147474-morning-coffee-1124-housing-theory-101-edition

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Big, hearty breakfast this morning, because we have work to do!
 
So, I've been bitten by the Housing bug (finally). I was so inspired by the awesome plots I've seen recently that I have finally broken down and decided to DO SOMETHING and learn to build. Got my Katia Tools all fired up, watched some videos, bought and made a crapload of theme-appropriate decor, made myself a stiff drink and settled into to start creating.
 
...
 
Then I ran face-first into the first wall.
 
Oh, it all started out well enough. Made the entry point into a canyon, tossed down some trees and cacti, started laying out fencing ... and promptly got swallowed whole by the sheer magnitude of what I was getting myself into.
 
Holy crap.
 
I have to rethink my entire approach to THE GAME and to my PROFESSIONAL CAREER at the same time. I've been a graphic artist for over 20 years. I design things for a living, so the concept is very familiar to me. The problem is, it's basically what I do for 8 hours a day. When I get home and have a chance to play the game, I just want to smash buttons and kill stuff to blow off some steam. Housing kind of feels like more work. I have to switch off my "game brain" and turn my "work brain" back on ... after purposefully turning work off.
 
 
So, drifting off to sleep last night, it occurred to me that I need to combine my work brain with my game brain. So this morning, I made a little grid sheet with the approximate dimensions of a Plot. Printed off a few of them and come lunch time, I'm going to start sketching as if I were designing a new marketing piece for work. Put my ideas down on paper first, get my head straightened out before jumping into the project. Ducks in a row, etc. etc.
 
So, Housing People, what's your approach to a new project? Do you plan first and build second or do you just hatch an idea and start throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks? Do you start with an inspirational theme or let it grow organically?
 
By the way, if you haven't seen the WIZARD OF OZ storyline plot Exile-side, you really, really need to. I was just dumbfounded at the commitment and creativity that went into it ... everything from the cyclone to Munchkin Land to the Emerald City. Just unreal.
 
Talk to me, Nexus and have a great day!	
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Tex morning coffee threads = #1 IMO.
 
I leveled a Chua SS last week.	
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			Thanks, Buche! I seen't you hopping around the World Boss kill last night with yer crew!	
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			I have been trying so hard to get my Chua some GA gear but the Dominion side is soo dead. I mean there are a a lot of active people but nothing like the Exile side. The LFM channel seems like its not being used at all :(	
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Welcome to housing business =)
I just made some coffee and I'm getting ready for work.
When I started housing I just started building random what I liked. However, I realized it didn't work and had to rebuild what I started with, quite some hours gone to waste :P So, atm I'm building the foundation for my giant project hoping that it will make things easier in the long run. Building foundations isn't that much fun though, that's perhaps why I have taken a break and played pvp instead =) But I will get back to it soon enough, since I know how fun I will have once that's done... even if it will be quite tedious at first. 
I love housing in this game, they really got that part right I must say =) 	
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Tempted to make some coffee to fuel the mad Thanksgiving shopping that's going down today.  Never touch the stuff but I'll need what help I can get.
I house like I paint, in random spots around the canvas/plot with the decor and my attention span dictating most of the work.  I get an idea then the only "planning" I do is to make mental lists of exactly what I want to do and what special decor, if any, I want for the project.  After that I tend to build individual things, a building, a stand of trees, a river, etc until I get that looking how I want it then I move it into place.  I experiment with other decor like books/plants/knickknacks along the way but end up just kind of bouncing around the plot so early-mid build looks like random clutter with the spaces in between that slowly fill in as I continue building.  The back of Nadia's plot is probably my most obvious example right now.  The front is mostly on the final "clutter" stage then you get to the back and I just have random things scattered around that I haven't connected to the rest of the build yet.
			
				
	Edited November 24, 2015 by Bianchia	
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			I slap down Fabkits.... does that count? Honestly I would like to get more into housing, but i just don't have the patience for it most of the time. I do however love looking at peoples creations though, i have only seen a few on the dom side. 	
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			I have not done anything with housing, and I will not. I simply cannot afford the time investment- I would be lost forever. Raiding takes some work, but housing is #hardcore, imo.	
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Good Morning! Just got up and am having my first cup of coffee while I browse the forums.
 
