The Homes and Tomes Credit Union

The first time prestige houses went on sale, I excitedly purchased several. Unfortunately, one of my purchases was a Personal Dojo, which I'd sworn to never buy--I had selected it while browsing the sale, and forgot to move off of it when I went to purchase the house I actually wanted.

The default dojo.

To my mind, the dojo was much too small for the amount of money SOE was asking for, even at sale price.

But I'd purchased it.

What was I going to do?

I tried a variety of things with the dojo, from a small home to a general store. But nothing quite worked out. The house just wouldn't cooperate with my ideas. The center dividers kept getting in the way, and I couldn't seem to get my mind to see them as anything other than center dividers.

The dojo sat mostly empty for months. Then a chain reaction happened. First, I remodeled the Homes and Tomes guild hall (now outdated--we've moved to a T3 in the Commonlands). Everyone had a 20 item limit for personalizing their office space. As guild leader, I decided that rule didn't apply to me. My office took several hundred items. That was fine for a while.

However, guilds are not static creatures. They grow. And as members moved up in rank, more and more people needed offices. That meant that my several-hundred-item office was taking up space that was needed for other offices. So while everyone else had an office in the hall, I moved my office to a prestige portal which linked to the guild hall. This way, my office would only take one item instead of several hundred, and I could decorate to my heart's content.

Once I'd created my office, the depots, crafting tables, and apprentices that once lived in the Everfrost home I used as an office needed to move somewhere else. Why not the dojo? It was a small space, perfect for housing apprentices, depots, and crafting tables! I just had to think of a theme that would work for the space.

I was standing in the guild hall, staring at our banker and wracking my brains for an idea when it hit me. Homes and Tomes' concept is that of a construction and interior design company. Many companies have their own credit unions. Additionally, the guild had elected to leave our harvest depot public, and to move our rares to a home controlled by the officers. If I put the rares in the credit union... the ideas began to flow.

And so the Homes and Tomes Credit Union was born.

Located on the Leaderboards under Small Homes on Antonia Bayle, "The Homes and Tomes Credit Union."

The teller windows disguising the center divider of the dojo.

As I was building the Credit Union, I looked around and realized the bank was very empty without employees. I thought about using plushies, then realized I had the perfect employees available: tradeskill apprentices. Tradeskill apprentices were another item that I just couldn't seem to work into any of my existing homes. I had originally planned to create a "bunk house" for the apprentices, but moving them into the Credit Union to act as tellers was a perfect solution. Plus, I'd have personal harvest depots available, with the supplies for the apprentice dailies ready and waiting. So I moved my apprentices into the Credit Union (along with the apprentices of a few friends), and wound up with Tellers and Guards. Hooray!

Windows I and II.

Of course, that isn't as much of an issue now that they made the apprentice daily items stack, but when the Credit Union was first created, the items didn't stack (yes, the Credit Union has been mostly done since February. I just didn't have an urge to post it. But then three people in under a week asked me why they couldn't find it on the leaderboards, so I had to clean it up and post it...)

The bank has a suggestion box. Be sure to leave your suggestions!

Having a mailbox in a bank didn't sit right with me. At first I had the mailbox tucked away behind the window in Teller I's area. But I soon realized that I didn't like how hard it was to get to (while the windows are big enough to squeeze through, it's a bit of a hassle having to run and jump every time you want to reach the box). However, while it was back there, I had it sunk into the counter. I realized that it looked a lot like a simple box with the bottom hidden. And a suggestion box seemed like the perfect solution to the mailbox delimma. I could have it in plain sight, yet not have it be a mailbox. (Duh.)

Back of the Credit Union, where the vaults are.

The vaults came about because I hate how the default personal harvest depots look. They're too tinkered. Flipping them and tucking them back so only the trim shows creates a perfect vault door, however.

Each has a plaque overhead detailing what's inside, so that guildies and non-guild individuals depositing items don't accidentally store guild rares in with my personal stash of items. Holiday items are separated out from commons and rares, and Frostfell has its own box.

