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Alderaan Stronghold Feedback Phase #1


EricMusco

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Hey all,

 

PTS is now live! A few quick notes and then we will dive into the questions. Our plan for this PTS is to look for initial feedback on the Stronghold, the rooms, and hook placement. We will be bringing PTS back down this Friday, so it will be pretty quick. Then, we will be back in January with the next and more robust testing phase for Alderaan (coming in 6.1). Below you will find some guiding questions you should try to answer, you don't specifically need to answer them but try to keep them in mind as you leave your feedback.

  • What is your general feeling on the Stronghold?
  • Are there any specific rooms you like, or don't like, and why? Please be specific.
  • Does the Stronghold feel too big? Too small? Why?
  • If you could change one thing about the Stronghold, what would it be?
  • Does the increased hook density feel too cluttered?
  • Does the number and placement of hooks feel to restrictive given the Stronghold's decoration cap?
  • Anything else you want to add?

Reminder that pricing is typically not implemented on PTS. Once we know final pricing I can post it. Also, please report any and all bugs on the PTS Bug Report Forum.

 

Thanks all!

 

-eric

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Due to my failure of overall written English due to disability I made a video to convey my requested changes.

 

Part 1

Part 2 - Total time about 12m between the two parts.

 

Orginal Post Below

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

I am a RP'er that is part of probably one of the oldest RP guilds on the game. We have been around for about 15 years and I am currently serving as a council member for this term. As a guild, we are VERY VERY excited about this SH for so many reasons.

 

Il cover a few, One this SH is VERY Jedi centric and look very much like a Jedi Temple, two its very large and has huge amounts of surface area which will allow for some amazing organic personal Rp encounters which have been a huge challenge with the previous SH. The actual spaces within the SH are amazing for guild RP however there are two huge glaring problems. Number one there are just not rooms in the SH for a guild of our size the second issue is the cave is not multi-purpose in its current form.

 

So I will attack the first problem here. The number of rooms is just insufficient there should be two additional rooms added to the SH. The first one should be a secret vault which should have a room about the size of the current Study in the SH and a larger room about the size of the room with the giant windows. I would personally place the entryway into this area underneath the ruins so it's underground. This space would allow for any person or guild to turn it into just about anything. The second room should be a room at the top of the estate with a 360-degree view of the entire area or a basement at the bottom of the state that could be used as a large generic area for any purpose. This could act as both a council room a, dining room or a bedroom or anything really. I really tried to think of very easy way to add the two-rooms work-wise on the devs something that just required small pocket spaces with very little work needing to be placed into them this would also not limit the number of hooks in those spaces as they are their own spaces.

 

Now lets attack the cave area the cave is great I love it but it has no real purpose as far as I can tell right now so id like to request that you be able to alter the properties of the cave via a console in the SH. Allowing the player to chose what the cave looks like overall without decor will allow for more versatility. A number of options could be added such as a crystal cave, an instanced cave that allows us to set up our own min encounter would be amazing. Just allow for some versatility when it comes to the cave you could do this by allowing the person to choose which instance of the cave we want at purchases such as the crystal cave or killick cave.

 

One other note I feel like the entryway area could be improved by adding a second area above the main chamber that mirrors the lower half it just feels like a waste of space honestly not too do this. This idea would also solve the space problem many larger RP guilds have.

 

Now I know we haven't been able to get into the SH yet so I will add take or change this once I can get into the SH however the two additional rooms are really needed to make it an extream versatile SH Thanks for reading hope to see everyone on PTS tomorrow.

Edited by allexj
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Downloading now. Will give you my report once I get there but again thanks for Alderaan, I been waiting for years for this one! I always wanted a castle on Alderaan so again thank you. A very nice Christmas gift and an unexpected one since I rarely get gifts. Edited by casirabit
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Hi, Eric.

 

 

Bugs

For bugs, what I did find were a few graphical issues and one with sounds:

 

I presume that the minimap textures are fine as this is phase 1 testing, but those are also broken incase they shouldn't be.

 

 

Advice

In regards to hook placement, my advice to you is that, in the ruins room, there should be some floor hooks, not just wall hooks. I also advise that, on the throne platform, the small green hooks are made larger so we can do more with them. Otherwise, I have no advice to give.

 

 

Furnishings

If it is at all possible to make all furnishings available and infinite (or 999 of each), that would be great so we can really test these hooks and make sure they are working properly (note: the Killik Grounds situation).

Edited by foxxycandy
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My initial feedback...

 

* Some efficacious ways to die. Well played.

 

* Hook placement:

Outdoor hooks are a bit sparse, and excessively rectilinear.

 

All the hooks in the halfway up the stairs in front of the main building are *backwards*. Add a "Turret (Large)", and by default it points at the building rather than the valley.

 

The placement in the various buildings of ceiling hooks is ... weird. Way up high in the big room with the stained-glass window there are some large ones, but they are so high up that any lights you put up there have no effect at ground level. In the various corridors, we are stuck with *those* lights because there's no hooks there, just preset fixtures.

 

* Movement.

There's a taxi droid out front, but there are no destinations available.

 

Some areas are "no mounts here". Dudes! If I can ride a speeder around the interior of the Coru/DK apartments' respective ground floors, why not inside the Alderaan buildings?

