Gratz winners!
Looks amazing.
I just wish I could visit these homes.

Housing is probably the most fun I have in the game and I entered knowing there was no way in heck I would win- I was just hoping people would drop by and enjoy my pixel painting. Why I can understand that there was a disconnect on the inn room maybe just point it out and next time they can polish up the rules. This was the first time they did this...and honestly I would not be surprised if they didn't do it again with all the tears and drama.

Honestly folks, smile, golf-clap and move on. Next time you can try some of what caught the judging eye as well. No puppies or kittens were harmed in this fun community event.

Please go back to your regularly scheduled program and hopefully they will do another in the future. I enjoyed it! Thanks for casting a nod at the housing fanatics of the game

It's really amazing how many consoles players won! You guys did an amazing job! 🎉

Do you plan on uploading a video tour of your houses on YouTube? As a PC player I would love to see the whole thing but can't really do a house tour 🏡

I just want to say, I’ve been to Delicately’s home. It’s quite complex. It’s not just a screenshot home. It deserves its due. Without seeing it in person, I don’t see how anyone could make a judgement otherwise or assume there is no “skill” or artistry involved. Furthermore, there was no advantage in what was achieved. There is much skill in cobbling and it’s not an easy task. I wouldn’t say anything in housing is an easy task.
On a different note, I believe this was the first competition from ESO that I’ve seen that had a variety of winners, not just platforms, but styles. I was very happy to see that. I think a lot of the fuss takes away from the winners and the joy of celebration those who have the guts to inspire us.

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

Massive congratulations to all the winners! I'd have entered my 'inn room with spider pet and crate' if I'd remembered in time, and wiped the floor with you all

As to the arguments about the contest as a whole, firstly I'd like to say that I am aquainted with at least one of the judges and I can categorically state that they would absolutely not favour 'friends' or their 'clique' they would simply not have been asked to judge the contest if they were like this and as they are not here to defend themselves these accusations are bang out of order.

Secondly there was nothing in the rules to state that facades, cobbles or any other type of build were against the rules. Granted there is an issue with that one inn room, but I expect this is down to a misunderstanding rather than some nefarious conspiracy. The judges had well over a thousand houses to visit and I suspect that the assumption would have been that the inn room was fine as it has been accepted into the contest in the first place.

PC users do have access to EHT (god knows how it works, I could never figure it out) but the fact that at least half of the winners are console players seems to demonstrate that that is not an automatic advantage. Having said that, I doubt anyone would have a problem with future contests being segregated by platform.

The idea that every house should be 'functional' with crafting stations etc is odd. Basically then every house would be the same and how would you fit that all into an inn rooom?? I have my main home which is my crafting and storage hub, but for contests I would use a different house and design it according to the theme and rules of the contest otherwise it would be kind of like turning up for a fancy dress contest in jeans and a t-shirt and getting annoyed because other people have spent weeks making clever outfits.

Imo it was a fun little competition that gave everyone a chance to show off their favorite house, and yes most of us aren't going to stand a chance against the housingmancers but it is what is, it's just not that deep. And each time ZoS do something fun like this and people are negative about it means they just wont bother in the future. So maybe we should just take the L and move on (as the kids would say)

Firstly: thank you very much for the warm words
And secondly i have huge respect for both community judges for staying out of this and i totally agree with you, however i have a feeling a certain someone will not...

Wolfkeks wrote: »

It's really amazing how many consoles players won! You guys did an amazing job! 🎉

Do you plan on uploading a video tour of your houses on YouTube? As a PC player I would love to see the whole thing but can't really do a house tour 🏡

I could try to ask jhart for the xbox winners, it might be worth the time and if it isnt enough he could also include their entries of the other categories that didnt win

Pixiepumpkin wrote: »

[snip]

I visited that claim in Landmark several times (I think we even chatted), and to be honest, it served as a positive reinforcement as I developed my own building "style" (such as it is). As guildmates have said, my builds may not be the most complex, but when they walk in, the home feels like someone actually lives or works there rather than just empty storefront. While I may not be a master decorator, I do like to create spaces which feel real.

Sorry, none of that was really pertinent to the conversation. Just wanted to comment with a sideways thanks for the Landmark build.