Closeup of one of the deposit boxes.

The wall of safe deposit boxes used to be a wall of sales crates. Inside, I kept my fuels. Then SOE kindly added personal fuel depots, and the sales crates were no longer necessary.

I firmly believe that sales crates should be easily visible, so I removed them from the wall (they were only holding my fuel anyway, and now I can use them to sell other things!), and replaced them with normal crates.

It makes sense for a bank to have safe deposit boxes, doesn't it?

The signs are Coldain Signs, flipped and sunk.

The safe. AKA the fuel depot.

Speaking of the fuel depot, I had it hidden under the counter behind teller window VII at first. Then I decided that it was too much of a hassle to hop through the window to refill it, so I moved it to the wall and turned it into a safe, complete with key. I'm not particularly happy with the gold frame, but it's functional and matches the rest of the Credit Union.

This was pretty much the only thing I had to complete in order to get the Credit Union ready for publication on the leaderboards. The home has been done for months (aside from the clutter I left sitting around as I used it as a dumping ground to empty out my inventory when necessary, which I cleaned up when I published it).

Windows VI and VII.

I have fond memories of banks from my childhood. My grandfather's house was situated right next to a bank, and my great grandfather and I would walk down to the bank approximately once a week.

My grandmother used to treat her daughters to the complimentary coffee from the bank. So of course, the Credit Union had to have complimentary refreshments in honor of that.

Mmmm refreshments. The coffee is missing (I forgot to put it down).

 I'd meant to have an urn of coffee and cups, but I forgot to put them in before I published. They'll have to be put in after the Credit Union hits the Hall of Fame.

Behind windows VI and VII. Tellers hard at work.

And here's a peek behind the teller windows off to the sides. I made sure to put in a ledge so that the poor Coldain can see over the edge...

That concludes the tour of the miniscule Homes and Tomes Credit Union.

I did make sure to tuck crafting tables under the counter at teller window IV, so that apprentice dailies are easy no matter which side of the counter you're on. Additionally, the Credit Union acts as a portable crafting room for homes I'm working on. I can just plop down a portal to the CU, and easily travel back and forth between a home fully stocked with tables and materials, and the home I'm decorating. The crafting tables are reachable from the zone-in point of the CU, so there's no need to even take a step!

The Cogworts School of Tinkering and Mechanomagic Builds A Better Mousetrap 2013

The brave members of the Qeynos Fire Brigade*

Cogworts School of Tinkering and Mechanomagic Builds A Better Mousetrap, 2013

The explosion rattled the windows of every building along the block. Thick clouds of smoke belched forth from the burning establishment.

Faintly through the raging flames, the words “Cogworts School of Tinkering and Mechanomagic” glowed cherry red on an indium sign. The words “Dormitory 2” seemed to be slowly melting off.

Down the block, the members of the Qeynos Fire Brigade threw on their gear and headed to the correct address without discussion. Apparently, this was a common occurrence. The members of the hydromancy team began conjuring water as soon as they were in range.

Soon, sweat poured down their foreheads and soot stained their garments. They panted for air as they battled the uncommonly powerful blaze. One by one, they exhausted their powers, falling to the ground.

Hours later, the last ember flickered and died. Nothing was left of the second dormitory, or the two dormitories to either side of it.

A white-haired gnome peeked around a lamppost, his receding hairline standing up in tufts.

“Oh dear, oh my. Poor lads! My lasses! Everyone made it out fine, just a bit of property loss this time around, and the insurance assures me the premium hikes will not be too bad. Thank you so much for your prompt response! If you have any need of our services, the members of the Cogworts School will be happy to assist you in any way!”

The entirety of the Qeynos Fire Brigade--brave men and women, one and all--winced and cowered away from the tiny gnome, before taking a collective breath and straightening. The Captain stepped forward and bowed politely.

