Comments on the Last Homely House Revamp

[Digaloo]

Overall it looks nice. Looks like they've had the decorators in.

Not sure I can see the point of going through a door and then having a small corridor to get to another door to then go into the room you wanted to go in. This happens a few times e.g. The Hall of Fire and Elrond's study etc.

[TesalionLortus]

It's very nice! I don't mind the corridors, they needed to create some separation and it's not like such corridors wouldn't exist in such halls.

It's only that brightly fully green floor upon entry that's very strange, if that was something like Lothlorien then maybe through the color shade is a bit weird, but it doesn't go along at all with the House of Elrond and in my mind makes me feel more like I just entered the House of Sluts, partying to the morning :P The original reflective "noble" marble would work much better here for the impression conveyed upon entry. It's the house of Elrond, it's welcoming but... it's still the House of Elrond, you know... the noble elven retreat

[Elaelin]

Maybe you could clean the floor up a tiny bit and pick up the leaves? It feels like the site of a future quest where the elves direct us to clean the floor and pick up the leaves.

[LadyCalithil]

It's very nice! I don't mind the corridors, they needed to create some separation and it's not like such corridors wouldn't exist in such halls.

It's only that brightly fully green floor upon entry that's very strange, if that was something like Lothlorien then maybe through the color shade is a bit weird, but it doesn't go along at all with the House of Elrond and in my mind makes me feel more like I just entered the House of Sluts, partying to the morning :P The original reflective "noble" marble would work much better here for the impression conveyed upon entry. It's the house of Elrond, it's welcoming but... it's still the House of Elrond, you know... the noble elven retreat

I agree regarding the very intensely green floor in the entry. Did it get more 'saturated' since Beta #3?? Because I'm not remembering it as quite so bright and I thought the main 'stained glass' looking rugs in the main entrance to have a nice soft mauve tint where there is now a sort of funky not-pink sort of salmon color. The soft mauve touches went nicely with the new braizers on either side of the big statue. If the green floor was less saturated and more subtle with a touch of the reflective look of the old, I feel it would better fit the overall vibe of the place. Plus, it makes the bright purple rugs leading to (and in the corridor to) the Hall of Fire even more startling. Looks a bit too much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, USA. O.o Once you get inside the Hall of Fire, the colors feel much more harmonious. One last nitpick...the statues in the corners on the floor of the Hall of Rest seem to have a very funky lighting right now that makes them actually look rather scary than beautiful. It's almost like the color saturation levels have been cranked waaaaay up throughout the Homely House.

Most of the rest of the House is quite lovely and feels more like a place elves live in rather than just a cold space for show. The mauve/purple lanterns are lovely which is another reason why I miss the hints of that same color in the rugs of the entry. The added trees and wood effects are also quite lovely. I don't mind the leaves on the floor that much and I do love all the extra plantings, fountains/alcoves and the banners of Gil-galad tucked throughout the building. Appropriate since Elrond was his Herald. Many thanks for all the hard work that went into updating it all!

[LadyCalithil]

I agree regarding the very intensely green floor in the entry. Did it get more 'saturated' since Beta #3?? Because I'm not remembering it as quite so bright and I thought the main 'stained glass' looking rugs in the main entrance to have a nice soft mauve tint where there is now a sort of funky not-pink sort of salmon color. The soft mauve touches went nicely with the new braizers on either side of the big statue. If the green floor was less saturated and more subtle with a touch of the reflective look of the old, I feel it would better fit the overall vibe of the place. Plus, it makes the bright purple rugs leading to (and in the corridor to) the Hall of Fire even more startling. Looks a bit too much like Mardi Gras in New Orleans, USA. O.o Once you get inside the Hall of Fire, the colors feel much more harmonious. One last nitpick...the statues in the corners on the floor of the Hall of Rest seem to have a very funky lighting right now that makes them actually look rather scary than beautiful. It's almost like the color saturation levels have been cranked waaaaay up throughout the Homely House.

Most of the rest of the House is quite lovely and feels more like a place elves live in rather than just a cold space for show. The mauve/purple lanterns are lovely which is another reason why I miss the hints of that same color in the rugs of the entry. The added trees and wood effects are also quite lovely. I don't mind the leaves on the floor that much and I do love all the extra plantings, fountains/alcoves and the banners of Gil-galad tucked throughout the building. Appropriate since Elrond was his Herald. Many thanks for all the hard work that went into updating it all!

