Suspend housing demolition due to COVID-19

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Originally Posted by Theodric

Even as someone who owns a house myself...I'd rather not see the housing demolition timer paused yet again. A minority of players actually own a house in this game. The majority of players do not. I'm not fond of the idea of extending the 'lockout' on houses when it punishes the majority.

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I’ve been waiting to get a large for 4 years, but I do not want to get one if it meant I got it just because someone lost their job from a global virus that’s killing people.
“Hi! That used to be my house, but then my life got ruined by covid-19” It just wouldn’t sit right with me.
I’d much rather get one due to a player just moving on to a different game, or getting bored of FF14.

besides, no doubt people's internet will be impacted. You think maintenance workers would leave their homes, and do maintenance in at-risk areas, when there's a virus outbreak? You think all the people who take calls for internet assistance would still be there in the office when everybody has been ordered not to go to work, and to stay at home?

As i said in the other thread - No.

They've only done it previously due to EARTHQUAKES or TSUNAMI's, or in otherwords disasters that directly demolishes homes, and so it'd be just another cherry atop the cake if your ingame house got demolished ASWELL because your actual house and computer is rubble. It'd be in bad taste. Does the current crisis rock the ground, send giant waves towards you or otherwise directly level your actual house? If no, then its not needed, they dont suspend demolishment because people cant get access to the game because if that was the case they'd suspend demolishment during 24 hour maintenance cycles.
If anything, more people are playing than normal right now due to self-isolation and if you really get hospitalised i think you have other things to worry about then your ingame house that ultimately has little functions.

What next? You tell SE support you're hospitalised for ANY reason and they gladly refund you a months sub money? Come on, dont let hysteria and entitlement cloud logic.

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Originally Posted by VenKitsune

As i said in the other thread - No.

They've only done it previously due to EARTHQUAKES or TSUNAMI's, or in otherwords disasters that directly demolishes homes, and so it'd be just another cherry atop the cake if your ingame house got demolished ASWELL because your actual house and computer is rubble. It'd be in bad taste. Does the current crisis rock the ground, send giant waves towards you or otherwise directly level your actual house? If no, then its not needed, they dont suspend demolishment because people cant get access to the game because if that was the case they'd suspend demolishment during 24 hour maintenance cycles.
If anything, more people are playing than normal right now due to self-isolation and if you really get hospitalised i think you have other things to worry about then your ingame house that ultimately has little functions.

What next? You tell SE support you're hospitalised for ANY reason and they gladly refund you a months sub money? Come on, dont let hysteria and entitlement cloud logic.

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Your first mistake was comparing an earthquake or tsunami to a GLOBAL pandemic. Pandemics are quite serious themselves depending on the severity. Considering that this has hit worldwide and not just one or two regions, is rocking the global economy and is keeping people indoors away from each other and out of work, which means some people have 0 income right now, I'd say it's a pretty big deal. Homes aren't being razed and cities aren't being submerged, but people are still being affected by this in a big way. It just isn't the same ways that an earthquake or tsunami would. And before you say "just stay home, you'll play a lot anyway!" or "you would have bigger concerns than an in game house!"...oh wait, you already said that. Well then. You need to consider that this affects people in other ways and they are no less devastating. You are right, people should have bigger concerns if money has become tight, and that is the ENTIRE point of this request. I swear, you people just don't get it. Gone talkin' to a wall I guess.

It's a game at the end of the day. An optional luxury product. If I wasn't unable to log on for 45 days for whatever reason and ended up losing my in-game house I'd just shrug and move on with my life.

We'll see how things progress in the coming days and weeks - but from what I gather some countries are already taking steps to ensure that people aren't left without food, water, shelter and money even if they're stuck at home.

If things get worse and further measures have to be taken, then a virtual house in an online game will be among the least of people's worries.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

Even as someone who owns a house myself...I'd rather not see the housing demolition timer paused yet again. A minority of players actually own a house in this game. The majority of players do not. I'm not fond of the idea of extending the 'lockout' on houses when it punishes the majority.

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Finally, an argument against this which is actually staying on topic.

It's true that the housing demolition does stop people getting houses from inactive players. I am a big defender of the demolition system myself. However, we are about to get a whole new housing district in Ishgard which adds a ridiculous amount of houses in the game. A few months of not getting automatically demolished houses is a drop in the ocean.

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Originally Posted by NessaWyvern

I’ve been waiting to get a large for 4 years, but I do not want to get one if it meant I got it just because someone lost their job from a global virus that’s killing people.

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Unless friends of previous owner, or the owner themselves post here and say otherwise, the circumstances of which you acquire the plot will not be known. It could be that the person had died from the virus and that's sadly a very real possibility, and may have already happened.

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Originally Posted by Seraphor

It's not the risk of death that is going to effect most people, it's losing their jobs and their income.
Even in cases where the state is supplementing them, it's not going to be enough.
Here in the UK the government are covering 80% of someones income, but that 80% is only going to cover essentials, rent mortgage and bills, most peoples expendable income is less than 10% of their wage.
Then there's the self employed who will get even less.

It costs SE nothing to suspend demolition.

