So....30 pages of castles/keeps. 1 minute wait between seeing each one. This equals 5 hours to view each castle/keep on the list. 

I kind of think it would be easier to run around, click on a house sign and vote.

A good portion of the designs are not even complete, just a few walls and some are not even designs, just the blank plots still.
I thought the Devs were going to QA the designs before putting them up on the stone.


Oh and why the hell do we only get 1 vote per account for a Castle OR Keep, but not 1 for each???

I'm finding this contest a bit frustrating to be honest. No way am I going around 300 entries, most people didn't even bother to give their design a name! I can see it now 'and the winner is L33TD00D with his design An Unnamed House' 

Hehe, just feels like they want to be done with it after all the mess this contest was along its way. Maybe they learn from it to not announce stuff prematurely without giving it any thoughts... maybe..  😂

jaytin said:

I'm finding this contest a bit frustrating to be honest. No way am I going around 300 entries, most people didn't even bother to give their design a name! I can see it now 'and the winner is L33TD00D with his design An Unnamed House' 

What you need is something like The Useful Castle #114

Nice ad hehe there is a guy stood near the stone and both he and his pet are ads for his castle number! His number is similar to yours so you might get the occasional accidental vote! 

Why are people going afk right beside the stone? What is wrong with people around here?? 

There is a post on Stratics people are posting at least the outside of each castle/keep so you can tell almost right away if it's something you'll want to explore further...maybe someone can do that here too? But for now head on over there, 1-30 are posted so far..don't want to link per forum rules here but it's titled 

THE CASTLE CONTEST VOTING-- COMMUNITY HOUSE PREVIEWS (IMAGE HEAVY)

Makes it a lot easier then having to fight through the people/gates and timer between each visit

Yeah,  my castle design is somewhere in the 200s also. I made it to around 15 yesterday looking at designs. The clickie was crowded and you had to be close to it to use it, so it was hard to see what with all the gates popping up around it. There's got to be a better way.

After looking at some of the castles/keeps posted on stratics one thing is clear is the Devs need to make the housing tool able to go that large of a plot design.

Perhaps whoever wins gets their design added to the tool as a premade and still allow players to build how ever they see fit.  

I've looked at a few today, while I was looking people were clicking the post to get the list then moving away to cast their gate. It was working pretty well.

I have an in-game book in which I write the number and the name of the builder then marks out of 10. I'm looking for 'character' (not too bland) and usability. If I think living in it would drive me mad in less than a week it gets a low score. Currently I'm up to no. 70. 
The plan is to re-visit the ones I gave the highest marks to before making my final choice.

Mine are 117 and 194.

Comely (its not polite to scream)

Click tower get window up, WALK AWAY then make you choice.

Once the window is up you can walk to the other end of town and it will still work.

Would be nice if they just left the window up so you could go from house to house without going back to Brit. 

Yeah it was the back and forth to Brit that got tedious, also the delay got a bit annoying if you realised right away it wasn't your kind of thing. 

The Devs gave us something historical with this contest and the final results will be something that we will have to live with for another 20 years.  
So Please do not vote in haste.

By this time tomorrow pictures of all 300 designs should be posted on stratics.  We're close to 200 now.  It should help your process of elimination and relieve a bit of frustration dealing with that dang timer.  Check it out when you get a chance.

*edit*
 oops i guess i'm not supposed to post the linky there.  But you all know where its at,  It's stickied at the top of Uhall. 
 'Castle Contest Voting--  Community House Previews (IMAGE HEAVY)'

Lieutenant_Dan said:

The Devs gave us something historical with this contest and the final results will be something that we will have to live with for another 20 years.  
So Please do not vote in haste.

By this time tomorrow pictures of all 300 designs should be posted on stratics.  We're close to 200 now.  It should help your process of elimination and relieve a bit of frustration dealing with that dang timer.  Check it out when you get a chance.
https://stratics.com/threads/the-castle-contest-voting-community-house-previews-image-heavy.402190/

And remember if it looks great but you can't see yourself "living" in it don't vote for it. 
I've seen some great looking designs but to live/work out of them no (in some cases HELL no)

If someone or something is blocking the location when you use the stone you still have to wait for the delay to time out. 

