In the MMORPG The Elder Scrolls Online, housing has been present since Update 13 Homestead in 2017. This introduced a massive feature to the game that continues to be supported with new content. Regularly, there are new homes and furnishing items. MeinMMO author MiezeMelli spoke with housing icon Fufuns.
Housing has existed in ESO since 2017. Nevertheless, it is not an old, boring content. On the contrary, housing flourishes as ESO ages and more content comes in. Especially, the textures of furnishing items have improved enormously. Recently, it has been energized by the ability to place house guests.
A large community has formed around housing since 2017
A community has even formed around housing. Setting up one’s own home, decorating, and redesigning has become a game within the game and continuously attracts attention at events or competitions. Bethesda even organizes housing competitions where players can express their inner interior designer.
A well-known name in the housing community is @Fufuns, who brings enthusiasm to the community with lovingly designed homes or entire cities. We want to travel through her housing world and hear what the community is currently working on regarding housing.
What came first for you, ESO or housing?
“I have been playing ESO since the beta and haven’t had any interruptions apart from a short exam phase of two months. When Homestead came, I knew: This will be my main content. “
Where is the housing community currently strongest?
“The community is quite large and the interests vary widely. For example, I set up my own Facebook group years ago, where housing enthusiasts can come together, share their projects, and exchange ideas.
Even the occasional crafting request happens within this group, and we now have over 1000 members. You can also find housing areas on my Discord and various others, as well as in-game guilds that focus explicitly on housing. I also count the streaming platform Twitch as a ‘meeting point’ now.”
Do you see a similar development as we do, that housing has evolved with the game?
“Definitely! I have been fascinated by the housing system since day one. I can only speak for myself, but I find that so much has developed since release. Be it the variety of items, the textures, or the building system itself.”
These are Fufuns’ favorite building spots and houses
What is your personal favorite home and item?
“I actually prefer empty plots where I can let loose and create unique buildings. For example, the rather dark plot “Surreal Spot” in Kalthafen, which I have rebuilt countless times.
But I also find the “Moon Sugar Grove” in northern Elsweyr to be a great plot. If it comes to a plot that already has a house standing on it, I would actually choose one of the Breton houses.
I can’t mention a single favorite item, but I can say that I am a fan of the first walls and floors that came into the game with Summerset. Since then, I am delighted to see more and more building components coming with each DLC, allowing one to design their own unique house.”
How many hours do you invest on average in a housing project?
“I work on many projects simultaneously. My inner procrastinator always wants to reflect perfection in my projects, which is why my projects often take several months until I am finally satisfied with the result.”
“My first small presidential suite”
What are your current or recent projects?
“A few days ago, I completed a smaller project that creatively challenged me in a “different” way this time. Normally, I build large and extremely spacious projects, so there is much to see. But in this case, I was inspired by the housing community and tried my hand at a completely new building style.”
In the small 100-item house (with ESO+ 200 items) “Twin Arch,” I wanted to build a modern hotel room. The idea came to me because of another project I completed about two years ago. I built a small harbor town in the “Psijik Villa,” which includes a hotel. Unfortunately, the individual hotel rooms aren’t accessible due to item limits. So I thought I would just build the hotel rooms into the smaller houses.”
“Thus, just a few days ago, my first modern, small presidential suite was created. However, the setting is more of today’s time and has little to do with ESO, as this suite contains modern furniture put together from individual parts, a large TV, an espresso machine, and a stereo system. I just wanted to try something completely new and am amazed by how well it has worked out.”
How do you finance your housing? It’s quite expensive, as some wallets get emptied.
“In addition to housing, I also play other content that ESO has to offer. Through dungeon runs, raids, or relaxed farming rounds, a little something accumulates for the wallet. Due to the recurring ‘I’m broke’ status, my projects also take longer than they should. Occasionally, I receive a small donation of gold, items, or materials, which then allows me to finish more quickly.”
Do you use add-ons for setup? If so, which ones?
“For building itself, I no longer use any add-ons. In the past, I liked using the Essential Housing Tool add-on to align walls at specific angles. With the introduction of precision editing, this tool is no longer necessary, and therefore, I no longer use this add-on.
However, I really love using an add-on called ‘Magic Carpet,’ and I can no longer do without it for larger builds. It allows you to move freely in the house and reach higher areas that you wouldn’t normally be able to. Normally, for building roofs, you would need a structure made of platforms and stairs to move around up there. But these take up many item slots, which you might not have left because you are already nearing the limit. The add-on only requires a single item slot. You just need to select one item to ‘fly’ on.”
Outlook 2022: What housing fans wish for
What are your plans for 2022?
“My plans for 2022 are almost endless. Not to go too far off-topic, I would like to mention only two points that are close to my heart:
1. That would be to finish my website. In the past, I have had many attempts, and again and again, problems arose with my site, causing all my work to be lost, which has been very frustrating for me. My personal time invested in this project is quite limited. However, for the new year, I have brought in a professional who will build the website himself, ensuring that none of the work is lost. I am very much looking forward to it and am excited to see how it will turn out in the end.
The website is intended to be a resource for the community that covers all questions about housing. From information on where to find which item to addressing initial questions in the housing area, I want to cover it all.
2. The second larger project I want to tackle is “competitions related to housing WITH and FOR the community. I have been on Twitch for a year and have seen many projects from the community. In the new year, I would like to instigate smaller challenges and organize competitions that reward the winners. Details are still not finalized, but I am looking forward to it.”
Is there anything that bothers you about housing?
“In general, I really enjoy the housing system in ESO. However, there are certainly things that annoy me and constantly get on my nerves. One would be the item limit. I think it is clear to everyone that a limit is necessary for performance reasons. If everyone could suddenly place 10,000 items in a house, it would not be viable.
But I find that the houses or plots are becoming larger, and we never have the chance to set up the houses so that every corner looks beautiful. You constantly have to think about the item count and either cleverly build over some corners or simply leave them empty in the end. Therefore, I believe that if it is not possible in the foreseeable future to provide us with expanded item slots, the houses should be smaller accordingly.
On the other hand, it bothers me a lot that we accumulate countless companions, mounts, and etc. over time, but can only place a tiny number of them in houses.
This significantly limits some projects where, for example, you could build an entire zoo, but in the large houses, you can place a maximum of 10 animals, and that’s it. I find this very unfortunate.”
Do you have special wishes regarding the future of housing? (or community wishes?)
“Yes! As mentioned, the item limit is probably THE wish that everyone from the community has expressed at some point. But if we are at ‘wishful thinking,’ my personal list is quite long.
The wishes of the housing community are quite uniform:
- a free camera control in the housing editor
- scalability of objects (or at least beams, walls, floors, etc. in different sizes)
- to be able to choose between multiple color/texture options for building components
- a revision of the texture of the old items that came into the game with Homestead
It would be highly desirable if there were more houses or empty plots that could be earned and funded with gold. Because to be honest, the huge crown store houses look nice, but with the item limit, they can never be designed to 100% according to one’s wishes.
For the fact that houses otherwise serve no purpose in ESO, the proud price of ~14,000 crowns is quite high and doesn’t motivate me to buy anymore. On the contrary, it rather deters me because I know exactly that I will never be able to design this beautiful house according to my preferences.”
In these wishes, I can only agree. In these points, the community seems to be united, based on my experience. I’ve also criticized the prices in the crown store, not solely because of housing, although it stands out with particularly high crown amounts.
But where is there still a need for improvement outside of housing, or what doesn’t even exist in ESO? In our article “9 things that the MMORPG ESO urgently needs to bring in 2022,” we talk about new ideas for the MMORPG in the coming year.