Housing! I love housing. There is so much you can do.
 
I start with placing the house and the fabkits, first. I usually have a general feel/look in my head before I start. This makes it a little easier on which fabkits are going down. Then I build around them, little by little. I take my time and think about what I want. The build I am doing now, I started the week after f2p hit and it's still not done. It took me a week to figure out how I wanted to do the roof on my 'U' shaped house. And that was after I fooled around for 2 weeks on what I wanted to do for a custom made house in the middle of my plot.
 
My method is not quite 'throw something and see if it sticks'. It's more like place this item, run around looking at it, place something else, run around looking at them together, then decide. But once I know what I am doing, it all comes very easily.
 
This lot has 8 custom houses and the bunker. The 8 custom houses sit up on a 'terrace' like area around the U-shaped house and fabkits in the middle. There is a river that runs under and between the 'hills' that end at the waterfall.
 
Some screenshots:
 
 
Entrance
 
U-shaped house before roof
 
U-shaped house after roof
 
Waterfall and 'hills'
 
The only thing I got done in the bunker is the second floor and the stairs leading up to it.
 
 
 
My plot is always public, so stop by any time. :D
			
				
	Edited November 24, 2015 by Cirinde	
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So, Housing People, what's your approach to a new project? Do you plan first and build second or do you just hatch an idea and start throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks? Do you start with an inspirational theme or let it grow organically?
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Shame that Season 2 awards are locked to Arenas (blech).  Little reason for me to get serious about it.
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I have not done anything with housing, and I will not. I simply cannot afford the time investment- I would be lost forever. Raiding takes some work, but housing is #hardcore, imo.
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If you can dream it you can build it. Surprisingly just like all art forms there's a bit of an entry learning curve to it.. its not bad but there is still a bit of it. Over time you start seeing the deco not as items but more as building blocks that can be mixed and match to get the results you want.
 
Long before F2P a lot of my friends plots as well as plots ive visited always had their stripper pole and table with maybe some lighting. I remember telling a buddy of mine.. "You know i think i'm going to build a full blown strip club and im going to use gta as a form of inspiration to do it.".. so the bunker became a strip club.. The first version for what limited deco we had came out really sharp. F2p hit.. and i went extreme on it... going as far a building a mock up building of the place to house the entry way. Before it was just like a secondary element to the plot for the bordello but its more of its own showcase build on its own. I get a lot of visitors coming to check things out and the over all plots progress. Which is nice and I appreciate the players that have shown support while the plot slowly reaches completion.
 
Sometimes it takes several attempts to pull off the "OMG this turned out way better than I had originally intended" but its well worth it in the end.. the extra effort really makes the difference in the end. As a fellow artist over the years ive learned to appreciate accidents that lead to better results. The most recent a blunder trying to test a build on a heart shaped juccuzzi i hit the wrong button on the save and when i went to drop the jucuzzi to make sure i saved it correctly the plot started to rebuild itself.. i stopped it but a lot of parts had dropped so .. i figured since the plot was saved id crate it and restore it.. well you gotta log out to properly save sets wbich at the time i didnt know. So i crated and crashed coming back online to find that the only thing that was saved was the jucuzzi lol.. I was like "NO!!" decided well gotta start rebuilding and started with the marauder bar this time and did things differant. A few hours later it dawned on me that i had saved the plot and dropped the plot again.. i was lucky. "I did the save the new marauder bar frame work and crated the old one and dropped the new.. so in the end the results where more than i had expected.
 
Staring at large empty plot can be intimidating when starting a fresh build. So this is where having an basic idea on what you want comes into play to get the ball rolling.. 	
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Housing kind of feels like more work.
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As much as I love to pvp, I really do hate arenas. Most of the top arena teams tend to run whatever the superior meta is going at the time. Its the same issue  WoW has and imo locking pvp gear into niche area in pvp is asinine. In order for people to stay relevant in arenas you must level and gear all classes so that if one of the meta classes is hit with a nerf hammer someone the team can adjust. 
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While I enjoy arenas (or at least I do in theory), this is pretty frustrating, yeah. I wonder what the chances are of them being rating unlocked later on, like last season's rated gear.
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I pretend I have a plan...and then I just go with what feels right. I'm absolutely awful at making anything techy...natural environments are my thing. Maybe this is why plans don't work for me? I just go with what feels right, what looks real and like it belongs there.
 
