House smouse...

[Drokmed]

Whats up with this stupid house nonsense?  I'm new to game, and see no reason for it.  Will I be denied access to certain quests if I don't invest into a house? Man, its too close to real life world to me.  Next thing you know, I'll have to pay for sewer/garbage services, my pet will take a dump on the living room floor, my live-in girlfriend will be [Removed for Content] and start [I cannot control my vocabulary] at me, find my secret porno stash and toss them out (NO!!!!!), and start sleeping with my neighbor!!!! Seriously, is there any real benefit to all this house business?  I can't store what I'm carrying in it, like a bank, so who cares???  House?  Smouse!

[Varulvar]

Theres more reasons for in game housing than there is this thread. /end

[StoneySilen]

You get some extra storage slots other than the bank in your house.  The size of your house also determines how many slots you have for selling on the broker.  Other than that it is pure fluff and a lot of people like it.

[eq2mik]

 The purpose of your house is to store things you obtain in  the game, but perhaps you haven't experienced enough of the game yet to see the wisdom in paying for a house yet.

Click on the door from inside your house.  There's a vault there you can place boxes into and store items there.

 You can sell things while standing in your house or view what's for sale on the broker  by using the market boards that are for sale by the landlord standing outside your building.  If you sell things from your room instead of using a broker, you avoid paying broker fees, and make more money.

 You can decorate your house with unique furniture and items you obtain while questing.  My house, for instance, has one wall covered with weapon trophies and another full of stacks of books I've obtained from Lore and Legend quests.  You can open your house to visitors so they can see what you've accomplished in the game.  If you are a guild leader, you can throw parties there to honor the guild members feats.

You can purchase pets or obtain them from questing, and they will wander around your house.  My house is haunted because I have a scarecrow in it that I obtained several years ago at helloween.  A ghost pops up and scares people visiting my room.

Once you have enough guild status points, you can also purchase crafting tables you can place in your home, making it more convenient for tradeskilling since you may prefer to set your bind point in your house as a craftsman/seller of in-game goods.  You can also put a mailbox in your room, so when you call back to it at night you can check your in-game mail quickly, instead of having to put on your dwarven workboots and trod to the post office.

The house is what makes eq2 unique in my opinion, I love it

edit: man, I wish I could type

[Norrsken]

Drokmed wrote:

Whats up with this stupid house nonsense?  I'm new to game, and see no reason for it.  Will I be denied access to certain quests if I don't invest into a house? Man, its too close to real life world to me.  Next thing you know, I'll have to pay for sewer/garbage services, my pet will take a dump on the living room floor, my live-in girlfriend will be [Removed for Content] and start [I cannot control my vocabulary] at me, find my secret porno stash and toss them out (NO!!!!!), and start sleeping with my neighbor!!!! Seriously, is there any real benefit to all this house business?  I can't store what I'm carrying in it, like a bank, so who cares???  House?  Smouse!

There is a vault ine ach house you can use to store crap in, you can also place furniture and stuff there. Like altars which gives you some spiffy stuff, or items that port you to far away zones. you also get more sellings lots with bigger housing. Other than that, nope, housing doesnt do anything. Doesnt deny you access to quests or anything.

[Gladiia]

You can do pretty much everything in the game without ever getting a house.  There are a few advantages to having a house, but they aren't 'needed'

[Drokmed]

Excellent info! Thanks, that really helps alot. It looks like houses can be quite useful indeed, mostly from the economic standpoint, with some convenience, and vanity if you like. Later in the game, when I'm ready to setup shop, I'll look into the housing. Thanks for the detailed feedback, that gives me a good idea why people get a house.

[Baccalarium]

I've never tried,  can you sell stuff on the broker without buying a house and putting a market board in it? If not this would seem the most reason to buy a house as you will want to sell much of the "Adept" and "Treasured" loot you find on the broker rather than back to the NPC's.     If you don't sell on the broker you'll have a hard time getting enough cash to buy stuff that will really help you out.

[Ebjelen]

Maybe if we could have live-in girlfriends I wouldn't have to play so many female toons

There's more to this game than killing monsters. You do not have to participate in any of the other playstyles. DO what is most fun for you. Some people really do prefer the social side of the game and thus like decorating houses ala LPMuds. Look how popular Second Life has become despite it's instability.

