It takes time... and the casual Balmung or whatever player just goes back to the server he/she went from, as housing is not that interesting and exciting afterall.
In many cases it is the Fools Gold.
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It's been 6 months. That's more than enough time for all those undecorated houses to have had something done.
In some cases, it was someone buying up multiple FC houses with plans to create a mini-venue empire then finding out how much work that is so they gave up... while keeping the FC houses for the sub farms.
Just took this screenshot in a ward that was added in January. There are a handful of nicely decorated houses and that's about it. Some only have a couple of items in the yard and most of the open ones are completely empty inside. It's been a ghost town for months.
I know, I know... "PeOpLe CaN dO WhAteVeR tHeY wAnT WiTh tHeiR HoUseS"... But it's still depressing. :c
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen.../ghosttown.png
Honestly some people can sort of get past it I guess ? Personally once a house is surrounded by those ugly houses, namely Paissa,Gingerbread,Carbuncle,Chocobo, the entire vibe of the ward is just ruined because no matter how much you try and cover it up, it'll look like crap thanks to the neighbors next door, so I just barely bother if at all, there are like amazing wards full of shiro houses in shiro, and then there always has to be that one guy that wants to stand out and will put up a bright red carbuncle just to be "the one" to make it look bad, it just sucks really, but that's just my opinion and as I said a lot of people can just go past that
I decorated my house:
https://i.imgur.com/kpMbDmH.jpg
My apartment:
https://i.imgur.com/pF6Bfgy.jpg
And my FC Private chambers:
https://i.imgur.com/XjF9s2P.jpg
Some bug me more than others. lol I actually like the chocobo house, and the Moogle one doesn’t look bad in LB. Our FC house is the Carbuncle house but I play SMN so how can I not love Carbys? :) And we have a jumping puzzle created by a couple of the FC officers so we can get on the roof!
My pet peeve is the 5 zillion Shiro Castle houses (not the new onsen, that’s cute!) in LB. They’re so tall they block the views of anyone they’re next to, sometimes even the plot above them! And I kinda hate the gingerbread house too. lol Most of the plots I prefer tend to be spaced nicely enough from their neighbors that it’s not really an issue though.
It's what happens with a system that promotes FOMO, presumed prestige and financial gain.
Players buy to get a house while they can even if they don't actually want it yet. They don't want to be locked out once they do want one.
Players buy the best they can get (or multiple) to boast they have something others don't.
Players buy multiple for the financial gains the workshop and gardens offer. The workshop might be expensive to start up but it doesn't take long for it to generate enough profits to over shadow that initial expense.
And then there are those who buy to gain real life profit from those desperate to get what others have. While it's not the huge problem it was in the past thanks to the lottery, it still has an impact.