I don't have much of an opinion on the topic at hand but I would like to generate some discussion with questions.

Is having a player-owned home an essential part of the Elder Scrolls experience?

Do you often stop by your home for some peace and quiet?

What type of homes do you prefer to own? (ex. castles, villas, a humble cabin)

How often do you customize your home? Do you leave it as it is or tailor it to your preferences?

Is something like Hearthfire enough for a decent home experience or could it be expanded upon?

I'm much less of the RPG type as I am of the destroy everything and laugh as it burns type so I typically don't worry about homes or sleeping or eating or any of that. I'll pick up a home, usually in solitude, just because it can come with an enchanter and a alchemy set with a place to store my extra stuff. And boy do I collect a bunch of worthless junk. Well not so much worthless as not useful it my quest for destruction. I have enough money usually to buy and sell damn near anything so I just start storing it. I'm mostly self sufficient. Hearthfire does seem like it would be interesting for a home builder but I've also heard it said that it could be better.

TL;DR - homes aren't essential but can be fun

In one pf my playthroughs in skyrim I was an adventurer with an estate i love having a place of my own (a highly customisable one at that though skyrim could had waay more then it did) i love being creative and thinking outside the box so when a game allows me to create things I jump at the chance to do so. Thats why i would looooove for spellmaking to be brought back!!

Is having a player-owned home an essential part of the Elder Scrolls experience?

At the very least, what I consider the most essential is having safe storage open to the player. Player-owned homes offer that but to a much greater extent in having multiple areas to store and organize around your home, along with the charm of decorating it with your findings. Much better than going to the local inn to store your items in one container or NPC. With that in mind, I feel safe storage and player-owned homes simply go hand in hand. If you're going to allow the ability to store items, you might as well include player-owned homes. So I would consider it essential.

Do you often stop by your home for some peace and quiet?

Quite a bit. Most often after wandering in the wilderness for too long. I imagine my character (and even myself) could use a break and wind down for a moment.

What type of homes do you prefer to own? (ex. castles, villas, a humble cabin)

I tend to prefer the most secluded locations that remain away from civilization as much as possible. I like the peace and quiet in having my own space with no one or nothing to bother me. There are plenty of lonesome cabins and old castles that could fit the bill. I personally like something along the lines of a secluded tower to live in. I also like having a nice view of the land from my secret abode. Tenpenny Tower from Fallout 3 was a fine example of this, after you wipe out all of the residents that is.

How often do you customize your home? Do you leave it as it is or tailor it to your preferences?

Oh, I will decorate. Customizing is one of my favorite things to do in video games, or anything in general. I usually like to decorate in line with the type of character I am playing. However, I tend to display rare treasures regardless of that.

Is something like Hearthfire enough for a decent home experience or could it be expanded upon?

After what was accomplished with Fallout 4's settlement building, it absolutely wouldn't be enough for me. To see that sort of building in the world of TES would be a delight.

My opinion is very much in line with Pseron's... Which in and of its self is enough of an occasion that I feel the need to mark the calendar...


Anyway, having a home, base, camp or whatever is essential enough a quality that I would lump it in a similar category with Skills and Attributes. It's less important than mechanical function (like moving and interaction) but it's a rather prominent characterisation tool. Where you live, what you keep, even whether or not you have a place, helps define a characters personality, their goals and interests. Beyond that, there's also a prominent Player driven element, of being able to influence and customize and influence YPUR space in the world, show off your acomplishkents and collectables, and leave some sort of unique mark.


Like any individual Characterisation tool, it's not essential for EVERY character, but it is essential as an option. And the more you can do with that option the more diverse a range of identities and aspirations can be covered with it. Abstaining from it is just ad strong an element of identity as engaging.


In many ways, I think Fallout 4 sets a new ideal for this sort of thing, though it gets overly muddied in poor controls, unnecessary restrictions and a general lack of focused philosophy. It's somewhat telling that, in most cases, building is far more enjoyable than anything else associated with the Settlements (though I think there's still immense potential there).


Anyway... The end point is, yes, it is an essential element. It's part of the TES philosophy of controlling yohr characters identity, rather than following a set path. Geralt of Rivia may be a wanderer with no real home, but Hienrich von Dieter sure isn't. And the ability to make those decisions ourselves is part of the TES appeal.

Probably not for everyone but for me yes.

Yes.

Variety is the key here.

Every character will personalise it to a degree.