Adding one more thing since I've been back in live Rivendell recently: the change of the ramps up to stairs is a bit confusing, not because they're now stairs, but because they look like rather rough-hewn stairs that do not really match the level of craftsmanship shown in the rest of the building. When the rest of Rivendell has lovely smooth ramps and bridges and steps and such, the rough stairs inside the Homely House look a bit out of place.

jmho, of course.

[Elaelin]

Adding one more thing since I've been back in live Rivendell recently: the change of the ramps up to stairs is a bit confusing, not because they're now stairs, but because they look like rather rough-hewn stairs that do not really match the level of craftsmanship shown in the rest of the building. When the rest of Rivendell has lovely smooth ramps and bridges and steps and such, the rough stairs inside the Homely House look a bit out of place.

jmho, of course.

Hopefully SSG will eventually redo all of Rivendell to be a similar design to the Last House. It is a shame if they are going to redo just one small portion of the entire area and make it a significantly different style. The new style from what I have seen in the pictures is OK. I agree with others that the colors are a tad bit much but that is just personal preference. I remember the first time I made it to Rivendell. It was beautiful and elegant and a wonderful experience. I hope with the new design, SSG remembers that Rivendell is special and keeps it that way. If the house style is redesigned to be more "country elf" comfy, I hope the rest of the area is redesigned to match the house. The house is the centerpiece of Rivendell. It should not be overshadowed by the elegance of the rest of the area. A consistent theme throughout the area would be best in my opinion.

[TesalionLortus]

Hopefully SSG will eventually redo all of Rivendell to be a similar design to the Last House. It is a shame if they are going to redo just one small portion of the entire area and make it a significantly different style. The new style from what I have seen in the pictures is OK. I agree with others that the colors are a tad bit much but that is just personal preference. I remember the first time I made it to Rivendell. It was beautiful and elegant and a wonderful experience. I hope with the new design, SSG remembers that Rivendell is special and keeps it that way. If the house style is redesigned to be more "country elf" comfy, I hope the rest of the area is redesigned to match the house. The house is the centerpiece of Rivendell. It should not be overshadowed by the elegance of the rest of the area. A consistent theme throughout the area would be best in my opinion.

Hard no to this. I agree I would love a redesign of Rivendell assets (Celondim too, basically all of them) to appear better and more modern - in my eyes they're the worst impression of all the old assets/models/texture, because even though they look lovely, something about these evokes a paper-like feeling way too much. Elven sets feel like houses of cards. Because they haven't really touched some of these models (I guess?) some of the Caras Gelebren suffers from this too. Feel a bit off, in a way that Thorin's Hall, Bree or Shire don't. Maybe it's because of that wood on the textures (which seems to lack some detail) + old models yet so many curves on them which doesn't play nicely together? Idk. But I really have this strong feeling about elven sets.

That being said, no to complete change of style in Rivendell. Please keep the elegance and a bit of grace/nobility as it is. The interior of the house should just match that feeling by having some of the marble floor back, that would do it I think

[Nioca]

Hard no to this. I agree I would love a redesign of Rivendell assets (Celondim too, basically all of them) to appear better and more modern - in my eyes they're the worst impression of all the old assets/models/texture, because even though they look lovely, something about these evokes a paper-like feeling way too much. Elven sets feel like houses of cards. Because they haven't really touched some of these models (I guess?) some of the Caras Gelebren suffers from this too. Feel a bit off, in a way that Thorin's Hall, Bree or Shire don't. Maybe it's because of that wood on the textures (which seems to lack some detail) + old models yet so many curves on them which doesn't play nicely together? Idk. But I really have this strong feeling about elven sets.

That being said, no to complete change of style in Rivendell. Please keep the elegance and a bit of grace/nobility as it is. The interior of the house should just match that feeling by having some of the marble floor back, that would do it I think

I am under the impression that the current redesign is to make the last house more like the Mirkwood elves with a back to nature vibe in the house vs stately and elegant. Either way, the house is now one style and the rest of the area is an older more elegant style. It doesn't blend well. Bringing back the marble floors and a bit less brightness in the color would be good. Clean up the stairs and make them marble rather than crude wood. If they really want the hut in the forest look then make the rest of Rivendell the same. The guest house also needs to be redone with the same style scheme as the main house. It feels like an incomplete or only partial update when just one portion of an area is changed in this manner. Unpolished is the word that comes to mind. The new changes are ok but they clash with the original. Pick one style and go forward please.

