Perspective of U43 from a Console Player

TeruKisuke

TLDR: Good feature, bad timing, expected more, won't give full judgement just yet.

Let me start by saying this is ultimately a feature that will eventually, I think, be welcomed by the community, for reasons I will explain. But my reaction was also akin to many here in feeling a little underwhelmed, though I am reserving my full judgement until next week when we see the furnishings. They never discuss furnishings on stream save for once or twice. There could be something amazing in there for all we know (such as some of the much requested stuff I'm seeing.)

I think this feature would have been more welcomed two years ago, back when we first got house linking. The way it works on console right now, we get people to come to our houses by posting our links in chat, be it guild chat or in our groups for housing tours. (Not to be confused with the new feature, but that's what we call them, lowercase.) I was actually quite excited with Linking when it came out and the only problem I had with it was we could put a link in our guild messages of the day, but not in our individual guild notes; we just had to post the numbers and hope people knew what that meant or how to use them. I would say a good half of players, if not most, don't really know how to make custom housing links to visit others' homes. (I only learned after following guides, but this information is not explained to you by the game.) I think most have a grasp on linking your own homes through the Collection menu though, but my group still has to instruct the occasional person on how.

The same situation, I feel, might apply to Essential Housing Tools. I don't have too much experience with it (I actually do have a PC account, I just don't touch it much), but I'm aware you can travel to peoples' homes using an interface. As an Xbox player, the PC housing community seems as vast as an ocean compared to our lake. I would be curious to know how much of PC housers engage with what is technically an out-of-game solution (addons). It's also possible a lot of experienced players use it, but newer players, or those who dabble in it slightly less, wouldn't go through the trouble, but would if there was an in-game option (the Housing Tours feature.)

As a result, overall I think this will help to expand on the community and make it more accessible, because the high cost to entry as well as the laborious task of finding homes to tour takes guilds or groups of people to manage, but a lot of players might not have those connections right off the bat, or are part of housing guilds, of which the biggest guilds have a limited number of applicants.

Now, as for the downside. The only thing that makes me nervous is this hinted-at "rating" system. I'm not sure how it works yet, but as someone who has to muster a lot of confidence to advertise my homes, I do not want to know if someone dislikes it or gives it a 1 star, if that's how it works. And it also sounds like there's no ability to add a description. Housing builds can be very contextual, example being fandom builds, or a certain effect the owner is trying to achieve. Descriptions are a necessity. I doubt it would be possible, but I would also like the option to add a thumbnail, but that might be asking for a lot.

I was disappointed with the feature initially. I did not have any expectations like more slots or a furnishing bag; that has already been turned down. But as soon as we got daytime control, weather control seemed a lot more likely, which would be a huge QOL and I don't think as many people would have been disappointed with such an addition. We also only got two homes, same as any other year, when the advertising hinted this update would be special. I also fail to see how Sword Singer had anything to do with the new feature; did it hint at it in some way I didn't see? I'm confused. Overall, the housing part of the stream felt like just a footnote in its own themed update, as the other QOL additions had nothing to do with housing (mount preview, curated drops, IA additions.)

Again, I withhold my full judgement until next week's PTR. It's possible that something that controls the weather, or some kind of armory pieces, could be included and they just didn't mention it. Personally, I've really wanted older structural styles expanded upon, such as Alinor or Orc style, and many others. As far as the armor, I'm not sure if they would include something as involved as Skyrim's mannequins, but I've always wanted an armory gallery like Skyrim in my player home and right now it's not really possible. It doesn't have to be mine, just any would do to make my home feel like an adventurer's. Instrument furnishings would also be nice, but we have been ignored in lieu of emotes and mementos.

Anyways, I doubt more slots will ever happen, but I will dream of it...

spartaxoxo

I'm honestly excited for the feature as there are a lot of homes this opens up. I also think a furniture store could work much better using this feature. I plan to link my Snugpod to people straight away, so they can have an easy teleport to Grahtwood. I think others are planning the same thing, based off people saying they'd offer free teleports.