[Norrsken]

Baccalarium wrote:

I've never tried,  can you sell stuff on the broker without buying a house and putting a market board in it? If not this would seem the most reason to buy a house as you will want to sell much of the "Adept" and "Treasured" loot you find on the broker rather than back to the NPC's.     If you don't sell on the broker you'll have a hard time getting enough cash to buy stuff that will really help you out.

Yah, you get one slot to sell from without a house.

[Scai]

Ulvhamne@Nagafen wrote:

Baccalarium wrote:

I've never tried,  can you sell stuff on the broker without buying a house and putting a market board in it? If not this would seem the most reason to buy a house as you will want to sell much of the "Adept" and "Treasured" loot you find on the broker rather than back to the NPC's.     If you don't sell on the broker you'll have a hard time getting enough cash to buy stuff that will really help you out.

Yah, you get one slot to sell from without a house.

eh?  I sell exclusively from the broker (house is out of the way and I like buying while selling) and I have 2 slots that I put 2 20 slot boxes in giving me 40 slots.  I can see selling from my house when I start selling some really expensive stuff to avoid the broker fees but for now, the broker is the only way I sell.

[StoneySilen]

Scai wrote:

Ulvhamne@Nagafen wrote:

Baccalarium wrote:

I've never tried,  can you sell stuff on the broker without buying a house and putting a market board in it? If not this would seem the most reason to buy a house as you will want to sell much of the "Adept" and "Treasured" loot you find on the broker rather than back to the NPC's.     If you don't sell on the broker you'll have a hard time getting enough cash to buy stuff that will really help you out.

Yah, you get one slot to sell from without a house.

eh?  I sell exclusively from the broker (house is out of the way and I like buying while selling) and I have 2 slots that I put 2 20 slot boxes in giving me 40 slots.  I can see selling from my house when I start selling some really expensive stuff to avoid the broker fees but for now, the broker is the only way I sell.

He was stating if you don't even own a house you get 1 slot.

[Siogai]

Maybe if we could have live-in girlfriends I wouldn't have to play so many female toons

Split the rent with your cyb0rz partner. All that aside, I turned my WFP house into a party-pad for in-game events, guild meetings, whatever... I have a loft I built, with functional stairs, Brell's Kegs, eggnog and other food, I display all my HQs and L&L items on the wall, I have a kick-butt bathtub that a friend of mine donated to me... if I want to, I could rent it out as party-space to others for whatever they want to do with it.

[Drokmed]

Siogai wrote:

Maybe if we could have live-in girlfriends I wouldn't have to play so many female toons

I could rent it out as party-space to others for whatever they want to do with it.

Ahhh, if only artificial reality had some real substance......... Makes 'ya wonder Party?  PARTY??? PPPPAAARRRTTTYYY??? WhoooooHoooooo!!!!! I wonder what a 'Happy Meal' would sell for... hehe Next party at my house!  DOH!  Don't wanna buy one, lemme rent one from somebody... yeah, lookin around, a jacuzzi would be nice

[Kaldrin]

Scai wrote:

Ulvhamne@Nagafen wrote:

Baccalarium wrote:

I've never tried,  can you sell stuff on the broker without buying a house and putting a market board in it? If not this would seem the most reason to buy a house as you will want to sell much of the "Adept" and "Treasured" loot you find on the broker rather than back to the NPC's.     If you don't sell on the broker you'll have a hard time getting enough cash to buy stuff that will really help you out.

Yah, you get one slot to sell from without a house.

eh?  I sell exclusively from the broker (house is out of the way and I like buying while selling) and I have 2 slots that I put 2 20 slot boxes in giving me 40 slots.  I can see selling from my house when I start selling some really expensive stuff to avoid the broker fees but for now, the broker is the only way I sell.

I never buy anything from someone who doesn't have a house. Usually the people who are selling on the broker try and undercut as well, but you still wind up paying more for the broker fees. The one reason I set up a house (or renting an inn room for 5sp) was to enable people to come to my place and not have to pay the fee.

[TheSpin]

If you aren't really 'into' the housing concept it's still worth your time looking into getting a house for the broker and vault slots.  I went into one 5 room, 50,000 status house where only the entrance room was accessible and had all the salesmans crates on the floor and that was it (they had furuniture blocking the other places in the house).   He was a sage and had tons of spells available and I'm sure he made a lot of money from having so many broker slots.

