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Sara Delan · Sage Joined: 08 Jan 2008 Posts: 579

I know it's a small thing, I always recognize our places with that blue and white house sign.
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Merci d'Rue · Babbling Loony Joined: 18 Jan 2006 Posts: 2810

I beleive player run towns should look fitted to what the GM's of the guilds and its Members feel fitting. I have edited my post after reading Starfires and agree its up to the people that are living there.

Our main valley in Stonegate is all one stone, because we live in the mountains, it is beleivable that these items are what we created to survive our harsh climate. We only ask those living in the first main valley of Stonegate city to use the uniform style while the other valleys have been left up to members own creativity and expression.

These houses have been there for some time now and not thrown up recently. I dont think its our choice to judge who is deserving and not I have seen many player run towns that look great uniform or not. I think what is important is the PLayers in the player run town. Are they rping there? Do they like and feel a sense of pride over thier city.

Our guild is happy and proud regardless of what the EM's do, I hope we are recognized on the merit of what we have been working very hard for over a year now to do but if we are not it will not effect our RP, if we are then it is only the better for the community in general.

I think most GM's agree that this is boon an extra bonus, but we will continue as we have, expressing our own individualism per guild as we wish. It is not ours to judge, and if a guild is happy with how their town looks then that will show on its own. I give more credit to the EM's that they arent going to be easily fooled by towns that spring up in a day.

Also while I welcome the open debate, I almost feel this is an icq or pm you should of sent to your own people and maybe talked it over with them a bit first.
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Starfire · Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 2:07 pm Post subject: similarity of houses

I solved the problem for Mazewood. I own five side by side and have made them appear different. For an undead society, the dilapidated run down look works. I just give each of my houses a different function and build to suit. I overcome the need for similarity since they are next door to each other. I can see where houses dispersed about Verity Isle might need similarity to indicate they are in the same guild. But that can greatly stiffle creativity. Just my two cents
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Sarian · Sage Joined: 10 Feb 2008 Posts: 543

Blackmarsh is fairly uniformed. The Arcanamach museum, rags house, the fighters guild are all done with the same stone. The fighters guild doesnt have archs and stuff, but oh well. The Barracks is done in stone mixed with that thinner type stone. The only thing that looks different is the Tavern/Inn.

But in retrospect, it looks PIMP and I feel as though a place to drink and sleep should have a different feeling from the other buildings. Not all the time, Im just saying, I dont feel as though it is a big deal.
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Brianha â€Ž(10:04 PM):
lol oh no worries with teasing.. it takes ALOT to get me really goin
Brianha12:54 AM
cool... i will hook up with you tomorrow night ... maybe you can help move my chests too

Kaelthir · Certifiable Joined: 28 Aug 2004 Posts: 1932

Grignag · Sage Joined: 19 Nov 2007 Posts: 500

Most of our buildings, especially those around the Grove aren't dillapidated or decayed. Only Charnel Hill itself is, for reasons already mentioned.
Nearly all the standard buildings for the OES are High or Low Gothic in design. An era and type of design associated with death, superstition and fear.

And I am inclined to agree with Greypawn on the matter of uniformity as far as player run towns go. Buildings SHOULD be thematic and reflective of the nature of the guild. Whether it is OES gothic style or Stonegate stone keeps, being able to look at an area and say "I can see unity and character in this place" is appropriate for an RP guild. There is they unbelievably ugly sandstone thing just outside of Umbra on the west bridge side that really breaks the flow for me, as far as the image of Umbra goes. But since those aren't RPers, I don't expect any taste in their designs.

Also like Greypawn was saying, personally owned houses spread around various parts of the isle are yours to play with. However, having a "hub" that reflects the true image of the guild is both a point of pride as well as a unifying point. A place to go to that clearly represents the power and influence of your guild.

If you personally don't want to be involved in the unity of your guild in *that* way, that is your choice. Just make sure you understand that as RPers we are trying to create an atmosphere so that the immersion is all that much stronger. I can certainly agree that you can do what you want with your "property", I just hope people take time to consider that we are all part of a "whole" here. Not a bunch of individuals with no sense of consideration for others or "team spirit".
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D'thal Morlith · Journeyman Joined: 20 Aug 2009 Posts: 200

Cear Dallben ZOG · Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:48 pm Post subject:

Blackrock's buildings arent uniformed. they all have a specific purpose and are designed to reflect that.
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Kal'iksix · Guest

It almost seems like you are chasitising us Umbrans because EA designed a special construction item which we all deem approriate for evil aligned houses.

Anyways I don't see it as a cookie cutter design either. I mean if your guild houses are close, why not make them stand out from the non-rp'ers? Besides, OES is not the only ones with similar house designs...Q^A match too AND we have cool spiders on our roof that you can see if you open the mini map. That way on can see that and go "oh I am near the drow city, I must have made a wrong turn." the spider is pretty much the only I require of my guild houses, wherever they may be. It unifies us and identifies us as rp'ers.

