of balance, future development, and pain points as the Classes and Skills that the Class Reps have been discussing with ZOS in their meeting notes.

MornaBaine

Zypheran wrote: »

Anything that improves the communication would be welcome.
The devs probably do listen as they say they do but without any feedback it just seems like people are shouting into the void.
If housing devs have neither the platform nor opportunity to engage with the housing community then I think having some community reps with whom they can communicate would be an improvement.
Keep in mind however, we did have community reps last year that would post on an occasional thread to complement people on their designs. It was a nice touch but didn't really address any issues. In order for a housing rep program to work, the participants would need a platform that would allow them engage with the housing dev team in order to get some meaningful results.
They would also need to be able to sign a NDA to allow ZOS show them future plans for housing in the game. I think that the right people (certainly any of those mentioned in OPs post) would be able to give constructive feedback on new houses in the context of being able to influence the designs to better suit the needs and wants of the community.
A rep program would also need to be able to challenge the housing devs periodically when it comes to certain decisions. For example, the choices being made each week for the luxury vendor, or the decisions to introduce new furniture items each quarter in dlc's that nobody has asked for, while perhaps neglecting the many lists of requests that appear on this forum.
Finally a successful rep program would need to be given sufficient insight from ZOS so as to update the community on progress, thoughts, actions & barriers around the big elephant in the room.... item limits. If no meaningful dialogue can happen around this issue, then any rep program would be seriously limited in terms of benefit.

I have to agree with all of this. I'm sitting on crowns for housing that I am beginning to feel I'll never have any reason to spend as the dev team keeps presenting us with huge spaces we can't decorate properly due to the item limits and very few "houses" that are anything at all like an actual home. Now you can say ZOS doesn't care because they already have my money but I hope they aren't that short sighted. After all, if they never give me reason to spend these I'm not going to be buying any more either.

TwIsTeDReDQuEeN

@VaranisArano Thanks for taking the time to share your input!

**Disclaimer** This response is not 100% directed at you! Ill address some points as a “blanket statement”.

Id have to disagree with you on a few different points. To me and many who spend the majority of ESO playtime in Homestead, its definitely as important to the overall game as class balance/future development.

Perhaps not “balance” in the same way as skills and abilities, but balance in the sense of “cost to benefit ratio”. What do I mean by this? So some of us Homesteaders will happily drop $100 PER limited avail exclusive home that ZOS dev team rolls out. Mind you there is NO OBLIGATION to buy said home. Many of us will think of the “cost benefit ratio” as we plan design/ build projects.

As it stands due to the many “pain points” stated a gazillion times over here on the forums, many who purchase said exclusive homes for cold hard cash, are left with a somewhat hard road ahead to get the desired outcome of such a large purchase. This to me says there is a “balance” issue of sorts. Again I agree with you in that it may not be to the same degree as classes/skills, but a huge “pain point” that needs addressed nontheless.

How can we as a homestead community have our “pain points” addressed? How can we have some input on the future of homestead? How can we have some information on the state of homestead, and the knowledge that the housing DEV team does in fact understand the issues and will share a PLAN with its customer base?

That is what Im referring to in this thread. My point being, if the in game classes deserve an entire team of REPS to represent and BALANCE the PVE/PVP player base, then why not have “Homestead Reps” to represent a player base that spends $$$ hundreds of dollars a year on HOMESTEAD?!

We as the homestead playerbase spend RL $$$ on the game, so its not to far fetched to ask for some TRANSPARENCY for the future ahead and a RESPONSE to the plethora of issues AND wishes this specific player base desires to see implemented in a game we all know and love!!! We ARE a patient playerbase, and NOT unreasonable in our cause. We are not demanding the extreme or the unattainable here (well maybe a bit of coding magic 😉 lol) Im sure many PVE/PVP’ers could agree with that.

