Can we get some new house designs please?

[cazador]

Like classic houses / static designs

Player created just they way they are setup or atleast bigger customizable ones 19x19 to 24x24 maybe some kind of quest to go with it.. A carpenter/smith/tinker quest where u have to donate X amount of boards ingots tools and be a certain skill level to be able to place..

I don't know simple things to keep us busy nothing super technical(I don't know how technical it is just sayin lol)

 

[Tanivar]

I don't know simple things to keep us busy nothing super technical(I don't know how technical it is just sayin lol)

This game has no lack of grinds to keep us busy, why add more? If you want to gather boards and such for days and weeks on end, there are the library donations and city loyalty donations to cover that need. If you want a little more combat tossed in, take a ship and go pirate hunting, it takes tons of boards and cloth to repair your ship's battle damage, not to mention the long slow gathering of saltpeter by mining and cannon supply making time involved. Tedious, wearing, boring, 'keep us busy' grinds to numb the mind.

 

[Lythos-]

What would be nice is to make It a community effort, like Brit bank, where players could submit their structure designs and we the players could vote for the different size winner(s).

That way the players are happy and the devs save time by just having to copy designs and insert them.

 

[Uvtha]

What would be nice is to make It a community effort, like Brit bank, where players could submit their structure designs and we the players could vote for the different size winner(s).

That way the players are happy and the devs save time by just having to copy designs and insert them.

Its too bad they don't have much of a dev team going on, as I think it could be very interesting to stretch the idea of customizable houses into player made dungeons.

Like house plots could serve as entrances to player made dungeons, but in order to spawn monsters inside you have to pay lots of gold, or spend points you earn when players rate your dungeon highly.

It would take a ton of work to be good, but it could add a lot of fun and life and creativity into the game.

 

[Tanivar]

Its too bad they don't have much of a dev team going on, as I think it could be very interesting to stretch the idea of customizable houses into player made dungeons.

Like house plots could serve as entrances to player made dungeons, but in order to spawn monsters inside you have to pay lots of gold, or spend points you earn when players rate your dungeon highly.

It would take a ton of work to be good, but it could add a lot of fun and life and creativity into the game.

This would be a lot of fun with the point system. I wouldn't have the piles of gold to use. We would get some fun dungeons this way and likely a lot less mega-hp monsters.

 

[cazador]

Its too bad they don't have much of a dev team going on, as I think it could be very interesting to stretch the idea of customizable houses into player made dungeons.

Like house plots could serve as entrances to player made dungeons, but in order to spawn monsters inside you have to pay lots of gold, or spend points you earn when players rate your dungeon highly.

It would take a ton of work to be good, but it could add a lot of fun and life and creativity into the game.

That would be cool..or even a shard based dungeon, since merging shards is out of the question why not once we have the governors and such it's a shard wide vote on a revamped "new" dungeon on what goes in it and the theme

 

[Flagg]

^Haha, oh how I'd love such idea!
...But yeah, never gonna happen

 

[cazador]

^Haha, oh how I'd love such idea!
...But yeah, never gonna happen

Hey they can just trademark tag it "soon" and throw it in the pile of soons..most notably MYUO..Bueller..Bueller.......(crickets)

 

[Flagg]

I bet the dev team would like the idea too. With Team UO's rather mind dumbingly depressing compact size in mind, surely they'd consider it neat to leave it up to players to generate new PvE content. I'm positive people could come up with some awesome dungeons with correct tools. I also bet resources, game engine and million other reasons make this utterly impossible in all ways. But would it be awesome? Yas!

From what I¨'ve heard Neverwinter (new F2Pn MMO) has an editor that manages something not entirely unlike this.

 

[Tanivar]

They should set up an expansion to the Underworld like the Tomb of Kings via a booster pack with all the current deco tiles used in UO available and give us a foundation to build as one 200x200 level, or up to eight 25x25 levels with a set of lockdowns to place that would set specific monster and treasure chest spawn points. Each player generated area is gotten to by a branch off of the access way. The booster spawn packs are used with the understanding that all dungeons, buildings, or whatever can be freely used by UO.

