Refugee island house spotted on beta! ^_^

No, the Tenebrous Isle is nothing at all like what we're asking for. It's a small flat round floating island in the sky, not the IoR.
What we have here would make a perfect DM zone, which would obviously be easier for you to recreate the original zone anyway.

The problem is that never have we been given a house that was already completely decorated. There are 312 trees alone already placed. Yes I counted. That's overkill. There's no room to do anything new. And the space that isn't already forest is decorated with forges, crates, tables, cups, books, candles, chairs, stools, counters, rugs, bookshelves, weapons, ect. Almost all of which are items we have access to (most are low level craftables) that we could place if we wanted.

What we have on beta is something between a house we can't decorate and a dungeon without combat.

/face palm
What I was SAYING was that there IS ALREADY a house zone with a blank slate. It's one of the few I bought multiple of since it's so freeing. ^_^ (actually, there are a few that are pretty blank, and some breakouts that are AMAZING to play around with, if you like big empty areas. Gorowyn, for example. I LOVE the beach area.)
This colony island house, however, is INTENDED to be a treat for those of us who miss the island, started toons there, loved it, and wanted it back. It's the closest we can get to seeing the original island again (without going and seeing Darathar and the ruins he left them in...). This house is what so many of us were begging for, requesting, /feedbacking for.... It's been years of asking and hoping, and it's FINALLY here...That's the point of it. o.0..... a nearly exact replica, a memory resurrected. Imagine your significant other saying "Happy 10th Anniversary! Here is the first place we met with almost every detail brought back!" I mean COMON! It just doesn't GET any better than that! ... ok... now that I think about that compared to relationships.... that's just sad that a video game company is so much better at picking an anniversary gift than 98% of the men out there.....
There is such a HUGE variety of houses out that I see no reason to be so negative about the next available house, particularly one that people have longed to see for so long. Just start making suggestions for the NEXT house. Why tear apart the thing someone else is happy about? .....unless you get some odd enjoyment out of that type of thing. o.0
Can't decorate it? o.0 Can't... /sigh That's just... I can't even tough that without risking a warning on my account. -.- Private message me and I'll give you some tips on how to use any space to do whatever you can think of. (Teleporters are a wonderful thing) I'll be publishing different uses of the island on my alts later. A giant castle, for one, with the tree inside planters, for instance. Maybe one of those large shopping malls with the little patches of trees around the food court. The possibilities are endless! My first toon though.. I'm going to try and remember every teeny detail, down to where the shinies were, and find items as close as possible, and put them in as exactly the same location as I can remember. I'm going to have a lot of Etherwood harvesting to do. 0.0 Hope I saved up enough goblins from Brewfest!

If you feel that strongly about it, do some feedback, message some Devs, go to SOE live and ask in person for a house the way you want it for SC. Maybe they'll make a version like the Dungeon Maker where you can pack the items already there into the crate, but not remove them, or even make them normal, moveable heirloom house items that just come with the house. but don't you DARE have them ruin this nostalgia by taking everything out. It wouldn't be the Colony Island any more if it was bare land. The parts it's already missing are saddening enough, but that's an understandable polygon count/area size compromise.

Breathe. No need to get so worked up. We're just looking for different things here. I'm /feedbacking and posting here. Nobody is asking for a blank flat, many of us just want more elbow room to work. And I would love a tip on how to put farmland in tightly packed trees for example.

I'm asking if we can have less than 300+ trees and to remove the tons of clutter that is house items we already have access to so that we can be creative (or not off you want to build it just as it was). Does that make me one of "those people" who will just never be happy with anything? I don't think it does. I don't see why we can't all be happy, unless it's technically impossible to add/remove items.

It wouldn't be on beta if they didn't want feedback =)

Also try to remember, we all loved the island zone and we're all excited about this house. It just seems I'm not alone in wanting to make it more personal. Like every other house ever.