I love WS's housing...I have from the first moment I stepped into SkyMap back near launch and realized just how big the SkyPlot was, the scope of what we could do (even with only 300 pieces), and just what I had gotten myself into.	
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As much as I love to pvp, I really do hate arenas. Most of the top arena teams tend to run whatever the superior meta is going at the time. Its the same issue  WoW has and imo locking pvp gear into niche area in pvp is asinine. In order for people to stay relevant in arenas you must level and gear all classes so that if one of the meta classes is hit with a nerf hammer someone the team can adjust. 
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These days after all my trial and error with housing my process is not so different than what you're describing Tex. I'll have a piece of paper and jot down room shapes, ideas, usually a list of things I want to have in the plot somewhere.
 
For instance the current plot I'm working on. Nikson Cutts. (again). I have some basic room sketches, sketches of how I want the ship to be shaped and feel, basic schematics of particular areas of the ship with the rooms marked out on them, etc.
 
How much I actually use these varies a lot. I planned the FoeHammer for a month before F2p and I ended up using almost none of the original concepting I did. Nikson's ship went through 5 entirely different exteriors before I found one I actually liked.
 
A lot of the time the planning and drawing is just a way for me to step back from the project as it is and think about the overall picture and how I'm going to fit everything in. More than ever with the 2500 exterior limit, its actually really important where you decide to place your detail and small touches. It is very easy to tell yourself that you have infinite decor and that you'll never get through it all and just start doing extreme detail everywhere and then run out halfway through and wonder how that happened.
 
Most of the time though, once I get down to the room stage I'm prettymuch winging it. Again I often have ideas for how I want the room to look, and maybe a few sketches of roughly what I want it to look like, but rarely have I ever seen any of those even close to exact.
 
Moreso than ever though, I will say that housing is feeling a lot more like work than it used to. With so much decor it takes a LOT of patience to really use a plot to its full potential, and I still haven't heard of ANYONE thats actually used all 5k decor in their crate yet. Back before f2p it took me maybe 2 weeks to put together my magnum opus plot? And that was relatively casual. I had to BINGE for three weeks to finish the FoeHammer, and the basement is STILL empty. And currently working for other people is a lot more taxing than working on my own projects. Simply the fact that I have to work at least partially under someone else's vision makes it feel a lot more like I have a part time job or something XD.
 
After I finish my current orders I'm definitely going back to working on my own stuff for a good long while. If only so that I can buy decor and put it directly into my crate. It is incredibly annoying to have to poke other people all the time out of game and get them on to put decor in the crate.
 
Speaking of housing. Here's my latest addition to the Cutts ship :). Decadent Capitalist pool area!
 	
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			I do think I will try to play around with housing since I started an Exile character. Maybe see if there is some RP aspect I can come up with for my plot. I assume there is already some type of bar/casino people go to hang out at, i am not familiar with the RP scene.	
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Hey all! No wildstar for me this week =(. Took an early vacation to visit family and don't have a laptop that run wildstar. If it wasn't for the expense, I might've packed up my desktop and took it on the airline with me but shit...
 
First news! Check out the sig, oh yeah! Altercation's early raid team downs SD! They did it last saturday, and while I couldn't be there b/c of travel, I'm so damn proud! Looking forward to getting back and getting to work in DS. 
 
I love housing, but unfortunately its just on of those insane time sinks that I can't really do anymore. I was for a while working on building a futuristic mega-city ie blade runner, but f2p drop ruined the work I had done and I'm honestly not sure if I want to put the time in again, especially when building a plot with multi-level skyscrapers that reach max plot height. 	
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Mmm housing, my favourite topic. :wub:
 
I was going to create some stuff on this topic in the near future, but what the hell, I'll share some of what I've prepared here 'cause Morning Coffee rules! ;)
 
 
My approach to building has changed quite a bit over the last 18 months. I started off just throwing a thing or two around, following a mood (some kind of affective inspiration) to see what happens. It didn't take long before that turned into using direct inspiration for full builds (most often: cyberpunk). Proxima's AnNex build is like this, and although I planned out a few things like the highrise towers and crime mall, I didn't go into it with a floor plan or anything. My sketch book was basically empty on that one. Lots of ideas but not a lot of concrete 'this is in this order' stuff.
 