That thread is so great on Stratics.  They are up to house 200 and it makes it so easy to look and see if you even want to go look.  I am just hoping people remember when the BIGGEST complaint about Castles were they way they were set up inside and remember that when voting.  There are some beautiful designs but when it comes to putting your stuff in them or just walking around or why someone would but so many rooms on every floor makes you shake your head and wounder why.

jaytin said:

I'm finding this contest a bit frustrating to be honest. No way am I going around 300 entries, most people didn't even bother to give their design a name! I can see it now 'and the winner is L33TD00D with his design An Unnamed House' 

The problem is, they said you could enter before you were done with the house and then continue editing it.  If you did that, it kept the name of the house when you originally entered it, even if you updated it since then.  Happened to me.

Also the stone shows 2 houses with the wrong name...
158 is Rosy Roundbottom
213 is Mrs Bug

If anybody needs to recall to any of the houses quickly
there is a plot outside of Tram/Trinsic moongate that has the runes
first sets of books are for Castles, second set is for Keeps

Previewed 220 houses so far and only had to go look at maybe 20 of them to see how they were set up inside all because of a few dedicated players posting pics on Stratics and have 5 so far that I will pick from.  Function is #1 IMHO.

Yeah I am writing down the numbers of the ones I like from the outside...again a big thank you to everyone who has dedicated their time to post pictures over on Stratics. So far I only have 6 on my list that I like...shape from the outside is a big thing for me..I don't want to live in a big square..it has to have some definition on the outside...no little tiny rooms...big open spaces..not too much clutter...there are SO many amazing designs though!!

Things that I look for for choosing one to vote on:

1. Does it look like a "Classic" House, in that other people would want to live here?
2. Does it have too much personalization?
3. Does it have space to customize?
4. Is it easy to move around in?
5. Does it meet the name Castle or Keep in some form?

 Going with the classic theme, I think its easy to see many that are done up amazing, but just offer way too much customization and personalizationto work as a home that may be duplicated EVERYWHERE.  Think about that, there will be more than just your custom house, there will be many of these.  Open spaces, with correct building tile could be big to allow for the crafted granite to create your own rooms and style.

I also think its important, being a classic house, that it looks like, functions like, and feels like a classic castle/keep.  This means overuse of water features, grass covering the room, rooms on the roof, being one big giant cube can hurt their function (though I did choose a few that had these things, done well enough to overcome or they do fall in line with the flow of the house).  Footprint I think is very important for a classic house.  They are all recgonizable immediately, These winners should be too.

Another point I hit was the number of flaws.  Misplaced windows, stairs leading to door openings that dont line up, and things of that nature that render the aestethic of the house rough or the usage of areas non-functional ruled out many.  I got the feeling some were overwhelmed with the amount of time it took to customize a 31x31 plot, and rushed many pieces that do stick out.



These are my favorites below, there were twice as many, I cut them down based on some of the criteria above:


Castles

32 - Pink Floors bugs me a bit, otherwise nice gothic style
59 - nice, simple, different, gothic style makes for a nice castle
136 - looks good, marble style is a bit off putting for a castle, but it is clean
141 - this feels like a non-cube medieval castle, and done up with room to customize =P
143 - simple, basic, a castle in a classic sense
178 - very nice, despite grass roof being a no-no to me.  Cube-ish
206 - clean, marble.  Not castlish, but more "mansion"
255 - an up to date take on the classic castle
285 - really nice castle, just wish there were stairs to the bottom floor
290 - similiar to 285, same problem


Keeps

19 - reminds me of wayne manor or something, but good design
35 - sandstone keep, and looks great.  My only complaint is the upper rooms access
101 - the only "heavily detailed, personalized" one i think could make it, really nice
113 - looks like a keep, some unused space and stuff, but defined look
132 - like a sandstone mansion
187 - villa style, reminds me of a vineyard home
202 - sandstone take on a keep, looks great for something different but classic.
219 - like a villa on steroids, looks good
232 - its a keep, and has a defined look

Cetric said:

Things that I look for for choosing one to vote on:

1. Does it look like a "Classic" House, in that other people would want to live here?
2. Does it have too much personalization?
3. Does it have space to customize?
4. Is it easy to move around in?
5. Does it meet the name Castle or Keep in some form?

