Odyseus Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 The only thing fun about Strongholds is being able to augment the environment to your personal desires. However after you're done furnishing your home the fun is evaporated and you're left in a lifeless and lonely place which is the antithesis of the gaming experience that MMO's are suppose to deliver. I can't count all of the millions I've spent on my Stronghold and in a way I feel like I've wasted all of that money. If the housing was designed like it was in SWG where it wasn't instanced It would be a much better experience. No one hangs out in others Strongholds no matter how spectacular it is, each and every-time I visit a Stronghold that has uber prestige I'm always the only one there, although I have ran into the owners a few times. It just seems like a waste, when they first came out the Fleet was a ghost town. Now that the new appeal has worn off the Fleet has returned to it's former glory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkerus Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 The only thing fun about Strongholds is being able to augment the environment to your personal desires. However after you're done furnishing your home the fun is evaporated and you're left in a lifeless and lonely place which is the antithesis of the gaming experience that MMO's are suppose to deliver. I can't count all of the millions I've spent on my Stronghold and in a way I feel like I've wasted all of that money. If the housing was designed like it was in SWG where it wasn't instanced It would be a much better experience. No one hangs out in others Strongholds no matter how spectacular it is, each and every-time I visit a Stronghold that has uber prestige I'm always the only one there, although I have ran into the owners a few times. It just seems like a waste, when they first came out the Fleet was a ghost town. Now that the new appeal has worn off the Fleet has returned to it's former glory. Thanks! Ok then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pietrastor Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 (edited) Considering you admit you blew millions on decorating, sure seems like they did at least a few things right. You're correct about lack of visits but a lot of that is thx to uselesness of Public Listings current formula/system. Most people don't bother anymore after they saw 100k+ prestige houses filled with nothing but chairs. As for lack of life insite the houses, it would sure help if they added Alts as decorations, new NPCs and interactive objects/toys as well as functionality items like mission boxes, quick travel terminals (to daily areas for example), training dummies etc. Fleets still have massive advantage over houses with those functions But if by 'life' you think tens/hunderds of other players, then it will never happen nor did it happen in SWG or any other MMOs. Hunderds of people will never be storming other houses/player cities to visit and gasp regardless if instanced or not. Edited October 2, 2014 by Pietrastor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedip_enguin Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Waste of credits? For an unlimited free teleport filled with vendors,GTN, bank etc? Cant say I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damask_Rose Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 There are things I don't like about housing, but over all I'm enjoying it. I have spent hours and hours decorating and still have more to do. I've visited some beautifully creative strongholds that have been quite inspiring! Some of the things I'd like to see changed might well be tweaked over time, so I remain optimistic. - I would like to be able to add decorations past 100%. - Raise the NPC limit and add in some new ones. - Re-think holo companions. Holo companions are worse than no companions! - Up the 50 item limit for at least some basic items. (I like to use repetition and 50 junker lights is simply not enough for my Tatooine homestead!) - I'd like the ability to change wall & floor coloring & textures. Lighting too. The lack of visitors doesn't bother me. My memory of SWG housing is not a good one. The towns I visited were always completely empty. None of the houses were decorated. Just storage sheds with a vendor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cernow Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Waste of credits? For an unlimited free teleport filled with vendors,GTN, bank etc? Cant say I agree. Well you don't need to unlock any additional strongholds or rooms to get access to these perks. One Stronghold with one room would be enough. So, yes, unlocking anything beyond that could be considered a waste of credits if decorating isn't your thing. Strongholds are pretty lifeless, sadly. They are effectivley museums / galleries. There's no interaction wth the furniture or decor (apart from the GTN, mailbox and cargo bays). There's no interaction with companions, alts or NPCs. And there's no minigames or fun features. And now that the novelty has worn off there's very few visitors because it's not worth the time to visit - either you find a Stronghold filled with random junk to achieve the bonus, or else they are displaying much the same things as everyone else. It doesn't help that all Strongholds have exactly the same floorplan, exactly the same hookpoints, exactly the same lighting and ambience. Yes, some players have done some interesting things with the limited toolset available, but ultimately Strongholds just aren't very flexible or customizable. Essentially SWTOR's housing isn't intended to be a creative playground, nor a crafters workshop, nor a social hangout. It is mostly designed to be a credit sink and a vehicle for selling more packs on the Cartel Market. That's not to say I don't welcome the extra utility that Strongholds have provided and I have enjoyed decorating a few rooms. But once I'd unlocked the rooms I consider affordable (to me) and decorated them I was pretty much done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callaron Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 (edited) - Re-think holo companions. Holo companions are worse than no companions! Pretty much. I absolutely despise those things. =/ For a while I thought the decision might have been performance related, but they still use the same character model and (limited) animations... just with the holo thing draped over them, similar to what the holo-disguise CM toy does to a