PTS Update 30 - Feedback Thread for Housing & Furnishings

ZOS_GinaBruno · April 2021

This is the official feedback thread for the new houses and furnishings. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:

What are your general thoughts on new houses?
What do you think of the new furnishings?
Do you have any other general feedback?

phantasmalD · April 2021

Pantherfang Chapel is humongous, daaayum. Usually not a fan of huge houses but this one I like, pretty cool concept, it's a very well made fort. As for feedback:
- I think the crypt is missing the crypt part. Like I think there should be a side chamber(s) down near the boat where stone coffins would/could be placed if it was used as a crypt. As it stands it's just a narrow, nearly unusable waterway
- The windows of the chapel should feature the Eight Divines more prominently and use the style that was used in Anvil/Kvatch. Or at least give us those kind of windows as furnitures.

Water's Edge is also pretty cool, love the twin house aesthetics, but it's really clunky to navigate. When you port in you default to the north entrance and so you need to go up the stairs, out to the balcony and down the stairs to get to the other entrance hall. It would be neat if the entry point was a more neutral point, at least when you teleport in instead of using the doors.

A good place to put the player is on the balcony overlooking the bridge, that would provide equal access to both apartments.

thegreatme · April 2021

What are your general thoughts on new houses?

Pilgrim's Rest -- Everything we expect of a new zone's starter house

Water's Edge -- I like this quaint little house! Something about the layout though is a little... off? I don't know what would fix it though or that the ZoS team would even want to change it anyway. Its just a little bit awkward in a way that's mildly off-putting somehow but I can't quite put my finger on exactly what it is. It just doesn't feel entirely "right" running through it. I think maybe its just the general disconnect between rooms maybe? The outdoor deck though is by far the best part of this house. Very nice.

Pantherfang Chapel -- This is one of those "Oh no, I just spent a ton of money on a big house already" houses! Everything about this house (almost everything, anyway) is wonderful! Perfect! Sublime! I love every corner of this place. They really knocked it out of the park with this one.......... except, this house has the same problem as a lot of the other recent crown store houses. And that's size. Its so astronomically, stupidly huge. There's no possible way to properly furnish this entire place in a satisfying way. Its a gorgeous house, but luckily for my wallet, far, far too large to be able to decorate it happily. The design is absolutely amazing, but the furnishing limit really kills the excitement.

What do you think of the new furnishings?

A lot of them are neat and have a beautiful style, but for whatever reason none of the new furnishings can be previewed in the Purchase tab. They're simply not in the listings. At all. I'll give a better opinion when this is fixed. But I DO think this should be included in the furnishing options:

TeruKisuke · April 2021

I like what I see so far—like there are finally teacups! A new Grand Bookcase, some nice tapestries, an elaborate wall display shelf, etc etc—but it’s hard to tell what all the furnishings are because we cannot preview them in editor. Editor Preview makes it easier to get a good idea of what the selection is.

Epona222 · April 2021

Water's Edge is just lovely - and 300/600 slots feels fine for it - going to be a pleasant change to decorate a house that isn't massive with a way too small number of slots available.

Spell-Slinger · April 2021

Patherfang Chapel
I love that we get to have our own castle and chapel. The overall aesthetic of the place is beautiful.
But come on. PLEASE, for the love of all that is holy ZOS, this house is WAY too big for the slot limit! Why do you keep doing this? How many times does this have to be said? Do you actually want to pull as much attention as possible to how your engine isn't able to handle more slots? Make it smaller.

Furthermore, please make the entrance to the house the actual main gate instead of the rather unimpressive vault at the bottom that makes you pop out either in the crypts of in the sewers. If I buy a castle, I want to arrive to an impressive courtyard, not plop out of the sewers.

Water's Edge
This house is beautiful, and very cosy. I'm not too sure about the layout - it seems a bit unintuitive and strange - but I'm sure I can work with it. Almost certainly buying this one.

Furnishings
So far I haven't had the time to look at them in too much detail, since it's a bit awkward without having easy access to them in the furnishing editor. However, a few things that come to mind.
- The Leyawiin Palisade is AMAZING, I love it to bits. I love how it's so accessible too, being an ordinary home goods item.
- It's great to have stacks of plates and stacks of laundry now - that will help us save slots. Good time to introduce a laundry basket? Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I couldn't actually find that stacked plate as just the single plate - it was always part of something else, like a meal, or cutlery or whatever. It'd be nice to also have just the single plate.