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Suggestions:

 

Hooks in the area outside the Killik cave.

 

When you change the centerpiece hook to large, add small hooks on top of those hooks please.

 

Entrance: Add a large wall hook to place tapestry or something there but make sure it is able to be adjusted.

 

Windows nice: Maybe add some drapes for us to put there. Add more windows, like in the study, etc.

 

Ceilings: Remove the Temple lights and see below for suggestions.

 

Main Hall:

For the large ceiling hooks above the stain class: Add some Hanging Crest there or something like that. Lights will not work due to the stain glass, but you can add ceiling hooks on the bottom on the sides .

 

Add a way to get up to the 2nd floor and make it like an overlook balcony .

 

Check the floor hooks in the main hall especially close to the side room. When I use the red aisle runners it goes into the other room and even when I try to move it back it doesn't work since we can only do it 20

 

Mountain Retreat:

Add floor hooks inside the ruins

 

Western Lodging:

Change the Light to either the Revanite Chandeliers or the Zakuul Chandeliers. While the Jedi Temple lights are nice, they don't fit a castle or just take them out and let us choose.

 

Door: I know it is supposed to be locked but allow it to be unlocked

 

Northern Lodgings:

See my comment about the chandeliers in the Western Lodging

Add some doors to some of the rooms so they can be more private (I.E. the room with the large windows, needs a door)

 

Rule of thumb: If it is room then a door should be there and if not add one please.

 

You might want to consider being able to mount, but that is not a big deal for this decorator as I tend to run everywhere anyways but I am guessing that it just not finished since the others have it.

 

One other suggestion: On the Alderaan decoration bundle, you may want to consider listing them separately on the cartel shop as there are certain items I may need more so than others. Actually put more statutes (not the commemorative one) on the CS shop please.

Edited by casirabit
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I've now had the chance the unlock all the areas and have a good look around.

 

The Good:

1. The Stained glass window is really nice - many of us mentioned that on the stream yesterday

2. The whole stronghold is visually spectacular inside and out

3. Destructible cave blockage and the Killik cave is a great idea (though see below)

4. A taxi point in the stronghold - if we can fly to anywhere on Alderaan from here this a great addition.

 

Constructive Criticism:

1. We need to be able to mount up everywhere please. "Mounts are not allowed here" - this makes me want to force choke everyone. ALL other strongholds allow us to mount regardless of indoor or outdoor areas; even the PvP area in the Rishi stronghold allows us to turn that off so we can mount up. This needs an urgent change because with a stronghold this big I AM OUT, no matter how good it looks. Being unable to mount and get around quickly as a decorator is a deal breaker for me. Until this changes I will not be buying this stronghold. I came prepared with so many decorations on my transferred character but lost the will to even try to decorate in the no-mount areas. You were suspiciously silent when many of us asked during the stream so I thought this might be the case but confirmation is depressing. Did someone think not mounting would make us take longer with this content? Have you met us decorators? We take our time - I'm still making changes to all my favourite strongholds (Nar Shadaa, Rishi, Kaas City, Coruscant and Manaan) and I can mount up in all of those.

 

2. There is a ruined room in the mountains that needs floor hooks - https://imgur.com/a/tusuaoR

 

3. North and East paths inside the Killik cave area need some floor hooks: https://imgur.com/a/fRMKHXS. The east entrance path inside the cave had none and the north path has just one medium hook.

 

4. Vendor icons with no off toggle make Baby Yoda cry. I don't mind vendor icons in world gameplay areas but I want the ability to toggle them off in my strongholds please. I was disappointed the Alderaan SH has vendor icons everywhere.

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Okay, this is a work in progress and I will continue to add more things as I go.

*Indicates new entries.

 

These are some notes i took along the way:

 

OUTSIDE:

Initial cutscene failed to play. i was staring at grass.

No epic Alderaanian music.

Cave looks nice. I like the pseudo terminal to change killik population density.

*Killik cave area has reset to pre explosion. Terminal not working.

Could use more hooks along the shoreline.

*Arrival points are not changing after I originally set to lower exterior(bridge of moat). No matter which other arrival point I save it to, I still arrive at the moat.

 

*PICTURES ADDED

The following areas need more hooks:

zxIbAkP.jpg

XyKsDxB.jpg

5gkA2l9.jpg

MfQfAP1.jpg

r9KSddu.jpg

2NHBKy5.jpg

 

*Campsite by killik cave activation terminal is a missed opportunity.

A building that had this view would be far more impressive:

1Xt3OtP.jpg

 

instead we got this:

YxO4Vqv.jpg

 

Potential site for cave under waterfall?

awAYFKA.jpg

 

 

CASTLE:

Gonk Droid at entrance? Please remove it!

Cinematic terminal not working.

Add large wall hooks instead of small ones in entrance.

Stained glass window is gorgeous. Good job there but it's reflection on the floor is off center.

A little overkill with the hooks on the interior floor especially where the reflection is.

The system message telling us what room we're in needs to go.

Could use a second floor on top of main interior room. Something akin to the senate on Coruscant.

Throne room needs a door.

*Throne room should have dais removed.

Would love a way to get to area below balcony.

*Door leading to hallway and balcony will no longer open though it's unlocked.

Elevator to retreat has terminal on outside instead of inside.