 Going with the classic theme, I think its easy to see many that are done up amazing, but just offer way too much customization and personalizationto work as a home that may be duplicated EVERYWHERE.  Think about that, there will be more than just your custom house, there will be many of these.  Open spaces, with correct building tile could be big to allow for the crafted granite to create your own rooms and style.

I also think its important, being a classic house, that it looks like, functions like, and feels like a classic castle/keep.  This means overuse of water features, grass covering the room, rooms on the roof, being one big giant cube can hurt their function (though I did choose a few that had these things, done well enough to overcome or they do fall in line with the flow of the house).  Footprint I think is very important for a classic house.  They are all recgonizable immediately, These winners should be too.

Another point I hit was the number of flaws.  Misplaced windows, stairs leading to door openings that dont line up, and things of that nature that render the aestethic of the house rough or the usage of areas non-functional ruled out many.  I got the feeling some were overwhelmed with the amount of time it took to customize a 31x31 plot, and rushed many pieces that do stick out.



These are my favorites below, there were twice as many, I cut them down based on some of the criteria above:


Castles

32 - Pink Floors bugs me a bit, otherwise nice gothic style
59 - nice, simple, different, gothic style makes for a nice castle
136 - looks good, marble style is a bit off putting for a castle, but it is clean
141 - this feels like a non-cube medieval castle, and done up with room to customize =P
143 - simple, basic, a castle in a classic sense
178 - very nice, despite grass roof being a no-no to me.  Cube-ish
206 - clean, marble.  Not castlish, but more "mansion"
255 - an up to date take on the classic castle
285 - really nice castle, just wish there were stairs to the bottom floor
290 - similiar to 285, same problem


Keeps

19 - reminds me of wayne manor or something, but good design
35 - sandstone keep, and looks great.  My only complaint is the upper rooms access
101 - the only "heavily detailed, personalized" one i think could make it, really nice
113 - looks like a keep, some unused space and stuff, but defined look
132 - like a sandstone mansion
187 - villa style, reminds me of a vineyard home
202 - sandstone take on a keep, looks great for something different but classic.
219 - like a villa on steroids, looks good
232 - its a keep, and has a defined look

special shout out to the guy who took a shot at recreating "Minas Tirith" though

if i picked 3 of each right this second:

castle

59

141

255/285

keep

187

202

219

Odd as my castle fits all your criteria and has a similar outward look to the keep i did (232) on your list. Personally I think the castle (199) is much better than the keep in fitting your criteria as it is fully customisable.  Strange

As for that thread on the other forum, I think in about 5 hours it will load on my crappy internet connection in Australia lol, but it will be worth it as to whether I even wanna go and look at some of them.

Some people are so desperate to win they are stood at the stone advertising their number, not sure whether that's funny or just sad. I won't be voting for anyone who is persistently advertising.
I won't be voting for anything that's furnished either as I prefer a level playing field. In the end I've found a few designs that are similar to my own but have a layout I prefer, especially good stairs, that's a must!

MissE said:

Cetric said:

Things that I look for for choosing one to vote on:

1. Does it look like a "Classic" House, in that other people would want to live here?
2. Does it have too much personalization?
3. Does it have space to customize?
4. Is it easy to move around in?
5. Does it meet the name Castle or Keep in some form?

 Going with the classic theme, I think its easy to see many that are done up amazing, but just offer way too much customization and personalizationto work as a home that may be duplicated EVERYWHERE.  Think about that, there will be more than just your custom house, there will be many of these.  Open spaces, with correct building tile could be big to allow for the crafted granite to create your own rooms and style.