It was an improvement on what we had in previous games but the tools used in settlement building in FO4 can make it better. Even a purchased home in a city could be decorated and personalised much better. Taking a few tips from mods could improve it even more. Can't remember what the equivilents of OCDecorator in previous games were but its a godsend being able to turn clutter into static items that don't go flying every time someone walks nearby.

Is having a player-owned home an essential part of the Elder Scrolls experience?


For me, yes.


You've got to have some place to store and show off your stuff.


EDIT: Also, it's just nice to have a place that feels like it's yours in the world.

Do you often stop by your home for some peace and quiet?


Sure, when I feel like it.

What type of homes do you prefer to own? (ex. castles, villas, a humble cabin)


Depends. A cabin is fitting for a scout-like character, while a villa feels better for a rich character.

How often do you customize your home? Do you leave it as it is or tailor it to your preferences?


I generally customize everything I can as much as possible to my liking.

Is something like Hearthfire enough for a decent home experience or could it be expanded upon?


'Proof-of-concept' describes Hearthfire pretty well. Fallout 4's is pretty good, but still an 'early' version.

Is having a player-owned home an essential part of the Elder Scrolls experience?

Not essential, for sure, but nice for me.

Do you often stop by your home for some peace and quiet?

Sometimes, but rarely. Mostly, I used houses as a base of operations. I craft there, store my loot, decorate, and sleep at night if close by. With Hearthfires I even spent some time being a "family man" with a couple of my characters, though that was at the end of their journeys

What type of homes do you prefer to own? (ex. castles, villas, a humble cabin)

This depends on the character. I, AlBQuirky, tend to go for the more simple of dwellings.

How often do you customize your home? Do you leave it as it is or tailor it to your preferences?

Morrowind and Skyrim did not have much in the way of "tailoring." I never played Oblivion enough to play with its housing feature. You can decorate, sure enough, but actual differences in building is minimal.

Is something like Hearthfire enough for a decent home experience or could it be expanded upon?

It was OK for me. It was nice to "build" a house, but I felt quite limited in the scope of it.

Overall, it depends on the character I'm playing. I wish the Hearthfires houses had an Alchemy Lab and Enchanter in the most basic cabin. I had a couple of hunter characters that would have liked a small cabin with those amenities, so they had to go with the bigger house plans in order to get them.

I liked the heartfire houses, my main issue is that I could not have kitchen, bedroom and greenhouse at once and the bug with wife or husband getting confused without the armory and its roof.

Never bothered making an nice place in FO4, would probably do in TES as FO4 is mostly an shooter for me.

I can't believe that Pseron Wyrd, Lachdonin, and I all agree on something. As both have pointed out, the need for a "personal space" and the nature of that space is heavily dependent on the character.

To give a few examples and extremes of "primary residence", I've had a couple of Morrowind characters spend most of the game working out of Gilnith's meager shack in Seyda Neen. Other characters have taken over and used any of half a dozen bandit caves as their primary residence, while more than one have occupied one (or more) of the old Dunmer Fortresses. With a crafting mod to construct furniture and other items, a couple of them heavily refurnished and redecorated the interiors into truly cozy accommodations. Others were quite satisfied with the rather Spartan furnishings. One character began the task of clearing and occupying ALL of the old fortresses (with Propylon Indexes to link them), but only really got 3 semi-done and a couple of others started. Some have occupied homes in various cities, and I've utilized a few housing mods that offered relatively "modest" accommodations; in most cases, the mod-added "over the top" mansions really don't fit into the game setting well, and tend to throw "extras" at you that are worth more than the cost you pay for the residence. A couple of characters built House Strongholds, although I never had a Redoran character build one. Then I've had a few characters who were constantly on the run, nomadic, or otherwise not tied to any one place.

One character used an abandoned fishing shack along the Bitter Coast, which was rather secluded but a reasonable trek to a village with boat service. Another few characters took over a house in Balmora, which has a wide range of transport options and merchants available. Others found places in other towns and villages. Still another cleared out a "basemant" apartment in one of the Vivec cantons, which has a beautifully paneled and furnished bedroom at the back, despite the awkward looking statue in the main room; the smell wasn't too terrible as long as you kept the front door closed.

The character's reliance on the residence has also gone from one extreme to the other, with several not having any, a number of them having a place "in theory" but seldom ever going there, while many have returned "home" for the night more often than not, some only venturing out for more than a day when there was a definite need (I use a mod to adjust the timescale, so it's a 3-4 hour day, not 1).