 

*PICTURES ADDED

It's clear to me that they used the assets of Thul Palace to make our castle and lodging:

dj7DyPU.jpg

F9nTupN.jpg

 

Biggest glaring deception is the shear size of the castle face:

myah0Ud.jpg

 

But we really get this:

UPkOSrX.jpg

Higher points of main building and adjacent towers are fake.

 

The area above entrance would be ideal for a 2nd floor balcony that overlooks the valley:

xnFL03Z.jpg

 

Thul Palace interior main room:

rY8LrM8.jpg

 

Alderaan Sh interior main room:

bjrwOd7.jpg

Note the second floor balcony that we don't have!

 

Main interior floor plans for both Thul Palace and Alderaan Sh are very similar:

8MdItPk.jpg

eVbEieX.jpg

 

Thul Palace has side rooms that turns into other floors:

xXZCjfY.jpg

k3gmwiq.jpg

 

If you're going to basically give us Thul Palace, then don't half *** it!

Give us a second floor, more rooms, and an overlooking balcony.

 

ADDITIONAL CASTLE PICTURES

Throne room with dais and view unobstructed:

8JBnslr.jpg

i1cc6jF.jpg

I prefer the room without the dais.

 

Put small hooks here on these pillars:

tAzFWA2.jpg

 

Allow for narrow hooks here on corner floor accents:

IW5aWps.jpg

 

 

RETREAT:

Another droid that needs to be removed at entrance.

Could use a Starship hook in big open area near destroyed building structure.

That destroyed building structure needs to go. Turn it into a small residency for the lord of the estate.

Found a starship hook down below destroyed building structure. Insta death trying to get there. Starship hook there is nonsense.

Taxi service not working.

Would love an arrival point at each taxi instead of bridge of moat and entrance to retreat.

Why taxis and no thrantas? Alderaan is known for thranta transport.

Main rooms of both lodgings need doors.

Would love to be able to get to area beyond glass in main rooms.

Remove that fake door or make it a room. Better yet make an elevator that lead to the roof.

*Found a second fake door. Please remove it or make it a room (picture below)

 

 

*PICTURES ADDED

The following areas could use some hooks:

9aToJOn.jpg

yvaOP7E.jpg

Gu7Unhu.jpg

H37M34t.jpg

Basically fill in all open spots in the mountain retreat.

 

Fake door on side of Western Lodge:

vn5pgGC.jpg

 

VIDEOS

Found a way to get down a little further to the starship hook below the ruins in the mountain retreat:

https://youtu.be/bGL0q-bVaUw

Could only go as far as that before I got exhaustion damage and died.

DEVS, make a path that leads down to the starships.

 

Messing around and discovered a huge open area:

https://youtu.be/UfdixwjHnLE

DEVS, please allow us use of this space.

 

 

*Dabbled with some decorating and noticed a few things.

 

The quadrant of starship hooks area in the valley is pretty large.

Starship hooks when broken down into centerpiece and larges have no smalls or narrow to fill in spaces.

Makes it difficult to utilize the area if it's not Starships or extremely large decorations.

 

Although the stronghold seems large there isn't really that much livable space.

Main hall, 2 lodges, throne room, study. drawing, guest. Ruins, balcony and cave aren't imo.

On top of that the rooms are large and have high ceilings. You can place jedi archives as room dividers but they only go so high leaving a lot of open air space.

 

The stained glass window is a mixed bag. It's fantastic to look at. So much so that you don't want to place anything to obstruct it's view, reflection on floor or it's god's rays of light. Puts you in a predicament where you'll end of leaving that whole area undecorated and thus a waste of space and hooks.

 

The retreat seems like it was worked on last. Focus was probably getting the castle and grounds down first. More love was spent there. By time they made it to the retreat they got tired. Hence the lack of hooks, the unimpressive ruins, and the very little outdoor space.

 

 

 

What is your general feeling on the Stronghold?

C+

 

Are there any specific rooms you like, or don't like, and why?

I like the throne room, balcony, and two lodging rooms because of the view.

The other rooms I don't because they are too big and have no windows.

 

Does the Stronghold feel too big? Too small? Why?

The open area with starship hooks feels too big.

The mountain retreat open area feels too small.

 

If you could change one thing about the Stronghold, what would it be?

I would remove those stupid F'ing droid vendors with the floating treasure chest icon.

 

Does the increased hook density feel too cluttered?

Yes, very much so in the main hall interior floor. Especially by the stained glass window reflection.

 

Does the number and placement of hooks feel too restrictive given the Stronghold's decoration cap?

Was unable to test it thoroughly enough.

 

Anything else you want to add?

I want a nice thranta nest for transportation.

xZmKP7P.jpg

Edited by TonyTricicolo
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First impressions: Fantastic! The Stronghold feels majestic with lots of outdoor space, has great views and plenty of hooks to play with. In my opinion it could benefit from having some large hooks on the walls outside of the buildings so we can proudly proclaim our loyalties to visitors as well as perhaps a few hooks in the more out of the way corners of the grounds however.

 

The main Room: I love it, and the stained glass window is an especially nice touch but given the size of building I would have loved to have seen a second floor added. Also to expand on what someone said earlier the lights that have already been placed there are unnecessary as well as some of the carpets (yeah they look great but if I want to go full emo darkside or decorate the Palace as a rundown squat then they won't fit) - let us choose what decorations to place please!