“Professor Cogworts, thank you, but we have no need of your assistance.” Her voice was raspy from the smoke. “However, you’ll have to find new accommodations for your students until such time as your dormitories can be rebuilt.”

“No fear, no fear! The kind gentleman over at the Lion’s Mane said that we can rent out the rooms there for a miniscule fee. Very miniscule. Just a few thousand platinum, plus we have to promise to get rid of the rat infestation he’s been having. His current rat traps haven’t been working. Nothing seems to work. But it’s not a problem at all! We’re gnomes! We'll figure it out!

“Oh, and we can’t disturb the other guests. Not that we would, oh no! The students would just be studying and doing a little bit--a very minor bit--of tinkering homework in their rooms, you understand. Most of their work happens at the school, in the classrooms, under teacher supervision, of course! Nothing like this EVER happens!” He waved his hands energetically at the smoldering remains of the three buildings.

The Qeynos Fire Brigade valiantly restrained themselves from rolling their eyes. This was the third such call they’d had this month alone. The others had been minor in comparison to this, but still! Even their sole gnomish member sighed and shook her head.

Professor Fulbright Bartholomew Cogworts the Third raised his voice. “ALL RIGHT!” he bellowed, voice much too loud for his minute frame. “STUDENTS! Pack your bags, if you have any left! Line up and march yourselves over to the Lion’s Mane!”

Gnomes of all ages began popping out of the shrubs and from behind nearby homes. They were soot stained and smelled strongly of grease and smoke. It was a wonder none of them had gone up from sheer proximity to the heat, if the smell of oil coming off of some of them was an indication of how greased up they were!

Most had nothing in their hands. A few carried a favorite cog. All had determined expressions on their faces.

It was time for them to build a better mousetrap.



CONTEST RULES


1. ELIGIBILITY: 

Open to any Everquest II player. Must make a gnomish character on the Antonia Bayle server to participate. If you do not have room on your normal account or are from another server, a free account is an acceptable alternative.


2. ENTRY DETAILS:

Contest runs from Thursday, August 8th at 12:01 AM PST - Saturday, August 17 at 11:59 PM PST.

August 8th: Contestants must submit their item lists to Jazabelle via PM on the SOE Message Boards before 11:59 PM PST.

August 9 - 10: Items will be obtained and created by Homes and Tomes.

August 11: At 12:01 AM PST, contestants will receive trustee on the home they are to decorate, and will receive an IN-GAME mail with the address. All addresses will be located within the Lion’s Mane in South Qeynos, and will be the two (2) room inn rooms.

August 17: At 11:59 PM PST, contestants will lose trustee status on the homes they are decorating, and judging will begin.

August 18 - 20: Judging will run from Sunday, August 18 at 12:01 AM PST - Tuesday, August 20 at 11:59 PM PST.

August 21: Winners will be announced on Wednesday, August 21 before 11:59 PM PST.



Each contestant must submit a private message to Jazabelle on the Everquest II message boards.

Each private message must include:

1. The contestant’s Antonia Bayle gnomish character’s full name
2. The contestant’s main character
3. The contestant’s main character’s server

• All materials will be supplied to the contestants.
• All materials must be either Tinkerfest craftables, holiday craftables except Frostfell, or common craftables.
• Each contestant will be provided a budget of 20 platinum to be spent as they wish on rares for rare furniture or dungeon looted furniture for their home.
• All contestants will be provided with a crafted housing expander (+100 house items) for a total of 300 item count on their home.