player that uses it. Maybe they have less shadow effects or something along those lines? Or far less textures? Edited October 2, 2014 by Callaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callaron Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Well you don't need to unlock any additional strongholds or rooms to get access to these perks. One Stronghold with one room would be enough. So, yes, unlocking anything beyond that could be considered a waste of credits if decorating isn't your thing. Strongholds are pretty lifeless, sadly. They are effectivley museums / galleries. There's no interaction wth the furniture or decor (apart from the GTN, mailbox and cargo bays). There's no interaction with companions, alts or NPCs. And there's no minigames or fun features. And now that the novelty has worn off there's very few visitors because it's not worth the time to visit - either you find a Stronghold filled with random junk to achieve the bonus, or else they are displaying much the same things as everyone else. It doesn't help that all Strongholds have exactly the same floorplan, exactly the same hookpoints, exactly the same lighting and ambience. Yes, some players have done some interesting things with the limited toolset available, but ultimately Strongholds just aren't very flexible or customizable. Essentially SWTOR's housing isn't intended to be a creative playground, nor a crafters workshop, nor a social hangout. It is mostly designed to be a credit sink and a vehicle for selling more packs on the Cartel Market. That's not to say I don't welcome the extra utility that Strongholds have provided and I have enjoyed decorating a few rooms. But once I'd unlocked the rooms I consider affordable (to me) and decorated them I was pretty much done. I imagine they're not quite that empty on the RP servers, where people probably hold events in them. But on a regular server there's not much reason to visit someone else's Stronghold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oyranos Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 (edited) The only thing fun about Strongholds is being able to augment the environment to your personal desires. However after you're done furnishing your home the fun is evaporated and you're left in a lifeless and lonely place which is the antithesis of the gaming experience that MMO's are suppose to deliver. I can't count all of the millions I've spent on my Stronghold and in a way I feel like I've wasted all of that money. If the housing was designed like it was in SWG where it wasn't instanced It would be a much better experience. No one hangs out in others Strongholds no matter how spectacular it is, each and every-time I visit a Stronghold that has uber prestige I'm always the only one there, although I have ran into the owners a few times. It just seems like a waste, when they first came out the Fleet was a ghost town. Now that the new appeal has worn off the Fleet has returned to it's former glory. let me give an ideal scenario.... They give us some items and we place them - hide them, inside our homes. We cannot interact with them, but only visitors can. These items give special treasures or missions... so you have to travel from the boards in other houses and get the clues or treasures first! I bet you will have houndrends of people running inside your house. Even pvp, if the house is flagged for both alliances... Edited October 2, 2014 by Oyranos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarfux Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 (edited) I know! I just came up with this brilliant idea! How about you just don't get one if they are boring, lonely and a waste to you Edited October 2, 2014 by Sarfux Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cernow Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 I know! I just came up with this brilliant idea! How about you just don't get one if they are boring, lonely and a waste to you Your 'brilliant idea' is somewhat sunk by the fact that the OP has already spent millions of credits and seems to be suffering from buyers remorse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddballEasyEight Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Solution = Don't use them. I think Bentleys are pointless wastes of credits that only exist to show off what a w***** you are. So I wouldn't use one even if I had the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokkh Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Waste of credits? For an unlimited free teleport filled with vendors,GTN, bank etc? Cant say I agree. Oh, stop being such a realist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urantia Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 I agree that they are boring and a waste of credits {assuming you spent on them}, but I like it lonely lol. For me it is a place I can stand with my "horseshoe" of cargo hold, legacy storage, mailbox, GTN, augment table, and NPC vendor to sell junk to {all reachable from a static location} without other players around. I agree, in part, to the credit part...but that is only because I bought the Tat. homestead in hopes that my low lvl PvP toons would have a way to get to Tatooine {for datacrons and map exploration} without a starship...but this did not workout lol. BW was, for once, wise enough to not allow players without their ships to use that function of "Exit to <Planet>". Those specific toons had to spend 50K on the priority transport to Outlaw's Den when they hit lvl 26 to bypass the starship requirement. {is nice how a fresh lvl 1 toon can port to a SH, but still has to wait until lvl 6-7 to exit to fleet? Saw I could at 7, but not at 1 so not sure how early exactly} I only use the Sky Palace...but own them all and they are, minus a few misc decorations/"horseshoe", spartan. The easy back and forth is nice also. While I am not capable of caring what my SH looks like, I do like the view from most of them. The view from the Tatooine homestead was worth the 2.5 million price imo, I never asked for housing, but they added it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JattaGin Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 let me give an ideal scenario.... They give us some items and we place them - hide them, inside our homes. We cannot interact with them, but only visitors can. These items give special treasures or missions... so you have to travel from the boards in other houses and get the clues or treasures first! This sounds like a neat idea. Some