 

Hook placement - Could do with some tinkering. The floor hooks in some of the corridors could do with being more centralised (Hallway to the throne room specifically), The ruins would defiantly benefit from some floor hooks inside and in the outside space of the Mountain Retreat area they are too bunched up given the amount of open space available.

 

If I could change just one thing?: Add a second floor to the main room or, better yet, lifts (erm, elevators :p) to a couple of towers either side of the main building to take advantage of those views!

 

In closing: Overall I think you did a great job with it and I'm super looking forward to moving in! One last request if I may be so bold? Please please please up the cap on Guild SH's! With the amount of effort we've all put into decorating our existing Guild SH's it will be a shame to loose them and besides - My main totally needs both a Summer and Winter Palace to chill in!

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Initial thoughts: This stronghold is absolutely amazing, looks, size, everything. I really love decorating strongholds so I can't wait to get it on live! I love almost everything about it, particularly the way you used windows and the general Jedi-ish feel of the place.

 

Suggestions:

I do a lot of decorating so I will have a lot of suggestions for this place. Sorry if the post is a bit long but some of these issues have really bugged me in other strongholds and others will make it far better for roleplaying.

 

General suggestions that aren't for specific hooks: I saw one person suggest giving players an option to choose from multiple cave styles which I highly agree with. It would be amazing if we could have an option to remove the exterior killik nests and have a crystal cave (like Dantooine Imperial base or the Consular story area on Tython) or a cave of ruins (Alderaan had at least one near the Elysium). While I love the idea of a cave, killiks won't be very useful for my roleplay purposes. A crystal cave in the stronghold would be wonderful for Force user RP. I'm not sure if you can make it work, but it would be wonderful and very useful if you can. Another possible cave skin idea is the Odessen Alliance base or the House Rist base. Perhaps without the hangar on the former, if that would be too much trouble to render. (I'm trying to stick with caves that are already modelled in-game since maybe you could straight copy them over? I'm not sure how that works.)

 

Please let us use mounts everywhere in the stronghold. The place is huge. And not having mounts is often a major annoyance even in the much smaller train stronghold. While I won't be using mounts when roleplaying, it's a pain to have to walk everywhere when decorating or travelling across it.

 

I also saw another person request more Drawing Room/Study/Guest Chambers style rooms in the main castle which I second. I know the stronghold is large as-is, but a lack of spare small rooms is an issue with several other strongholds. These rooms are very versatile and tend to be the most useful for a wide variety of roleplay purposes. As for placement...at least one could be put in between the throne room and balcony walkways where they loop around a space, and another could fit between the throne room walkway and the Drawing Room. Possibly in the bricked up archway along the throne room hallway. I think two more of those rooms would be sufficient, but it definitely does need more.

 

A PvP zone would be nice, even if it's just a simple arena. Perhaps the farthest south point in the front yard could be given a proper path up and surrounded by red energy shields like some of the forts on Alderaan?

 

I do have a lot of suggestions for hook placements as well.

Front outside: The general hook placements are mostly good here. I would suggest changing the medium hook clusters on the south side to large hooks (which players could always swap back to medium clusters later if they desire). I'd like a few more scattered individual large and medium hooks like Yavin has, especially the area leading up to the killik nests and maybe in the water. The place near the Killik unlock ledge could be a centerpiece hook.

Front exterior and entrance: The front exterior of the castle should have a few wall large hooks for displaying flags. Specifically, I think one or two on the central spire and a few on the wall on each side over the half-circle decorative areas. I would also like a few wall hooks inside the front porch, so to speak. The space over the doorway should have a ceiling large hook for a chandelier. The floor in that area should have a few medium, medium narrow, and small hooks for personnel, decorative plants, and banners. Inside the entrance, there should be large or medium (not sure which fits better) hooks on the wall in the center.

Main castle: The main hall is very well done. The only recommendations I have there are ceiling hooks on the sides under the overhangs, and turning the dual small hooks into medium narrow hooks to allow for statue placement.

Drawing Room, Guest Chambers, and Study: Again very well done. The only change I'd like to see here is turning the small clusters beside the door into medium hooks. (Does not apply to Study which has different hooks)

Throne room: Turn the small hooks on the throne platform into medium hooks please. And remove the lamp in the middle of the ceiling. Those lamps look good in the halls, but that one is beside two actual hooks for lamps, and none of the lamp decorations in the game perfectly match it. Maybe change out the rug in that room for a rug hook. I'm personally fine with that one as-is, but I imagine some players would rather use a different rug, and that rug is available as a decoration already.

Balcony and its walkway: Looks great! The only suggestion I have here, and it's not that big a deal, is to maybe remove the rocky outcropping in the pond below and replace it with a starship hook for grand Jedi statues or large machines, like the Ossus rewards and the Iokath pump station.

Elevator room: Looks great!

Exterior of Mountain Retreat: Overall, it looks good. Definitely needs more hooks in the snow, maybe a starship one since several of the Ossus starship hook decorations would look perfect there. And the ruined room has no floor hooks at all? It should at least have medium. I'd also like two medium hooks, one above each door, on the walls of the lodging building.