I will be buying this one the day it is released. The nostalgia factor is huge for me and this brings back memories of the hundreds of times I ran through it (in both of it's incarnations).

I love the Oakmyst Forest house. I have no idea how many trees are there though. XD
I also got my guild to lvl 95 JUST so I could play with Antonica. (It's a vanity guild, just me and my hubby on the rare occasion he isn't already playing League of Legends or something. XD)
Darklight palace is also very awesome. XD
The first experience of the game though, it's unique. ^_^ (I rather hope that someday the newbie suburbs will be added to the roster of prestige homes!)
The trick to putting farmland in tightly packed trees is to build above the trees. ^_^ Hide the terrain you don't like. There are quite a few homes that make use of empty space and teleporters. Have you seen the HArry Potter set of houses on Crushbone? I think the builder got busy, since there is a lot left to finish, but you get teleported up in the sky in the 7 year veteran house (or possibly the freeblood house) and there is an entire castle with portals to other houses in the doorways.
You could use mud/grass tiles, build slopes over the entry arch, lay tilled soil patches across from top to top of the walkways, maybe even water tiles to make the narrow walkway into a river/pond (at least one nice fountain coming in the xpac, and with some rocks from Moonlight enchantments, a waterfall would be doable), slope down in areas you find acceptable, or put a teleporter in the front, block of the front arch, and use the box canyons only. You could also incorporate the trees and make an orchard for the farm. There's also the possibility of building out from a side, over the water with grass tiles (I have 2,000 in a DM and overflow in a couple others just for such occasions).
But since there is only a section that is actually packed with trees, it really shouldn't be a huge problem.
XD oddly enough, I was actually feeling bad about my plans for alt's Colony island houses. Seems like a disrespectful mangling of a precious memory brought back from the dead, even with 21 toons on one account. Guess it'll be more of a "look at the possibilities" thing for people who need ideas.

I understand that you want these items in their place. Would it be so hard for you to place them? Put whatever furniture you want in your house. Build an exact replica of the original. Some of its would like to be creative with the land and decorate it differently. Only one of us is asking for something that would prevent the other from also being catered to. Except the trees, I understand that even with flowering trees and pines we don't have every tree from this zone.

I and others have also proposed some "all or nothing" feature. I wish you the best in recreating the original IoR exactly but I'd also like the rest of us to have some other options here. Call me crazy.

Personally, I like having the decorations there. It is the Isle of Refuge and I want as much as possible there from the real Isle.

I do wish they would open up the tree house and the place near the tower (where the banker used to be). I'd like to use the inside of those too. I would also love for them to add in the missing parts of the Island too.

Why should we have to do the work of building the replica of the original when that's what this house is supposed to be?!?

It's Raison D'Etre is to replicate the original Isle of Refuge. Not to be a blank slate for people to build whatever they want on, although you're certainly free and able to do that. As Griffon is correctly pointing out, we already have "blank slate" houses: Tenebrous Island, Vale of Halfpint Delight, the Frostfell Islands (huge zone), ... What we don't have is the original zone in the game - not even in the game. I'm probably not the only one who kept a toon out on Queen's Colony until it was finally shut down - long, long after you couldn't start characters there anymore - for nostalgia's sake.

And to be blunt, yes - for most people it would be very hard to place those items where they were. This house is aimed at ALL the game veteran's, not just the decorators. You can't tell a "normal" player: Hey, we're giving you the Isle of Refuge, only it's really just an empty island, but you could make it look like the Isle of Refuge if you want to by gathering up all the old items and placing them by hand yourself if you remember where everything was and how it used to be.