CaffeinatedMayhem · April 2021

What are your general thoughts on new houses?

Overall very nice!

Waters Edge - love the concept, and the outdoor patio and loft! The detailing inside is awesome - fresco walls, carvings on the stairs. All goes very nicely with the furnishing style (smashup of ancient Greek and Roman, I see what you did there)

Pantherfang - 3 letters - O.M.G. I'd add a 4th but I'd get banned again. Seriously awesome. My only nitpick is the marketing - there is no functioning shrine of Mara as implied. Otherwise that chapel is PERFECT! Love it. Love the keep/fortress too! Battlements to play hide and seek on, the courtyard is lovely and all terraced/different levels. Love the staircases and SEWERS. Yes, the sewers/crypt are great! To the housing team I say CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. I will decorate this place with 700 items and it will be glorious. Maybe. I'll try anyway. Other nitpick I know won't happen... the portcullis in the courtyard, that would obviously go outside to the zone, I wish we could use that instead of always having to run back to the boat. I feel the same way about the strange crypt entrance to Hakvild's.

What do you think of the new furnishings?

Many of them feel exactly like museum pieces I've seen - which is great! I'm not a fan of that style, BUT - I'm glad to see more diversity! Also, THANK YOU for a silver brazier! I don't like gold/copper furnishings, so being able to use a silver one is nice!
Overall - good selection of clutter/lived in. SOCKS AND PANTS! PILE OF LAUNDRY! HAMPERS! Window boxes with flowers and DIRT. These are great for making homes more lived in! A "dirty" dish with silverware piled in! A stack of plates for cupboards! The new food looks amazing, and thank you for such diversity! (all the new textures are AMAZING, looks great)

Deadlands style - meh? Great for people who run around in Dremora Kyn polymoprhs, but not for me. The one achievement light looks nice, I would use it in an Ayleid theme.

Do you have any other general feedback?

Please include new furnishings in the editor purchase tab. Learning the provided template plans was nice, but difficult (took 3 openings of the container) and I still have no idea which furnishings may be crowns only.

Inert Oblivion gate for trial complete... um, well it is a thing. Sigh. Why couldn't the nice boat from vKA have been for normal?

TeruKisuke · April 2021

My thoughts on the houses:

These houses are what I wanted from housing when I first started this game. My main I roleplayed an Arkay Priestess, but there weren’t any houses that I could really roleplay that in, and it felt like we kept getting a normal or Daedric theme for every house and furnishing, which the latter kinda went against my character. I even bought Wraithhome and I thought transforming it to be “pretty” would be the only way to achieve a cathedral of some sort.

And now we have Pantherfang Chapel. Thoughts:

Everything is very lovely, and it includes all the features I want in a house. There’s a chapel that’s not overwhelmingly big, not overwhelmingly small either, it’s just... perfect. The actual “crypt” is a little small since it’s just a hook-right and then straight to a mote, though not that I would use it to store bodies or anything, just something of note. I like the entrance and how you could go outside into the sea if wanted, and it includes a boat load-door. And I’ve been wanting more homes with walkable spiral staircases for years which the fort provides. The size of the fort itself is a little overwhelming admittedly, as it has a lot of rooms and like four floors, but I could probably block off some rooms. I also like how there are a lot of alcoves in the walls, but they aren’t like the Psijic Villa where you feel obligated to fill them; they could blend in as an architectural feature, or be brought to life with displays.

Water’s Edge:

I really like this home and for me it’s a must-have. I really like this antique aesthetic and the wooden floor tiles are really nice, and I hope the two fireplaces will be craftable furnishings eventually. I actually like the size of the rooms, as they’re a modest size and not overwhelming given how many floors there are as well as technically two buildings (which was a nice surprise). The walls are interesting to look at too; some of the designs overlap the doors, which is an interesting touch. Love the balcony, great view, the doors are awesome-looking, and the many rooms give flexibility but if I feel overwhelmed then I can block one building off (though personally the second building I like more because the fireplaces.)

Overall, I think you guys outdid yourselves with the houses, thank you.