• Each home must contain at least five (5) unique mousetraps built in the Rube Goldberg style. 
• Each mousetrap must have a book explaining the steps to its process. Books will be provided, and will not count against contestants’ platinum allotment. 
• Each mousetrap must have at least five (5) steps. (Example: The cheese is placed on the pressure plate. When the mouse steps on the pressure plate to eat the cheese, the thermagauge pressuredongle is triggered, which in turn spins the cog that presses the unilateral unwinder. This causes the chains holding the parrot cagerator to unwind, releasing the parrot, which eats the crackers. The crackers are keeping a weight balanced. When the weight is no longer even, the scale tips, and the mouse cagerator is lowered, caging the mouse.) The more detail to your explanation, the better! 
• Each home must have, in addition to the five (5) mousetraps, at least two (2) other Rube Goldberg machines fit for dorm life. (Think a Norrathian style gnomish toaster, a Norrathian style gnomish Ramen maker, a Norrathian style automated quill inker for homework...) 
• Each of the two other machines must also have five (5) steps from start to finished product. 

3. JUDGING DETAILS:

All eligible entries will be judged by a committee from Homes and Tomes. Judging will be based on the following criteria: one fourth (1/4) complexity of machines; one fourth (1/4) criteria (fulfillment of); one fourth (1/4) creativity; one fourth (1/4) catching of mice (machine functionality). Individual results will not be released.


4. PRIZES:

The decorator with the most gnomish entry from all eligible entries will win the Cogworts School of Tinkering and Mechanomagic Grand Prize, with four (4) runner-up prizes given to the players whose entries are ranked #2 - #5.

One (1) Grand Prize: A fully decorated home of the contestant’s choice, decorated and designed by members of Homes and Tomes, and one (1) commemorative player written book with a copy of the contestant’s machine submissions.

If the winning contestant is on another server, the contestant is responsible for obtaining all materials on the manifest list, so that a member of Homes and Tomes may travel to their server and load the home’s layout for the contestant.

Four (4) Runner-Up Prizes: One (1) commemorative player written book with a copy of the contestant’s machine submissions and either one (1) Tinkerer’s Shop Essentials or one (1) Tinkerer’s Bedroom Essentials. If the contestant is on another server, the contestant is responsible for obtaining a blank notebook so that their machine submissions may be copied over into it. Alternatively, they may choose to copy the machine submissions over themselves.


5. PRIZE MISCELLANY:

All homes will have screenshots posted at the Homes and Tomes Event Forums at http://homesandtomes.com.

A copy of the machine description books will be placed in the Norrathian Research Library, and will be provided to each of the judges in a commemorative player written book.

Any and all unspecified expenses/costs in conjunction with participation in this Contest and/or acceptance or use of a prize are a winner’s sole responsibility. In the event that a prize item is unavailable for any reason, the Cogworts School of Tinkering and Mechanomagic Build A Better Mousetrap 2013 committee reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to substitute an item of equal/greater value. Prize must be accepted as awarded and is non-transferable. No coin substitutions. Winners will have thirty (30) days to claim their prizes from the character submitted to Jazabelle as their main character. Designing of the Grand Prize will be an open palette with moderate input of the homeowner for the Homes and Tomes decorators to work from.


6. PRIZE CONDITIONS AND RESTRICTIONS:

Winners will be contacted via in-game mail, private messaged to the contestant, and announced on the original contest thread on or before Wednesday, August 21, 2013. Sponsor will save the layout of the Grand Prize for at least sixty (60) days, and encourages the winning contestant to also save the original layout.


7. RIGHTS TO PUBLISH:

If/when the owner of the Grand Prize opts to publish the home on the Housing Leaderboards, the dedication player written book must be kept in a clearly visible location and if/when it reaches the Hall of Fame must donate the Housing Award to the Homes and Tomes guild hall to be showcased.

If the owner of Grand Prize is on a server other than Antonia Bayle, Homes and Tomes shall publish the Antonia Bayle version of the home under the name “Tinkerfest Home for <Contestant’s Name>” and shall place the trophy in Homes and Tomes’ guild hall to be showcased.


8. SPONSORS:

Jazabelle Wra’Eth and Homes and Tomes of Antonia Bayle.