[TesalionLortus]

Granted, I've seen it only on YouTube videos, so yes, if the stairs are actually visibly wooden, I guess that kind of doesn't blend well with interior walls, floors and the entire house on the outside too. I wonder whether that's because they didn't have the right asset but they should have a stone elven stairs, no? That, plus definitely the marble, at least somewhere, instead of the green upon entry. Would work very well.

[PreemptiveRegret]

I really like Elrond's new house, although it looks very copied and pasted in a few spots. Why does Elrond have so many urns?

[wispsong]

I just visited the house. From the entryway the hall looks nice with the statue really becoming the focus due to the new surroundings. The constant color change, the stairs and overuse of assets makes it to busy. More like something I expect in Lothlorien and Mirkwood but still to much. I don't like it. It's not even the floor many mention, it's the whole feel. We went from peaceful and serene to busy and chaotic.

[Neinda]

I just visited the house. From the entryway the hall looks nice with the statue really becoming the focus due to the new surroundings. The constant color change, the stairs and overuse of assets makes it to busy. More like something I expect in Lothlorien and Mirkwood but still to much. I don't like it. It's not even the floor many mention, it's the whole feel. We went from peaceful and serene to busy and chaotic.

The trend in game lately is toward busy and crowded areas. I believe the Hall of Fire is too bright. The lights need to be turned down a bit to match the books and the lore. It was not a bright and well lit place in the story. There was very little light other than the big fireplace according to the story. Redecorating is one thing. Changing a location from the description in the books seems out of place. It is no longer a nice spot for Bilbo to take a nap. The hallway leading to the Hall of Fire is a very nice touch.

[wispsong]

The trend in game lately is toward busy and crowded areas. There were good things added but too many good things.

I believe the Hall of Fire is too bright. The lights need to be turned down a bit. It is no longer a nice spot for Bilbo to take a nap. The hallway leading to the Hall of Fire is a very nice touch.

Also, if you got rid of the ramps inside the house and replaced them with proper stairs, why is the ramp still outside leading to the entry? Should that not be stairs? The look would be much more consistent if you changed the entry.

The stairs don't fit at all. At least they could have chosen the elven stairs but no stairs in game come even close to the beautiful ramps. Change for the sake of change where it wasn't needed. And it's to much. I noticed the statues in Erebor which were added and don't really fit. Maybe that's a training ground and new devs are just not checked.
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[TesalionLortus]

So, overall, it's not bad. But I agree with the "chaotic" part. These devs really know no restraint, don't they? : D

My biggest wish is still the floor change. Into the mirrored marble, preferably white, upon entry. To bring more nobility and peace from constant color shifts. They actually have the reflective marble in rooms, which could have been fine without it, for all I care, but not in the main hall where it used to make the biggest impact. A neat white floor, marbled noble one, would alleviate that funky chaos a bit. Not sure why they wanted to turn the place upon entry in the same kind of vibes you know from Lothlorien, for example, rather than leave it unique.

The stairs indeed need retexture, now that I saw them up-close... Come on. These are harsh stone that's even showing its age, a sort you would find in a ruined castle or exteriors. Should be repainted into majestic white marble steps. And then if you match them with majestic marble white floor like in the old one = some of that chaos may get tamed. A little bit more class and taste. That's what I imagine when I think of Elrond in particular and what the entire exterior conveys.




Some other things I noticed.

- The old one definitely has less chaos to it, but in the new one, because they wanted to create these wider arches, you can tell that they outright took this ornamental deco asset and "skewed" it disturbing its proportions in "unreal" mismatching way (when sizes of the elements compared to thinner ones), so it just adds up to chaos and isn't esthetically pleasing (plus you can spot the subtle difference between the two assets - one of which feels graphically wrong). I guess better move would have been to use 2x OG unedited size or just leave this part non-ornamental, would hurt less.