TwIsTeDReDQuEeN

I opened this thread as a “dialogue” and a way to share input. I appreciate all who take a few minutes to add and share thoughts on the subject! The more people who participate in this way, the more attention this topic will receive. In turn hopefully we can have an OPEN dialogue with the ZOS housing dev team. 💜

TwIsTeDReDQuEeN

Zypheran wrote: »

Anything that improves the communication would be welcome.
The devs probably do listen as they say they do but without any feedback it just seems like people are shouting into the void.
If housing devs have neither the platform nor opportunity to engage with the housing community then I think having some community reps with whom they can communicate would be an improvement.
Keep in mind however, we did have community reps last year that would post on an occasional thread to complement people on their designs. It was a nice touch but didn't really address any issues. In order for a housing rep program to work, the participants would need a platform that would allow them engage with the housing dev team in order to get some meaningful results.
They would also need to be able to sign a NDA to allow ZOS show them future plans for housing in the game. I think that the right people (certainly any of those mentioned in OPs post) would be able to give constructive feedback on new houses in the context of being able to influence the designs to better suit the needs and wants of the community.
A rep program would also need to be able to challenge the housing devs periodically when it comes to certain decisions. For example, the choices being made each week for the luxury vendor, or the decisions to introduce new furniture items each quarter in dlc's that nobody has asked for, while perhaps neglecting the many lists of requests that appear on this forum.
Finally a successful rep program would need to be given sufficient insight from ZOS so as to update the community on progress, thoughts, actions & barriers around the big elephant in the room.... item limits. If no meaningful dialogue can happen around this issue, then any rep program would be seriously limited in terms of benefit.

Thanks for taking the time to make a great reply!! I could not agree with you more!!
Its definitely something that needs to have the insight and involvement from ZOS for it to benefit the community. You have made amazing points here that are well thought out. This is what Im hoping to see happen.

Its not “enough” to just have some “streamers” playtest with no real engagement/feedback/results/future plans discussed and some transparency/disclosure on the current and future state of Homestead.

We have had a great homestead quality of life patch with the ability to manipulate and group items in housing editor just recently (THANKS @R_K’s influence w/EHT & ZOS for implementing it as base game feat.!!).

It would be great to see more QOL patches introduced with base game quarterly DLC patches. So many things need improvements that without these QOL fixes becoming a regular occurrence, its hard to keep investing in homestead with minimal attention to the investors/playerbase.

However, Im looking forward to the rest of the year and what may be in developement for Homestead moving forward. Hopefully we get some much needed open communication with the housing dev team on current issues & future plans.

VaranisArano

I understand the desire of the Housing Community to feel heard.

I do think that from what we've seen of the Class Reps meetings from their notes specifically, they seem largely focused on the classes, skills, gear, and mechanics that constitute combat, i.e. the vast majority of content in the game.

So unless ZOS decides to broaden the scope of the Class Rep program, I don't see where a "Housing" Class Rep fits in. If they do, sure.

ffyre

I think this could be really cool and *potentially* lead to some welcome changes.

I think, however, there's a disconnect in this thread where readers assume Housing Reps = Class Reps, but the two would be different. I think the ask is for some Housing-focused conversation and a "rep program" would make that viable.

I don't think anyone is asking that Housing Reps be included in the Class Reps conversations about combat and gameplay. The Housing Reps would fall into their own category and have their own meetings. Really, what's one more scheduled meeting? My company schedules meetings all the time! haha

ZOS - and Bethesda at large - are obviously very interested in housing looking at games in both the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. A larger discourse is necessary if they want it to further grow.

VaranisArano

ffyre wrote: »

I think this could be really cool and *potentially* lead to some welcome changes.

I think, however, there's a disconnect in this thread where readers assume Housing Reps = Class Reps, but the two would be different. I think the ask is for some Housing-focused conversation and a "rep program" would make that viable.

I don't think anyone is asking that Housing Reps be included in the Class Reps conversations about combat and gameplay. The Housing Reps would fall into their own category and have their own meetings. Really, what's one more scheduled meeting? My company schedules meetings all the time! haha

ZOS - and Bethesda at large - are obviously very interested in housing looking at games in both the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series. A larger discourse is necessary if they want it to further grow.

For myself, that "disconnect" came from the thread title. Which is why I've sought to clarify the distinction. Housing Reps having a community rep or their own meetings? Sounds like an awesome idea.

Suddwrath

I would like for the Class Rep program to end and for it to be replaced with a Community Rep program where more players are added to the team (so you'll have players representing Classes/Combat, Housing, Casuals, Consoles, etc). The Class Rep program is too narrow in scope and the community asks more from them than they are even responsible for.