A lot of the code likely already basically there in whatever software the Dev Team uses to develop new areas, and with each player area kept separate, there shouldn't be any conflicts. The Devs o.k. any text we add to signs, books, or scrolls to keep the Dips in line and there is a ton of new stuff to do. This would leave the Devs free to maintain things, stomp bugs, and do the holiday events while we handle the time consuming work.

Heck if they would provide a way for us introduce changes to our dungeons as time goes by, it would never get stale.

 

[Lady Storm]

A few months back there was a post that had new castle and keep ideas for a static design... even included different stone colors to make it more pleasing..
Look its nice to say you dont think its needed.. players wouldnt be asking if it wasnt. I for one was mad as all hell when the Dev told everyone of the customization coming for houses with the tiles for floor to floor movement... I was all excited hoping that i could add them to my exsisting towers, keeps and castles... only to have them dashed and worst off they cut us down to 1 per account and if you wanted one of these new house plots it made all other homes decay........... EA was on my @$%@^ list for months.
I was a mad woman who had been misled by false promisies and when the delivery came of what sounded like a nice thing was a shamm.
That Dev team was not nice... shortly after its delivery of this "new" houseing we started to loose players by the handfull in ernist.
You might think well she didnt read it right.... no i read it correctly... it was their misleading wording and omisssions of some facts... that was the true nature of alot of people leaving..
Malas on many shards is devoid of homes period...
TerMur is vacant too on most shards as well
Fel and Tram has voids not quite big enough for castles but keeps are open around many shards...not all mind you but a good deal of the largest plot sizes are open all over.
Why not make something the player wants to own... if we are not getting more players in at least keep the ones you got happy.
** I will say finding anything large then a log on Atlantic is a bit of a pain but can be done... dont let them fool you they are loosing players too... ***

 

[Tanivar]

... dont let them fool you they are loosing players too... ***

Playing the game shows this by the smaller number of people you run into as months go by or by the fact there are times Luna is vacant, or just has Plague doing his thing.

 

[Lady Storm]

Well......... yes and no.
In the case of some shards most of whats left on the shard is the player who never sat in the bank to begin with... they are out in the game doing their thing blithly ignorant that the bank is sitting empty.
And if asked will tell you .....so.. how does that effect me?
Case in point, I was on Catskills and Luna bank was a ghost town when I poped in... not a soul to be seen.
Same was the Chat, no chat was going on it was quiet as a mouse....
Till I said hello catskills... in 30 miutes the bank was bustling with at least 9 people and the chat was filled with chatter that was as robust as Atlantic's.
Most of them were out and about in game........ others were crafting at home or busy with rl issues of phone and sitting idle in their homes safe till the call was over.
Some were getting ready to go to work while others were just settling in from hard days work.
Now I will say the same happens on Napa and other shards... players are not bank statues and this is not 2000 a.d.
Were every other player bank sat to talk.
We evolved to chat , ether in game or using vent, or team speak or any other outside chat for games use.
So bank sitting is now a pass`e thing to do.
How I know Atlantic is loosing players is the plots I find empty that have not been snapped up or the hawking of plots placed forsale...
You know when this has slowed down when a 18 x 18 is not grabbed up in a few minutes... and the guy selling is still yelling its availability hours later... and its not the price keeping it on the market.
You can also tell when Atlantic need more players by the syndacates books poping up on other shards saying "how can we help?"
These are a great deal why many shards lost players to moveing to Atl.
Read one next time you find one.... very convincing in their speil of why to move to Atl...
But here is the point....
Most shards still have a viable population... just not evident in the banks parking lot.

 

[sablestorm]

Its too bad they don't have much of a dev team going on, as I think it could be very interesting to stretch the idea of customizable houses into player made dungeons.

Like house plots could serve as entrances to player made dungeons, but in order to spawn monsters inside you have to pay lots of gold, or spend points you earn when players rate your dungeon highly.