Western Lodging: Looks great and I love the hook placements here, especially how the exterior has hooks. Only suggestions are fixing that odd hallway where the walkway turns into a brick wall, and making the false door into a small closet with wall medium and floor medium narrow hooks to hide a GTN, bank access, and mailbox in.

Northern Lodging: One place that is obviously meant to have a large hook in the hallway exiting the building does not. And the main room has no ceiling hooks. I would also like a few small/medium hooks outside the window here for placing pets and animal decorations.

 

 

Bugs:

The sunlight beams don't extend far enough in the front yard, and you can clearly see their tops sharply cut off.

The front doorway has a pale greenish glow in a large rectangular shape around it on some graphics settings, and some of the icicles on the sides around it look rather disconnected from the snow.

The walkway patterns in the main hall don't line up properly. I'm not sure if this can be fixed, but it's a little distracting as is.

The stained glass lighting looks amazing, but when I placed tall solid decorations like the large stone statues in front of it, it looked a bit weird like it was slicing the statue into pieces. This was an issue with practically all the centerpiece statues I have. With shorter decorations and the Krayt Dragon skeleton it was fine.

Several bright blue 'seams' are visible in the walkway to the balcony when walking down the stairs, and the snow on the balcony itself is bright and garish on most graphics settings and makes it nearly impossible to see the hooks there.

The exterior castle wall at the base of the elevator has a few strange lines on it, on the left side looking at the door.

The snow along the path in the Mountain Retreat zone has numerous clipping issues. Most of it, where it touches the path, clips in sharp lines. The stone pavilions have the same issue. Said stone pavilions also have a lot of those visible seams though this time black.

The broken log is meant to be two halves of the same tree, yet the top and bottom have obviously different bark and color.

The Western Lodging hallway right outside the main room, the path branches off into an obvious wall. Not even a fake door. Just a wall.

When entering from the Western Lodging hallways, the Northern Lodging wall directly opposite the entrance frequently glitches out and briefly appears to be an open doorway leading into the snow. Some of the hallway hooks are invisible from certain angles in the Northern Lodging. And the doorway to the main room there has seams showing.

Some of the doors around the place are inconsistent in opening, but I haven't noticed a pattern with specific doors. Just all of them sometimes do it.

 

To specifically answer your questions...

 

General feeling: It's amazing! Really looking forward to it! There are a few areas that could be improved but I'm sure it'll be good once it's ready for launch and it's already very nice.

Specific rooms I like: The castle main hall and the lodging buildings' window rooms are gorgeous!

Specific room I dislike: The killik cave. I'm sure some people will like it, but personally I won't have any real use for it. I don't like killiks visually and most likely won't have any use for them in roleplay. I'd prefer to have as a crystal cave or cave base a la Odessen, either of which I would use a lot.

Does the stronghold feel too big/small? It's about right overall. I'd like a few smaller more 'average person' type homes going forward (Zakuul or Corellia apartment maybe?) but for an Alderaan estate it feels like a perfect size. I do think the castle itself is a bit small and could use a few more side rooms for storage, classroom space for a Jedi academy, or bedrooms.

If you could change one thing about the stronghold, what would it be? The biggest thing for me would be an option to use a crystal cave or cave base instead of the killik hives. I'd also really like those hook changes I suggested above.

Does the increased hook density feel too cluttered? No, not at all! I love it. I won't necessarily use all the hooks but it's great to have a lot of choices for once. Lack of, especially poorly placed with a lack of, hooks has been my biggest gripe with several other strongholds (Manaan and Umbara in particular). I'd much rather have an overabundance of hooks that I won't use than too few hooks.

Does the number and placement of the hooks feel too restrictive? Not severely so, but I do think there are a number of areas that should have hooks and don't. I feel like the decoration cap may be a bit low since it's a similar size to Rishi, but a much lower cap. Judging by decorating Rishi, the 1500 decoration limit felt about right for that size.

 

 

Anyway, that's all I've noticed so far. I'm definitely excited for this stronghold and plan to use it a lot!

Edited by NormericanEagle
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Initial thoughts:

A PvP zone would be nice, even if it's just a simple arena. Perhaps the farthest south point in the front yard could be given a proper path up and surrounded by red energy shields like some of the forts on Alderaan?

 

This would be an amazing idea but I'd prefer a older stone look that the Kotor 2 or Yavin area used. Something stone that match the ruins area or even the main palace area.

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[

A PvP zone would be nice, even if it's just a simple arena. Perhaps the farthest south point in the front yard could be given a proper path up and surrounded by red energy shields like some of the forts on Alderaan?

 

Only if they make sure it can be shut off and stay off (not like the one on Rishi)

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I love this stronghold! It has a calm, peaceful, yet luxurious feel. Thank you so much for putting in all the work to make it look amazing.

 

I have a few suggestions.

 

1) Anything that looks like a door should lead into a room, rather than being a fake door.

 

2) On that note, a few more small rooms might be nice, whether in the main estate or the mountain retreat building.

 

3) It would be cool if the small ruined building in the mountain retreat exterior had a stairs leading down to a small underground ruin, with architecture in the style of the underground "ruined acropolis" in the Forge area of Tython. Would be a nice place to put some of our Ossus decorations.

 

4) Please put some/more hooks in hallways! I made some images with suggested hook placement for the entrance hall of the noble estate, the hallway of the western lodging, and the hallway of the northern lodging.