However, since F2P I've also started to branch out more into nature builds (pun intended). Really immersive tech builds can impress, so too the builds that display craft through use of geometry— see the dome on Kaeret's recent build in the housing forums for one good example. But there's something about raw nature that makes me super happy and connected to the build. It feels more like making art. Probably the balance of irregular placement and aesthetic. Plus, I really wasn't good at nature builds when first starting out, used to marvel at the forests that other people made. So it's very rewarding to have someone compliment my own attempts at these themes.
 
My most recent build is on Ebirus Wras, currently called Gnosis. This one was planned quite a bit. Here are some screenshots I took for the housing forums to give an idea (currently 550/2500, will probably cap at 1000 as this is not likely to become a big 'civilization' type build; it's more like a scene.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I'm quite proud of how this place is turning out. :3 So here's a breakdown of my approach to Gnosis:
 
I started off selecting the core themes of Winter and Spiritual. Then I generated a list of decor that would match those themes, but focusing exclusively on exterior/outdoors stuff. After that I went through the FABs and house plugs to determine if any would be needed (went with the Cozy Exile house and one Hot Springs FAB). Then I started the build, which has developed in this order:
 
1. Lay essential terrain features (groundwork, large trees/rocks, snow piles, cave, outer walls, entry point, etc.)
 
2. Rework terrain until distinct areas are produced (plot currently has six function- and/or decorative-based areas, like meditation cave, temple grounds, keeper's cottage, sparse forest, etc.)
 
3. Layer terrain with medium natural features (more trees, logs, rocks, slopes)
 
4. Add some fine detail (syrup taps and buckets, flowers, particle effects, chimney with smoke, benches, mailbox, etc.) — note that I go into this level of detail early in certain areas to increase my own immersion and keep motivation high
 
5. Repeat steps 1-5, editing to bring out more of a natural feel and to expand on some concepts, until I'm happy with the overall effect
 
6. Construct any complex structures (in this case, the temple at the back of the plot)
 
7. Medium detail for complex structures (filling out the temple + keeper's cottage)
 
8. Fine detail for whole plot (at this point I will just mass buy decor and then go through the crate, placing items where they feel right; sometimes I'll just focus on one area if it needs more love)
 
9. Editing phase: Rework anything and everything that needs adjustment, ensure that core themes are conveyed right away and are consistent  throughout the plot
 
10. Seek feedback (this can be done at any time, and people are always welcome to visit while I build, but I'll usually open the gates at this point to put effort into drawing visitors for general impressions)
 
 
So as you can see, I've been quite thorough with my approach to Ebirus' plot, though I'm only on steps 7-8 atm. :D
 
Now, I've been using elements of this list for awhile now, but Gnosis is the first place that I've been building in such a methodical manner right from the start. I feel that after so many hours playing around with WS's housing (probably app. 400+ total) I've developed a method that suits my desire for craft/control, while letting my imagination do its thing mostly unfettered. So in summary, I would say that a balance of these two aspects is very useful, as well as always keeping in mind that motivation (and thus commitment) is key for builders.
 
Also on the topic of housing, I've started to compile a kind of chapbook of my builds dating from launch (9 plots + 8 interiors). It'll be 5 chapters covering my beginnings through to this recent build, and will include 6 of my favourite screenshots from each build, plus commentary on aspects of building that I think are important, conveyed in an intuitive order. I won't have this project finished until December some time, but here's one of the main guiding points I use, and which is probably the big takeaway from that project as far as advice:
 
Motivation is #1 most important thing, and
 
I've developed an acronym that outlines the five aspects of building I value most, and how they each interact with some part of motivation. It's called S.T.I.P.P. Here's a look:
 
