Official Discussion Thread for "The ESO “Welcome Home” Housing Contest is Here!"

ZOS_Kevin

This is the official discussion thread for, "The ESO “Welcome Home” Housing Contest is Here!"

"Have a home in Tamriel? Share it with us and you could win in-game housing rewards, a chat with the ESO Housing Team, and more!"

MoonPile

Wow! There will be some incredible entries to this for sure!

It might seem obvious, but: "Cozy Inn Rooms" must use a 15-30 slot inn room, right? I couldn't find anything explicitly stating house type / limits in the rules.

SapphicCheshire

Quick question, does the Cozy Inn Rooms include the appartment size catagory or just "Inn" rooms?

ZOS_Kevin

@MoonPile and @SapphicCheshire, great questions. Yes, the Cozy Inn Rooms are limited to "inn" rooms in the 15-30 slot category.

xencthlu

When the rules say the entry can't have been published before, does that mean it can't have been in prior contests? Or does it mean, literally, you can't have put your entry in a publication?

LunaFlora

this seems awesome 🩷

i have a few homes i think i can submit

ReeceLavellan

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

@MoonPile and @SapphicCheshire, great questions. Yes, the Cozy Inn Rooms are limited to "inn" rooms in the 15-30 slot category.

Hi, so does that discount 50/100 slot apartments? Because they share a lot in common with inn rooms in terms of max visitors, special collectibles, etc and the size of them actually feels similar to the size of modern inn rooms that have come out in later chapters.

I’ve actually already entered an apartment for the cozy inn room theme because I hadn’t seen this post and like others I couldn’t see anything against it in the rules. Does this mean my entry will be invalidated?

Any insight would be much appreciated, thank you!

j3z3b3l

Is this open to Console and if so, will all the judges have access to each player home?
Answered

EmperorRemanIV

@ZOS_Kevin this is really bugging me and I would very much apreciate an explanation.

Why? Why every event made by the developers, even a niched one like housing, why all of these events are only made to people from USA, Europe and some Oceania countries? ESO have players from all over the world. South America, Central America, Asia, Africa. And most of all, it's a housing contest. Why exclude so many players from this event, specially after giving the Grand Gallery of Tamriel for free to everyone?

ZOS_Kevin

ReeceLavellan wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

@MoonPile and @SapphicCheshire, great questions. Yes, the Cozy Inn Rooms are limited to "inn" rooms in the 15-30 slot category.

Hi, so does that discount 50/100 slot apartments? Because they share a lot in common with inn rooms in terms of max visitors, special collectibles, etc and the size of them actually feels similar to the size of modern inn rooms that have come out in later chapters.

I’ve actually already entered an apartment for the cozy inn room theme because I hadn’t seen this post and like others I couldn’t see anything against it in the rules. Does this mean my entry will be invalidated?

Any insight would be much appreciated, thank you!

While they are similar in size, most apartments are larger than the inn rooms. The idea here was to give inns a spotlight, so if someone only has inn rooms available, they can still participate in some way in the contest.

princesspurpleblob

Is this just a screenshot competition or would judges visit the houses?

Seeing that the form doesn't ask for server we play, I assume just a screenshot competition?

If so, then, how can judges tell whether the screenshot was built from PTS? Does it mean, it allows PTS submissions?

princesspurpleblob

xencthlu wrote: »

When the rules say the entry can't have been published before, does that mean it can't have been in prior contests? Or does it mean, literally, you can't have put your entry in a publication?

Also would like answer for this one too - depending on what it means by "published before", it may restrict my choices for submission

ReeceLavellan

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

ReeceLavellan wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

@MoonPile and @SapphicCheshire, great questions. Yes, the Cozy Inn Rooms are limited to "inn" rooms in the 15-30 slot category.

Hi, so does that discount 50/100 slot apartments? Because they share a lot in common with inn rooms in terms of max visitors, special collectibles, etc and the size of them actually feels similar to the size of modern inn rooms that have come out in later chapters.

I’ve actually already entered an apartment for the cozy inn room theme because I hadn’t seen this post and like others I couldn’t see anything against it in the rules. Does this mean my entry will be invalidated?

Any insight would be much appreciated, thank you!

While they are similar in size, most apartments are larger than the inn rooms. The idea here was to give inns a spotlight, so if someone only has inn rooms available, they can still participate in some way in the contest.

So just to be 100% clear, thats a no to apartments and homes of any other size except for inn rooms if entering in this category? It's just I don't see anything in the official rules saying as such, and there's no option to say what home you are using in the entry form. I just need to know in case I need to build something new, thanks.

DJfriede

@ZOS_Kevin Could you please specify what rule no. 6 means?



"Not previously been published" means: not posted on any discord servers, our own social media accounts, on the forums, entered in a previous contest etc...?

Thank your for a clarification!

