New theme is Revealed!.....Newbrooke...

[Evangeline Ling]

11 minutes ago, Marisa Starbrook said:

That’s the way I felt about the chalets at the great reveal. Uninspired. By the time the regions were released, though, the landscaping was a lot more lush. As the design evolved, a lot of water elements were introduced. I’m reserving judgement on the new theme. 

The only reason Chalets are no longer my least favorite theme... is Newbrooke is my new least favorite theme.  I was not making a post about how great Chalets are.  I was basically saying even my current least favorite theme did a much better job than these.  30 homes per region is going to be tight and leave little to no room for elevation changes, ponds, lakes, rivers, etc... its going to be one flat region after another.  Sure eventually the edges will have water but we have not even had edge regions released from the last 2 themes yet so I don't expect to see edge regions released from Newbrooke for a year or more after their release.

[Marisa Starbrook]

@Evangeline LingI got that you weren’t a fan of the Chalets. I was really disappointed in the landscaping at the reveal of that theme. I live near a faux Bavarian town, and I’m not crazy about visiting it in RL. You’ve raised many valid points with the newest theme. 

[Sehra Kauffman]

I have to agree that the interiors do not seem to match with the exteriors. They have very traditional trim and mouldings.

If they wanted to go that style inside they should have leaned more MidMod on the exteriors instead of the brutalist-esque style they currently have.

Or they could streamline the interiors. Simple sleek trim and mouldings. Glass or iron railings. Less weathered wood flooring.

Right now it is very jarring to have the two conflicting styles in one home.

Edited December 7, 2021 by Sehra Kauffman

[Evangeline Ling]

One other point to Abnor... Yes a few smaller sized homes on a region might give you more room to squeeze in more homes but that is still 30 avatar owners... Its going to make for a super laggy experience on any of those regions with 30 owners if a particular region has a lot of its residents logged on at the same time.  The other benefit of limiting a region to say 20 homes is reducing the number of avatars that reside there.  So there are other things to take into consideration for a region other than the number of homes you can squeeze in.  With that said I'm holding onto my trad  FOREVER with its 10 homes total on its region.

[Prokofy Neva]

4 hours ago, Sam1 Bellisserian said:

Trust me...I never wished for this.  How is this modern? How many houses do you know that have totally flat roofs and are square? They simply are ugly. I never liked the Meadowbrook to begin with. 

You shall pry my cold, dead hands off my Meadowbrook near a sandbox when they delete the original Linden homes...

I think it's safe to say that much of the world has flat roof houses because many countries are not like America.

https://www.dezeen.com/2020/05/06/five-houses-peru/

https://karencitadeperu.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/differences-in-construction/

[Prokofy Neva]

35 minutes ago, Sehra Kauffman said:

I have to agree that the interiors do not seem to match with the exteriors. They have very traditional trim and mouldings.

If they wanted to go that style inside they should have leaned more MidMod on the exteriors instead of the brutalist-esque style they currently have.

Or they could streamline the interiors. Simple sleek trim and mouldings. Glass or iron railings. Less weathered wood flooring.

Right now it is very jarring to have the two conflicting styles in one home.

I just want the Moles to globally make it possible to get rid of that dingy white moulding on the outside of so many homes.

[Prokofy Neva]

4 hours ago, Sam1 Bellisserian said:

Trust me...I never wished for this.  How is this modern? How many houses do you know that have totally flat roofs and are square? They simply are ugly. I never liked the Meadowbrook to begin with. 

I guess it will be interesting to see if you all get your way. 

[SarahKB7 Koskinen]

I think I've identified a flaw with the design of windows in the Newbrooke theme.  Every single window in all the Newbrooke theme houses are full length floor to ceiling windows.

This makes adding in a kitchen area with a sink and counter/cabinet units directly behind a windowed area difficult - if not impossibly weird looking - as the back of the sink and cabinet/countertop units will be much higher than the bottom of the window frame and will partially block the windows.  This will look very strange from the outside.

With this window flaw, sinks and cabinets can only be positioned against walls without windows in them, although it's usually customary to have a window in front of a kitchen sink unit for both sunlight and the view.

This window problem also applies to bathrooms too.

Edited December 7, 2021 by SarahKB7 Koskinen

[Paul Hexem]

Somebody's been playing Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

Edited December 7, 2021 by Paul Hexem

[yestothis]

2 hours ago, Marisa Starbrook said:

What were you  hoping for? I hope it doesn’t come across as snarky, because I am genuinely interested in knowing. I kind of figured it would be modern. That was my favorite style in the old Linden homes. I’m glad that there will be a choice between 512 and 1024s. That’s something new and unexpected. 