I also think its important, being a classic house, that it looks like, functions like, and feels like a classic castle/keep.  This means overuse of water features, grass covering the room, rooms on the roof, being one big giant cube can hurt their function (though I did choose a few that had these things, done well enough to overcome or they do fall in line with the flow of the house).  Footprint I think is very important for a classic house.  They are all recgonizable immediately, These winners should be too.

Another point I hit was the number of flaws.  Misplaced windows, stairs leading to door openings that dont line up, and things of that nature that render the aestethic of the house rough or the usage of areas non-functional ruled out many.  I got the feeling some were overwhelmed with the amount of time it took to customize a 31x31 plot, and rushed many pieces that do stick out.



These are my favorites below, there were twice as many, I cut them down based on some of the criteria above:


Castles

32 - Pink Floors bugs me a bit, otherwise nice gothic style
59 - nice, simple, different, gothic style makes for a nice castle
136 - looks good, marble style is a bit off putting for a castle, but it is clean
141 - this feels like a non-cube medieval castle, and done up with room to customize =P
143 - simple, basic, a castle in a classic sense
178 - very nice, despite grass roof being a no-no to me.  Cube-ish
206 - clean, marble.  Not castlish, but more "mansion"
255 - an up to date take on the classic castle
285 - really nice castle, just wish there were stairs to the bottom floor
290 - similiar to 285, same problem


Keeps

19 - reminds me of wayne manor or something, but good design
35 - sandstone keep, and looks great.  My only complaint is the upper rooms access
101 - the only "heavily detailed, personalized" one i think could make it, really nice
113 - looks like a keep, some unused space and stuff, but defined look
132 - like a sandstone mansion
187 - villa style, reminds me of a vineyard home
202 - sandstone take on a keep, looks great for something different but classic.
219 - like a villa on steroids, looks good
232 - its a keep, and has a defined look

special shout out to the guy who took a shot at recreating "Minas Tirith" though

if i picked 3 of each right this second:

castle

59

141

255/285

keep

187

202

219

Odd as my castle fits all your criteria and has a similar outward look to the keep i did (232) on your list. Personally I think the castle (199) is much better than the keep in fitting your criteria as it is fully customisable.  Strange

What can I say, i liked it better in keep form than castle

Cetric said:

Things that I look for for choosing one to vote on:

1. Does it look like a "Classic" House, in that other people would want to live here?
2. Does it have too much personalization?
3. Does it have space to customize?
4. Is it easy to move around in?
5. Does it meet the name Castle or Keep in some form?

 Going with the classic theme, I think its easy to see many that are done up amazing, but just offer way too much customization and personalizationto work as a home that may be duplicated EVERYWHERE.  Think about that, there will be more than just your custom house, there will be many of these.  Open spaces, with correct building tile could be big to allow for the crafted granite to create your own rooms and style.

I also think its important, being a classic house, that it looks like, functions like, and feels like a classic castle/keep.  This means overuse of water features, grass covering the room, rooms on the roof, being one big giant cube can hurt their function (though I did choose a few that had these things, done well enough to overcome or they do fall in line with the flow of the house).  Footprint I think is very important for a classic house.  They are all recgonizable immediately, These winners should be too.

Another point I hit was the number of flaws.  Misplaced windows, stairs leading to door openings that dont line up, and things of that nature that render the aestethic of the house rough or the usage of areas non-functional ruled out many.  I got the feeling some were overwhelmed with the amount of time it took to customize a 31x31 plot, and rushed many pieces that do stick out.



These are my favorites below, there were twice as many, I cut them down based on some of the criteria above:


Castles

32 - Pink Floors bugs me a bit, otherwise nice gothic style
59 - nice, simple, different, gothic style makes for a nice castle
136 - looks good, marble style is a bit off putting for a castle, but it is clean
141 - this feels like a non-cube medieval castle, and done up with room to customize =P
143 - simple, basic, a castle in a classic sense
178 - very nice, despite grass roof being a no-no to me.  Cube-ish
206 - clean, marble.  Not castlish, but more "mansion"
255 - an up to date take on the classic castle
285 - really nice castle, just wish there were stairs to the bottom floor
290 - similiar to 285, same problem


