Jando wrote: »

IMHO, housing isn't worth the Dev time. I want new content, new zones, new stories, new dungeons, new raids, new pvp, new services: barbershop, race/class change, PC Controller Support, etc. and a functioning LFG tool...then..yes, housing would be nice.

Sentinel wrote: »

One thing I'd like to chime in about @Gidorick 's phase 3 idea (Or actually expand), would be to use these plots of land to have a wider array of function. Such functions as: mutliple buildings, player chosen placement of objects/building foundations, and an intelligent use of phasing that could allow the plot of land to have other player visiters (If marked as public), or keep everyone out (if marked as private), or even shared with/or owned by a guild as a guild housing area (Guild master buys plot in guilds name rather than own name).

Gidorick wrote: »

Sentinel wrote: »

One thing I'd like to chime in about @Gidorick 's phase 3 idea (Or actually expand), would be to use these plots of land to have a wider array of function. Such functions as: mutliple buildings, player chosen placement of objects/building foundations, and an intelligent use of phasing that could allow the plot of land to have other player visiters (If marked as public), or keep everyone out (if marked as private), or even shared with/or owned by a guild as a guild housing area (Guild master buys plot in guilds name rather than own name).

This would be an awesome and kind of natural progression of the concept. Guild towns would be amazing! I could even see this opening up individual market places to coincide with the guild store.

VamppireGhost wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

We’ve all seen some of the wonderful housing ideas that have been prosed on this forum. They are thought out and complex systems that would add a rich dynamic to ESO. I figured I will offer my own thoughts to how housing could be accomplished in ESO, with a 3 phase plan.

Obviously, all of this is pure conjecture.

The implementation of a Housing system should first and foremost work within the confines of the lore and the world of Nirn. I do not believe open-world player-built housing makes sense for ESO. With one server and one world, if every player were allowed the freedom to build a house within Nirn we would be left with a landscape littered with huts that would just be an eyesore.

I also believe housing should be implemented in phases. We have seen this done with the Champion System and we are going to see this done with the Justice System so I think there is good chance this will be done with Housing as well. Below I have outlined my suggestion of a 3 phase release plan of a housing system.

The summary...

Phase 1: Allow purchase of pre-existing homes within city boarders.
Phase 2: Allow purchase of pre-existing homes in the wilderness that have material farms attached to them.
Phase 3: Allow the purchase of in-world instanced plots of land where players will construct their own homes.

OK now the details...

Phase 1: Pre-existing City Housing
First and foremost there should be, within ESO, the option to purchase/rent property within each of the stable and populated cities of ESO. It wouldn’t make much sense to settle down in Camlorn, but Daggerfall should have the option, a few in fact. From little one-room huts to large multi-room estates. Some cities might only have one choice for the player, some might have many, and some might have none.

The point is: there should be pre-built, instanced locations for players to buy, decorate and use as their own space in the cities of Tamriel. Every player would use the same door to access the space. If a player doesn’t own the space they are sent to a public instance of the space that includes a bulletin board with the option to buy the property.

I would personally prefer that the bulletin board offer a “quest” to the player to buy the house and the quest send the player to that particular town’s leader who then might give the player some tasks to perform for the town to prove they are worthy of being a citizen… but I recognize that might not be a popular concept.

Either way, the end result is the player having ownership of property in a town that they can make their own.

Phase 2: Pre-existing In-World Wilderness housing with material farms.
Wilderness housing would function similarly to the City Housing but would differ in a few ways. Purchasing the home may be a bit more difficult. Sometimes the homeowner may be in the house and might need some incentive to sell their home. Perhaps you rough them up a bit or make better arrangements for them in a nearby town, or track down their long lost lover so they want to leave. Perhaps these actions bring the asking price down a bit.

If the homeowner is not in or near the home, the player could receive a quest in the home, via a book or a note, which will take the player to the location of the Homeowner. In these instances the home may be overrun with creatures that the player will have to clear out in order to occupy the space.

The Incentive to these wilderness homes will be the “farming” aspect. Each home will be near a mine, a clearing, or will have a garden attached to the home.

The homes with mines will include a mine key, which the player receives upon purchasing the home. The player can then go into the mine and dig up Ore and Runes (for Blacksmithing and Enchanting). Mines could have multiple levels or areas that the player must work to reach. Perhaps there is an ore rich wall that must be mined many times in order to be broken down. Each of these mining sessions will yield ore, but not as much as an ore deposit. Additionally the wall could be mined a limited number of times a day depending on their rank in blacksmithing and/or Enchanting. Each new area would provide better ore and better runes and would allow the player to access the next ore wall to mine.