If you don't like how the guild house looks, get a consensus from your guild mates and allow them to help in the decision. I don't press the "no teleporters" rule with my guild even though it makes house design more challenging but it is more realistic. Don't force them to the changes cuz that will make them unhappy. I know I was a part of a player run town on GL and I for the MOST part followed the rules but still broke the dumb ones like no roof gardens.

Just my two cents....don't have to listen.

Cear Dallben ZOG · Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 2:47 am Post subject:

Kal'iksix · Guest

Forgive me, I am sure I worded that wrong. I knew what I wanted to say but in my cold medicine induced lack of sleep state cuz I can't breathe and I am at work on break posting at 3 am.

Beleth · Lore Keeper Joined: 29 Dec 2003 Posts: 848

Everyone needs to keep something in mind... I was there when Keaira and Azalin worked the original OES Malas designs and I was there when Charnel Hill was designed. The TWO reasons they chose the stone we still use is because:

1. Golgotha (ie. original large tower) was made out of it pre-customization

2. The shadow stone we were given was ugly compared to it.

I remember how many times we talked about how awesome it would be if the Devs would give us the large tower style stone just hued Shadow as is used in various dungeon/land elements throughout the game but that never happened.

As for uniformity I have always been a stickler for it. If a guild buys a ton of houses in a close proximity with the goal of creating a city, then make it look like a city! Not a mismatch ugo fest (perfect example: LUNA, only sandstone should have been an option for houses placed there). Now if a guild started with just a HQ and members slowly bought houses in the area and a city just formed, forcing specific customization is a dick move without consensus.

As for us evil folks having custom house uniformity easier... well it's true. Why? Because we have VERY few housing tile choices that look good and maintain the dark feel. So in all honesty... we get shafted.
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GreyPawn · Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 4:14 pm Post subject:

Customizable housing is comprised of two aspects. Design and Decor.

A quick examination of the availability of tilesets for design.
There are about 15 "Britannian" styles of design. Dark Wood, Light Wood, Hide & Woven, Log Walls, Palisades, Fieldstone, Wood & Plaster, Damaged Plaster, Weathered Stone Walls, Gray Brick, Light Brick, Tan Marble, White Marble, Sandstone Brick, Flat Stone.

Of these, five could be considered "woodsy" - perfect for say, Yew, or Orc. Six are iconic styles from cities, Trinsic, Vesper and Britain. On top of this, there are 10 styles exclusively for asian themed housing. I don't think anyone will disagree that Zento and its environs is one of the most aesthetically pleasing player areas in the game. There are 4 Elven styles, which pile right on top of "woodsy". After that, there is the Shadow tileset, which has all the annoyances of "Light Brick" and all the limitations. There are two styles of white marble, which is great if you like to burn your corneas. There are 11 exclusively gargish tilesets, where some UO designer thought it would be awesome to give players the worst colors in the palette and emptied out all the muted pastels he or she could find. Last and certainly least is the crystal tileset, the most worthless of the bunch, cast in a color only a heroin addict could enjoy.

So, in essence, the "Wizards" have to fight the "Undead" for space in the gray stone castle tileset.

As far as decor? Yeah, mages lose, hand over fist here. Virtually 1/5th of all decor is "undead", or spooky/scary. To put into perspective, there are fewer "wizard" type decorative items (alchemist table, crystal portal) than there are variations of decorative spider webs.
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Bishimi · Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 5:02 pm Post subject:

Heh, not sure if your remark about zento was a compliment to us Grey but thanks if it was. To be honest it was your missive about housing design and some sense of uniformity that led me to asking my guild mates to do the same. I think for the most part you can almost run around zento and pick out our houses, and that's not only cause they were all designed by like 2 people lol but that we stick to some basics. While I agree it can stifle creativity to some point I also think that being part of an rp guild, let alone having housing in that guilds area, shows your willing to give up some things for the sake of said guild. For us in specific it was always skills and armor, recently we adding housing and it has never been a problem to my folk. We all do what we gotta do for the benefit of our guilds, be it housing, skills, or how we choose to rp.

Sarian · Sage Joined: 10 Feb 2008 Posts: 543

Im gonna agree with one point, there is -so- much cool "undead/evil" type of deco. The OES houses are decorated so pimp and it fits them -perfectly-. Where there isnt as much deco dedicated to "wizard" type I guess you would say. Then theres tons of cool stuff for "lighty" guilds. But hands down, the evil guilds have the coolest stuff for decorating.
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Brianha â€Ž(10:04 PM):
lol oh no worries with teasing.. it takes ALOT to get me really goin
Brianha12:54 AM
cool... i will hook up with you tomorrow night ... maybe you can help move my chests too