I am a little disappointed that it was the only thing happening this quarter though. I think it brings unnecessary criticism and heat to a console specific change. I wish it had been the cherry on top, rather than the whole sundae. Something more universally applicable to the housing community should have been the highlight. I think it would have been more fun to discuss and more positively received if ZOS had the sense to know that this a really niche feature.

I'm also a bit leery of the social media aspect.

TeruKisuke

@spartaxoxo I think it has a lot of potential, and as I've heard some people say, it's not so much the feature itself we are disappointed by, but that it's the only addition. The feature will definitely serve to unite the community if implemented well. For one, it won't put as much pressure on me to join as many housing guilds as possible to see everyone's homes.

I wish we could've gotten more conveniences to building itself though. There are a lot of EHT stuff we don't have, like making custom domes easier is one tool I think exists. I'd also like to snap a furnishing parallel to another one (right now I think we only have perpendicular to a surface). Weather control so my windows don't turn off. And, furnishing wise, though that might be highlighted once PTR drops, there's still a lot of basic structures we still don't have, like tall nice wood pillars. I am crossing my fingers we'll get those big Colovian ones. Or even slender nice wood pillars, I always have to cobble those.

Edit: Furniture storage is another sore point. I had hoped we would get a storage warehouse of some kind, or deconstruction. I have too much furniture due to failed attempts, scrapped builds, or changing my mind on decorations.

tsaescishoeshiner

I'm also skeptical of the social media aspect, but I think it will be fine. The "rating" system seems more like people being able to +1 your house/Kudos it, rather than display a rating. So it's more of a ranking than a rating, and something people can boost by advertising their house or manipulate it by getting their guildies to visit.

The mentally healthy way to approach it is to post something for the benefit of the community and not get too attached if it's not some #1 top big hit. I do housing for my own appreciation and to make fun spaces to play around in with my friends.

It could obviously make sense to take your votes as positive feedback to learn from, but I can see people over-worrying about it. There could be some issues with the social media side of it, but hopefully the good will outweigh them, and people can enjoy it with the right perspective.

TeruKisuke

@tsaescishoeshiner I hope it's as you say where it won't really be visible or impact the experience negatively. If it's some kind of invisible rating where it's more of a pleasant surprise if it hits a front page, it would be fine I think. I just don't want to be "alerted" by it, or stare at a visible rating of some sort, because that's what can eat at me, even if it doesn't matter.

As far as personal investment in a build, it's a bit complicated. There will always be an innate investment in a creation you make with time, effort, and artistic vision; a lot of this can be mirrored in the art and drawing scene, which is rife with self doubt and insecurity. Personally I've stopped trying to make builds solely to please other people and just make what I like, but I am not the only person who will use this feature. I've seen my fair share of build drama from guilds and contests. I am with you though. I hope any good outweighs potential negatives. The feature should be a showcase and not a competition.

tsaescishoeshiner

TeruKisuke wrote: »

@tsaescishoeshiner I hope it's as you say where it won't really be visible or impact the experience negatively. If it's some kind of invisible rating where it's more of a pleasant surprise if it hits a front page, it would be fine I think. I just don't want to be "alerted" by it, or stare at a visible rating of some sort, because that's what can eat at me, even if it doesn't matter.

As far as personal investment in a build, it's a bit complicated. There will always be an innate investment in a creation you make with time, effort, and artistic vision; a lot of this can be mirrored in the art and drawing scene, which is rife with self doubt and insecurity. Personally I've stopped trying to make builds solely to please other people and just make what I like, but I am not the only person who will use this feature. I've seen my fair share of build drama from guilds and contests. I am with you though. I hope any good outweighs potential negatives. The feature should be a showcase and not a competition.

That's just how it seemed on stream (I don't remember whether the number of Recommendations was visible or not)--we'll know more on Monday, so I try not to dread too much before trying it out lol.

I definitely think it could be distracting or emotional to get social pings about housing appreciation, so I get that. Hopefully they design it with the social impact in mind.

I think whether it's a showcase or a competition will depend on how someone uses it.

Omegacron

... Yaaaaarp.