I wholeheartedly agree. I still sort of have a toon there.. the location under it's name says it's there, but ya know.. zone unavailable when I try logging her in. >.> Story wise, that island is now in Altar of Malice xpac... but it's barely recognisable. It was pretty cool seeing the frozen/exploded tower though, very nice effect. I'd have been grumpy though, if they hadn't brought out the Colony Island house. I honestly might have cried when I saw it. :\ (Seeing it during Darthar raids was depressing enough.) But we will have our Colony Island homes to be nostalgic in, so I'm happy as a clam. ^_^ (Happier still if they do open up the treehouse, ecstatic if they add back in the rest of the island. =P)

The SC version should be the one with no furnishings, if they do make one for SC. Last I heard, Holly and others were thinking about an SC version. I'm sure some people will find reasons to complain no matter what happens, but I guess they will spontaneously combust if they go too long without complaining about something?

Sorry to tell you mouser but housing is, in fact, content for decorators. You want a nice house without having to place anything? Commission a decorator...

This house is for people who loved the island. Not every one in the game is a decorator. Houses you buy separately, or add on Collector's edition to an xpac, those are for decorators. Veteran rewards are for everyone, including people who DO NOT DECORATE. I'm a decorator. It's all I play for, but you know what? I know, I know, this is crazy... you should think about this maybe... I'm HAPPY for people who ARE NOT LIKE ME. 0.0 They won't have to hire a decorator, the won't have to set sales crates in the middle of an empty room because they don't like to decorate.
For the first time ever, a house is pre-decorated. First time! Ever! The people who asked for a home that is pre-decorated got their wish (I've seen them around, believe it or not!) the people who wanted the colony island back got their wish mostly granted (still missing some bits), And it still had heaps of room for those of us who will decorate it.
Just be HAPPY for someone for crying out loud. o.0
Oh, and also, do something usefull if you want a blank and pretty much unrecognizable colony island. PM Holly or other SOE people and tell them your ideas for the SC version of the Refugee Island house. Headbutting and being condescending is just a waste of time.

The Mistmore house was a vet reward. It was cut from a real zone. It didn't have any items placed.

The devs will change it or not. They may even give both options and make everyone happy =)

The one thing I can guarantee you is the devs will never, ever make everyone happy ;p

Sorry to tell you this, but housing is, in fact, content for anyone that wants to sell stuff on the broker, unless you want your stuff to be priced 20-40% higher than anyone else. Housing has been in since launch (when you needed to be physically in your house to sell your stuff, IIRC). The decorator community took a while to develop.

I've got no problem with a "blank" isle up for sale in the SC store. It wouldn't make sense to call it the Isle of Refuge, but you could call it "Deserted Colony" or something like that. As for Mistmoore, yes it was cut from a real zone (most of the prestige houses are) but Mistmoore Castle is hardly the iconic location that Isle of Refuge is.

Every player eligible for this reward started their first character on the Isle of Refuge (many on the boat, actually). Tons of them have never set foot in Mistmoore. And maybe, just maybe, it was the community's response to Mistmoore that pushed them to decorate the house this time around so it stands a better chance of being used.

Decorating has been in since launch. Those houses we were selling out of, the were either empty or we decorated. And there was no community response over the Manor not being decorated. It's unprecedented.

By community response I mean "How many accounts actually /claimed and used the house." It's a lot of work for something that not many players will use. By having it come "finished", I think they increase the number of players that are likely to use the house.

Yes, the act of decorating has been in since launch, but how many people back then could say, "I play Everquest 2 primarily to decorate the houses, not to kill stuff and take their loot." I know the original plan was to have crafting characters and adventuring characters separate (they even left in an NPC on the Isle that would ask which you were), but that got scrapped for the tradeskill system we wound up with.

Having the Isle of Refuge come undecorated would be like the Dojo without that divider or the Planetarium without a telescope or the Opera House without a stage. It would be missing the stuff that defines it. This isn't just any island, it's the Isle of Refuge. You're right that this is unprecedented. A house designed and marketed as a specific "in game" place. If it were "blank", you couldn't really say that about it.