The clearings would operate similarly to the mine but perhaps it’s a scroll or an amulet that opens a magical door or portal to the clearing instead of a key. The clearing would be used to gather wood and reagents (for Woodworking and Alchemy). There should be a stream that runs through the clearing and multiple types of trees. Not every wood type is available in the clearing and the different tree types must be chopped down in order for the clearing to automatically yield better wood types. Each different type of tree could take a different amount of chops to activate. The same concept could be applied to aquifer springs around the clearing. The player could open aquifers that could allow the clearing to automatically yield better reagents for alchemy. These springs could also themselves yield different purities of water for the alchemic potions.

As for the gardens, which would be attached to the actual house, there should be a fence or wall around the garden that is high enough so that players cannot jump into the garden from the outside world. A gate should separate the garden from the main world since the garden would technically be part of the instanced home. Even so, they garden environment should reflect the day/night/weather of the zone to give the illusion of being “outside.” In these gardens, plants of the player’s choosing should be able to be grown. The plant types could be for either the provisioning or clothier line and players should be allowed to use a plant they currently have in their inventory to plant their crop. Let’s say the garden would have 10 rows of crops that can be planted. Each row must be tilled to increase that row’s production ability. While the row is being tilled, no crop can be planted. The higher the production ability of the row, the better the plant that can be cultivated.

It should take a very long time to bring each farming station to the next level of production. With daily limits to the activities a diligent player should be able to get to level 2/3/4/5 in 10/30/90/120 days respectively (this suggestion would have the player take total of 250 days to get their farm to max-yield).

There could also be regression tasks that, if not done regularly, could cause the farm to decrease in yield level. The mine could require reinforcements, the clearing could require the removal of leaves, and the garden could require pulling of weeds.

Phase 3: Player-Built Homes
At the third phase, areas around Tamriel would be opened to allow for players to create their own home in the zone of their choosing. Some of these inaccessible areas in each zone could be slightly reworked to have a load-screen-triggering pathway. Once through that path, the player would have their own little slice of Tamriel to do with that they will. These properties could include a myriad of environments from coastal property to forest alcoves, depending on the zone they are in. Just as the previous phases, players should enter a public instance of the property if they do not own the property with a bulletin board posting the sale of the plot of land.

The home building in ESO should do what it can to emulate the feeling of the Hearthfire home building found in Skyrim but should also fit within the design and mechanics of ESO. Like Hearthfire, the property should include a Drafting Table and a Workbench.

When accessing the Drafting table, the players view should pull out to a rotatable 3/4 bird’s eye view of the property with level selection. In total, there should be 5 levels available to the property. The default level for the ground should be the second level. The “ground” should be able to be changed to any level, depending on the particular home design.

Ultimately, a player should be able to create a 4 level mansion with a basement, a one level ranch with a 4 level basement, or any combination between. Initially, the player should only be able to build up to 4 levels with the 5th level being unlocked upon reaching the highest rank of the Architect skill. Once the player decides on a floor plan, they are given a list of the crafted items for the various rooms of the floor plan. When the player has all the appropriate pieces, they can create the different rooms through the drafting table. As in Hearthfire, each property should come with a starter kit that is located in a treasure chest next to the workbench.

A separate Homestead skill line could be added with different Style kits spread throughout Tamriel in the same manner as Recipes and Motifs. These Style kits could work much in the same way as the Motifs, allowing players to make their home in the style of the different cultures of Tamriel. Players should be able to, if they so desired, make a weird hodgepodge house of different styles. They could even use the same resources as the armor sets.

While I think it would be awesome for us to be able to forge the materials needed to make a home and furniture with the woodworking, blacksmithing and clothier skills, I don’t think that would be the best route for ESO custom player homes. Homebuilding in ESO shouldn’t directly involve Blacksmithing or carpentry. For the sake of the mechanics and economy of ESO it would be more useful to utilize the Player Home creation aspect of ESO as a gold sink and focus the skills on learning how to construct the different parts of the home rather than crafting the materials.
The following materials should be purchased from a merchant or found out in the world: Fittings, Locks, Hinges, Nails, Rods, Stone Bricks, Mortar, Masonry Clay, Clay Tile, Treated Planks, Treated Logs, Rope, Straw, Linen, Yarn, Pewter, Fluffed Cotton, etc. These items could be combined in various ways to construct all the items contained within the various skills.