[edited to remove quote]

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

As to the arguments about the contest as a whole, firstly I'd like to say that I am aquainted with at least one of the judges and I can categorically state that they would absolutely not favour 'friends' or their 'clique' they would simply not have been asked to judge the contest if they were like this and as they are not here to defend themselves these accusations are bang out of order.

There is a winner in that group that has had personal correspondance with one of the judges on multiple occasions. They are simply known to that judge (and possibly 2 of the judges).

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

Secondly there was nothing in the rules to state that facades, cobbles or any other type of build were against the rules. Granted there is an issue with that one inn room, but I expect this is down to a misunderstanding rather than some nefarious conspiracy. The judges had well over a thousand houses to visit and I suspect that the assumption would have been that the inn room was fine as it has been accepted into the contest in the first place.

1. Cobbling a facade is completely different than fleshing out a full build/home. Unless this was taken into account (which it was not) then facade building has a massive advantage over actually decorating a full build. I should not have to spell this out, but being able to use 700 items for a facade, GREATLY increasing details has a greater advantage over abuild where items are placed through the entire home, mostly of which will not be seen in a screenshot.
2. If they actually visited the homes, they would have known before they even entered that the RAVENHURST was not an inn. You can not honestly tell me that two popular ESO home builders and or the 2 devs judging did not know that RAVENHURST was not an Inn. its right there in the name when you port to it.

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

PC users do have access to EHT (god knows how it works, I could never figure it out) but the fact that at least half of the winners are console players seems to demonstrate that that is not an automatic advantage. Having said that, I doubt anyone would have a problem with future contests being segregated by platform.

I'd rather that EHT be baked into the game for everyone to use it, or be restricted from being used in contests. The developer works for ZOS, they can add a script or something that gives indication the addon has been used to create in game.

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

The idea that every house should be 'functional' with crafting stations etc is odd. Basically then every house would be the same and how would you fit that all into an inn rooom?? I have my main home which is my crafting and storage hub, but for contests I would use a different house and design it according to the theme and rules of the contest otherwise it would be kind of like turning up for a fancy dress contest in jeans and a t-shirt and getting annoyed because other people have spent weeks making clever outfits.

1. I never stated that every house should have every crafting table. What I said is that a home should be functional. If you actually read my replies without a bias against me in the first place, you'd have seen that I specifically called out assistants for inn roomes. My inn romes are completely decorated, and have function.If I can do it, surely you can.
2. No, every house would not be the same, that is an asinine statement. Every home I decorate in game has crafting stations, assistants, etc to have some form of function when visited. My wife does the same. We decorate the crafting stations into the build. It makes for functional and decorative useable space. Funnily enough none of our homes, not a one of them, even when using the same home are "basically the same". By your logic, every home without a crafting station is "basically the same".

Ragged_Claw wrote: »

Imo it was a fun little competition that gave everyone a chance to show off their favorite house, and yes most of us aren't going to stand a chance against the housingmancers but it is what is, it's just not that deep. And each time ZoS do something fun like this and people are negative about it means they just wont bother in the future. So maybe we should just take the L and move on (as the kids would say)

1. I have seen homes in game, submitted to the contest that absolutely smoke the "housemancers" in a myriad of ways. Greater use of color balance, positive and negative space, better design for pathing and the player 3rd person camera. Real critaria that art is judged by, not just "its loud and flashy".
2. You conflate problems that exist inside of this contest and me pointing them out with "negativity" which is far from the truth. I see issues that need addressing. They will not be considered or addressed if they are not brought up, no "negativity" need apply.

liliub17_ESO wrote: »

Pixiepumpkin wrote: »

[snip]

I visited that claim in Landmark several times (I think we even chatted), and to be honest, it served as a positive reinforcement as I developed my own building "style" (such as it is). As guildmates have said, my builds may not be the most complex, but when they walk in, the home feels like someone actually lives or works there rather than just empty storefront. While I may not be a master decorator, I do like to create spaces which feel real.

Sorry, none of that was really pertinent to the conversation. Just wanted to comment with a sideways thanks for the Landmark build.

[edited to remove quote]

That is amazing @liliub17_ESO !
I always hoped that things I made had a positive and lasting impact, especially when helping others to flesh out their builds. It's the core reason I have made so many things for many communities. If you have any pics of your builds, PM me with screenshots.

And I love that your guild mates give you merit for not making the most "complex" builds, but when they walk in it feels like its lived in, and like you say "not some empty storefront" (which is what facade building is and why I detest it).