Fyi: I dont have a house.

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Other posters have been right - those who are looking at financial problems due to business closures should be worrying about their real life homes and situations, not a virtual house in a video game. They should be analyzing their expenditures and cutting costs where necessary to get thru this period, then form better spending and saving habits for the future.

If people are in as dire straights as some claim, they won't be returning to this game for months. They're going to be stuck paying off the debt they're accumulating. They won't have the money available to pay a sub.

Those who are able to play shouldn't be locked out of the opportunity to own a house for the sake of people who won't be returning to play for a long time if ever.

Yes, I have a house. I lost my first house due to real life back when SB was released. But you know what? Dealing with the real life stuff was more important so losing the house didn't matter. Once I came back to the game, I had to wait for the 4.2 wards to be added before I could own a house again. Not a big deal.

I'm probably going to lose my house again later this year due to a new real life situation (not related to the pandemic). I'm not going to sweat it when it happens. I know when I'm able to return I'll eventually be able to get a house again and in the meantime, someone else who has wanted to own a house will have their chance.

Get your life priorities straight people. If all you can think about is a house in a game, it's no wonder you're in real life financial trouble right now.

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Originally Posted by Bearded

No real need to start a new thread on this btw
If you are unable to logon because you are hospitalised then losing a pixel house is not really going to be on your list of priorities. If you are self isolating then you have even more time to access the game than before. They suspended the timer in instances of major infrastructure damage.

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I mean if we use that argument then they should never suspend the housing timer because no matter what happens the real life should always be more important thus people should just accept that they will lose their pixels. Yet they have used that more than enough (especially for their japanese servers..) when some things were going down...

But I guess its easier to punish people that have done nothing wrong and take away their ingame house so that others have it (until they too lose it for something..) instead of being angry towards SE a huge compay that decided to not provide us with instanced houses..

I've noticed working from home because I'm subject to the 14 day travel quarantine, the internet has been quite flaky and has gone down an unusual amount of times. If the various state lockdowns results in the internet being overloaded, there could be cause to suspend the housing demolition.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

Other posters have been right - those who are looking at financial problems due to business closures should be worrying about their real life homes and situations, not a virtual house in a video game. They should be analyzing their expenditures and cutting costs where necessary to get thru this period, then form better spending and saving habits for the future.

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Okay, so let's get this straight; what about the times housing demolition was suspended due to earthquakes etc? I will take a wild guess and say that the people affected by this also had a lot more to worry about than their ingame houses....

It's exactly BECAUSE there are other things to worry about that the demolition timer is halted in those cases. Because the people affected in those situations have more important things to think about. That is the whole reason they even do it at times like this.

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Originally Posted by Alleo

I mean if we use that argument then they should never suspend the housing timer because no matter what happens the real life should always be more important thus people should just accept that they will lose their pixels. Yet they have used that more than enough (especially for their japanese servers..) when some things were going down...

But I guess its easier to punish people that have done nothing wrong and take away their ingame house so that others have it (until they too lose it for something..) instead of being angry towards SE a huge compay that decided to not provide us with instanced houses..

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<-- This so much.

Also guys, showing a little bit of empathy for others in situations like this would not hurt you. Really..if you are not affected at all by this situation, count yourself as extremely lucky, but don't forget about the people that are affected by the situation at hand.

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Originally Posted by Edax

I've noticed working from home because I'm subject to the 14 day travel quarantine, the internet has been quite flaky and has gone down an unusual amount of times. If the various state lockdowns results in the internet being overloaded, there could be cause to suspend the housing demolition.

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A lot of people are blaming gamers for this, but it's actually the streaming of movies that is causing this strain.

We're convenient scapegoats, again :(

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Originally Posted by Penthea

A lot of people are blaming gamers for this, but it's actually the streaming of movies that is causing this strain.

We're convenient scapegoats, again :(

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Netflix and Youtube have already capped video quality here in Europa because of this.
Also unless they put up some restrictions regarding online games to prevent the net from collapsing, I don't see any need to suspend the housing timer

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Originally Posted by swiss_Momo

Netflix and Youtube have already capped video quality here in Europa because of this.
Also unless they put up some restrictions regarding online games to prevent the net from collapsing, I don't see any need to suspend the housing timer

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<insert repetition here about how people that cannot go to work due to the global pandemic cannot earn a wage and therefore could end up being unable to pay for a subscription based game>

Some of the responses on this thread are downright petty and cruel. So what if someone is passionate about the game and wants to keep their belongings in a world you call "pixel" the way I see it you're here playing the same game too. SO LAY OFF. I'm in agreeance with this post. Plus, a lot of people are losing their homes and jobs due to this pandemic because they can't afford bills. A lot of people are resorting to canceling their subs to make ends. So people whom have nothing nice to say, keep it to yourselves.