Nobody has mentioned this here, but in addition to getting more broker slots with bigger houses, you can purchase items (salesman's crates, weapon racks, scroll stands etc) to put in the broker window and also place in your house.  These salesman's items have more slots than strongboxes and when you place them in your house people can physically come to your house, click on the box containing the item, and purchase it from you directly to avoid the broker fee. *note* these containers are made with raw harvests (fir and above) so are not cheap, but well worth it.

ps.  I actually did manage to jump over a candlestick and see that he just had a bunch of xegonite sconces in one room to pay for the status upkeep and that was just about it.

[Gralthak]

A lot of people have already touched on these but I'll add some my two coppers:

You're going to find a lot of spiffy items from completing quests, collections, and such that you can display in your home.  Everything from smoking djinni lamps to unique weapons to tons of books can be placed in your home.  Every Legend and Lore (mastery for killing specific monster races) gives two items for display when you complete it, a book that talks about that type of mob and a weapon that can be mounted on your wall.  Every Heritage Quest (for items that were (in)famous from EQ1) can be set on a mounting and placed in your home; so even if you're not going to use the item for combat or outlevel it you can still stick it on your wall as a matter of pride.

As mentioned as well you *do* get storage in your house in the form of a vault.  The bigger the house, the more storage you get.  Same with broker slots, bigger houses give more broker slots.  And while you might think the two slots you get with the starter house is plenty you'll likely find they fill up rather quickly especially if you do any sort of crafting.  In addition, and also as mentioned, placing special 'Sales Display' boxes in your broker allows you to place those items physically in your home.  Once that's done a player can still buy your items remotely like normal or they can physically come to your home and buy directly from the display to avoid the broker fee.  Given the fees are usually 20-40% this can be a significant saving and can often make the difference in you getting the sale or not.  Think about it, if you are one of three people have a rare crafted weapon up and the other two are at 1 platinum and you're the only one with a house you can actually charge MORE than the other two and it'll still be cheaper for someone to come to your home to buy it (they will be selling for 1p 20g to 1p 40g, with the broker fee included).

 Even if you don't want to mess with a home it's definitely worth it to buy at least the newbie home in your racial area.  It's free to buy and the upkeep is effectively nonexistant (5s per week).

[Drokmed]

Thanks! That's all very interesting indeed. Having a place to store neat items found does have appeal. I'm liking this game more and more, I'm starting to see why so many people say it's better than WoW, and I'm starting to agree. I'm curious, are there level restrictions as to the quality of crafting items that can be made? Do you have to attain higher levels to access higher stuff? I've glanced at crafting, but honestly have too many other things to learn first. I'm only level 12 now, and still building up my character, and learning this game too (wow a lot to learn!). I don't think I can afford to buy crafting supplies yet, my income just isn't there yet. At what level (roughly) will crafting start to be a reasonably affordable option? I'm sure it depends on which direction you go, I can't make up my mind. As a dwarven Inquisitor (eventually), I know I will need many armor upgrades, but making spells will save me tons of plat too! Decisions, decisions... I wonder what other Inquisitors/Templars typically specialize in....

[Rokaab]

Drokmed wrote:

At what level (roughly) will crafting start to be a reasonably affordable option? I'm sure it depends on which direction you go, I can't make up my mind. As a dwarven Inquisitor (eventually), I know I will need many armor upgrades, but making spells will save me tons of plat too! Decisions, decisions...

If you are planning on crafting to supply your own armour/spells/food/whatever, you need to keep your crafting level close to if not higher than your adventuring level, cos for example if you decide to make spells for your inquisitor (sage) then you need to be a level x crafter before you can make level x spells,a nd youll want those spells as soon as you hit the level in your adventuring class.

Crafting is not expensive as long as you go do all the harvesting yourself (ie. dont buy it off the broker), all you need to pay for is the fuel (4cp per fuel in tier1, so not expensive (provisioner fuel is slightly cheaper)), and you can sell the products back to the vendor for the fuel cost if you have no use for the product (this will often be the case when levelling) when its made.

[Finora]

Crafting isn't level restricted as it is in WoW. You can be a level 1 adventurer and level 70 crafter if your heart desires.