I was hoping for nice neighborhoods, like the original trads and vics. It’s clear now that with each new theme, the only goal is to squeeze more profit by packing them in with fewer and fewer features. The trad areas have great pools with a lot of land around each pool so it’s not right up against a road. I was hoping for homes that would feel current 2-3 years from now. Just because it’s inspired by meadow Brooke doesn’t mean we have to travel back in time in terms of quality. The Lindens might find these feedback helpful if they’re still building. Please don’t make all the regions flat! 

[Gingir Ghoststar]

31 minutes ago, Paul Hexem said:

Somebody's been playing Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

OH, ALL THE GODS! I want this. I'm in love. I am already seeing how addons could be made to make homes look like this.

[Prokofy Neva]

5 hours ago, Mercedes Avon said:

I like them and I can see the possibilities. I will definitely pick one up when they release and tinker with it to see if I want to move in permanently.

 

Interesting, that one has the FLW type stone on the wall.

[Prokofy Neva]

26 minutes ago, Gingir Ghoststar said:

OH, ALL THE GODS! I want this. I'm in love. I am already seeing how addons could be made to make homes look like this.

⬆️ 

Ladies, you have your marching orders. 

[Eirynne Sieyes]

Very disappointing. Meadowbrook was a lovely home with very high ceilings and lots of glass walls. These things are oppressive with low ceilings and made out of cement block, for the most part. Meadowbrook neighborhoods were more colorful and varied, with contrasting styles. These all look too alike.  They are cold and without grace. They lack the love and detail of past reveals, like this was a rush job. Depressing.

And where is the accompanying hullabaloo? On that note, where was @Patch Linden, who is normally so much more present and peskier and upbeat? Remember all the "Soon" comments and teasers? I think we had one or two. Compare this reveal to the past reveals? The Vics, the Stilts, all of them were Events. This was not, and to me reflects a different culture: perhaps corporate cutbacks from the top.

I hope I'm wrong, but something fishy may be going on.

 

[Prokofy Neva]

3 minutes ago, Eirynne Sieyes said:

Very disappointing. Meadowbrook was a lovely home with very high ceilings and lots of glass walls. These things are oppressive with low ceilings and made out of cement block, for the most part. Meadowbrook neighborhoods were more colorful and varied, with contrasting styles. These all look too alike.  They are cold and without grace. They lack the love and detail of past reveals, like this was a rush job. Depressing.

And where is the accompanying hullabaloo? On that note, where was @Patch Linden, who is normally so much more present and peskier and upbeat? Remember all the "Soon" comments and teasers? I think we had one or two. Compare this reveal to the past reveals? The Vics, the Stilts, all of them were Events. This was not, and to me reflects a different culture: perhaps corporate cutbacks from the top.

I hope I'm wrong, but something fishy may be going on.

 

Well, you are attuned to these things way more than I am, but if Patch posts 2-3 screenshots of himself moving into a home, wouldn't that count as "present"? He might have taken a holiday at Thanksgiving time but maybe not even that. 

Sometimes it's helpful to remember that the forums regulars are not the Lindens' only customers. 

[Kathlen Onyx]

2 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

I guess it will be interesting to see if you all get your way. 

Get our way for what? It is what it is and I don't see it changing.

Edited December 7, 2021 by Sam1 Bellisserian

[Eirynne Sieyes]

2 minutes ago, Prokofy Neva said:

 

Sometimes it's helpful to remember that the forums regulars are not the Lindens' only customers. 

Judging from this reception, that's a good thing.

[Kathlen Onyx]

37 minutes ago, Gingir Ghoststar said:

OH, ALL THE GODS! I want this. I'm in love. I am already seeing how addons could be made to make homes look like this.

But doesn't having to buy all these addons to make the linden homes presentable really take away the "perk" of getting one free with a premium account.  I'd rather they give us all the houses as a choice and let us choose which one to put up. It would at least make the neighborhoods more interesting but still within LL guidelines. A Victorian next to a modern next to a traditional.  You know like in RL.