Furnishings:

It’s hard to tell due to lack of editor, but I will comment on what I have seen. Keep in mind I might have missed some.

Edit: They were hiding in inventory pouches, my bad. I will edit out what I thought was missing or on my wishlist.

I like the window boxes! I appreciate the variety. They look more homey than the white stone Alinor ones. It made them hard to fit in with rustic homes.

The cabinets are really nice and ornate. They have that tinge of the Elsweyr aesthetic (probably reskinned assets) mixed with some slight bits of Vvardenfell, as if some of these furnishings are what Vvardenfell’s should have been. Some of the chairs and benches are very curvy, making them seem very specific and not very general though, but I suppose the “sturdy” variants make up for this a bit. I appreciate more ornate furnishings as that is what gets me hooked to furniture and sometimes I will make structures out of these weird pretty and blocky stuff, so flexibility is what I take note of.

The teacups are lovely! It’s strange and disappointing that there’s no matching teapot and tray to complete the set... I’ve been wanting teacups for a long time, so I am excited on one front and longing on another. The silverware looks amazing. I appreciate the new table lamps/candles to adorn a dining table. It is also strange that there is no new clustered food items considering we have a second new painting of food (which is awesome looking), and it would’ve been nice to get a Roman-style bowl of fruit.

The tapestries and variants are very beautiful. Honestly I wish the rugs had mirrored their splashes of color a bit, as I really like the mossy greens, turquoise, and purple of the tapestries, but it is what it is.

I don’t normally like Daedric style much, but the achievement furnishings are actually kinda cool. I will see what I can do with them.

Grand bookcases! GRAND bookcases! The Alinor bookcase is a favorite of mine because it covers a lot of area, can be sunken down to be a counter, use the back as a wood wall, use the detail-work for stuff, or in general make things. Now we have another one! Thank you!

One of my favorite things is this new display shelf. It’s very pretty. Definitely catches my eye.

Wishlist:
(I rushed back online to find pictures. Wooden stairs are too important to wait.)

I’d have to run around more, but there are some wooden stairs in the inn, complete with bannisters. When the Blackwood structural furnishings come out, please consider including them, I beg you. ;_; I don’t have pictures on me but I would die if I got them.

There are also rectangular matching wood pillars inside buildings with the ornate Leyawiin carvings.... please.

These brick walls. They are very nice and indoorsy, would be nice to have.

I didn’t see the elaborate cross-shaped streetlight in the two homes, and we don’t have access to editor currently so I don’t know if it’s within Blackwood’s roster of furniture... Please please please!

The flower vines from Water’s Edge balcony, pretty please! Also the lattice-work?

Any sort of wooden structural thing from these home interiors would be absolutely awesome... Please more indoorsy wooden structure stuff! Water’s Edge wood tile floors, for instance... The plaster walls to replace the outdated Breton Stall backs lots of people use sometimes... That curved stone bridge in Pantherfang Chapel.

Also, the doors in both Water’s Edge and Pantherfang. They are amazing-looking. The chapel doors AND the fort doors.

Ratzkifal · April 2021

Pantherfang Chapel is an amazing home!
Even more so because it has fully functional machicolations which is a detail that many people get wrong.
It has a secret entrance by water to get supplies in during a longer siege, which is accurate as many castles did have those - even though here it is not all that secret, but it is very defensible, so that is perfectly fine!

I do have some gripes with it though.

The battlements are not all accessible. There is no point in having battlements if you cannot get on top of them! Most battlements are walkable in this house with no invisible barriers cutting you off, which is good, but that you are not able to get from one to the next is a bit silly. Don't get me wrong, putting a gate between them so that if one battlement is taken by the enemy the others are still safe is smart and realistic and has been done historically, but here we have battlements with no access at all. That is silly and also kind of sad for anyone wanting to put their PvP ballista furniture all over those battlements and go from one to the next without have makeshift ladders everywhere.
Crennelations. While the crennelations are all good and functional (with one exception), in some areas it would make more sense to have crennelations on both sides of the battlements rather than just on one side. Otherwise it would be possible for hypothetical intruders to shoot the guards on the battlements due to the lack of cover towards the inner side of the wall. This is especially true for all these protruding battlements that are technically on the outside!
The Gatehouse does not work. Yes, I know it connects to a zone that isn't even in the game yet, but we should at least be able to exit the house through the gate as well and be brought back to the entrance or perhaps to Shadowfen. Once the zone this gate leads to gets added to the game, please do not forget to make this gate connect Blackwood to that zone! The gatehouse and its battlements also suffer from the issue of not being accessible just like many of the other battlements.

bluebird · April 2021

@CaffeinatedMayhem The house doesn't need a functioning Shrine of Mara, because you can use the Pledge of Mara inside the house anywhere.