sort of detective storyline, finding clues in different houses. Me likes! Here is what really bothers me in GSH: no bathrooms. I don't know why this annoys me so much, but my strongholds are made like real houses. It's possible (with some fantasy) to make a kitchen and a dining room. But where do my chars go to the loo, where do they take a shower? Sauna? I know it's not part of the SW universe, but still. I would be fine with an unopenable door with a WC sign on it. I could then pretend that there is a proper bathroom behind with a tub and everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotharofxev Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Nar Shadaa stronghold. Just go off the balcony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilikaa Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 I know! I just came up with this brilliant idea! How about you just don't get one if they are boring, lonely and a waste to you Way ahead of you. I considered GSH to be a waste of money and resources before it came out. I stand by that still. So much so that I have not even gotten my free NS palace. I have no need fo rit. No, the stronghold travel is not worth it in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedip_enguin Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Way ahead of you. I considered GSH to be a waste of money and resources before it came out. I stand by that still. So much so that I have not even gotten my free NS palace. I have no need fo rit. No, the stronghold travel is not worth it in my opinion. GSH was a waste of dev money IMO as well, but since the money has already been spent and the changes implemented the only person who suffers from not taking advantage of them is you. Its like disagreeing with the amount of money a government spends on a sewage treatment plant then taking to performing your own sewage treatment in the back garden with an old bathtub even after they built it anyway out of some twisted sense of principle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaedelyia Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Nar Shadaa stronghold. Just go off the balcony. I can't, I already spent all my credit unlockin,g other rooms More seriously, I like the housing system but it definitely need more life. Everything is too static. At least make switch on the companion that can toggle an "animated" mode were they move their arm and body a bit, IDK. They are just stiff as posts right now. On the "it's-not-gonna-happens-side", I would like on togglable option that allow the companion to freely roam inside the stronghold, or at least walk in a small perimeter around their hook. Also, Alt as decoration would be completely awesome. Then again, I wouldn't bet any money on it. Too much to ask. Bioware didn't even allow holocompanion to be geared up properly and make them appear in underwear most of the time, so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNahash Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Considering you admit you blew millions on decorating, sure seems like they did at least a few things right Aren't you aware that "they did nothing right" is the new "I didn't get what I wanted"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discbox Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 (edited) I have more fun decorating it than I have expected. But it's totaly lifeless. And thats BioWares fault. Edited October 2, 2014 by discbox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kissakias Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 (edited) GSH is the BEST LEGACY storage place nothing more What you expect? since we cant have our own Sell Terminals, its normal 1 or nobody can ever visit them, they got no reason at all. SWG you could NOT avoid visiting some houses since when you need a specific item to buy it, you must visit the seller's house, so you enter in it and watching his bad or good or perfect or unique decoration. in SWG you could add as deco any freaking item you want from game, i mean everything, weapons, armor sets, portraits, even the gray loot things. I still have videos of some magnificent decorators that they made a droid factory or a podracer or a complete Imperial class shuttle with scatter loot items. We will never see things like these here. We knew it from start. So to end this, simply considered useful only for the Legacy storage and that you have and the augment station Edited October 2, 2014 by Kissakias Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lunafox Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Waste of credits? Maybe in *your* opinion. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. I love the strongholds...so much so, I wish they'd add more floors to our apartments. We have elevators...it would be easy enough to add more floors, so that the joy of decorating can continue. Decorating actually makes me feel happy to grind money again. If you don't like it, you can always do other things, but I LOVE strongholds. *LOVE* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordArtemis Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Personally I feel SWGs housing, as individual housing, was FAR superior to what we have in this game. It had it's flaws as well (sprawling cities in areas that should be clear and open come to mind) but even with the flaws it still stood as one of the best housing systems in the genre IMO. However, I think that the convenience factor that Strongholds provided to the game easily trumps the disappointment with the design if folks are so inclined. Not only can you place almost all important kiosks and terminals in the game (daily terminals are notably absent unfortunately) you also get Legacy Storage AND a very useful travel point IMO. The fact that you can port to your stronghold from almost anywhere, do what you need to do and return to the exact location you were prior is a big plus IMO. For me it is the reason I gave the design a pass. To me it is not housing. It is a QoL improvement. And a substantial one at that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karkais Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 (edited) But it's totaly lifeless. And thats BioWares fault. Kind of like all the planets, right? ps. I got what I wanted and I like the strongholds. Wish I didnt have to grind flashpoints to get stuff though. Edited October 2, 2014 by Karkais Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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