In contrast, the Player Homes in Oblivion were rather restrictive, since it took a while before you could afford one, and the choices were extremely limited. Thanks to the way the Waterfront district was separated from the IC, and the way that travel options were NOT integrated into the game world, it really didn't matter where you located yourself, everything was awkwardly placed to travel to or from on foot, yet only a few button clicks away by FT. Taking over a cave or ruin in the interim wasn't an option, because you'd have to re-clear the site any time you were away for more than 3 days. Meanwhile, anything you left there would vanish forever. I was heavily disappointed with that whole 3-day guaranteed respawn thing; it should have been a small CHANCE of a respawn every 3 days, so most places would still be the way you left them for a few weeks, and "medium value" items could be left behind with some hope of recovering them later. In the long run, it would still have solved the issue with having to keep all of your previous changes in memory and the saved game files, since the ones you didn't revisit would eventually revert.

Is having a player-owned home an essential part of the Elder Scrolls experience?

Yes. Unless you are explicitly role-playing a wanderer of sorts, it doesn't make sense to not have a home.

Do you often stop by your home for some peace and quiet?

Absolutely. And when my Dragonborn finally retires from his adventures, he is going to finally stay home for good with his wife, Lydia, and two children, Sissel and Sofie. But he'll stay at his other homes when he is away from Breezehome in Whiterun, where the family is staying at. I'll probably keep them there since it's Lydia's home and there are children for Sissel and Sofie to play with. At the end of his adventures, my Dragonborn is going to put his other homes to good use though, like for low-income housing (obviously can't actually implement that so it is my headcanon).

What type of homes do you prefer to own? (ex. castles, villas, a humble cabin)

I would prefer if Breezehome were a little bigger, but it works for me. Decent-sized property that is more than a humble cabin or shack, but not as big as a villa, castle, or mansion.

How often do you customize your home? Do you leave it as it is or tailor it to your preferences?

Tailored to my preferences, but this usually includes everything that is available to me.

Is something like Hearthfire enough for a decent home experience or could it be expanded upon?

Hearthfire is a solid start, but I think it very much needs to be expanded upon. Some examples I think would be beneficial are to add some cultural touches to your architecture, and have more freedom in where you build what items and rooms on your property.

One thing that bothers me about player housing (Oblivion onward) is that it always seems like a race to find a place to call your own or shack up with the nearest guild ASAP that way you can have a consistent place to go back to, and more importantly, unload your gear and sort what you are or aren't going to take on your next journey. So it becomes a goal hoarding in the early game until you get to that point. I would like to say is having the option of giving a inn keeper a lump sum of cash for extended stays, along with your own storage spaces to at least unload some of your gear. I feel like this could actually help make the early game seem a little natural when you hit a city chock full of side quests to take part in. That said, I would like to see other areas in the world not respawn and actually be safe to store some stuff, if that's also you're thing. Its always nice to have secret pit stops or supply drops you can go to in case you're in real danger.

Bit of an ironic twist here, but despite Fallout 4's Settlement builder...I never felt like any place I built was ever home. The closest I ever got to that feeling was the Castle and Red Rocket Station, but that was about it. The fact that they're more or less explicitly inclined to be more home like then most other areas doesn't help.

+1 for the ability to stay at an inn long term. That would be a godsend for a lot of my characters who aren't interested in owning property. And I love inn atmosphere in Elder Scrolls games.

I'll add my support to the Inn idea. Being able to rent a room for a month at a shot makes a lot more sense than having to camp outside of town.

Being able to occupy a bandit cave or other hideout for more than a few days, with some chance at NOT losing whatever you leave behind, would also be extremely welcome. I HATED that 3-day respawn in Oblivion, yet it started to seem weird that most of the places you visited in Morrowind would NEVER be reoccupied. The next game could really use something in between for "cleared" locations, so after a random amount of time, the odds of a respawn increase, but it's never certain either way.

There were some locations that never respawned in Skyrim and one of my characters used one of those as her base, an improvement on Oblivion, but still limited in choice.

A mechanic that allowed you to designate a place, once cleared, as your home would be useful.

Some places eg military outposts or those that would play a part in quests might be excluded and there might be a limit on how many places you could select.

Great point! I like the Inn idea, especially if they have actual Bards in TES VI

Agreed that the beginning "feels" like a race to find a place to store your crap, at least until you can find out what will be needed later on