Fortress. It's just much better laid out than the castle. Back on [other server] I was put off coming here when Telamon launched by his mentions of custom buildings, as I thought it was the start of the slide to neon banks. But he 'fixed' the two crap buildings and ended it there, which is spot on. The original castle and keep always seemed like they'd been rushed out with no real thought to the internal layout.
Castle. Don't like those silly little rooms on the sides of the fort that never get used/are a pain to get to.
fort ... and only if/when the side rooms can be individually keyed. I'd open a newbie hotel / halfway house-newbie-training-facility-kinda-thingy. stat wise, fort starts off better... obviously
A castle is much better than a fort in my opinion. The fort is just too damn big for one person. I can understand if a guild lives there or if it's used as an event center, but if you can fill a fort up on your own, you need to get a life. Just to go a step further, a castle is just a keep with outstretched walls, which means it takes that much more time and maneuvering to get to your corner rooms... ain't nobody got time fo dat! Which is why a large keep is the best house in game!
Castle! Fortress is too wide open. Hallways to the rooms on the side are very narrow. A redesigned 31x31 could of been done much better. Castle has its own drawbacks in the CY with the overhang of the bridges. One moment you see the top level and the next you are staring at the first level.
Castle, better protection from cast through wall spells if you have animals in the interior body. Fort is vulnerable in the back.
Castle, but ONLY if it had the lockdowns of a Fortress... I like the battlements aspect of castles better with the open CY... Would be nice to be able to customize the CY... outdoor smithy and such
Forts, castles, and keeps imo have an equal number of design flaws and design goodness. All good, none perfect. Fort, why not. +1 post count
I am most partial to large towers...much better space layout...roof is a nice size with the wings, 3 other floors to decorate. I haven't tried a fort yet but the times I've had a castle or a keep I just felt they were more hassle to navigate than the charm they offered.
The poll should have included "none of the above" I personally don't like keeps, castles or forts. They are too big, bulky, and hard to decorate, not to mention the exorbitant price tags for not so functional layouts. In my opinion, they are only ok as status symbols. If I had to go with any massive structure, like @Pulse above, I would go for a large tower. At least their layout is more functional, better to decorate and large enough to accommodate a guild. My personal preference is the Large Brick. There you have a beautiful layout, functionality and a pleasure to decorate. I would very much advocate for more house designs for players, or making available some of the house designs already ingame but not currently available to players, ie. like some in Britain, Skara, etc.
A large tower might be the worst house in all of the lands of UO. The 2nd and 3rd floor being identical kills it for me.
In terms of layout (as well as accuracy within the Renaissance era), I prefer the castle. But in the end, for me it's all about lockdowns and secures. So the fortress wins.
I've never been fond of large towers for personal residences either, too big and the layout is odd with the identical floors. Maybe for specific purposes or guilds maybe, but i'll always prefer the large brick for personal residence.