I had many houses in Oblivion, but I never really had a home. A house was a place to store some loot, and perhaps sleep for a few hours. That was all, they never really gave you the feeling of comfort or security that a real home brings. Maybe this was because we could own multiple houses, maybe it's because there was no real personalization or interaction with the building.

Personally, I think it would be best if we could only own one house at a time. This would make it more special, and also give you the opportunity to choose a hometown, sort of thing. How to approach this I'm unsure. It seems slightly unbalancing to be able to sell your house, since they're some of the most expensive things in the game. Maybe most of the properties are rented, and when you buy a new house you end your tenure at another. I don't know, would like to hear some thoughts on the matter.

Other small things could also give a more homely feeling. Being able to light and extinguish the fire, drag furniture about, buy works of art for the walls. Opening new dialogue options with your neighbours, getting involved in the local community. A lot could be done to add depth to the houses, and make them homes.

Your thoughts?

I could get behind the idea of renting instead of buying, although I don't see why selling your house would be "unbalancing". Also, if you rent, does that mean you'll have a bill to be paid intermittently? Because that could be bad. I was happy with owning multiple houses, but I see your point. However I'd still want to switch - in OB I spent ages in and around the IC saving for that shack because I wanted a place to store loot, and that was the first city I came across. I hadn't even checked out the other places, and I'll probably be like that in SK too.
I agree on more customisation options though - even the little things like being able to move furniture around would be a plus. I'd also want to buy individual pieces of furniture instead of vague upgrades. I want to make a trophy room! :happy:
Seeing as they've said you'll be able to take jobs, I'm hoping that will help you to feel part of the community. The only time I felt a bit like that in OB was at the IC shack, as I was a member of the thieves guild. Even then, it's a stretch I think. New dialogue options would be great too - maybe something worked into that Radiant Story aspect?

Im sure this is elsewhere but....I want display cases and weapon racks that are interactable and let the player easily display stuff without having to master the levitate object function. Like a menu that says : "place object it weapon case" or display mounted dremora head or place bottle of skooma on shelf. plus all of the other things people want...decoratable, paintable, lease-able...i want it all baby

im not too sure about alot of it, not disliking but not seeing how it could work..
however being able to but different pieces of art would be good.. even if concept art from the game instead of paintings by in-game characters..
and the comunity section, being able to help improve your town/city in some minor way i think would be great..
having either individual purchases for houses or a choice of either A,B or C upgrades so you can have a house different to other peoples as you buy one of each for each bit.. as in a choice of 1 of 3 dining area designs.

I disagree, I found Oblivion's homes (and inns, for that matter) to be some of the best and most atmospheric I've seen in a game.

I'd even say those inns and homes were Oblivion's biggest success in creating a real atmosphere.


The way you could sit in your Anvil house, by the warm light of a candle, surrounded by hundreds of books, and go out and watch the city at night from your balcony...

The cosy warmth of the Imperial shack....

The manorhouse splendour of Rosethorn Hall....

Going into a roadside inn at night, and finding your little room with a bed and table, listening to the footsteps of the other patrons nearby...


I just hope we'll be able to take over the houses of dead NPCs, as long as we can store things safely and sleep in their beds, we have a lot of opportunities for roleplaying that way.

I got on OK with multiple homes in Oblivion - the thing that spoilt having multiple homes a bit for me (sorry to bring it up, I do not want to start an argument about it but this is my opinion on the matter and I share it for that reason only!) was the fact that you could click on the map and fast travel without risk of running into enemies or anything risky - without that, there would have been more sense to having a home in each city, because if you hadn't been able to insta-magic yourself from Leyawiin to Anvil at any time without regard to any other factor, then having a place of your own to spend the night at in Leyawiin (and Bravil, IC, and Skingrad along the route) to rest and keep some supplies in stock there so you could prepare for the journey ahead, would have made player housing (and inns too) far more valuable and immersive, as it was they were more there for flavour than to be used, I don't think I ever rented a room at an inn in Oblivion except for quests where it was necessary.

Absolute yes to more customisable player housing though, I would love to have more options with regard to furniture and decor, LOVE the idea of lightable/extinguishable fires in the hearth, also it would be good to have more out of town options for the more "loner" type of player character. Another factor is "owned" beds, in Morrowind it was easier to take over someone else's home when they *cough* somehow died.* :whistling:

*ETA although that is maybe a tad unrealistic, perhaps there should be a risk of the town guard coming to get you in that instance!

Most of which lied scattered across the floor, thank you physics.

In Minecraft, homes actually feel like homes, because having one is essential to survival. Skyrim houses should be like that.

Well, that's much the same as if you stack books everywhere in real life....

if you can "obtain" NPCs houses than i fear (well a hope) that after a while the radiant system would make other npcs realise he's "dissapeared" and you've been going into his house alot... explain that one to the guards criminal scum

This may be a long shot but i would like to have the personal living aspect in skyrim like being able to have a house put anywhere in the game like a carpenter workshop emporium can build it if you get the appropriate materials for it and set the location markers.That also means what you want inside like bookshelves, statues beds, dressers, balcony or you can also build it your self but it will take longer.