My first character I was a little slow starting with the crafting (didn't start until I was in my teens) but on all my subsequent characters I started right away.

As a priest myself, if you really want a proffession that will help out your class frequently, I'd go either sage or provisioner.

Sage makes the spells for priest and mage classes (which you get a lot of). Provisioners make food and drink which most people use  either for the + to stats or for the out of combat power/health regens to reduce downtime.

Woodworker could possibly be good as well as they make some very useful totems (charged items that give various effects like water breathing, increased run speed, invisibility, as well as some +power and health regen totems). Though the most useful ones come at higher levels (runspeed is at 39 invisibility is at 49 I think), you would still get some use out of it and possibly be able to make some coin selling ammo to other players.

[Scotia_The_Great]

Buy your house, set up your market board and never go back in it again.

Then you never have to pay the rent and can keep the benefit of selling out of your house for free.

Kinda a cheat, but works. 

Make a one time purchase of a 5 slot house and you can put stuff in your containers from the broker forever.

[Kellin]

But if I didn't have a house, where would I keep Blikritz??

Houses are for storage, brokering, and showing off.  At low levels, yeah, it doesn't seem like they're worth having, but if you never go in, they don't cost you anything to keep.

Others have already explained about the extra storage and the sales containers.  Also, as you level, you'll get tons of stuff as quest rewards that can be put in your house.  You can sell them, but money is easily spent, and these are mementoes of quests you did.  Some people like having that "tangible" reward.

You can buy pets from the pet store and keep them there.  Lots of quests reward you with pets.  Heck, my main's house used to be a menagerie, with mantises, mummies, snakes, harpies, you name it all wandering around.  I finally picked 'em up; they got underfoot too much.  They're all toilet trained, too, so don't worry about that.  Only one I've left out is good ol' Blikritz; I enjoy having a goblin around the house.  (now if I can only get a Billy doll...)

There are a couple of quest rewards that are extremely useful, but you need a house to use them.  Diety altars, for one, and there's a carpet that transports you to Shimmering Citadel as well.  In-game events will also reward house items, most notably on Halloween and Frostfell (Christmas).

As for decorating, you can buy or have made items of any level.  Your level isn't relevant to what you can buy or even what housing you can get.  Guild level counts, but that's another discussion.

In closing, go ahead and keep your inn room.  It gives you one extra broker slot.  You can dump stuff there, use the extra storage, and you only have to pay the rent when you want to go in.

[Calthine]

Scotia_The_Great wrote:

Buy your house, set up your market board and never go back in it again.

Then you never have to pay the rent and can keep the benefit of selling out of your house for free.

You'll get more broker slots, sure, but people can't buy from the specialty sales crates (placed as furniture) in your house unless you pay your rent.

[StoneySilen]

If you go down Armorsmithing/Tailor then you will want to keep your tradeskill level about 8 levels above your adventure level.  By lvl x9 you should be able to make all the items for that level range x0-x9. For example: I have a 24 Guardian who is a 29 Armorsmith, it wasn't until he hit lvl 28-29 that he was able to make a full suit of armor that he could wear. (for example not exact): Lvl 21 I could make boots Lvl 22 I could make a helm lvl 23 I could make shoulder's etc... till lvl 29 I could make the final piece a breastplate. Sages/Alchemists who make spells I think you just have to have the level in crafting that the adventuring level is of that spell. So to make a lvl 25 spell you need lvl 25 in Sage/Alchemy. Take a read through this site: http://eq2.eqtraders.com/articles/news_page.php

[VizP]

In games like this a lot of it is about status. Look at my uber armour and weapons, look at what I have achieved etc. In truth your house is the ultimate way to display your achievements in game from all your quest rewards to your wealth from rare furniture etc that you were able to purchase. Then there is of course the creativity involved - its the same sort of thing that made the Sims so popular - being able to make 'your' place just as it should be. Its the only part of the entire world where you have complete say in terms of its look and when its all said and done, often ones home is one of the most memorable things when one leaves the game because it really is 'your' place. It is difficult to explain but Im sure many people understand. Yes its not essential but I do think its important - if you do ignore it, you lose out on the ability to pretty much display all your achievments. And displaying your achievements is something people do a LOT in MMOs (see people trying hard to get rare titles, the biggest best looking armours, the coolest mounts etc).