*Many thanks to Anjana Icebloom, Lowgan Alv'Torea, Havanli, Narrel Blaze, Sanaki, Tajar, Talaeren, Taizhar, and Viorna Clematis for your help in modeling for this image; Darkzephyr Vierus, Kurogo Battousai, and Zhadowsee Dragonbane for your help proofreading the introduction and rules; the members of Homes and Tomes for your help putting this contest together.

What Is It Like?

I was chatting with a friend in another guild late last year. She's a decorator (of course), and she's in a hardcore RP guild.

"What's it like?" she asked me wistfully as we each engaged in our respective play of choice for the evening, she at some tavern somewhere, while I meticulously aligned tiles in one of my warehouses.

"What's what like?" I resized the tiles and stacked them again, trying to neatly fit the maximum number of tiles in the minimum amount of space.

"What's it like being in the only decorating guild around?"

I was quick to reassure her that Homes and Tomes isn't the only decorating guild around. There are others. Homes and Tomes just happens to be one of the largest, with a member list that spans servers.

I am asked this question in various way rather regularly. Sometimes it's someone who wants to know what the guild is like because they're interested in joining. Other times, it's someone who wants to start up their own decorating guild, but they aren't sure if they want to invest the time and effort. Still other times, they're people like my friend--wistfully looking in, dreaming of life in a guild where saying "How many times the scale do you move a tile to line them up perfectly?" isn't met with confused silence.

Sometimes I get a variation of the question that focuses on me instead. "What's it like leading the only decorating guild around?" I had someone ask earlier this week. Once again, I assured them that Homes and Tomes isn't the only decorating guild around. And then I had to explain that it's work.

Like running any other guild, running a decorating guild is work. You are responsible for ensuring that there are no conflicts of personality within the guild. You are responsible for the people you promote to officer. You are responsible for the events that your guild runs, even if you have no hand in organizing them. Your guild's name is on the tag, and you need to make sure it's represented properly.

In some ways, running a decorating guild is easier than running other types of guilds. For the most part, decorators tend to be soloers--decorating is a solo playstyle. While you can (and most of us do!) engage in conversation while decorating, the act of decorating itself is entirely single player.

Decorators also tend to be self-starters. We're a group who has to come up with our own ideas, find the materials to go with our ideas, and build what we envision. It's more common to hear a decorator say, "Does anyone want to join me for an instance?" instead of hearing the dreaded, "So, is anyone running an instance?" from a follower.

The hardest part of running a decorating guild is the management. We're a guild full of crafters, whose crafting serves the purpose of decorating. Unlike most other crafters, we use all tiers of material constantly. Our harvest depot has a revolving door.

How do you measure who's participating in a decorating guild? You can't go by the number of homes a person has done, or the number of commissions they've taken. You can check the status they've earned and donated, but that's only one small aspect of participating. How about the items they've given to other guildmates? Or when they stop their own projects to give advice to someone else? Add in the fact that Homes and Tomes isn't pure decor, because we also encourage roleplay, and we have a few people whose only interest is combat, and you have a guild that's very hard to administrate for.

Then there's the commission aspect. I'm regularly contacted by people looking to commission a member of the guild to build their home. Over the past two and a half years of the guild's life, numerous individuals have spoken to me about hiring a member of H&T to build their homes. Guild members' mailboxes are full of "So-and-so is looking to hire a decorator" mails that have been sent out to the guild. Once I've sent out the mail, I then have to follow up and find out if the person has been contacted by a decorator.

We finally got around to putting up a commission form on our website to help streamline the process a little, but it's still a lot of followup work.

But let's get back to the original question. So what is it like being in a guild where someone can ask "How many times the scale do you move a tile to line them up perfectly?" and hear the answer, "2 times, unless you're working with the dark or light frozen tiles, or the petrified bone tile"?

It's a place where you're guaranteed to share interests with everyone else. It's a place where you can converse while working on your home. It's a place where the puns flow thickly, and innuendo practically drowns you.

There's very little drama, for which I'm grateful, since we're all easygoing adults.

It's the best feeling in the world. It's home.