What is the best Duke selection option?

There seems to be a lot of High Level Dukes with a minimum number of keep lots right now.
If you were a Duke which type of lot would you choose, assuming the BEST lots were already taken by Lords of the Manor?
From what I have seen so far I am guessing most people would take an NPC lot first.
1. Would you take the next best location available NPC duke lot, just for the size.
2. Would you take the next biggest lot available in a Great location (examples would be great, like one of the two Owls Head Town Lots in the main Upper City looking at the town square).
3. Would you take the best Water lot available (maybe one in Ardoris or Aerie)
4. If they made a string of HUGE Island Duke keep lots out in ocean around Lord Brits future Castle, between future land masses and Novia/Hidden Vale, would you want one of the those since at one time Water Lots were considered the most desireable choice.
5. So many options, better just leave this open for anything you think is good.

The reason I ask is that everyone is concerned about getting a GOOD lot, but I haven't seen anyone really say what they think a good lot is. I have heard location over size, but without any real examples. There are many pledge levels but there seems to be a lot of Duke's that may drop down into other pledge tiers so I thought it best to ask about them. But feel free to say what you do as a Lord too, etc.

Any help/thoughts would be appreciated, since like many other people I am trying figure out the best approach to selecting a lot and trying to determine what might be available when I pick. Even if I am not a Duke it looks like this is where the trickle down effect will start.

Thanks for reading this.

 

What do you want? Fun with friends or a high value $ location?
Best location is where your friends live and thats most likely not a NPC- or PRT-Town. Its a PoT.
Gather with your friends in one town and you have your best location.
Dont bother about playing in another timezone and dont see your neighbors at your playtime.
Dont bother about neighbors you dont understand because of your language.
I know, many are only interested in $ value but at the end its worth nothing if you havent good neighbors and your friend live on the other side of the world.

 

I don't know what Duke's would pick as best option. Ideally an NPC city (city) lot would be what I'd like to get. I'm not big on water lots even though I could get one so those are out for me.....With so few city lots being put in NPC cities and the number of Dukes/LoTM we have before our selection, that's probably not going to be possible, which I'm fine with. I already knew this would possibly happen and have settled on living in a PRT. (So PRT for me)
So from what we know currently, although I don't like to really say it, because it just feels wrong to those waiting for row/village selection and people will probably do this anyways...If your largest lot isn't available in an NPC city, grab a lower tiered lot with your large deed.....a village or row lot (so that you have a npc lot to put your vendors later), then wait for the add on phase of the lot selection process, then place your second deed in the lot you held with your largest deed, then take your large deed and place it in a PRT area.

I'm not saying that I will do that, I'm saying it's the best choice for someone that wants an NPC lot in a major city if their desired lots are taken up already, Village/Row lots just seem ideal for vendor merchants.

 

Great Point @Senash Kasigal . That truly is the BEST location. But since you will not be taking any of the NPC spots I am still curious where other people may be placing.

 

@Ice Queen I have to admit I am kind of thinking along those lines too. I am sure the Dev's already know all this, but hopefully input here may help in the designs of future cities, if they see a possible solution they had planned will not work due to little interest in alternate locations.

 

My guildie use his keep deed to claim city lot and put baron house on it instead of the keep, so he can be closer to the community. City lot itself has a large space for him to enjoy his decoration works already. Owning a keep shows the sign of grandeur, but it's hardly enjoyable if there are no one around to appreciate it.

 

I would absolutely get the largest lot possible by my pledge level. I wouldn't waste my claiming window on anything less than the most I (dearly) paid for.

== This message has been brought to you by the League of Conscious Claimers Against Poachers ==

 

At the end of the day, you paid for entertainment value, so just go for whatever make you happiest

 

Few Keep lots will be "bad" locations. They're keep lots, and by their very size they span over large areas of a scene, can be seen from a distance, allow for the placement of large housing that can't have the view of the horizon blocked by a neighboring house. They're all "good" lots.

However, they're not all good lots if you're interested in putting a vendor down and making in-game good via high foot traffic. Likewise, if your goal is to sell the lot shortly after the land rush, the "good" spots are those also perceived to have high foot traffic. Housing near a bank, portal, scene opening or closing, across from a public vendor or low level quest area, anywhere that players almost have to visit on a regular basis that gives your house or the vendor on your lot the most exposure to the player base. This goes all the way back to UO.