A player and me just zoned in, clicked the Pledge of Mara from my inventory, and got married next to the boat in the crypt lol. Of course, the appeal is that probably that players can build any sort of wedding venue inside the home and it will work independently from shrines. You can always add the luxury furnishing Mara sigil to the chapel though!

tsaescishoeshiner · April 2021

Pantherfang Chapel

Feedback: I wish this house used new Blackwood music! The house currently uses older game music that so many houses use, but using new music from the Blackwood soundtrack would make the house more unique, more thematic, and worth the Crowns.

That's the only change I'd request. Otherwise, this is a beautiful house with attractive textures, interesting and diverse terrain, and a surprising lack of invisible walls--you can go all along the ramparts and down to the water!

But using new Blackwood music would be awesome and fitting!

TeruKisuke · April 2021

Something I forgot to mention in my previous feedback: Mannequins. I remember seeing some mannequins in (I think) a clothing store in Blackwood, as it was in footage in a video. I haven’t gotten back online to find its location, but it leads me back to a critical question:

Where are the mannequin furnishings?

We do not have access to viewing crown-only furnishings so far, so it’s possible they could be lurking. Or, the more likely answer historically, they still aren’t a furnishing yet... These as well as weapon displays are constantly requested on the housing side of forums, and are constantly teased assets seen in the game, but we still do not have them.

I appreciate the windowbox planters, the little things like stacks of plates, clothes and laundry, Divines stained glass windows, a Divines chapel house. It shows that you guys listen to what we want. But there are still some of the most commonly requested items still not available to us after several years. I’m not outraged, just kinda disappointed, y’know? Armor and weapon displays seem logical considering that our characters are adventurers with gear and weapons. Naturally we’d want to keep them somewhere in our homes, like an armory of some sort... or just a pretend armory with a handful of weapon-shaped assets.

We’re getting closer each year to getting the basics and each time it happens, it’s awesome. But these handful of things seem blatant and missing.

Jayne_Doe · April 2021

Absolutely love Water's Edge! I like the layout of the house and the detail of the floors and walls are amazing.

I haven't checked out Pantherfang yet, and from what I've read, I think I'll like it, but of course, won't be buying it. I have little interest in decorating overly large homes - they're just not my cup of flin. Way too large and not actually homes.

So, I'll stick with Water's Edge, which is more my size and taste (a good-sized house that would actually be used as a home).

Can't wait to peruse all the new furnishings in the editor. They are definitely missed at this point. I'll need to check out the home goods and achievement furnishers. But what I've seen of the furnishings "out in the wild" they are beautifully detailed. Even the sturdy line is nice looking.

Enemoriana · April 2021

Pantherfang Chapel is great. Fort, chapel, waterfalls... Even crypt-that-is-not-really-crypt is... well, not "good', but ok.

But.

It is terribly, insanely HUGE.
With only 700 slots.

I can decorate only yard and chapel with 700 slots. And fort separately with another 700 - and even this may be not enough to make it look normally filled. How it is expected to make something proper with 700 for all of this?

myskyrim26 · April 2021

What are your general thoughts on new houses?

Both houses have a lot of loading screens.

The Chapel is dark, as 99% of houses. I already used 20 Clockwork Illuminators to make the Fort look good... And see that I need a lot more! 40? 60? 100?... Why are all the houses so dark?!

What do you think of the new furnishings?

I love wardrobes, beds, bookcases, shelves, rugs and tapestries.
Awesome food.
Awesome paintings.
But... slightly restyled and reskinned Elsweyr, Vvardenfell and Summerset furniture?! Why? I understand that lorewise Imperial fashion is affected by neighbouring provinces... But why that much?

Do you have any other general feedback?