Homestead Passive Skilltree
Architect: The main skill line for building the home. The player should begin at Architect Rank 1 by knowing how to construct Floors, Walls, Roofs, Doors, Windows, Stairs, and Banisters.

• Rank 1: Ability to construct 1st floor rooms
• Rank 2: Ability to construct 1st level basement
• Rank 3: Ability to construct 2nd floor rooms
• Rank 4: Ability to construct 2nd level basement
• Rank 5: Ability to construct 3rd floor rooms
• Rank 6: Ability to construct 3rd level basement
• Rank 7: Ability to construct 4th floor rooms
• Rank 9: Ability to construct 4th level basement
• Rank 8: Ability to construct on a 5th level

Handyman Hireling:

• Rank 1: Will receive mail once a day from the hireling with material
• Rank 2: Will receive mail once a day from the hireling with more material
• Rank 3: Will receive mail twice a day from the hireling with even more material

Constructor:

• Rank 1: Ability to make freestanding walls, fences, barriers and reliefs
• Rank 2: Ability to make Crafting, alchemy, enchanting, and dye stations
• Rank 3: Ability to add areas for gardens, clearings, mines, a stable and a Wayshrine

Landscaper:

• Rank 1: Ability to plant trees, bushes, and dirt pathways
• Rank 2: Ability to create waterways and ponds, and place rocks and boulders
• Rank 3: Ability to deform the terrain

Homemaker:

• Rank 1: Ability to make pots, dishes, cups, silverware, bottles, candle holders, etc.
• Rank 2: Ability to make curtains, rugs, pillows, room dividers, etc.
• Rank 3: Ability to make instruments, fireplaces, fire pits, chandeliers, etc.

Craftsman:

• Rank 1: Ability to make Chairs, Tables, Desks, Bookshelves, Crates, etc.
• Rank 2: Ability to make Benches, Beds, Dressers, Side tables, Cabinets, Chests, etc.
• Rank 3: Ability to make Wardrobes, Corner Curios, Wine Racks, Bars, Weapon Racks, Armor Mannequins, etc.

To place items crafted by the Architect, Constructor, Landscaper, Homemaker, and Craftsman skills, the player should visit the Drafting table. When decorating, items should be affected by physics, gravity and collision when placed and should fall into their resting place realistically. The Havok Engine should be able to handle that part quite well. Items should be designated as “interior” or “exterior” items. Only the height of certain items should be considered. If a player wants to create a floorless room and plant some saplings while throwing a rug outside, so be it!

The inventory used to house the crafted items should be the players own inventory and bank, much in the same way other crafting is handled. Using the same inventory will allow these items to be sold in guild stores and traded among players.

Functional Furniture!
No matter the phase, all the furniture in the player homes needs to be functional. The first phase of housing could also be the first phase in a long plan to incrementally update ESO with functional chairs, benches, beds, hammocks, etc. ZOS should allow players to use functional furniture in their homes and, over time, replace the non-functional chairs across Tamriel with functional ones.

The functional furniture includes the ability to store items in furniture or container that would logically house items. Desks, Bookshelves, side tables, cabinets, etc. should all have storage space within them and should allow the player to store their items. These items should be locked away inside the house and should ONLY be accessible by revisiting the house. No magical cabinet-banks, please.

Building a house should be powerful and simple, but this type of system is a long ways off. This is why a multi-phase housing release is preferable. The phases could be released months, quarters, even years apart from one another. Having pre-existing homes would go a long way to satisfying a large fraction of the user base. Adding more functionality later by adding the farming wilderness homes would whet player appetite for more functionality and would, no doubt, lead to many players upgrading. Once the fully customizable homes are released you’ll have a mass of players rushing to make gold so they can afford to add that next room to the second floor of their home.

That’s once, twice, three times a goldsink.

I agree with everything your saying. From Daggerfall to Skyrim you could obtain your own house in someway or another to buying, building, DLC or simply killing the owner and claiming his/her precious property and all the "Ill Gotten Gains" that came with it. So lets go "Zenimax Online". Us Elite long time elder scrolls wanna see the things that make "Elder Scrolls" fans to begin with.