I never felt too attached to my IC house. I think it might have been because I couldn't do anything with it. You can just use it for storage. I felt a little more attached to my house in fallout 3. Parly because I could pick how I wanted it to look and partly because people called it my house.

For skyrm, I think we should have just one home. You would get it early ,from a quest, and have the power to upgrade/decorate it, but the big thing would be people talking about it being your home. Maybe your companions could wait there when you don't need them, or NPCs would go to your home with a quest.

Your comments about the feel of finally reaching your destination safely are true. I did fast travel a lot when i first started oblivion, but in subsequent play throughs I stopped because it made the game harder. I suppose what would be nice would be the ability to create a make shift encampment, rather than always having to stumble across encampments teaming with hoodlums (not that that is a bad thing). But yeah, the ability to start a fire and set out a sleeping roll or even buy from a merchant a little lean-to or tent sorta thing....awesome would be the result. Just watch out when you fall alseep, who knows what comes out from the dark scary forrest!

the sound of this would be good, but it would take too much focus away from the game.. which is essentially an RPG, yet by adding too many "minigames" such as jobs and huge extras such build your house and be its interior designer will taint its roots.. and eventually bring the game shame

First few games my characters did not "live" anywhere.
Once I started roleplaying and reading lore and books on each race more, and the places that were available in game.
I started to pick one and own it, luckily I'm on PC so run mods, with even a few lots of fun can be had.
Then add in that roles "character", what do they do, what do they collect as trophies, are they house proud it opens up.
Finally you can get Better Cities, a fantastic mod that makes each city unique and gives it flavour.

Rambling over, I hope they have the same if not more houses on offer.
I hope some more are quest related, I hope you can customize them more.
I just hope for more tbh, if not then I'll look to Nexus, or get off my lazy butt and make one for myself.

Edit: I'd also like the option to be burgled, the more rich an area you live in the more likely for it too happen.

I loved the Waterfront Shack in Oblivion. Even after I brought the manor in Skingrad I stayed in my cosey shack. I would definitely like more atmospheric accommodations like that in Skyrim.

It'd be cool to have a house out in the woods ruffin' it. Being able to woodcut outside your house, to maintain your fire for cooking. Redneck style is always more fun. If your house was in the city, hosting parties in your house would be a great way to keep your house useful.

No thanks. If you want only one house, then buy only one.

I felt at home in Skingrad and the Waterfront, so I dont really agree with your feelings. It would be nice to be able to cook, sit in the sauna or light fire while at home too tho. I think Bethesda has those things covered tho.

It would also be nice if companions recognized they were in your home and acted as such instead of standing in one place

Oh god yes, walk into the room and your lovingly arranged collection of xxx (where xxx stands for whatever you were collecting) fling themselves with ridiculous force around the room and fall out of the cell into the void. In some ways, I preferred the lack of physics in Morrowind. At least if I put things down they would stay there!

I just bought the house in Bruma, always just staying at inns in other towns. It worked well enough for me, just holding myself to one house. That said, FO:3 's house in Megaton gave a better sense of this being my place cause you could trick it out and stuff. At any rate, Skyrim will hopefully allow us to do the same. I'd like places to hang swords, armor and the like. Also, I hope I can cut off that dragon's skull and lug it back to put over my fire place.

That's all I'm asking for. In Morrowind, I made my house feel like home in no time - I decorated it with candles and skulls and other lovely stuff. In Oblivion, decorating was no fun at all, took ages and the result never looked good. I just want the old Morrowind way of placing objects back.

both of them sound great, either a self-sufficient place out in the open... or a high-class townhouse used to hold parties and be really snooty with your neighbours

I wouldn't mind a house in the wilderness, kind of like the base in the Knights of the Nine guild but perhaps not so elaborate. Maybe you could pay for field hands and build your estate, you would have trouble from bandits etc from time to time and other things. It won't be instantaneous though i.e. waiting weeks for segments to be built like the settlement in Oblivion if you diffuse the goblin war.

With radiant AI they could add random occurences to your estate so when you return something (bad or good) could have happened so you will need to see a certain NPC or fulfil some free form objective. I think adding interactivity to your home makes it feel more your own.

I found the house in Anvil to be the most atmospheric for my personal tastes (once I got rid of that small table just at the entrance). So I'm hoping we'll see more homes that feel like that in Skyrim. I don't need gigantic multi-story mansions, just big enough with some trophy room to display my loot (please add armor mannequins this time as well Bethesda)

That huge cellar was great too, especially with the stuff at the back. Great for a mage, down there you could practice summoning and fighting without any bystanders getting hurt or knocking anything over.