No mannequins.
No weapon racks.
No invisible light sources.
No normal "white" light - not blue or yellow.

Is there any good reason for not giving us these things for years?

Rugby_hook · April 2021

I LOVE the Pantherfang Cathedral, but the entrance to it is extremely underwhelming & not intuitive to navigate. Please change the spawn point to the courtyard or somewhere where you can quickly and easily see the magnitude and beauty of this place. I imagine if I make this my primary, people would be whispering me all the time trying to figure out how to get to the main place. I would love for the crypt to be an actual crypt (something like the catacombs in summerset in the start of that zone quest would be amazing), but assuming the visual won't change, maybe change the title of that area of the house from crypt. I was expecting a very different place when i entered it only to find out I was back at the entrance.

phantasmalD · April 2021

Am I the only one who loves the entrance of Pantherfang? Prob my favourite detail about the house, I love these kinda secret underground castle docks.

It prob helped that it was late night in the game when I explored the fort, so it was easy to immerse myself in the idea of secretly being ferried across the water to sneak into the castle.

CaffeinatedMayhem · April 2021

bluebird wrote: »

@CaffeinatedMayhem The house doesn't need a functioning Shrine of Mara, because you can use the Pledge of Mara inside the house anywhere. A player and me just zoned in, clicked the Pledge of Mara from my inventory, and got married next to the boat in the crypt lol. Of course, the appeal is that probably that players can build any sort of wedding venue inside the home and it will work independently from shrines. You can always add the luxury furnishing Mara sigil to the chapel though!

I realize this, and I wasn't saying it was needed. I was taking issue with the implication of the marketing. Several other guild members had the same idea. When I streamed PTS yesterday, chat was asking if the chapel was dedicated to a specific aedra. So again, my nitpick is with MARKETING not the concept of how to pledge to mara.

Zypheran · April 2021

The new furnishings haven't been uploaded to PTS crown store yet so very difficult to test them out.
But they look great in preview.
No structural items again I see with the Chapter dlc. Pity, the architecture is the nicest yet... I hope these are added later. We've had so many crumbly structural items, I'm almost drooling at the potential for some of these new structural items.
As for the houses... no feedback... sorry... no point!!
It's been said a hundred times across a hundred threads.... you don't listen☹

Elsonso · April 2021

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

This is the official feedback thread for the new houses and furnishings. Specific feedback that the team is looking for includes the following:
What are your general thoughts on new houses?

Do you have any other general feedback?

Water's Edge... Nice place, but those balconies just remind me that it isn't really part of Leyawiin. Couldn't you at least have a few NPCs milling about down there on the street? From a decorating perspective... too many doors.

Pantherfang Chapel ... Very impressive, and totally inappropriate for a house. It's too large! It has a nice wayshrine out side, but there are two massive buildings, with multiple levels in the one, and a large outside area. You really expect people to be able to work within the item limit?

I am in agreement with those on the forum that think that ZOS should focus on smaller housing. I would rather see an extra couple smaller houses than a single large one.

Edit: Oh, and where does that road go? We can't get out that exit, but there is a road leading off map. Will this be accessible from some future zone to the north, say around 2027?

Leyawiin Public Housing... Not really convenient in the Inn, but I suppose 2nd floor is better than 3rd, right? Otherwise, not much to say. It's standard ESO public housing.1

Saucy_Jack · April 2021

The Soiled Tapestry leads are bugged; putting this here since I'm assuming it's a furnishing.

The first one I found, picked up, got the lead, excavated as normal. The second one I found, I got NO lead, but instead around 20 gold. That's it. Relogging, complete restarts - nothing seems to fix the second lead to where I can pick it up actually GET the lead.

MaisonNaevius · April 2021

At Fort Redman .. I discovered the new furniture of the palisades .. Excellent! But the towers .. It's a shame that we can't go up ..

And then ... Why are the tents on site not the imperial tents? It surprised me all the more so as I think that our chances of obtaining the other variants are now nil.

anadandy · April 2021

Whatever the lights are on the second floor of Water's Edge - please make more lights like this. They have great room coverage, aren't too harsh and light up everything so nicely.

ExoY · April 2021

I think it is a really nice idea that you can place your companion as a house guest.

But it is very sad that as a house guest they all look the same.

It would be awesome if the outfit people create for their companion would also be applied to the house guest model.