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Originally Posted by Penthea

<insert repetition here about how people that cannot go to work due to the global pandemic cannot earn a wage and therefore could end up being unable to pay for a subscription based game>

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if someone is financially THAT unstable, then they should probably reconsider their choice of playing a subscription based game in the first place

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Originally Posted by swiss_Momo

if someone is financially THAT unstable, then they should probably reconsider their choice of playing a subscription based game in the first place

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I don't think it's your place to tell people how to spend their money. Well, it really isn't. Regardless, that's not the point. It's not a matter of being financially unstable. Again, because of this pandemic a lot of people have been stocking up, and spending money on supplies. Do you watch the news? Do you know that most people in America don't have savings because it's literally impossible in some areas? You really shouldn't judge other people's struggles. I sure hope you never have to go through anything like this.

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Originally Posted by swiss_Momo

if someone is financially THAT unstable, then they should probably reconsider their choice of playing a subscription based game in the first place

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Have a good think about it. A proper think.

Some people are going to be out of work for months. It won't be just the game they can't pay for. It will also be their electricity, their water, their heating, their food and the roof over their heads. Millions of people right now are facing the fear of this happening to them.

The pandemic could put countless people at risk of being homeless. If it goes on for long enough some people will end up homeless. Some countries have safety nets in place for their citizens but some do not or cannot provide that. Never mind how said safety nets are not guaranteed to last long enough to sustain adequate living conditions for everyone.

You don't even need to get the virus to be negatively impacted by it.

And no just finding another job isn't really an option considering so many places are closing so jobs are becoming scarce.

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Originally Posted by swiss_Momo

if someone is financially THAT unstable, then they should probably reconsider their choice of playing a subscription based game in the first place

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Uhm, my cousin-in-law in the states is a nurse at a children's hospital, something you'd think is a pretty stable job and financial situation... And she has lost her job due to COVID-19.
I don't think there's any way to know just how secure your job is, until you lose it.

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Originally Posted by swiss_Momo

if someone is financially THAT unstable, then they should probably reconsider their choice of playing a subscription based game in the first place

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As someone currently unemployed and struggling to find a job with everything going on, you have no idea how important it is to have a place to de-stress and just shoot monsters in the face for a while. Morale is more important than most people realize.

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Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

As someone currently unemployed and struggling to find a job with everything going on, you have no idea how important it is to have a place to de-stress and just shoot monsters in the face for a while. Morale is more important than most people realize.

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There's plenty of free games to be found. I'm sure people can provide specific recommendations if you let us know what genres you like best. Outside of gaming, though, there's other ways in which to pass the time that cost very little or even nothing.

Yeah, but that wouldn't keep me in touch with in-game friends.

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Originally Posted by TheMightyMollusk

Yeah, but that wouldn't keep me in touch with in-game friends.

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E-mails, Skype and Discord can be used for that. It's how I keep in touch with friends who no longer play FFXIV.

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Originally Posted by Theodric

E-mails, Skype and Discord can be used for that. It's how I keep in touch with friends who no longer play FFXIV.

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I'm sure even you will agree that emails and chat programs aren't quite the same as doing an actual activity together.

And before you say "other games!" consider that this one is cross platform. It's not easy to find multi-player games that allow cross platform teams. That niche is part of FFXIV's success. Never mind finding a game that is cross platform and is something everyone in the group enjoys...and can afford to buy if it does have a fee. There's a lot of "ifs" here.

It's funny we don't really see these kinds of posts relating to natural disasters making SE turn off demolition, but when we have an issue that puts the health of the global population and the global economy in major risk, you see people coming up with all sorts of reasons why demolition shouldn't be paused.

Somehow an earthquake or tornado affecting only one part of the world is seen as more legitimate than a global issue making millions sick and lose their source of income all over the world.

Hmmmm.

I'll be very surprised if we don't see a halt to demolition. Personally i just wish they'd drop the whole enter the house model and go to a sub based method to keep your house. This disaster however does affect the ability of many to even maintain a sub and I suspect there will be a lot more of those affected by this catastrophe than other disasters for which demolition was paused.

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Originally Posted by Penthea

Somehow an earthquake or tornado affecting only one part of the world is seen as more legitimate than a global issue making millions sick and lose their source of income all over the world.

Hmmmm.

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https://media.tenor.com/images/9cb07...c5ad/tenor.gif


Sorry, I couldn't resist

About its just pixel argument: But your characters are also just pixels..but I doubt that any of us would not care if suddenly they decide to delete your character because of it being inactive for a bit. Yet housing is seemingly fine, all because SE decided to make it into something like that, while they also promised that timers are a thing of the past...

Honestly for me its a huge shame that there is even something in a sub game that will be taken away..even if you have an active sub but cant just log in..

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grasp finally in what a dead serious situation WE ALL are currently in!!

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Overblown media panic to a degree we may have never seen in the lifetime of anyone currently alive and r0 numbers that, based on actual infection and fatality rates, arent even in the same realm of existence as reality and cant be corroborated by ANY numbers from ANY independent researchers. (Also, government agencies of America, the UK and China and the WHO are themselves tens of magnitudes of difference apart using the same data) that may lead to destruction of the global economy and closure of most every small business in quarantining states in the US.

Truly deadly serious stuff, but for vastly different reasons.

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Originally Posted by Barraind

based on actual infection and fatality rates, arent even in the same realm of existence as reality

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Can you elaborate instead of just stating that as fact?