It would take a ton of work to be good, but it could add a lot of fun and life and creativity into the game.

I vaguely remember EA once asking if players were interested in getting their own customizable islands. The idea at the time sounded like players could create their own hunting areas for other players to come visit. Does anyone else remember this?

 

[Uvtha]

I vaguely remember EA once asking if players were interested in getting their own customizable islands. The idea at the time sounded like players could create their own hunting areas for other players to come visit. Does anyone else remember this?

Vaguely maybe? Sounds like a cool idea.

 

[gunneroforgin]

A customizable castle plot would be nice. limit floors to 2 . maybe just sayin.

 

[cazador]

I think a castle might be too big honestly to customize ..I'm willing to be if you could customize your castle but it drops it to 28x28 with the same storage space..you'd see less castles

 

[Lady Storm]

Cazador in the past the Dev who made the 18x18 the largest plot available were asked about a castle size or keep even.. their answer was that it was deemed too large a plot for the game.
It sounded like a typical evasion answer to most of us.
I do understand they wanted to curb size along with the same reason the "borg cube" idea many have in mind will happen..
We all know there is some nut out there who will do it.. But is that reason to not do a different foot print? NO
I know of shards that have castle spots that go open for months till someone who really wants it pops up... and some other shards they remain open...
There is also spots where a castle wont fit but for 1 or 2 tiles short... perhaps the idea of a smaller footpritnt might be better then the keep that usualy would go in.
Mind you that keep we have now is the biggest waste of space I ever saw.. i own quite a few and have wished for a sledge hammer to remove a few walls or open a door way ...
The guy who designed the keep should have his head examined for holes....like the 3 big ones that you cant use!
I am sorry to say but a keep might be big foot print to most of you but it has less useable space then a 18x18 and the inside is uselessly gridded out for any kind of applacation in design. With all the modern adaptions a keep could be a nice house if some small changes were made.
Many of you who live on a more densely populated shard really need to look at the landscape of other shards aand compare notes...its bloody vacant on alot of shards.
I feel its time the Dev took off the restriction off malas to allow larger homes.. it might fill some gaps.
I mean it looks bad out there... but looks does decieve the over all populations.
Perhaps if the Dev gridded out say on the order of a smaller design castle or a different layout with the same lockdowns and over all space.
Castles are already a 2 story with a useable roof.. why people think its 3 is beyond me... we only got the use of the roof after years of yipping at the dev heals.
Contrary to popular belief they were illegal to be on before that.
Why not a 3 story with a useable roof designed smaller footprint but same over all if not slightly bigger floor space. Incorprate diferent stone types such as sandstone, marble, darker grey, tans. etc... As long as the inside of it is not so badly sectioned it would go over well.
My only worry is some nut out there would think it would make them more money.. and ruin the whole thing by hording the spots and selling them.

 

[SlobberKnocker]

I want a giant borg cube castle.

 

[Basara]

I want a giant borg cube castle.

Only if it comes with Phasers when built in Fel....

 

[Tanivar]

Only if it comes with Phasers when built in Fel....

And has that vulnerable spot Picard/Locutus used to destroy one and it can be done with a mere fireball in UO. <g>

 

[Lady Storm]

Hahahahaa you kids I swear !
I'd like to see a contest set up by the dev on a Test Shard to design a castle on a 30 x 30 plot, a 28 x28 plot and a 26 x 26 square plot.
Max of 4 levels this includes the roof. Max storage of a fully fledged castle.
Use as much of the plot as you need or as little, design what would be the most useful building you can imagine.
Full color pallet of stone colors to use and the full design book of items for use.
This to be looked and judged by all and voted on.
Then for the Dev to give it a good look for use in a new house design of plots for use in all lands available for housing.
I do understand players thinking of the castle being out of date, but with so few players in game there really isn't any need to loose the castle but a option of a few different designs and sizes might go far to bridge that gap.

