Furnished or not furnished - crafted or...

maboleth · February 2017

I've checked the furnished home preview and wow - there's no way on this Nirn I could make my home as neat and beautiful as those templated, crown store ones. Not only it entirely follows certain race style, it also offers many many props and items, making it probably the most cost-effective crown store house shopping overall.

But there's a big problem: you don't use the editor and currently the only useful feature of the homestead - decoration. It's already decorated. And it's not unique. And it's a template based. So everyone that buys this pack will have exactly the same house.

So this all makes me want to buy the homes unfurnished, with the in-game gold. But then I'm on my own, needing zillion items to buy and craft. Zillion different styles, potentially making my home a mess. If I opt for some crown-store items, they are so expensive, I'll pay more than buying the homes fully furnished.

So this is a closed loop, totally undecided what to do now.
Is it possible to get blue prints and then craft items with crafting stones to follow certain styles? Or every single blue print is style/race dependent?

MasterLenman · February 2017

You could buy the furnished one, take all the items in your inventory and stark decorating from scratch - but using those items. Then it will still look unique I think, and you can start from there adding your own stuff bit by bit.

Myyth · February 2017

wait a couple months. right now is not the time to try to furnish your home. Eventually, one day in the far future, the materials will be easier to buy in bulk and the blueprints will be more common so you will be able to choose the furniture styles you want.

drakhan2002_ESO · February 2017

I'd imagine if you purchase multiple "template" homes from different races, you can remove/mix-match items from each house. I haven't taken the plunge yet into housing as I am in a wait and see mode to see how it's all shaking out...but I'd imagine that would be an option if you have the crowns.

riberion · February 2017

When you buy the furnished home, you can move all the items in there, take them to other homes, etc. I purchased a furnished house and have been having a blast redecorating. I basically only bought it so I would have some furniture to start with, and am adding and removing things to suit my tastes.

Danikat · February 2017

Decorating yourself may not be as difficult as it seems. Firstly the largest houses have a maximum item limit of 700 items (350 without ESO Plus), so that's the absolute maximum you're able to use.

But more importantly all the homes I purchased furnished on the PTS only used about half (maybe 2 thirds at most) of the non-ESO Plus item limit. So usually around 50 - 150 items. Which means it really doesn't take much to make them look full.

I recommend starting off by taking a closer look at the furnished houses. Don't just look at the overall effect but how it's achieved. One thing you might notice is they very rarely put furnishings right up against the wall, they're more likely to be moved in towards the middle of the room. They also use counters, dividers and other big/long furnishings to break up the space so the rooms don't seem as big and empty and there's a sense of distinct areas with different purposes, even without any internal walls. (You can also look at NPC houses and public buildings in the game, because they're decorated the same way, probably by the same people.)

(There's also some clever "tricks" used to make it look like more items than there really is, like a plate with food, a knife and a fork which is actually all 1 item, or putting a 'busy' item like a bunch of bananas or a patterned vase in the middle of a shelf so you don't notice there's nothing else on the shelf.)

Maybe if you do decide to decorate yourself, or even to move furnishings around, you could screenshot your chosen house furnished so you can refer back to it for ideas.

But also I definitely recommend not rushing into making a decision. When the update was announced I thought I knew exactly what I wanted and I've now lost count of the number of times my plans have changed. I'm kind of glad I still need to save up gold to afford a house because hopefully by the time I can afford one I'll actually know what I want!

BlackSparrow · February 2017

Excepting the basic, common ones, blueprints are race dependent. So, yeah, if you're buying, for example, Hunding's Palatial Hall and want to make only Redguard furnishings, it's going to take a long time to accumulate all the best recipes.

I think it comes down to two options:

Buy the furnished house. Then, clear out everything by sucking it all into your inventory... or move everything to a designated "dump" location. Then, look at what furnishings you have and start brainstorming how you want to set them up. It's easier than it sounds to set it up in a pleasing way, so take some time to customize the layout. The items may be the same as everyone else who bought it furnished, but the layout can be all you.
Buy the unfurnished house and settle in for the journey. Personally, this is my approach, because I agree that any furnishings that come with a pre-furnished house just don't fell like "mine." But this is something that will take patience. You're not meant to be able to fill up a large house after a day, week, or even month of crafting. Taking this approach is opting into the system of accumulating furniture recipes and materials, so take your time and enjoy the journey. Which, yeah, despite the naysayers, you can do. I found a fish in a barrel the other day, and took great satisfaction in posting it in my angler's house.

Only you can make that choice. They're two very different ways of approaching the system, so take your time to mull it over. We can't decide this for you.

In either case, one tip is to buy a second, cheaper house as a warehouse (Humblemud is a good one, since it's cheap but still has a decent item limit). Then, store any furnishings you're not going to use in there.

jedtb16_ESO · February 2017

don't rush into it......

i just bought hundings palace, unfurnished, for gold. spent about an hour moving rocks and plants around in the grounds...

haven't been inside yet...

maboleth · February 2017

Guys, thanks a lot! Lots of good suggestions and ideas! I didn't know that I could wipe or change the entire pre-furnished house. As an ESO+ subscriber, number of items shouldn't be an issue.

I bought a room at Rosy Lion's. Always loved that DC inns, now finally owning one. :P I also planned that furnished house in Windhelm, looks marvelous.

Myrrah · February 2017

riberion wrote: »

When you buy the furnished home, you can move all the items in there, take them to other homes, etc. I purchased a furnished house and have been having a blast redecorating. I basically only bought it so I would have some furniture to start with, and am adding and removing things to suit my tastes.

yep-this is how i did it too. this is also more cost effective than starting with a single empty house and using crowns/gold to buy each piece

STEVIL · February 2017

maboleth wrote: »

I've checked the furnished home preview and wow - there's no way on this Nirn I could make my home as neat and beautiful as those templated, crown store ones. Not only it entirely follows certain race style, it also offers many many props and items, making it probably the most cost-effective crown store house shopping overall.

But there's a big problem: you don't use the editor and currently the only useful feature of the homestead - decoration. It's already decorated. And it's not unique. And it's a template based. So everyone that buys this pack will have exactly the same house.

So this all makes me want to buy the homes unfurnished, with the in-game gold. But then I'm on my own, needing zillion items to buy and craft. Zillion different styles, potentially making my home a mess. If I opt for some crown-store items, they are so expensive, I'll pay more than buying the homes fully furnished.

So this is a closed loop, totally undecided what to do now.
Is it possible to get blue prints and then craft items with crafting stones to follow certain styles? Or every single blue print is style/race dependent?

Consider if you want to do so - buy multiple smaller homes.
Like say a two mediums and two smalls and a couple apartments - all in different useful positions for the price of one large home.
use crows to purcahse one of the mediums furnished - be careful to preview to pick one that has what you want.
Then take the items in the furnished and spread them around to your other homws to give each a starter home partially furnished feel.

Then decorate away in each.

But dropping down a size for one home gets you a lot of options for multiple homes.