 
Scope – geography, size, number of décor to be used > motivation (being overwhelmed)
Theme – visual style of decor/FAB/house, plot functionality > motivation (losing interest)
Immersion – detail level, animation/liveliness > motivation (suspension of disbelief)
Perspective – partitioning into areas, creating visual depth/layers > motivation (cinematics)
Polish – editing, aesthetic uniformity > motivation (Quality)
 
The purpose of each is outlined in description, while its relevance to motivation is in brackets at the end. So in the case of Scope and Theme, keeping these in mind as part of your method can help prevent feeling overwhelmed or losing interest, while making use of Immersion can prevent the builder from losing suspension of disbelief. Focusing on Perspective can improve the 'cinematic' feel of a plot, which is a big draw in my experience, while making use of Polish leads to higher Quality (borrowing from Pirsig), which IMO is quite important if you want to keep building new plots. Feeling that you've done something of high Quality will not only promote a desire to make more projects, having that Quality show to others will draw them to future works, which is obviously a big bump to motivation too. Having an audience is incredibly helpful. :D
 
 
That's all from me, sorry if this post is a big excessive. :P  My passion overflows when it comes to this stuff... now I must go add more hot water to what has undoubtedly become a lukewarm bath... :lol:
			
				
	Edited November 24, 2015 by EsperXIV	
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While I enjoy arenas (or at least I do in theory), this is pretty frustrating, yeah. I wonder what the chances are of them being rating unlocked later on, like last season's rated gear.
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			I'm just going to go around and "Like" a bunch of ESPy's other posts to make up for how mach I liked that post above. :lol:	
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While I understand the frustration, it's like that in almost any mmo.  For example, before WoW I had played SWG and before SWG (pre-nge, or whenever they introduced the set classes) I had my hands in UO.  While the latter 2 did offer multiple builds for pvp there was always a meta to each.  It's really just a function of mmo's.  In SWG you could set builds up to either take out health, stamina, or mind and since most had low mind most pvp builds obviously went towards that (Swordsmen or TKM anyone? of which I was a tkm lol).  Jedi's (and I knew several) in general just completely rekted anything in their path, unless there was a BH who knew how to play :).
 
So love it or hate it, the concept has been around for a while (pvp meta that is) and probably is not disappearing.  In an environment where multiple abilities/professions are offered there's bound to be a build that just have a synergy about them and that forces a meta to come into play.
 
I love pve and all types of pvp (pvx'er by heart) and you have to realize that the rating lock is needed for pure pvp'ers, otherwise what do they have to work towards?....basically their version of raiding, in a warped fashion.
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Altercation's early raid team downs SD!
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			Since people keep stating they plan theirs out, is there a website or something that has a list of the decors and what they look like, fabkits and what they do/looks like. 	
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It totally is work:P  But very satisfying!
 
For me a lot of the work is done before I ever place the first piece of decor "for real".  I start off by writing down a list of all the major features/areas I want in the build, and try to confirm to myself that they fit together, imagine where they will go in relation to each other, and that I can reasonably fit them all in (in terms of both decor and space).
 
I then start laying out placeholders all over my lot and mentally visualize things in relation to them.  These placeholders are for scale and nothing else, and will be entirely destroyed when I am done with this step.  They are extremely basic (for example maybe just a giant floor and 4 walls for a building, or a bunch of logs ringing a park), with some random NPCs of different races inside to help me imagine the internal structure and decide whether the size of the placeholder is reasonable.  This part usually involves a lot of shuffling placeholders all around the lot, and removing or adding themes now that I am actually visualizing them next to each other.  When I am satisfied everything will "work", I record the rough coordinates of the areas assigned to each theme and make an estimate of what the decor costs will be.
 
Now I clear everything (saving each placeholder as a KBT set so I can call it up again for reference if need be), and start building "low detail" mockups of each area.  The goal is just to get each up to the quality necessary to actually make functional connections/paths between each area, basic architecture within to confirm that my dimensions are correct, and get an indicator on whether or not my decor budgets for each piece were wildly off or not.  Usually a couple pieces I realize will take much more or less than I initially expected.  Hopefully these balance out, but if not I may step back and change some of the themes to make sure I'm still headed on the right trajectory for my budgets.  One exception is if my plot is going to involve a lot of 3-dimensional terrain terraforming (as a lot of my more recent builds do), this I will do before the low detail mockups and will be done in it's "final" level of detail.  This is because umbrella tree and rock placement is very complex and difficult to change later after stuff has been placed on them, so I want this finalized early in the build.
 