TeruKisuke · April 2021

phantasmalD wrote: »

Am I the only one who loves the entrance of Pantherfang? Prob my favourite detail about the house, I love these kinda secret underground castle docks.

It prob helped that it was late night in the game when I explored the fort, so it was easy to immerse myself in the idea of secretly being ferried across the water to sneak into the castle.

No, you’re not the only one. I actually really like it, and I think the boat is a far more inspired load door than a regular door, aaand honestly it feels disorienting when I load into an interior instead of outdoors when initially moving my camera. I’m not motion sick or anything, it’s a minor issue, but loading into an area against a door or wall has always been weird and cramped to me.

The crypt also has immediate access to every area, so that helps. I like the thought of atmospheric lighting down there too, and the thought of building past the crypt outside. Some people might make custom stuff out there.

Ariordin · April 2021

Once again you Dev's have produced two fascinating, tantalizing houses for us to explore possibilities with. It certainly seems like you're pushing the boundary on what size you can get away with in creating such a massive fortress in Pantherfang Chapel. I applaud you for that. As I know has been said many times now please consider raising the 700 furnishing cap. I recently filled the Psijic Villa to its 700 cap and there are still large portions of the house that feel to empty. I imagine this new fortress will be even harder to fill without leaving empty rooms.

That said, the true cap that I struggle with is the Special Collectibles. With the introduction of companions sharing their very very limited slot count with pets, mounts, and banker/merchant; its basically impossible to make any of the larger houses feel lived in/populated. Even raising the cap by 2-4 would be EXTREMELY welcome. While collectable furnishings and standard furnishings have a high enough cap to allow you to fill out and explore any house, the special collectibles categorary being capped at 10 even for these massive houses creates really difficult design decisions that are just plain not fun to resolve. Please please please reevaluate how many of these we can place in a house.

Lovely work on Blackwood though! Keep it up!

NoxiousBlight · April 2021

Pantherfang Chapel is the best house every produced. I was absolutely floored with how great it was. Give my compliments to the team who made it.

One suggestion: The entrance point to the house feels janky. I wish we entered through the courtyard. Such a beautiful home with big beautiful gates and we enter through... a dingy boat in the basement. Feels kinda lame.

Second, I know this is brought up constantly, but how in tarnation do you expect me to be able to furnish that place with only 700 slots? Please, please, please reevaluate the housing slots. I need double that for this mansion.

Arunei · April 2021

@ZOS_GinaBruno Maybe you can pass on to the devs that they REALLY need to stop making such massive houses if we aren't going to be given a workable number of furnishing slots for them. What's the point of making houses with so much space of most people are blocking off huge portions and not using it? Stop making these houses so big for the sake of a big price tag, it's frustrating.

Also when are we going to get more small and medium houses to buy with gold?

Enemoriana · April 2021

Found that in my first visit I explored even not everything. There is soooooo much water space! Mostly with fish, but that doesn't matter. And some lovely places outside walls.

This house could be best ever appeared in game, but... slots. Insanely huge house with insanely small amount of slots.

Snowfaeriewings · April 2021

Pantherfang Chapel - It is Beautiful! The courtyard is just fantastic and how far our and up in places you can build. I LOVE it!

BUT the 2 big Cons:

House Size vs Furnishing allotment..
and even larger on my Dislike list.. The ENTRANCE!

i REALLLY Wish the entrance was the Courtyard because THAT Is where I would want to focus my build. There is even a bridge leading to the Courtyard, making it the ideal spot!
The problem with the current entrance (While its cute and different) is that visitors to your house have to go up THRU the chapel or the fort both of which are a winding process.. (Unlike say stillwater lake where I wish the inside wasn't there but at least its a straight shot to the outside and quick.)
So because of this I cannot choose to JUST use the outdoors without visitors trying to figure out how to get to the decorated portion.... OR decorating the insides of the other buildings and taking away from the amount of slots I would have for that fabulous courtyard!
So this one is a really tough one based solely on the entrance location....

Cireous · April 2021

I find the furnishing slot complaints about the Chapel to be strange. If you really look at it, there isn't that much indoor space at all to decorate. I thought it a great example of how to make a seemingly enormous house compact enough for the furnishing limits to make sense.