Lugaldu

Well, I was so excited for this Housing Contest but so many European Countries are not allowed to participate, sad!

ZOS_Kevin

Lugaldu wrote: »

Well, I was so excited for this Housing Contest but so many European Countries are not allowed to participate, sad!

We understand the disappointment in not having more countries included. We tried to include as many as we could and will look for ways to include more in the future. It's part of the reason we push the contest when it was originally slated for last fall.

ZOS_Kevin

ReeceLavellan wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

ReeceLavellan wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

@MoonPile and @SapphicCheshire, great questions. Yes, the Cozy Inn Rooms are limited to "inn" rooms in the 15-30 slot category.

Hi, so does that discount 50/100 slot apartments? Because they share a lot in common with inn rooms in terms of max visitors, special collectibles, etc and the size of them actually feels similar to the size of modern inn rooms that have come out in later chapters.

I’ve actually already entered an apartment for the cozy inn room theme because I hadn’t seen this post and like others I couldn’t see anything against it in the rules. Does this mean my entry will be invalidated?

Any insight would be much appreciated, thank you!

While they are similar in size, most apartments are larger than the inn rooms. The idea here was to give inns a spotlight, so if someone only has inn rooms available, they can still participate in some way in the contest.

So just to be 100% clear, thats a no to apartments and homes of any other size except for inn rooms if entering in this category? It's just I don't see anything in the official rules saying as such, and there's no option to say what home you are using in the entry form. I just need to know in case I need to build something new, thanks.

To be clear, no to apartment or homes of any other size if entered in cozy inn room category. Only Inn rooms will be permitted for this category. We're looking to see what we can do to clarify that category to make this more clear. Thanks for flagging.

ZOS_Kevin

j3z3b3l wrote: »

Is this open to Console and if so, will all the judges have access to each player home?
Answered

This is open to consoles, yes! Judges will be going off of the pictures submitted as we cannot guarantee that everyone will have access to all platforms.

Personofsecrets

My Cozy inn is Autumn's gate. It has a bar, seating for games and eating, and a bedroom. It's already submitted.

I don't really care about the contest per se, especially since I don't expect to win, so it's fine that my submission is null. That said, why can't a cozy space be in any home?

With just 6 pictures too highlight the space, it seems like large homes with many aspects would automatically score low. The submission could even be limited to 4 pictures or 2 pictures to help ensure that a cozy space is highlighted.

ZOS_Kevin

princesspurpleblob wrote: »

Is this just a screenshot competition or would judges visit the houses?

Seeing that the form doesn't ask for server we play, I assume just a screenshot competition?

If so, then, how can judges tell whether the screenshot was built from PTS? Does it mean, it allows PTS submissions?

Judging will be done through the screenshots submitted. The main thing is that if we need to verify that this is your creation, we have the ability to do so through checking your account. We can do that through PTS and the live game. You can use PTS if you have access to it.

ZOS_Kevin

Personofsecrets wrote: »

My Cozy inn is Autumn's gate. It has a bar, seating for games and eating, and a bedroom. It's already submitted.

I don't really care about the contest per se, especially since I don't expect to win, so it's fine that my submission is null. That said, why can't a cozy space be in any home?

With just 6 pictures too highlight the space, it seems like large homes with many aspects would automatically score low. The submission could even be limited to 4 pictures or 2 pictures to help ensure that a cozy space is highlighted.

We designed this category specifically for those who may only have inn spaces, so they can participate in the content. So the intention on our end was always to have this as inn spaces only.

ZOS_Kevin

DJfriede wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin Could you please specify what rule no. 6 means?



"Not previously been published" means: not posted on any discord servers, our own social media accounts, on the forums, entered in a previous contest etc...?

Thank your for a clarification!

So we meant something completely different with this line. The intention was not to restrict what you can post out of your creations. It was to note that you cannot submit a creation previously posted by someone else. So it must be your original work. If you have created something that you have submitted elsewhere, you are free to submit it. It just can't be a copy or very close recreation of someone else's work that they have previously posted.

I have escalated the confusion around this line just so folks know internally that it was interpreted differently than originally intended.

MoonPile

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

...
To be clear, no to apartment or homes of any other size if entered in cozy inn room category. Only Inn rooms will be permitted for this category. We're looking to see what we can do to clarify that category to make this more clear. Thanks for flagging.

Thanks for all of the quick answers!

Since it's primarily a screenshot contest, I hope Inn Room submissions will be verified somehow: 30 slots is a very different challenge than 100 slots. But still possible to reskin such that the original room is not recognizable in 30 slots – so fairness would depend on judges counting the visible number of items used. I'm surprised there is no box to add the house & server, to check prospective finalists at least.

Personofsecrets

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Personofsecrets wrote: »

My Cozy inn is Autumn's gate. It has a bar, seating for games and eating, and a bedroom. It's already submitted.