 

5) In general, please make hook combinations as flexible as possible. For instance, wherever there are two small hooks side by side it should be possible to switch layout to a narrow medium hook. See this example in the main hall of the noble estate.

 

6) On a decoration note, it might be a nice idea to have some "fake window" decorations that we could put on some of the many large wall hooks.

 

7) I'm not a huge fan of droid vendors being automatically placed, particularly considering that we can't get rid of the icon above vendors' heads. We can place vendors ourselves if we want.

 

That's all I can think of for now. Thanks again so much! :)

Edited by Estelindis
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First Impressions:

• What is your general feeling on the Stronghold? It is very large, but many rooms are ‘brooding’, dark and dreary. Feels like there is too much space between where you appear and where you enter the stronghold. Though the bind points are a practical touch.

• Are there any specific rooms you like, or don't like, and why? Please be specific.

• I do not like most of the rooms that do not have windows (Study, Drawing room, Guest Chamber. I understand the stronghold is built directly into the rock faces on both sides. It makes me feel closed off from the awesome vistas that are Alderan!

• I really like the stained glass window in the entry way, this was very nicely done.

• I like the large bank of windows in the Northern Lodging and Western Lodging.

• Does the Stronghold feel too big? Too small? Why? It is very large, and feels too spread out. I felt it took too long to get from point A to point B. However, I do enjoy the ability to roam around outside.

• If you could change one thing about the Stronghold, what would it be? More windows! Most of the rooms feel like prison cells or tombs.

• Does the increased hook density feel too cluttered? Somewhat, but as we can change the size/configuration, I do not see it as a problem.

• Does the number and placement of hooks feel too restrictive given the Stronghold's decoration cap? I do not know the number of hooks, but it seems like there should be enough. Though maybe I am the wrong person to report on this as I’ve never run out of hooks in my regular strongholds.

• Anything else you want to add? The kilik cave is interesting and the hatchlings (?) floating around with their purple lights is interesting, but why? It is so far from the housing area, and I am not sure the point of it.

• The color scheme is so dark. It would be nice to be able to change the color of the walls, floors and ceiling. Being able to add windows on the outside walls would be simply awesome!

• The “small” windows that look out over the back area of the Lodgings are so high off the ground, would not be practical in a real world situation.

• If the hallway to the throne room were a bit wider, it would be a perfect place to put the holocrons (like the stairwell in the starter houses on the capital worlds.

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Well done! Love the snowy stronghold. Just a couple notes I would like to see:

 

1. Hate that the throne blocks that gorgeous window view! I would like to use that room and see the entire view. Either move the throne to the side of the room or, even better, move it to the back of the main hall.

2. More windows in other rooms would be great.

3. No useful ceiling lights for mood lighting. Underneath the balcony in the main hall, hallways, and something in other rooms.

4. Allow mounting throughout entire SH. It's too big to be running through.

5. In the cave it would be cool to have crystals on walls/floor/ceiling and maybe be able to change the color of them.

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Sorry in advance for the tl;dr!

What is your general feeling on the Stronghold?

I have literally been wanting an Alderaan stronghold since strongholds were announced and generally this is exactly what I wanted. I love the stained glass window and the window lighting effects throughout the stronghold. I love the little lights and rugs that have already been placed and overall how ornate the castle is. I don't feel a need to put something absolutely everywhere to make it look 'finished' but there is enough flexibility for me to do what I want to do decorating-wise.

 

Are there any specific rooms you like, or don't like, and why? Please be specific.

  • The hook layout in the Study, Drawing Room, Guest Chamber, and the weird little living room(?) in the Northern Lodgings could use a small adjustment. Please move the Large hooks together so that Medium Narrow hooks can be placed along all of the walls, not just the back wall. This is particularly important in the Study, because right now it is impossible to place library archives flush against the side walls. Also, if the Small hooks crossing the rooms were converted to Medium Narrows, it would be possible to break them down if desired or section off a part of the room (reading nook, anyone?).
  • The Study, Drawing Room, and Guest Chamber are too dark. I have a lot of ceiling lights that are really pretty and much more suited to the stronghold but they sadly don't give off much or any light. And since many 'lamp' decorations also do not give off much or any light, there's not much one can do. I have to use 'uglier' lights just to get any illumination, and it's still not enough to get decent lighting on paintings or banners placed on the center of the wall (the most egregious dark spot IMO).
  • I'm okay with the Study not having windows because I want to cover most of the walls with library archives/artifacts/computer displays, and as it is it feels cozy. But the Drawing Room and Guest Chamber feel almost dreary and cave-like, and I'd never want to turn one of them into a bedroom, you know? It would help if the rooms were brighter, but also Alderaan is beautiful and I want maximum window-age.
  • I have mixed feelings about the Throne Room. On one hand, it has the best view but it's blocked by the dais. On the other hand, if it had a door that closed it could be a really neat regal bedroom. I will likely be using the main hall as my throne room since all the 'impressive' thrones (ie, Throne of Enlightenment, Dark Eternal Throne) don't fit for obvious reasons. I do love the rug and the pre-placed lights.
  • The balcony is wonderful, the view is wonderful, the hot tub does indeed fit out there (:D), and my only complaint is that I can't jump in the pool without dying XD
  • I looooooove the windows in the main bedrooms, and the light effects on the hallway windows and the stained glass window. Honestly I don't want to put anything at all in the center of the main hall because I don't want to interfere with the reflection.