I apologize if I came off too negative. Please allow me to put it this way.
The things I'd like to see removed -
The battlements - Just gives the impression that you have no choice but to make some sort of fight scene, which would take more than a few plushies or actors.
Please OPEN the Tree house undecorated - perfect for those " Robin Hood " type decorators, and serves no purpose being there, unless - more actors or plushies to be set up. Could make it like a single room acorn on the inside.
The boat house furniture - So much that can be done with an empty house like that, but the size and placement of the furniture severely limits anything.
The cave - Again, this would be a perfect place to make some sort of secret hide away type room, but the brazier and weapons strewn about severely limit creativity.
I would love to see ( maybe just missed in the screenshots ) The little waterfall where the beavers were.
A little more " open space " rooms in the tower - so maybe open the inside to make a couple more floors, kind of like the storm tower. It's a beautiful tower, but just seems a waste not to open the inside a little more.

Griffon Lady - I think if SOE did make a blank island for SC and the replica as Vet reward would be awesome.
IMO - I always loved the island as a great nature setting, as well as a great starter place with all the training setups. But as with the game, time moved on and I don't think SOE or the majority of Nostalgic players want to set up a replica starter island just to make a model of what used to be.

If you want a blank and almost unrecognizable version of Colony island. PLEASE contact the SOE staff so they know people would be interested in that version since they are already talking about making an SC version. I have to admit, I'd buy one just to have 2 of the island on one character. XD One in it's original, nostalgia inducing state, one to do something random with.
The battlements were the first things we saw aside from the beach and sea... the first signs of civilization for a castaway. S'portaint!!!
Or tell SOE to do a poll on it. See how many people want the island exactly as it was to every detail possible, and one that is stripped down to sand and grass, not even the battlements.... Honestly, over the years of reminiscing that has gone on in the Home Show channel, 1-9/general channel, and even in my home (my hubby is a raider who doesn't do the decorating "thing" and he still thinks it's stupid not to have the whole island), a completely intact island has been the only one that people wanted or thought made sense as a 10 year anniversary present to all classes of players.
There are 3 waterfalls. 2 behind the treehouse in one of the pictures I posted, and one that goes into Razorfin bay.
XD I definitely would not be opposed to the tower getting it's upper story back.
>.> I'm pretty sure the people who want the island back really do want THE Refugee island/colony island back.... And I'm sorry to say, the people who want this veteran reward house stripped down so they can decorate it however they want, (which would negate the whole point of the island being brought back at all....) well that's just plain selfish when there are so many other houses already. I know, I'm talking to a brick wall here.... but if you have your heart set on an island with no battlements or any thing, buy the halfling vale. If you want the original starter zone back in the closest way we can, then just tell the devs thank you for getting it as close as possible. :\ gawd my head hurts trying to wrap it around people who want the refugee island, but not to remember it, just want to make it unrecognizable....when there are already houses resembling the setting...and so many people who have been desperate to get the original island back in some form..... >.< yup.... taking some extra strength excedrin and going to bed now.

I want THE refugee island back. There are plenty of other places to offer blank land than this island. If they offered the blank one on sc that would be ok but the veteran one should really be the original island. Those who actually have enough time in to be receiving it as a vet reward this year would most likely want the original version. I would have enough time except I had to leave the game for a short time but I was here for launch of the game. If there is any question do a poll because I know plenty of people that refuse to post on the forums because they have felt attacked or ignored in the past. They would participate in a poll though. I wonder if the people that want it blank want a blank Mara Island as well, sigh.

I will have to agree with Phreak, that when I begged to have this as a house, I didn't think it would constrict us from making it our own in the sense of already having non removable furniture...that could of been just as easily been in the so call additional package they claim that will go with it. All the things some of you like as it is now, could of been easily included in the additional package... so that you can place it like the original if you ask me. In that way hopefully both can be happy to get what they want. I'm glad that some of you like it as it is now but some of us don't and to even suggest to some us to buy something else is just wrong!

and I want this Refuge Isle with the buildings, Tree house and the cave but not with stuff already in them that can't ever be moved.