Been playing it for a while today - xbl was down for a while the moment it was released but I got on long enough to download it. And I like it
Lots of fetching and carrying, which I expected, and my first home is near-ish to Dawnstar, right close to a giant camp (where I'm guessing the nuisance neighbours come in). Got me a steward, a carriage, a horse in a stable, some chickens, a garden, a cow, grain mill and pretty much everything you could ever need in one place other than a handy mine for iron.
If you don't want to do too much pratting about to begin with and just want to build something from the offset, stock up on iron ingots, quarried stone (you can mine it from your plot of land - there's a pickaxe nearby too and the stone doesn't seem to ever run out), some leather strips and plenty of lumber which you can buy from any mill. As you get further into the whole furnishings thing, you will find that you need more stuff - some of it rarer than others - and a fairly large bank account. But I like it, it's fun and kind of cool to have your own place shown on the map rather than messing about trying to remember where it is in one of the cities.
If you don't know how to trigger the whole thing, here's how it goes:
**A courier will come up to you at some point with two letters - one from a Jarl and one from the orphanage in Riften. The former will inform you of new opportunities to decorate an already-existing home with a child's bedroom and the latter will invite you to come on over and pick a kid or two. You have to have somewhere to live before you can get up to two children - you can either purchase a kiddy extension for your home or you can come back to the orphanage later and pick kids once you've built your own home.
To get a plot of land, to my understanding, you need to be Thane of one of the towns that does not offer property - Morthal, Dawnstar or Falkreath. Speak directly to the Jarl and the option to purchase land should come up. Dawnstar costs about 5000. The rest is pretty self-explanatory and if you get stuck, there is a book on the workbench near your building site which tells you where to get things like glass and straw etc. Your housecarl will meet you there at some point and you can promote him or her to Steward if you like which means you can just send them out on your behalf to get supplies or furnishings if you can't be bothered with the hassle.**
Yes, it's not a whole new storyline or side quest or whatever but if you're someone who likes the idea of getting to make your own stuff and decorate it how you wish (up to a point, of course. I wanted to mount dead bandits on my wall but apparently that's a no no) then I think it's a great little addition to the game. If you're someone who gets quite heavily into the whole role-playing thing, it serves as a nice extra option to make things more realistic for you. Working to get the cash to build your own home, gathering materials by yourself, defending your property and growing your own food - I like it, it's cool