Once the plot's structure is down, I get to the actual detailed construction of each thing.  This usually involves a lot of switching back and forth, mostly because I get tired of working on one particular area or another and want to work on something else for awhile.
			
				
	Edited November 24, 2015 by Katia Managan	
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			KATIA FOR MAYOR!	
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Since people keep stating they plan theirs out, is there a website or something that has a list of the decors and what they look like, fabkits and what they do/looks like. 
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I love pve and all types of pvp (pvx'er by heart) and you have to realize that the rating lock is needed for pure pvp'ers, otherwise what do they have to work towards?....basically their version of raiding, in a warped fashion.
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OH GUESS WHO JUST FINISHED HIS WORKLOAD A WHOLE DAY EARLY AND NOW GETS A FOUR-DAY WEEKEND!?!?!
 	
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Oh dont get me wrong I understand the meta, my issue is mainly with locking out the gear in such a way that only the people willing to play specifically that can get access to the top gear. Even PvE cases as in WoW the top gear is set in the hardest mode, however everyone still has the opportunity to reach that goal through teamwork no matter the class played which is not the case in PvP. I shouldn't need to change my class to be relevant in. Eitherway that is a debate for another time  :D
 
As to the housing stuff, where are all of you finding those decor pieces like the little tiki bar looking thing, wood plank slats, and the huge glass windows.
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OH GUESS WHO JUST FINISHED HIS WORKLOAD A WHOLE DAY EARLY AND NOW GETS A FOUR-DAY WEEKEND!?!?!
 
 
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4 and a 1/2 day....considering you finished early today :P
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4 and a 1/2 day....considering you finished early today :P
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			My last student was at 12:30, so I'm already home, at my computer, lunch eaten, and ready to... do something! I'm not sure what. BUT SOMETHING.	
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Now, to pick which class and character to level up.  :lol:
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That is what i am shooting for right now, if i can get all the pay cleared out before noon tomorrow i can go home and not have to come back until Monday :D  
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Heh.  Thanks to our new use-it-or-lose-it vacation policy the week following Turkey Day's a burner week.  Maybe I'll finally get around to fixing that leaky faucet.  Or rebuilding my house server.  Oh who am I kidding?  It'll be all Wildstar :rolleyes:
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Good morning/afternoon/evening all,  (covering all my bases)
 
Housing system in Wildstar is fantastic unfortunately I haven't had alot of time to dabble in it.  I took a look early doors and noticed some of the prices for items and nearly fell off my chair, but even if I had the time and the money I just don't have the creative ability to create anything decent so I shall leave that part to those who are alot more talented than me. 
 
I used to play SWG and until Wildstar there wasn't anything that provided a complex housing system like SWG had done as alot of other mmo's went for the simplistic approach, although I still preferred the open world placing of structures that SWG had. In SWG I was part of a guild that had claimed the last city spot on our server near Jabba's palace and we had alot of houses and buildings together that allowed for the creative builders in the guild to create some amazing work. It made the guild feel like a vibrant community with everyone having there own house that you could see guild mates and builders running around the city doing there own thing.  I kind of wish Wildstar allowed for this where you would add a neighbor and there plot joined up with yours so that it expanded over on a grid type system that allowed for guilds to have this vast area with everyone adjoined that allowed for bigger designs and a nice community feel to it.
 
On a separate topic I managed to get my Stalker to lvl 50 and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting him there, so now its a case of reading and researching and more reading and researching in order to find out whats the best course of action to try and get him some decent gear and finish off those amp and ability tier points.  It's been a busy weekend and start to the week so finding game time has been limited, its getting to that time of year were things are ramping up before mid December where everything goes really really quiet as people start winding down for the Christmas break.  
 
I also need to start my Christmas shopping at some point, I keep leaving it later and later each year but im a bloke so last minute shopping is kinda our thing hehe.  Although thank god for Internet shopping at least some of it is not standing in a long line getting your heels battered from the impatient ones behind you with there shopping trolley. 	
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Gonna have to avoid leveling alts over the weekend it looks like. :( Dang xp bonuses.
 