 

Does the Stronghold feel too big? Too small? Why?

I think it feels about right for what it is? I'm definitely going to have to clean out multiple strongholds to get it where I want it, but again, the stronghold is so beautiful that it doesn't feel 'off' if you don't stick stuff absolutely everywhere.

 

If you could change one thing about the Stronghold, what would it be?

I would like another bedroom, with a big window, to be at least on par with what you get in Coruscant and Dromund Kaas. Maybe it can be part of the Western Lodgings unlock since you get another room with the Northern Lodgings. I would rather have the room added on, but I wouldn't cry if that 'living room' got sacrificed to make another bedroom.

 

And okay, this is two things, but the Drawing Room and Guest Chamber really need windows of their own...

 

Does the increased hook density feel too cluttered?

  • I feel like there is hook density in places I don't want it and not enough in places where I do. The centerpiece hooks feel awkward in the middle of the main hall (again, I don't want to place anything large there because it doesn't take any of the cool lighting effect of the stained glass window). I would rather have a centerpiece hook option opposite the elevator in that blank space - it's a much better place to showcase something without taking away from one of the stronghold's best features. And as I've said previously, I think the hook arrangement in the smaller rooms could be adjusted to have Medium Narrows along all the walls.
  • Please add ceiling hooks to the overhangs in the main hall. I've tried putting a throne in the back there but it's just so dark...
  • Please add floor hooks to the 'Elysium vault' on the Mountain Retreat grounds. I'm glad that you included this area, but with no ability to really put anything in it, I don't really know what to do with it.
  • Please add centerpiece hooks closer to the main path on the Mountain Retreat grounds. I wanted to put some of the garden decorations out there but they end up so far away from where the player is likely to be that you really can't appreciate them as well.

 

Does the number and placement of hooks feel too restrictive given the Stronghold's decoration cap?

The axis of movement on the X/Y axis feels more restrictive than the hook placement. I would like it if there was enough range of movement that I could center a Large item horizontally in the smaller rooms if I want to. The carved archway can make certain decorations look really weird if they aren't centered. Overall that would be a huge QoL upgrade for the decorating community if it could be implemented.

 

Alternatively, more hook layout options that would allow us to center a Large hook in those rooms would also be great.

 

Anything else you want to add?

Overall I really do love this stronghold and I'm so happy that we're finally getting it!

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As I said on the wrong thread (wooops)

 

I have a bunch of thoughts on this new stronghold, these are just my subjective thoughts though.

 

Pros: Any room with windows is gorgeous. The stained glass window is amazing, the indoor hall is a dream, the fact that centrepiece hooks are in the middle of this hall makes me so happy. (Please add a centrepiece hook to the centre of the Yavin temple main hall as well, I'd most appreciate that. I love much of the indoor areas. The mountain retreat is also amazing. Honestly I'd by the mountain retreat as its own mini stronghold.

 

Cons: The outdoor entrance area is unnecessarily large imho, and for it's size does not have enough hooks at the moment. The entrance area is bigger even than the Yavin entrance. The Killik cave is not my favorite, it feels like my house is infested with wasp nests. Now, some people may be into that, but I'm not. I'd suggest removing the Killik mounds and make it a decoration for people if they wish to use it. Same with the throne room. I feel it's a beautiful room but the throne is in the way a bit.

 

I feel predetermining what a room is for limits creativity. The throne room could be a dinner room, or a bar or a library. The cave doesn't need to be a Killik cave, it could be a firing range for troopers or a crystal cave for Jedi, or a dark shrine for Sith. I think the throne and mounds should be removed and kept as decorations. This would be my main criticism of this stronghold.

 

Minor nitpicks: I love the stained glass window hallway, but I can't help but feel there should be an upper floor to this stronghold like the other castles on Alderaan. The three identical sqare rooms I feel could also do with some more personality, whether that be slight modifications to their shape or a window like some of the other rooms. All in all it has a lot of potential, but at the moment I only desire half the stronghold.

 

Also: If we're doing stronghold requests, I'd love a mini flagship. Something larger than the personal ship but smaller than a guild flag ship. Smaller strongholds would be really nice also, appartment blocks instead of massive mansions. I'm not a king lol.

Edited by JamesMijkael
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Noticed something in the main hall. The projection of the window on the ground is gorgeous, but when you place objects in the way of the light it doesn't change. So projection doesn't hit decos, not sure how difficult that would be to adjust, I'd imagine quite a bit. When I place a deco at the front of the hall, the light doesn't project onto it, the deco just cuts off some of the projection, and when I place a deco near the rear of the hall light doesn't move around it. It's not a huge thing I guess, but it triggers my ocd.
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I want to repeat that we must be able to mount in the WHOLE stronghold. I loved how gorgeous it is! It would be cool to add something unique to this stronghold. Rishi has PVP so this one should have something unique. Also there are several glitches. One of the rooms in the retreat has a part of the lower wall missing below the huge window. Also as others have said the intro is messed up and two areas close after you unlock them. But other than that AMAZING
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I want to repeat that we must be able to mount in the WHOLE stronghold. I loved how gorgeous it is! It would be cool to add something unique to this stronghold. Rishi has PVP so this one should have something unique. Also there are several glitches. One of the rooms in the retreat has a part of the lower wall missing below the huge window. Also as others have said the intro is messed up and two areas close after you unlock them. But other than that AMAZING
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Sry that i spam so much but its just awesome

 

What is your general feeling on the Stronghold? like i said, awesome, i do love that exspecially the main hall has not that much light in it, it gives the stronghold a mystical touch

 

Are there any specific rooms you like, or don't like, and why? Please be specific. the main hall for the church window, the throneroom for the throne window idea and the lodging rooms for there biiig windows ( i like windows, did u get it? ^^)

 

Does the Stronghold feel too big? Too small? Why? Its kind of too big since we cant mount everywhere, that would be a nice change

 

If you could change several things about the Stronghold, what would they be?