- Also, these statues right there in the middle of stairs in front of doors strike me in a bad way, not tidy enough and not harmonious, plus you also bump into them when you exit rooms (they may look like they're harmonious because placed in front of doors and looking at each other but... that's just technically "harmonious" but in practice contributes to chaos rather than feeling of peace and harmony). Just placed under one of the arches seemed like a much better choice. Organized peaceful one, more spacey "out of the way" placement








- Not sure what to say about the Hall of Fire. It's ok. But it's interesting because on vanilla game I think new version with new lightning sucks a bit and is far less impressive than OG. But on reshade both version come very close so all is good. Granted, the OG is still visibly more effective with how stage and center that warmth of the fire is color-wise. But then again, at least Bilbo doesn't stand in such shadows now... so that's certainly a plus of this. But yeah, one gotta run with reshade to actually fully appreciate the new Hall of Fire and its lightning











Overall... a very good revamp, yes. I like it. But I do hope they can find a moment to jump in and slightly address some of these issues more receptive, sensible of us are able to point out here. This really seems like something everyone in SSG should actually pay more attention to overall - subtlety, taste, nuance. Not saying they don't have taste, which this revamp clearly illustrates they do plus many of their world design, but the kind of "final touch taste" - does it feel good, does the assets feel right, does the assets belong together, does everything correspond, isn't it cluttered, don't the assets we adjusted or forcibly shoved into something feel visibly uglier or like they don't belong, maybe better to just loose them then" That kind of thing. And it may make tremendous difference sometimes. And if you can't see such things or constantly miss them, well then my advice - for a final review of the space... run around with nicely setup reshade and sharpness maxed through GPU. Try it sometimes. This is how modern gaming should be played. (Doesn't mean the settings need to be like mine though, mine are still very much a work in progress anyway : P)

[TesalionLortus]

Change for the sake of change where it wasn't needed. And it's to much. I noticed the statues in Erebor which were added and don't really fit. Maybe that's a training ground and new devs are just not checked.
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Wait, they added stuff to Erebor recently too?? Where? Gotta go and see it, but yeah, since Erebor already had a tremendous amount of statues (many of which copy-paste, which is natural in a game, but that's why sometimes need restraint) so then true, I can believe you it might not look good...

[Carallot]

I simply want to say that I love the change! In the past some doors where bigger than others, when opened there was a wall piece behind (not the fake-before-transfer room), arches looked old with not enough polygons... Now is truly 2023's elvish!

[auximenes]

Looks good to me. I especially like the full hallways.

[Halphast]

I really like it overall. I miss the elegance of the ramps- blocky stone stairs don't look quite as good. Also the leaves on the ground look really chunky and low quality if you focus on them.

[Elaelin]

I really like it overall. I miss the elegance of the ramps- blocky stone stairs don't look quite as good. Also the leaves on the ground look really chunky and low quality if you focus on them.

The leaves also don't really match the trees they are supposed to be falling from and the places the leaves fall don't match the layout of the trees. Maybe consider picking up the leaves off the floor or having them fall just around the trees in a more realistic pattern. The leave appear to fall on just the floor but miss other items like the carpets. The leaves are all around the pool in the library but don't actually fall in the water. It is almost like the leaves are not from the trees but a furniture item. Fewer leaves on the floor would not harm the look of the new house. If you really want the look of leaves on the floor make a floor tile pattern with leaves rather than just tossing them loose on the floor.

The stairs vs ramp could be a nice touch if they matched the elegance of the house in general.

The furniture set up is a bit much to me. There are approximately 25 copies of the exact same red book case with the exact same vases on top of it pretty much every where you look. There are also many of copies of other items and it is like no open surface was left open. Clutter is fine if that is your preference but at least give it some variety. Having all those matching bookcases and "cut and paste" furniture items near each other makes me think furniture store and I keep looking over my shoulder for the elf sales person trying to sell me the room of my dreams. Maybe consider a bit less clutter or if clutter is the preference, please give it some variety. The other thing I find out of place is the new modern conference room. The rest of the revamp is clutter and that room is empty and sterile. It is also a bit "modern" conference room style vs what I would expect from elves. I was looking for the screen on the wall and video equipment.

The revamp is nice but it feels unfinished. Many of us were spoiled by the elegance and stately beauty of the old house. It was a place of awe and with the marble floors and elegant ramps and simple but beautiful decorating. It seems to be the same design trend as the Yondershire where the neighborhood pubs turned into "copy and paste" crowded mazes packed wall to wall with hobbits and noise. Sometimes less is better and perfectly acceptable. Every open surface does not need to be covered with something. Every open floor location does not need to be filled with NPCs.