Langdon64 wrote: »

I don't, because so many of them use add-ons. I think it's more of a challenge, and more fun, to furnish them with just ESO supplied items and functionality.

There's also this. I don't have any compunction with people using add-ons in their houses, but I don't have access to them, so I'm personally more interested in seeing what people do with the items available in the game.

I love watching housing videos! The entire reason I am active on forums is because I think a housing community is enriched by the active flow of ideas and perspectives from builder to builder. After all, we all see the world (and Tamriel) in different ways, and we cant help but have that perspective reflected in the builds we create.

The best part of an active housing community is the ability to, just for a second, step into the mind of someone else and see how they view the world and relate to the objects in it. I cannot image cutting myself off from that experience out of fear of being influenced.

The truth is, we are all influenced by each other, and that's a good thing. I hope I never stop learning, being inspired, and just plain surprised by others.

On a personal level RE stealing, I always offer to identify décor, answer questions, or provide building techniques to people who are curious about how I made some weird cobble or architectural texture. I also literally post step by step work in progress pictures of things I am making in the DDA discord, housing design gallery channel, because when I am building I am super excited about it and I want to share. If it comes down to a question of origination, I know in my heart whether it was my idea or not, and that's good enough for me (personally), and by free-sharing techniques and ideas with others, it may help inspire an iteration of my idea that is simply amazing. But maybe I am weird. I literally wake up with cobble ideas, so I try not to question the process too much = )

dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »

I like them but most of the time it makes me feel inadequate.

I then spend hours crying and ignoring ESO until my bf reminds me that my designs are cool. lol

OH MY GOD. Don't do this. Please. People have all different kinds of builds and I learn things from the simplest to the most ambitious. Please don't beat yourself up. We're a wonderful community and I would love to honor everyone's building.

StabbityDoom wrote: »

dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »

I like them but most of the time it makes me feel inadequate.

I then spend hours crying and ignoring ESO until my bf reminds me that my designs are cool. lol

OH MY GOD. Don't do this. Please. People have all different kinds of builds and I learn things from the simplest to the most ambitious. Please don't beat yourself up. We're a wonderful community and I would love to honor everyone's building.

@dcam86b14_ESO - @StabbityDoom is absolutely right here. You wouldn't believe how many times people told me that my builds are sh!@, because they are: lore unfriendly/too colourful/not colourful enough/overdone/too empty/dramatic/too static (sic!)/have too many coprses in them/just cra!$#/disgusting...

On the other hand, you will get plenty of support from the housing community. This crazy bunch is wating for you Show off!

Everybody has their own style, but we are all here to, ultimately, have fun!

StabbityDoom wrote: »

Finally, I'd like to point out that there's a community aspect to watching the tours together. We all get to know each other and chat together, i get excited when I see @doobat or @delicia log in, and we all just squee together at the cool stuff and enjoy things together. It's a great feeling to see everyone and have events like that together.

That sounds awesome! Is this on Twitch or a Discord channel?

Araneae6537 wrote: »

dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »

Tigerseye wrote: »

bayushi2005 wrote: »

StabbityDoom wrote: »

dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »

I like them but most of the time it makes me feel inadequate.

I then spend hours crying and ignoring ESO until my bf reminds me that my designs are cool. lol

OH MY GOD. Don't do this. Please. People have all different kinds of builds and I learn things from the simplest to the most ambitious. Please don't beat yourself up. We're a wonderful community and I would love to honor everyone's building.

@dcam86b14_ESO - @StabbityDoom is absolutely right here. You wouldn't believe how many times people told me that my builds are sh!@, because they are: lore unfriendly/too colourful/not colourful enough/overdone/too empty/dramatic/too static (sic!)/have too many coprses in them/just cra!$#/disgusting...

On the other hand, you will get plenty of support from the housing community. This crazy bunch is wating for you Show off!

Everybody has their own style, but we are all here to, ultimately, have fun!

Yeah, you will get the occasional person coming to your house, when you're there, looking around in silence, saying nothing positive, maybe criticising something and then leaving; or leaving without saying anything at all.

It's quite funny, really...

If I go to someone's house (especially uninvited), when they are there, I always try to say positive things (normally, there are plenty of things to say them about) because, otherwise, it's just rude, isn't it?

I would only make suggestions, politely, if they asked me about something specific, or had said they didn't know what to use in a certain situation, or in general, or something.

I would never go to someone else's house, look around in silence and then say something like; "Do you really need this many lights?" and leave, but some people will and do. xD

I am guilty of not saying anything or popping up in someone's house randomly and they think im a hacker lol

I can’t imagine doing that! I would at the least say ‘hello’ and depending on my mood, probably unnecessarily apologize for intruding!

Ok dont hate me but I have social anxiety bad. I show up and if someone is home, I will hide behind the nearest wall or pillar and teleport out lol

The EHT housing hub is good for this because it's all people who opened their home for you to visit

chuck-18_ESO wrote: »

Tigerseye wrote: »

chuck-18_ESO wrote: »

I reject the notion of "stealing" ideas entirely; this is an MMO, which is about a SHARED experience, made richer by the interactivity of the community.

