Welcome to the Homes and Tomes House Rally #18 – Piratical Palaces
We’ll start off in guild chat to let late-comers join up, and then switch to raid channel once everyone is on board!
I’m your host Huell Kuerden, and tonight we’ll be looking at places Pirate Hangouts! These are the places that lowlives and hedge-fund managers like to congregate! All are quite different, and excellent examples of the art of decoration!
As we view the houses tonight, remember that lots of people on our tours have extensive decorating/design experience and are happy to explain any techniques used, so if you have any questions feel free to ask!!!
And now on to this week of Norrath’s Gold! As we take a look at these houses, don’t forget to reward the designers by liking creativity and/or style! A good rating means more people will visit and enjoy someone’s hard work!
For anyone new, we’ll be visiting houses via the Housing & Leaderboards selection of the main EQ2 menu. This time we will be looking at the 2nd category down – Dev Picks.
We’ll now switch to Group (#) Chat and dig into this week of Norrath’s Gold! Our first stop is…
Bataai & Oolee’s Treasure (#24 Hall of Fame/Creativity-Recent) by Oolee: Vale of Half-Pint Delight.
Here we have a Half-Pint Vale, nicely redone into a pirate’s base! As you zone in, you are looking down a lushly landscaped lane. Behind you is the ship you just arrived in, you pirate scumbag! Go ahead and follow the path and enter the Nature Reserve! Lots of plushies and pets to see.
On your right just ahead is the Halfling hole. Go on in! There is a nice sitting room and a treasure hoard (featuring a LON Hoard of the Scaleborn). I did like the effect of the pirate tapestry covering the hoard door!
As you head down the lane you’ll see a Lincoln-Log (maple column) stable to your left, and just past it a small custom gazebo (made from Wantia beds) out on the small island. Once again, many mounts and plushies are scattered about, giving a lot of visual interest!
Wander around a bit! The thing I found most striking was the detailed landscaping, giving a very beautiful and natural setting!
Now we’ll head to:
An Old Salt Waits for the Wind (#159 Hall of Fame/Creativity-Recent) by Quabbin: New Halas Single Room
This was a neat concept executed in a basic house! What’s not to like! On zone in you are dropping into a half-sunken ship (presumably). The use of Elm throughout gives a nice nautical feel, and the use of a watery platform (one of my favorites!) gives the room great interest!
Wander uphill (bear in mind the doorways are hard to see due to the Elm). From the flooded forecastle, you’ll head up to grog storage and then finally the Captain’s cabin! The Old Salt is over by the window!
Check out the construction for a minute, and then we’ll head on to our next stop!
Now head to:
Tower of the Twins Triumphant (#1 Massive/Newly Published) by Jaezila: Storm Tower Island
Head to Massive Homes and go to 'Tower'. This is an attempt to red the Stormwind Tower to something a little less EVIL looking. Intended as a Qeynosian anti-pirate base, and home for a characters RP order.
Note the use of purchased white tiles. They can be sized 2x crafted tiles, and so keep the overall count down. Rough stone tables were used to shore up the tower - the spines of the original equipment tower stick out too far to allow the tower to built without 'enhancement'.
Other Houses of Note:
Lady’s Pirate Ship (#242 Hall of Fame/Creativity-Recent) by Lady: Galleon
Winterlilac’s Love Ship (#69 Hall of Fame/Creativity-Recent) by Winterlilac: Galleon
Leyden’s Pirate Stronghold (#3 Hall of Fame/House Title) by Leyden: Storm Tower
All the houses tonight are great examples of taking truly fanciful concepts and turning them into game-reality. Remember you really can do pretty much ANYTHING!!!
Well, that’s about it for tonight! In two weeks we’ll meet again on Saturday to view some of the beautiful homes of Qeynos and Freport! Be there or be square and have a great evening!
K-