I don't really care about the contest per se, especially since I don't expect to win, so it's fine that my submission is null. That said, why can't a cozy space be in any home?

With just 6 pictures too highlight the space, it seems like large homes with many aspects would automatically score low. The submission could even be limited to 4 pictures or 2 pictures to help ensure that a cozy space is highlighted.

We designed this category specifically for those who may only have inn spaces, so they can participate in the content. So the intention on our end was always to have this as inn spaces only.

Is there a way to resubmit in that category after making an error?

Namiridite

The rules for the housing contest say no image editing. Does this include cropping? I have an ultra widescreen and the stuff at the very edges begins to stretch and look a bit odd in a screenshot. I didn't know if I'd be okay to just crop to 1920x1080? Some screenshots look okay but I don't feel like this is the same as photoshopping, just evening the field

Sparklezz42

@ZOS_Kevin I have a couple questions!

1. Maybe this is more of a concern rather than a question. PTS homes are allowed in this competition? I personally feel that puts others at a disadvantage because resources are nowhere near as limited on PTS..

2. I am in a guild where I am good friends with the GM. He had me build their guild hall for them. The build is not in my own player home, but the build is completely my own work. We are wondering, could I still enter that as my own build? I understand if it's not, but definitely wanted to ask!

Thank you!

MoonPile

Sparklezz42 wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin I have a couple questions!

1. Maybe this is more of a concern rather than a question. PTS homes are allowed in this competition? I personally feel that puts others at a disadvantage because resources are nowhere near as limited on PTS..

Thank you!

I agree with you, and want to add:

Right now PC NA players (not to mention console) are at some disadvantage on PTS because it's the EU copy for all of the months following the first 2 weeks of a new patch. NA wouldn't get all of our own houses, Luxury, Crown Crate and Achievement items, etc. PC EU mains on PTS have the greatest advantage.

It's definitely a consideration for all of us not on PC EU: do I take the freedom of building much faster without cost limitations on PTS, or start there and move it to Live where I can fill in with my L/CC/A items (more cumbersome when you haven't considered those items to begin with), or build totally on Live? It's a huge difference in efficiency and ability to experiment.

*OTOH this advantage exists anyway with EHT's funtionality to copy builds; not unique to this contest. But still, you'd have to obtain all of those items on Live, which is at least a bit of a balance.

ZOS_Kevin

Sparklezz42 wrote: »

@ZOS_Kevin I have a couple questions!

1. Maybe this is more of a concern rather than a question. PTS homes are allowed in this competition? I personally feel that puts others at a disadvantage because resources are nowhere near as limited on PTS..

2. I am in a guild where I am good friends with the GM. He had me build their guild hall for them. The build is not in my own player home, but the build is completely my own work. We are wondering, could I still enter that as my own build? I understand if it's not, but definitely wanted to ask!

Thank you!

Happy to answer!

1. To be frank, we did not factor PTS in when planning this. So we do not have legal rules against using PTS. Once legal rules are public, we cannot change them. So there is nothing really stopping folks from using PTS and disqualifying them from doing so. This is something we are noting for the future to factor in for.
2. This one is a bit tricky. We will need to ask other folks on the team to verify. I'll have a better answer for this on Monday.

ZOS_Kevin

Namiridite wrote: »

The rules for the housing contest say no image editing. Does this include cropping? I have an ultra widescreen and the stuff at the very edges begins to stretch and look a bit odd in a screenshot. I didn't know if I'd be okay to just crop to 1920x1080? Some screenshots look okay but I don't feel like this is the same as photoshopping, just evening the field

Cropping the photo is okay. The editing photo rule is mainly set up so folks are not photoshopping or using AI tools to enhance submissions. Just cropping the photos are fine.

ZOS_Kevin

Personofsecrets wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Personofsecrets wrote: »

My Cozy inn is Autumn's gate. It has a bar, seating for games and eating, and a bedroom. It's already submitted.

I don't really care about the contest per se, especially since I don't expect to win, so it's fine that my submission is null. That said, why can't a cozy space be in any home?

With just 6 pictures too highlight the space, it seems like large homes with many aspects would automatically score low. The submission could even be limited to 4 pictures or 2 pictures to help ensure that a cozy space is highlighted.

We designed this category specifically for those who may only have inn spaces, so they can participate in the content. So the intention on our end was always to have this as inn spaces only.

Is there a way to resubmit in that category after making an error?

Yes, if you can DM me your ESO username or email used for the submission, we can make the edit on our end. This will likely be done on Monday given the time of day.

CoolBlast3

Hey @ZOS_Kevin

1 question. Are we allowed to submit screenshots which have reshade filters? Plenty of people on PC use them, and a Community Feature blog post on a at the time known screenshotter a few years back had reshades mentioned. But either way I'd appreciate clarification if it's "legal" usage in this context or not.
Thanks!