 

we have one big room, the Main hall and its beautiful, but i think 1 or 2 more big rooms, excpecially round ones, for something like a jedi council table or an planet holo modell thing ( Excpecially the new big star map from ossus) would be very very nice :)

 

Hooks ON the walls left and right to the way that goes to the main entrance (most decoration like flags wouldnt be fully seen behind the walls that would be sad regarding there actual price in the ghm ^^)

 

Hooks in Front of the Main entrance for Guards, flags and something like this, same in the entrance to the main hall after the wall u have to go around ( I would like a circular room/hall instead of the wall much more, where u could put a fountain or a statue in the middle, the wall makes it a little bit tight)

 

The spawnpoint changer, the droid and the cinematic player at the front entrance is a nice idea but it kind of ruins the entrance for me, just put it behind the door or somewhere else wer u cant see it and it doesent take the place of decoration :)

 

Hooks on the Carpet in front of the throne to put some humble servants or guests on them, not just left and right :)

 

A second floor at the main hall behind the beautiful already existing arcs, and behind the hallway some more minor rooms, ive seen them requested a lot in prior posts

 

These podiums (?) in the main hall where the glowing lamps are put on, they are found in the rest of the stronghold as well but sometimes without the lamps, sometimes with them. my inner sheldon will kill me if u dont put lamps on all of them or at least give us some lamp decoration that looks exactly the same so we can put it on there ^^

 

Speaking of inner Sheldon, the Patterns on the Floor Plates in the Main hall are not centered to the Doors left and right, and in the hallways of the mountain retreat, the podiums with lamps on them are arranged very unsymmetric, they are almost always 1 or 2 meters away from the one of the opposite side.i mean its a Palace it needs symmetryyyyyy! xD

 

In the Main rooms of the Mountain retreat, there are some big wall like podiums left and right to the entrance when u come in, i think it would be much better to have them removed and put some hooks there for something like the jedi statue of the pilger, that has the same basement as the podiums that are standing there right now :)

 

A Elevator at the opposite side of the other elevator, going to a platform on top of the palace perhaps?

 

a Landing Plattform for my ship, out on the field or even better, integrated in the Palace somewhere

 

Does the increased hook density feel too cluttered? regarding the empty hallways and ruin (floor part), yes, but except this they are perfectly fine

 

Does the number and placement of hooks feel to restrictive given the Stronghold's decoration cap? No

 

Anything else you want to add? Its not really for the stronghold but the banners and flaggs of the alderaan houses are really rare and the cartell packs to get them are no longer buyable, i would love to see them back in the market :)

 

Sorry for making these many posts i was just so excited i couldnt hold back, but i do think they all would improve the stronghold for the better :)

 

PS, since I've seen so much criticism of the view in the throne room and the missing second floor at the main hall, perhaps make the two to one and make a open throne room at the second floor of the main hall, looking through the hall towards the wonderful window and down on their servants on the 1st floor, and behind the throne a window showing the landing area in front of the castle :)

 

PPS: Ive seen many critic on that throne room and that there already is a throne and they dont like it and so one bla bla, i think its gorgeous and everyone i spoke to had the same opinion and just thaught it would be too obvious to write it down here. i would like a throne at the second floor much more but the throne room and exspecially the throne with the aweseome window around it is just perfect!

Edited by jannikschnee
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I've been online to test.

 

So far I am really happy with the hook count and the interior hook placement. Hooks cover the entirety of the floor in most of the rooms and the main hall of the palace, which is sorely lacking in other strongholds (coughManaan cough).

 

The corridors don't have many floor hooks but I don't think that's a problem.

 

My suggestions for the stronghold are:

 

  • Add a way to "reset" the mountain that blocks access to the Killik cave after you have unlocked that area. The cinematic is awesome, and there is great potential for RP (invading army blows up the mountain and you have to fight them off, etc). Interactive environments are great and that's maybe the next-best thing to a player-toggleable day-night cycle.
  • Add more spawn points - currently I have found the default one in the middle of the field, one at the bottom of the palace stairs I think and one at the top of the roof elevator. I think there should be at least one more near the throne room and one near the two "bedrooms" on the roof for ease of access
  • Yes, please add a balcony or concourse of some sort to overlook the main hall of the Palace
  • More outside hooks would be nice
  • Add some contrast to hooks on the roof, as some are very hard to see on the snow

 

Will there be any Rishi-style PVP toggle?

 

Off-topic: Heroic Mission Terminals have been in the in-game deco viewer since Strongholds launched. Will these ever make it into the game?

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