I, for one, watch housing videos regularly for inspiration, and I'll "steal" someone's idea at the drop of a hat if I like it! I try to give it my own spin, of course, but there's zero shame in copying the brilliant ideas of someone else.

It really depends.

Stealing, or borrowing, someone's very specific (practical) idea and then, ideally, making it (visually) your own, is one thing.

Even if you don't manage to make it visually your own, as long as you do it purely for your own enjoyment and admit to anything you have borrowed, that is 100% fine, in my book.

At the other end of the scale, though, someone copying someone else's entire style and/or build and then entering it into a competition, especially one the original person has also entered, is (obviously) wrong.

That is not flattering; that is theft, pure and simple.

I mean, if a contest or something like that is involved, then obviously the entire criteria of the question is changed....

I have only ever seen two things I consider cheating and that's in over 6000 homes viewed. One was item for item exactly the same of a very unique concept, but when I told the original builder he said he didn't care. The other one was a contest situation, where the person visited my friend's home in the morning and that night had the same exact structure, which was pretty original and unique, in their home. They then varied from then on, but the structure was the same and my friend was very upset. *shrug* aside from that, I havent seen anybody steal, and I think it depends on what people feel about their builds being copied.

dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »

Tigerseye wrote: »

bayushi2005 wrote: »

StabbityDoom wrote: »

dcam86b14_ESO wrote: »

I like them but most of the time it makes me feel inadequate.

I then spend hours crying and ignoring ESO until my bf reminds me that my designs are cool. lol

OH MY GOD. Don't do this. Please. People have all different kinds of builds and I learn things from the simplest to the most ambitious. Please don't beat yourself up. We're a wonderful community and I would love to honor everyone's building.

@dcam86b14_ESO - @StabbityDoom is absolutely right here. You wouldn't believe how many times people told me that my builds are sh!@, because they are: lore unfriendly/too colourful/not colourful enough/overdone/too empty/dramatic/too static (sic!)/have too many coprses in them/just cra!$#/disgusting...

On the other hand, you will get plenty of support from the housing community. This crazy bunch is wating for you Show off!

Everybody has their own style, but we are all here to, ultimately, have fun!

Yeah, you will get the occasional person coming to your house, when you're there, looking around in silence, saying nothing positive, maybe criticising something and then leaving; or leaving without saying anything at all.

It's quite funny, really...

If I go to someone's house (especially uninvited), when they are there, I always try to say positive things (normally, there are plenty of things to say them about) because, otherwise, it's just rude, isn't it?

I would only make suggestions, politely, if they asked me about something specific, or had said they didn't know what to use in a certain situation, or in general, or something.

I would never go to someone else's house, look around in silence and then say something like; "Do you really need this many lights?" and leave, but some people will and do. xD

I am guilty of not saying anything or popping up in someone's house randomly and they think im a hacker lol

I can’t imagine doing that! I would at the least say ‘hello’ and depending on my mood, probably unnecessarily apologize for intruding!

Ok dont hate me but I have social anxiety bad. I show up and if someone is home, I will hide behind the nearest wall or pillar and teleport out lol

Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you feel bad and it honestly hadn’t occurred to me that someone might do so because of anxiety. I suffer from anxiety too but how it manifests and the sort of situations that trigger it and how one deals with it undoubtably differ from person to person. Do keep visiting — if you feel up to saying a quick something before porting away (no need to feel obligated to long conversation), I’m sure that would be appreciated, but I won’t judge if I do get a silent visitor!

I've seen a few, but most houses I see seem cluttered. Those judging seem to like this, while I actively like functional and (somewhat) minimal. So the videos become a turn off, while Ideas from others do seem great! I like idea sharing....

Something I don't know what to think about are house "geometry"/structure redesigns... I've seen this a couple of times and in some ways it is neat but in other ways it makes the house irrelevant... I wish there were a couple more "blank slates" (like the Coldharbour Estate) for people wanting to do total re designs.

All these well-thought-out responses are swaying my aversion. I almost scrapped this post but I am glad I went ahead with it.

I am also very happy that I joined the forums because the housing community is so supportive. I was letting a bad in-game experience color my thoughts on all of this.

Thanks, everyone

P.S. @Araneae6537 - While in school, a lot of the assignments were to "Copy the Masters". It's a great exercise to learn new techniques but I would never put the pieces in my portfolio for obvious reasons. This was my thought process anyway

The way I look at it, is this is a great place to view and share what I would consider to be pieces of art.

I love to create, but I also love to view work done by others. There is so much talent in this community.

I definitely appreciate the creativity and style from each and every one here.

To those amazing streamers who take us tours, such as @JHartEllis and @StabbityDoom and so many others, I thank you for your time and energy you put into it! 🥂