Keeps

19 - reminds me of wayne manor or something, but good design
35 - sandstone keep, and looks great.  My only complaint is the upper rooms access
101 - the only "heavily detailed, personalized" one i think could make it, really nice
113 - looks like a keep, some unused space and stuff, but defined look
132 - like a sandstone mansion
187 - villa style, reminds me of a vineyard home
202 - sandstone take on a keep, looks great for something different but classic.
219 - like a villa on steroids, looks good
232 - its a keep, and has a defined look

special shout out to the guy who took a shot at recreating "Minas Tirith" though

if i picked 3 of each right this second:

castle

59

141

255/285

keep

187

202

219

Strange that with all your #1-5 list of must haves that #52 and #75 doesn't even get a mention considering that both have fully open 4 floors that you can do whatever you want to inside, with the stairs put in out of the way places.  But sadly IMHO a design will be picked that has more door and stairs in it than carter has little liver pills and more than half the plot will be a garden bed on the first floor and very little usable floor space inside for displaying anything but everybody will rant and rave that it looks so beautiful.

The list is just the ones I liked myself people.  My "favorites".  Don't be so damn offended.  As for 52 and 75.  They are just too borg cube for my liking

I am not offended because I do not have a horse in this race but I look at function long before I look at beauty in all these.  Where to put everything and how will most of those designs even come close to holding all the items a Castle can hold, they wont but they will look perty.

Where can I view the contest and vote? I cant find it anywhere?

we do not know about the vote but there is a thread on Stratics that has pics of all the plots so you get to weed the ones out quickly that you do not like

Everyone needs to go to stratics they have a sticky thread in UHall that has pictures of ever castle and keep. Makes it much easier to pick.

Thank you again stratics for your good work 

https://stratics.com/forums/uhall.35/ 

^^^this^^^

while a thread with images of the outsides is undoubtedly useful, I don't think it should be the only way you decide where to cast your vote. I've seen several that I liked from the outside, but the internal layout put me off them.

That's what the thread is for....at first glance at least half of them I wouldn't even go look at (No offense to anyone) but they just didn't please me aesthetically from the outside. I eliminated at least 100 just going through that thread. No it's not the ONLY way you should chose which design to vote on, but it does help tremendously! 

To vote you will need to visit the stone on test center and make your selection from the list.

Petra_Fyde said:

while a thread with images of the outsides is undoubtedly useful, I don't think it should be the only way you decide where to cast your vote. I've seen several that I liked from the outside, but the internal layout put me off them.

That is true but it eliminates at least 90% of them which saves a lot of time

after picking the ones you might want you can go look at those 

Nobody said it was the only way @Petra_Fyde but it is an outstanding way for you to weed out the designs you do not want.

Thanks to all those that posted pics of the entries from outside. It made it easier to pick those I wanted to see. 

I am looking forward to the next round, as I imagine many will get some insight as to what works and not. I looked at many that were fabulous on the outside, but that would drive me crazy on a daily basis.  Thanks to all designers as well.

So when will we get the results? I'm a bit excited and a bit worried, I really hope we get something that will be practical and not some airy fairy tiny room or huge open space design. I like reasonable rooms and I don't like making my own walls and floors. I guess the proof of that pudding will be how many castles and keeps actually change to the new designs...

Petra_Fyde said:

while a thread with images of the outsides is undoubtedly useful, I don't think it should be the only way you decide where to cast your vote. I've seen several that I liked from the outside, but the internal layout put me off them.

Totally agree. And to be perfectly honest, most of these designs are nothing special 🙁

People seemed to be making a lot of fancy designs, many of which could not be called a castle, not even loosely,  once you went inside you realised it was an after-thought and it was completely impractical. I suppose having something that's only pretty on the outside is fine if you have multiple accounts and homes, but it's no use to most people.

I guarantee you if people thought that blank lots could be customized they would win 

Skett said:

I guarantee you if people thought that blank lots could be customized they would win 

We could get around the rules by having a blank plot with a wall around it! 😂 I'll take it from there!