I'm probably a weirdo, but I am so bad at actually playing more than one character at end game. Maybe it's just that I don't feel like I have the time to work on them, or investing in alts makes me feel like I'm taking away from my main, or whatever. But I've got 4 level capped characters now and... three of them I almost never log in on now that they're 50. XD
 
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I also need to start my Christmas shopping at some point, I keep leaving it later and later each year but im a bloke so last minute shopping is kinda our thing hehe.  Although thank god for Internet shopping at least some of it is not standing in a long line getting your heels battered from the impatient ones behind you with there shopping trolley. 
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Ffffff thanks for reminding me. SIGH. My husband's been bragging about how he's already almost done. And I'm sitting here like, "Presents? Uh..."
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Oh, on a completely unrelated note, but I wanted to put it somewhere, my wife missed our main GA raid this past weekend, so while we were on Saturday night someone was looking for more and we jumped into a fresh GA. I was on Liz and she was on her main. After the raid someone from the guild whispered her, complemented her damage, and tried to recruit her. I told her to respond that she couldn't because she was sleeping with her raid leader, but she wouldn't do that :p
 
Either way, I thought it was pretty awesome.
 
They say that young guys get angry when people make moves on their girl, and older guys are just proud. Well, I was proud :D	
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Its kind of hard for me to forget about it as every few minutes from since September we have had Christmas adverts on the TV.  Those ad's are getting earlier and earlier.  
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			I love housing, I plan on doing a massive project soon seen as I don't have assignments due until january :D	
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On a separate topic I managed to get my Stalker to lvl 50 and I have thoroughly enjoyed getting him there, so now its a case of reading and researching and more reading and researching in order to find out whats the best course of action to try and get him some decent gear and finish off those amp and ability tier points.
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They say that young guys get angry when people make moves on their girl, and older guys are just proud. Well, I was proud :D
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 :lol:  :lol:
 
Actually I'd say... well adjusted adults have no reason to be petty or jelly about any in-game shenanigans. Age has little to do with it. There are plenty of man childs in this game, especially on Exile side rofl.
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Who are you calling "well adjusted"?!!?!?!
 
 :D
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I just restarted my warrior alt to be a scienist and I forgot that means redoing its house too.
 
Its fine though; me and my warrior has been through alot and I have no problems leveling him again; twice the ass destruction for those coming for me.
 
I really should work on my house for my aurian; I've been getting alot of items from drops and I need to play around with them to see what fits....
 
I'll be in game now working on elder gems and remodeling my house.	
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-awesome stuff-
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Sometimes I hope they might actually open up Thayd/Illium or even other regions to housing players. Do a contest where they give players a plot of land and a decor placement limit, and then select their favorite to add into the city. It takes out the need for them to build stuff where it's needed, and makes the community involved in building the world itself.
 
/crosses fingers	
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Sometimes I hope they might actually open up Thayd/Illium or even other regions to housing players. Do a contest where they give players a plot of land and a decor placement limit, and then select their favorite to add into the city. It takes out the need for them to build stuff where it's needed, and makes the community involved in building the world itself.
 
/crosses fingers
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Sometimes I hope they might actually open up Thayd/Illium or even other regions to housing players. Do a contest where they give players a plot of land and a decor placement limit, and then select their favorite to add into the city. It takes out the need for them to build stuff where it's needed, and makes the community involved in building the world itself.
 
/crosses fingers
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You get one AMP point at path lvl 15 and an Ability point at path lvl 30.  Get gold in all the Vet. Shiphands (Polka will never die!) and you can buy a cheap single use AMP point (1500 renown IIRC).  You should be able to get to max rep in Crimson Badlands, Northern Wastes, and the Defile within about two weeks if you do all the solo dailies.  Those give you AMP,AMP and Ability respectively. 
<snip>
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			For the record Scarran, the neighborhood feature looks to be doing something very similar to what you're talking about. From what we know it should let us essentially "link up" plots or else place multiple whole plots inside a giant plot. I've already been talking with my housing buddies about what we want to build when it releases :) (I vote spacebase/shipyard with full exterior ships!)
			