I can remember going to Knotts Berry Farm in the 70's and Disneyland in Aneheim and walking past painted on doors or looking through tinted windows and there was no store front behind them. They were fake. Initially cool and wonderous, but once I saw they were fake, they lost their appeal. Its not to dissimilar from the magic of the Wizard of OZ, only to find out it was just a man and a machine. There was nothing to them. This experience shaped my mindset and approach to 3D art.

My feeling is, if you see a window or a door, they should take you someplace. There should be something there to discover, even if its just closet witih a hanging cloak. Even in ESO it drives me nuts (not the pirate joke) to have doors and windows that we can not access in game, much less our own properties. I have seen others share the same sentiment, so I am not anomylous in this regard.

There is just something so insanely cooler to a build that feels like an actual, real place, than a fake facade. Its because the facade will lose its appeal once the viewer learns it serves no purpose other than to look interesting and take up space.

The Universal lot in Hollywood is the same. So many fake buildings made for sets. I can understand why in this sense and for a still frame motion video/picture, it works. But inside an interactive environment, these kinds of things quickly lose their appeal.

Anyway, if it was me that made a lasting impression on you, I am eternally humbled. If it was someone else, then I am glad you had the experience as it helped to shape your work into something memorable.

BahometZ wrote: »

It may be unpopular but I don't think in future the parameters should be any further restricted. I know there was some open-endedness in the rules, questions were asked, ambiguities were raised. But if every possibility and intricacy had to be catered to we'd end up with a forty page contract. And the effort of creating and policing it would hardly be worth zenimax's time and effort.

A contest simply needs to specify that the build can be a facade, or must be a fully functional home (as intended in game as evidence of the myriad of interactive furnishing items available). Then other requirments like "inn", "garden" etc then attached.

BahometZ wrote: »

The playerbase could stand to be more understanding of the adjudications, one disputed entry is not a catastrophe. The clear and obvious subjectivity of the competition should signal that tastes may differ.

I would ask folks to understand that creating a facade allows for more intricacy vs someone who is building out an entire home or most of it with the limited furnishing slots available.

BahometZ wrote: »

Having said that I would place some blame on the judges for not considering the spirit of the competition and awarding a house that clearly blew past the limitations.

This is my primary issue as detailed in my second paragraph above. Facade building allows for greater detail. And based on every home I have seen that won vs the homes I have seen in game....there was a clear bias towards the "facade" type of build.

BahometZ wrote: »

A simple solution would be to award an additional runner-up that is clearly within the structured limits. It's a goodwill gesture that no one could argue against. Maybe pick one that has a crafting station in it ;]

Agreed. The judges have a clear bias towards their style of building. I would argue that they should have doubled the rewards and then judged actual decorated homes, not facades or "building for a screenshot".

I actually am surprised that facades were allowed, I had understood the contest otherwise. I think one of the issues could be solved by greatly expanding furniture space, so that full home builders can work with depth and detail, and bring the homes and their stories to life.

Mother_Goose wrote: »

Hey! You! Come post your houses here so I can see them all! https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/679769/show-us-your-welcome-home-contest-entry#latest

hi it's sadly not possible to comment on that thread. unsure why the Housing forum has that problem

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Everyone has the same 700 slot item limit. People who use all 700 for the front lack item space too or it would be fully functional and like that.

This idea that some builds have more slots is utterly false. It is designed to try enforce personal taste on contests and nothing more.

If anything there should be a special runner up in each category for players who stuck to no ESO+ limits. Because that's who actually has less slots to work with. But an official contest would not do that for obvious reasons.

A build that has access to 700 slots that is made as a facade, the front of a building, no interior, no side walls, no back walls, no need to take in considerations for clipping, no crafting stations, nothing but a view to pascify a screenshot is not even remotely the same as a build that must spread those 700 slots out into spaces that can not be captured in a single screenshot. Those builds MUST be visited to be fully appreciated and I seriously doubt any of the builds were visited in person due to the fact that they gave an award to a 200 slot home that was supposed to be a 15/30 slot Inn. The very nature of not porting to Ravenhurst gives that away.

And yet you can count more than 30 furnishing items in the offending home that is clearly not an inn, in the inn category.

They also said they'd need to visit to verify if the creation was the person who submitted it. I assume to weed out cheaters.