 

[Lord Gareth]

I think a castle might be too big honestly to customize ..I'm willing to be if you could customize your castle but it drops it to 28x28 with the same storage space..you'd see less castles

Castles aren't to large to be a customizable plot
-Height Restriction to 2-story
-Tile Count Restriction

With those restrictions you wont have to worry about a massive 4-Story Lag Box and you wouldn't be able to have a floor tile on every single space. You would have to make courtyard/open spaces on different areas of the plot like our Castles have now.

Only trouble is.... such a plot would be almost impossible to find without a tree blocking placement, unless you open up malas to Castles hehe

 

[Gb8719]

I would love to see some idea that would somehow merge two houses [or multiple] in an area together. With player-run towns having existed for years in the game, and with how common it is for players to have second or third accounts, it would only make sense that they develop some system to encourage community and to encourage maintaining additional accounts.

Ideas such as paths connecting houses, plants, rocks, addons, etc.
Specific limitations would help with their most likely obvious concern that they don't want the landscape of UO changed much.

 

[MalagAste]

I think they should make a program for changing the current design of a Castle and Keep and allow folk to download it and play around and submit their ideas for new designs. Then they should pick 5 or so of each type and put them into the game and allow folk to use them.

However... one thing I think that will prevent this is it's likely no one left on the DEV team would be able to program such a program nor is likely to be able to actually code that into the game. Thinking the chances of them knowing how to add houses to the housing tool are slim to none.

 

[Lady Storm]

I have been sitting here and reading and remembering many a post about how some few players want the castle gone and with it the keep as well..
Reasons have gone from lag issues to blocking good housing when so little land was open. (I suspect its other reasons)
Lets be honest here.
The castle and keep have been a fixture in the game for 16 years.
Most have coveted them from the first time they saw one.
Agreed the keep is not my idea of sane design. It needs a over haul for pure usefulness. Such waste of space in the 3 blocks of unusable ground.
Castles have been and will not go away just because a few naysayers quibble over it. But I do agree that the lock downs issue with other homes players desire to use is.
We all know lack of housing space and storage was one of the driving forces in the game early on after the limits of storage were made.
It's the main reason Trammel was introduced along with safety issues.
Before limits you would be surprised how much fits into a 7x7 house! Agreed it was laggy but you didn't hear a peep from players over storage or size.
If the Dev could consider opening up the storage of all houses to the max of a castle for all housing. This debate might be moot.
Those who love their tiny homes would be happy campers. The other owners would stick to 1 house style.. thought the company might think this a ploy to cut revenue.....
I assure you a castle still falls short on storage for some...(my museum director has been busy and has enlarged the grounds to 3 castles and is looking at the one to the west to covet it for room for more showroom space. Like the Real Smithsonian we have had to expand) Sorry I digress...

I would like to see more different styles of castles and keeps for choices. The style can dictate plot size even... smaller in some designs is ok by me.
Also we all would like to have different stone choices.
As for the idea that a plot the size of a castle would be too much.......... well outside the nuts who would make that borg cube..
I for one would love to try my hand at such a design challenge.
You have to admit UO players can be some of the most creative bunch of people out there.
I have seen homes that rival masterworks of architectural designers in RL.
And if we could talk the dev to make the interior deco tool to move things right and left along with its up and down I'd be the first to yell yipeee !!

Will this happen..........
I cant say yes or no... I would hope so but the ask and answer ball keeps telling me to shake and try again.

 

[cazador]

I'm not saying remove castles at all..some people enjoy them I don't its simple I've had a castle and it just looked ugly so I sold it and downsized to a keep..as well you can't setup your own rooms blah blah..I prefer the customization of homes, yes some people put up ugly houses..but that's their style it isn't there to be an eyesore, most of the time that's how they wanted it..

I'm asking for a a customizable "castle,keep" be able to knock down walls or whatever which is less likely then adding say a 28x28 plot size..I only stated 32x32 would be too big as for fitting it in places not because it's just too big to customize, heck give me a 64x64 plot I'd have a blast..