[Fay Starlight]

5 hours ago, SarahThe Wanderer said:

I like it, it's modern minimalist, love the landscape specially the white rocks, gonna get me one for sure:

 

You took a picture of my fav house/spot on the reveal. I admire how it is all arranged there.:)

 I love the smooth stones a LOT! The lime green shrubs, and new wispy trees are very pretty to me. Hoping the new flowers and potted flowers will be in the care package. All the colors in the landscape are clean and cheerful. The blue pools and fountains are like dazzling  jewels scattered about in contrast to the neutral toned dwellings. It has a tidy look that I found appealing. The roads, walks and fences seemed thoughtfully done, and added a touch of unique curb appeal to each unit. As for the homes, I reserve some judgement until I get one and try it. This style would normally not be my first choice, but I like what I see enough to try them. Glad to hear there will be some different color/texture choices for the exterior. I am hoping with all the glass, the blinds will be better than just simply all open or all shut. It would be great if they could go half up or had a couple levels of sheer. The 1024m homes also seem a bit big to me overall. I think about how well I can enjoy them with 351 prims. However, I do like how they all have a sizable and attached outdoor living space. The Newbrook homes do seem close together, but they were even closer at Meadowbrook in my memory!

Compared to the original Meadowbrook these Newbrook are a big improvement of course! Nice they will offer two parcel sizes as well. The Conistoga is the best house model for me I think

[Evangeline Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Paul Hexem said:

Somebody's been playing Ghost Recon Breakpoint.

I've never played this game, but I think this looks awesome. If the new theme could have looked a bit more like this it woulb be better I think.

 

[Fay Starlight]

4 hours ago, Sehra Kauffman said:

I have to agree that the interiors do not seem to match with the exteriors. They have very traditional trim and mouldings.

If they wanted to go that style inside they should have leaned more MidMod on the exteriors instead of the brutalist-esque style they currently have.

Or they could streamline the interiors. Simple sleek trim and mouldings. Glass or iron railings. Less weathered wood flooring.

Right now it is very jarring to have the two conflicting styles in one home.

I do agree with this—will have to hire a tiler to redo the floors when I get one!

[Evangeline Arcadia]

So my general opinion on the positives and negatives.

Positives:

• Lovely open plan

• Lots of large windows (we asked for these and they listened)

• 512 options which don't feel cramped

• Home choice with balcony

• I really like the fencing:)

Negtives:

• Chunky exterior design (Meadowbrooks don't feel 'chunky' - these do in a way that feels like the design is dated, not an update)

• Exterior designs feel 'unrefined' compared to previous themes  - the shaping, and texturing doesn't look and feel like the same standard of previous themes for some reason. However this may be because they are still WIP

• Communal spots feel uninviting, too sparse and cold. Modern doesn't have to feel cold (see Paul Hexom's game examples above)

• I would agree with a previous comment that the outside doesn't match the interior - it does feel like you are walking into a different home when you go inside. The interior is pretty similar in general design with the previous themes of traditional and others. That's fine, they work in all the themes as a base on which the user can add their own mark.

When the new homes were first introduced I was sure I wanted a modern with all the positives I mentioned - but then they gave us houseboats and Stilts, and I fell in love with those instead (unexpectedly). If I hadn't have I probably would go with this modern theme out of all the themes.

But I do feel that it somehow the exterior and neighbourhood doesn't quite have the wonderful look and feel of the other themes. It feels a bit 'heavy' and not as aesthetically pleasing. Meadowbrook regions by comparison don't. So it's not about it being modern.  Maybe all that's needed is a choice of lighter colour for the outside brick and beams etc. But as I was walking round them I did find the theme starting to grow on me a bit, so maybe I'll like it more down the line.

Edited December 7, 2021 by Evangeline Arcadia

[Marianne Little]

I have mixed feelings...

I need to go there and look. My first impression was 🤨 but then I saw @SarahThe Wanderer's images and @Mercedes Avon's images with street view, and that made a very big difference. The landscaping look much, much better from that angle. I think it will be nice with a mix of 512 and 1024 visually, but I also fear that 30 homes in a region is too much.

The fences are spot on, just what I like, reminds me of Roost fences. And since it will be options for the exterior, I hope for some light wood to match the fences. I think that will be great!

9 hours ago, Evangeline Arcadia said:

Open plan feel:

But... I have to be critical! I have to say something about that traditional trim, and the door. It does not belong in a modern house. We got open floors, it is always better, but I do not know why it is left stubs of walls like in the picture over. The Chalet with open interior was not open either. They have too much walls that stopped my plans.

Big windows, big windows at last.

 

[Evangeline Arcadia]

2 minutes ago, Marianne Little said:

But... I have to be critical! I have to say something about that traditional trim, and the door. It does not belong in a modern house. We got open floors, it is always better, but I do not know why it is left stubs of walls like in the picture over.

 

I think basically they are reusing base parts across the themes - probably helps them create faster and so get the themes out quicker:)

[Hunny Bunny]

Do these come with a new tier of free premuim? They look like they're made of sad.