Keep/castle design winners...

[Cetric]

Thank god, there's still hope for a sweet castle

 

[skett]

I’ll settle for jellybeans castle

 

[Anon McDougle]

I love # 6 But i am a one story living kinda guy and could make it home with ease of course i get moving fever every couple of weeks and on Origin there's always a new place

 

[Zeke]

I thought that I read somewhere that there would be 2 castles and 1 keep added to the tool once the publish goes live but cannot find where I had read it. My design came in 8th so I still have a chance

 

[Lord Frodo]

I thought that I read somewhere that there would be 2 castles and 1 keep added to the tool once the publish goes live but cannot find where I had read it. My design came in 8th so I still have a chance

Pacs M&G

 

[Pawain]

You are sweet ... will have to wait till next week sometime... as well work calls the weekends.

What color Cu matches your outfit? Looks like a I have few spares.

 

[MalagAste]

What color Cu matches your outfit? Looks like a I have few spares.

He's a Blue Gargoyle with blue outfit

 

[Mene (DF)]

I knew it in some way that the last word yet not is spoken

 

[petemage]

I'm a bit confused to be honest. Did they just change the rules or was it mentioned somewhere the voting is only for top 40?

I can see them sorting out obvious non-castle entries, but apart from that it feels pretty pointless to vote at all if they just change the rules when the result does not fit. Must also be pretty disappointing when you got the most popular entry with most votes but then get sorted because some vocal people complained about not fitting their taste.

Just wondering why it's so hard to work out a fairly standard contest with rules and all *up front*

 

[Victim of Siege]

I'm a bit confused to be honest. Did they just change the rules or was it mentioned somewhere the voting is only for top 40?

I can see them sorting out obvious non-castle entries, but apart from that it feels pretty pointless to vote at all if they just change the rules when the result does not fit.

Just wondering why it's so hard to work out a fairly standard contest with rules and all *up front*

Welcome to UO

 

[petemage]

Just waiting for them to randomly pick #2, #27 and #39 and ruin the last bit of credibility they and that contest had

 

[Victim of Siege]

Just waiting for them to randomly pick #2, #27 and #39 and ruin the last bit of credibility they and that contest had

Not sure it had any from the get go with them letting the people in the contest vote.

 

[Spartan]

While I agree with the concerns about ballot stuffing (they needed to have separate castle and keep voting, and some sort of voting oversight that timestamped votes, so that any bloc of votes for one design that happened in a short time would draw suspicion and an investigation - and have that in place without telling anyone)

But...

What was the quote from Big Trouble in Little China about "not getting it"?

It looks to me that the POINT of the contest has gone straight over the heads of many, on all sides of the debate.

The idea was that the contest was to create new variants of the keep and castle that people could use and decorate the way they saw fit, that were actual, usable, designs.

Most of the designs submitted were really nice CUSTOMS, that while they looked good, would function poorly (not to mention would not have broad appeal). The ones that functioned great, looked too much like the problematic 18x18 boxes scaled up. A prime example was that many in both categories (including at least 1 winner) failed to leave spaces large enough for easy use of things like raised garden beds and other large add-ons.

They were looking for something in between, that retained elements of the original, but were new and retained an element of "letting the end customer finish it". The concept of a "town on a castle plot" is nice - until there's two dozen identical towns on one shard, some sitting side by side!
Remember that, if you simply go with a few designs based on only looks or only utility, you WILL have an issue with the "McMansion concept", as the new designs will lose all sense of uniqueness from overuse, or get ignored from not being used. That's why this contest is going to take the better part of a year or more, in different sections, to see what works, and what doesn't. And, the Devs really do need to introduce some sort of proactive means of curtailing the "See what I can do (who cares if you could actually live in it)" designs.



Frankly, what I'd like to see is something akin to the old "Dungeon Geomorphs" mapping aids for tabletop RPGs (look up the concept). Essentially, have the floor plan of a castle or keep mapped out in 9 sections (a 3x3 sectional grid). Then have 5-10 floorplans for each of grid sections, that retained connectors to allow passage from one section to another where they meet. You pick the sections out (and their wall type) as you place them. So, for example, you could choose sections 1-3, 4 and 6 (As a phone keypad layout) to be building elements, 5 being an open courtyard, and 7-9 being more courtyard surrounded by a curtain wall (and you could choose this wall to be a log stockade wall, instead of stone), with doors set in one of the segments of 7, 8 or 9. Another person could have 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 form a cross shaped building, with 4 corner courtyards (all with door access), with or without exterior walls (and the entrance either through one of the potential doors in 8, or one in 4 or 6). You'd have thousands of potential combos, even before factoring in wall material choices, and the deco added by the owner.

I didn't vote because I just knew things would be skewed. However, the designs I liked were not in the "winning" group at all and IMO were a hell of a lot nicer.

BTW, during the Borg cube discussions, I immediately thought of Pete Seegers tune. Nice choice.

 

[madmanuk]

I can see them sorting out obvious non-castle entries, but apart from that it feels pretty pointless to vote at all if they just change the rules when the result does not fit. Must also be pretty disappointing when you got the most popular entry with most votes but then get sorted because some vocal people complained about not fitting their taste.

In the forum poll where people were asked whether they would use the top 3 designs, the number saying no has only varied between around 79.x% and 80.x%.
Do you not think with that level of dissatisfaction they had to do something?
Add to that, some entrants treated it as a popularity contest, rather then making it about the designs.

So yes, they did have to change the rules.
Hopefully next time they will state the rules upfront, and we will not get a balls-up(TM) like this again.

 

[Suki]

After getting over the pink floors Dot's isn't that bad compared to a lot of the others. I could always use carpet to cover the floor. There are a couple of small issues but out of the 3 I would choose hers. There were quite a few others I would have preferred since they were more open and made with the original granite so I could tailor it to my needs.

out of what 3? i cant seem to see the ones people voted for?

 

[ShriNayne]

@Suki Apparently the contest isn't finished, you can see the 40 entries with the most votes listed on the contest stone at Brit Commons on the test centre. It seems that the Dev team will choose 2 castles and a keep from the 40 listed.

 

[Suki]

@Suki Apparently the contest isn't finished, you can see the 40 entries with the most votes listed on the contest stone at Brit Commons on the test centre. It seems that the Dev team will choose 2 castles and a keep from the 40 listed.

Thank you x