The Keep lots in the game right now don't offer much expected "foot traffic" and this is what makes village and row lots so much more attractive to people that can pick above everyone else. The perceived value of one of these "good" spots is very high in the community and after paying so much money I think it's probably difficult for people to not recognize the opportunity to perhaps get some or maybe even all of it back by finding a spot that becomes so valuable in the game, someone else will pay an incredible amount (either in-game or out) for the rights to own it.

 

Assuming the best lots are taken, I'll look for a keep plot in a less desirable location.

However, I don't really have a definition for a best location.

The world is not so large that location matters.

At one point Richard said he would send dukes and above surveys and weave elements of our real lives into the world.
For example, Port Graff is based on a jeweler named Graff. If I were Mr. Graff, I'd want to live in Port Graff.
It seems clear to me that kind of personalization isn't going to happen, so location just doesn't matter to me.

When there were 10 dukes, those kinds of ideas seemed possible.
Now that there are so many, I doubt they'll ever circle back around and do the things they said they would do.

As this game iterates its way away from what it was supposed to be, I don't even know anymore.

 

I hope that every duke will want a keep lot. It will be highly disappointing to see empty large lots in the game, so I hope all the empty lots are filled with NPC castles or farms or other nice features.

I really hope that there will be incentive for Dukes to take Duke lots, even PRT duke lots.. maybe something like what Sir Frank mentioned - streets named after them when they place there, being known by the NPCs in the area, etc..

Perhaps everyone who places their deed on a lot of equal level can get a trinket, similar to @Spoon's recommended rewards for skipping the land-rush.

All that said, I'll go ahead and reveal my predominant thinking right now for how I feel I might choose a lot:

I know the oracle asks us to stop in once a week to check our virtue status. I'm lazy, so I think I'll choose a lot as close to one of the Oracle Confirmatories. Now many people probably don't trust the Oracle, and want nothing to do with these, and to them I say, go live in Owl's Head: The only city that doesn't have one!

All that said, if I can't find a good city lot next to a confirmatory, I'll settle for a city water lot to place a ship. I think this will prove quite useful by episode 2 when we can sail around in them.

 

Aye, the way the process is designed I can see why people would do choose to that. I don't blame anyone for doing so. The choice is there so why not? If PRT's were a bit more desirable it wouldn't as big a problem I guess. Hopefully, there's a plan for LoTM and Dukes to have more choices for desirable lots as well.

 

My first choice would be any Duke plot in a NPC city that has the ramparts setup like Ardoris does. Hopefully most of the newer cities will have more plots like these. However most Dukes own cities.

What is the point of being a Duke if you don't own land? My suggestion is to do what I did. Wait until the Black Friday special where you get like 25% and upgrade a Royal Founders pledge to Duke and you get a free city.

If your a Duke and don't have a city you basically missed out on a free city. Same goes for the LOTM. If a LOTM Didn't wait until the BF special...

All I can say is OUCHIE.... That alot of dough you could have had for a city.

 

I may be wrong [], but I think there won't be any pledge besides the basic Adventurer one, coming next Black Friday.

 

I hope you are right. We have 200+ POT. I have a feeling this will be one of the few games that will have a land rush that will have more open spots than taken ones.

Those 200+ cities are ALOT of spaces for housing. I hope they don't create an open spot for every single pledge otherwise we will have serious ghost town problems.

 

I think they will have to show open spots +30% for every deed for the land rush, so it's definite that about 200 towns will be nearly empty, or 400 towns will be half full, or somewhere in between. Which is why it's important that ways are made for unclaimed lots to be visually invisible until claimed.

 

ALL THESE TOWNS ARE YOURS - EXCEPT DEAD HORSE
ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE

 

*chuckles*

Given the chance, I'm using my selection position to pick up some sweet little row lot.

Sorry.

 

I know, and honestly it's the most intelligent way to take advantage of high pledges.

But still, trying my best to steer away as many players from engaging in this smart yet disheartening humiliating (for lower pledgers) activity.

 

I wish you the best of luck.