Avowed Can Teach Skyrim a Lesson in Home Decor

Building a home in an open-world RPG provides a sense of respite like no other. Not only does it allow the player a place to relax, but it also gives them a place to store their items and can serve as a hub for future adventures. Avowed's potential for home decor could expand on this in a way few games have done before.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim also had home decor mechanics, found mostly in the form of the Hearthfire DLC. Though it provided a new experience to The Elder Scrolls franchise, it was found to be lacking in many areas. Avowed's iteration of home decor could show Skyrim a thing or two about immersive player housing.

Avowed Can Do More Than Skyrim's Hearthfire DLC

Skyrim's Hearthfire DLC was certainly a welcome addition, although it was devoid of many features players would have preferred. For example, the location of the homes as well as where furniture could be placed in rooms were all predetermined. This lead the interiors to feel somewhat lacking in personality, so the homes didn't really feel like they truly belonged to the player. Avowed could both learn and stand apart from Skyrim's home decor mechanics, creating a system that infuses the player's creative spirit with the game's homes.

Avowed could amend the issues of player freedom by first allowing the player to place furniture wherever they please. Also, doing away with predetermined locations for housing may not be possible due to certain limitations. Just having more locations than Skyrim's measly 3 would help fix this issue, as it allows the player more to choose from and thus complements a free experience. With that said, there are also ways that Avowed's RPG features could diverge from this formula while also managing to attain a positive reception from players. This would be in the form of more interactivity that allows the player to really own their home.

Homes can also act as a recording of the player's previous adventures, such as by displaying arms or armor they have found in the past. Avowed could take this one step further by allowing the player to collect more types of trophies that record their experience. One form of this could be parts of beasts or monsters they have slain and stuffed and are now on display in their home. Avowed's reimagining of crafting and trophies could lead to further player creativity in how they present their homes.

One of the biggest ways Avowed could enhance the home decor experience is through functionality. Home functionality typically involves player storage, as no inventory is large enough to carry everything a player will find on their journey. However, it could extend far beyond that. For example, in Skyrim, enchanting and alchemy stations could be added to one's home, but they didn't vary from the ones the player could find anywhere else. If Avowed features a magic system similar to this, with some of its crafting stations, then the variety found in homes could be more effective than the ones the player finds in towns or cities. It would give the player something worth grinding toward, while also making the home decor experience more worthwhile.

While players aren't sure what to expect from Avowed and Obsidian Entertainment, hopefully, improved housing can be found on the list of priorities. Not being able to personalize player housing in Avowed would be a big missed opportunity, and one Skyrim fans may not be happy about.