[DiatribeEQ]

My name is House Mouse & I thought you were making fun of me....then, that'd be fighting words!

[Homesli]

House@Unrest wrote:

My name is House Mouse & I thought you were making fun of me....then, that'd be fighting words!

This got me. Sorry for the off topic but this was awesome

[Gralthak]

Drokmed wrote:

I'm curious, are there level restrictions as to the quality of crafting items that can be made? Do you have to attain higher levels to access higher stuff? I've glanced at crafting, but honestly have too many other things to learn first. I'm only level 12 now, and still building up my character, and learning this game too (wow a lot to learn!). I don't think I can afford to buy crafting supplies yet, my income just isn't there yet. At what level (roughly) will crafting start to be a reasonably affordable option? I'm sure it depends on which direction you go, I can't make up my mind. As a dwarven Inquisitor (eventually), I know I will need many armor upgrades, but making spells will save me tons of plat too! Decisions, decisions... I wonder what other Inquisitors/Templars typically specialize in....

There is no relative level restriction on your crafting.  You can, in theory, sit on the newbie island as a level one whatever and get to level 70 in your crafting profession (getting materials and goods back and forth via shared bank).  Your crafting level and adventure level have effectively nothing to do with each other.

 Crafting is also EXTREMELY easy and cheap to start; I guarantee you can afford it.  Even if you're a Brand Newbie™ you can get going easily enough even in the starter areas.  All the raw materials are available for free if you harvest them yourself and the first fuel components you need to buy cost something on the order of 6c each (so for 1 silver you can get yourself 15 or more of them).  Once you have completed items you can often sell even the lowest level stuff on the broker to people planning on starting a new alt since there is little competition at that level of crafting.  While you're not going to get rich making level 1-10 items you can ocassionally make a few silver here or there.  Even if you just vendor the finished goods at that level you're probably going to break about even.  The upside to this is while you're harvesting you'll inevitably find some rare materials which you can either use to make yourself better than normal equipment or sell for a decent chunk of change.  I've seen Bronze Clusters, the rare ore used for weapons and armor in level 1-10, sell for 8 gold each or more.  Not a ton of money for some, but if you're a new player without someone supporting you that is a  *lot* of money.

 The only real exceptions to this are the secondary crafting professions of Transmuting and Tinkering, both are expensive.  I wouldn't consider pursuing either of those until you've gotten a better footing in the game.

 As for which tradeskill to choose, your class has really no bearing at all.  No class is better or worse at any particular crafting profession than the other.  Now race might have some bearing if you choose to pick a racial trait that improves a skill.  Every so many levels you'll get to pick a special trait based on your race, these vary from things like slightly increased power pool to increased stats to improved crafting skills.  Not every race gets every skill, for example Trolls are naturally good cooks (don't ask) and can choose an option that gives them improved skill in that field.  These bonuses are fairly small however, so don't worry too much if you can't take them.  They're nice to have but in the end it doesn't really make a huge difference, there is nothing someone with them can do that someone without can't.

 As far as usefulness however, you'll have to figure out that for yourself.  Some are better at making money than others.  I know a few woodworkers that make a killing selling ammo and idols but I don't know of a single carpenter that makes any substantial income.  If money isn't your goal then as a Templar/Inquisitor you're probably most directly benefited by Sage and Armorer.  Realize though that if you are using your crafting to make your own equipment you'll need to keep your tradeskill level a little ahead of your adventure level to make any useful equipment for yourself.  Also, just because those two are probably the biggest direct benefit don't discount others, Alchemists can make themselves potions, Woodworkers can crank out totems and dolls, Carpenters can make themselves furniture to offset the status costs of bigger houses making it much cheaper for them to own the larger stuff, Weaponsmiths are all around useful as there isn't a class in the game that doesn't use a weapon.  Mostly I would just suggest going with what you think is interesting.

[TheSpin]

I just wanted to mention that you can't go above level 9 on the newbie island because there isn't anyone there to let you pick your tradeskill class.

[Gralthak]

True, didn't think of that.  I just assumed the fellow outside would fill that role like they do in the cities.  Never really felt the need to try to level that high on the newbie island so it was theoritical