				
	Edited November 25, 2015 by ZuberiGF	
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Hey Tex!
 
Thank you so much for mentioning my Wizard of Oz plot! That one is under the name Aunirose Quartz if anyone is interested in checking it out!
Red Lotus is my main but I love building plots, its my new creative outlet!
Havent known you very long Tex, but I have a feeling whatever you decide to build on your plot will be totally AWESOME!
 
Starting is always the hardest part for me. But once I get a good idea, it seems to move along fairly well. If I get stuck I just spend time messing around on another plot till im refreshed and can move past the block. Took me a while to finish my Tombraider (Auni Croft) plot because of that. I got stuck on the massive buda a couple times. But I consider it finished and it sure feels good!
If anyone has questions, needs help or just wants to see some cool plots, hit me up on Red Lotus and I'd be glad to be of any help!
 
Thanks again Tex and I'm super honored that you thought highly of my Plot!
 Bearhugs to all and plot on! Rawrrrrr ;)
 
Auni	
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For the record Scarran, the neighborhood feature looks to be doing something very similar to what you're talking about. From what we know it should let us essentially "link up" plots or else place multiple whole plots inside a giant plot. I've already been talking with my housing buddies about what we want to build when it releases :) (I vote spacebase/shipyard with full exterior ships!)
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			Hey, Tex... you forgot the plot name for the Wizard of Oz build... (AuniRose Quartz - Exile / Entity).  Auni's one of our own, and recently, with the help of Haiku, built that amazeballs foot race track we used during Thaydfest III.   Anyone who wants to try the race track can find it at Castari Vangore.	
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			A lot of people in this thread are able to preconceive and plan out an idea. It's something i'm not very good at and envy at times. I just started building first then the idea came to me through the decor i chose. A quick tip for creative blocks is to go to the auction house and preview items in the decor section and also just adventure through nexus and visit the various zones for ideas, color schemes, and themes.	
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Housing Plot Template, for those who like to draw it out.	
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Awesome, Tex! Maybe I'll try and use that for my next project.... oh who am I kidding, I'll probably end up just throwing decor on the ground and seeing what sticks like usual. xD
 
Oh! I can't believe I never posted some shots from my "finished" plots!
 
Antimony Stibine:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Elym Wildrye (interior still very much a work-in-progress lol):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Eilor Corvinus (also WIP xD):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aaaaaand Naunet Beresov (the cave doesn't photograph well, and it is also now a WIP what with the expanded room...):
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And I apparently don't have any shots of the interior of that one. Oh well. xD
			
				
	Edited November 25, 2015 by Naunet	
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			I can't plan housing layouts. I just wing it. Which means I'm always leaving huge chunks of unused space that have to be inevitably filled with rocks or non-sensical trees.	
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Hey nothing wrong with non-sensical rocks and trees!
And nice photos Naunet! I need to visit all of those plots! :)	
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Good morning coffee thread.
 
So I haven't really been active on the forum these last few days. Truth be told, I've been in somewhat of a foul mood and considering that I don't really lend myself to constructive discussions in that state I opted to keep my mouth shut my mouse off the reply button.
There's been something I can't quite put my finger on getting in the way of my enjoyment of WS lately. I have no idea what it is but I find myself thinking "this just isn't fun" and stopping whatever it was I was doing or logging off early and that just adds to my irritation because I want the game to be fun.
 
Given my recent lack of motivation to participate in PvX, Housing has been the thing I've spent the most time on this past week and it revealed a completely different problem: my inner perfectionist clashes with my utter inability to use the housing interface in an efficient manner.
I've been building a path made of triangular wall pieces from the teleporter pad to my house. It took three days to get the pieces aligned in a fashion I don't consider complete rubbish. At least I'm hopeful that particular problem is going to go away once I figure out how to make proper use of Katia's and the stock housing functions.	
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Happy holidays you housing heads XD
 
Eat well and stay safe.	
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Happy holidays to the americans! And I don't know if some other regions are celebrating too, if so happy holidays to you as well :)
In sweden there is no holiday this weekend, and my bf is out of town so I will be alone working and I will do some labs for university and I will also try to level up an alt since it's double xp event =)
And have some coffee to that, ofc :P	
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