Why are house size locked by lots?

First, I do not have much time to play the game. So, I never got the chance to really level my crafting and get a house. But, I am confused about something I keep reading.

How come the size of the house is locked by the plots? I heard from others who wish they could have a large house, but the lots that allow that size are bought. So, they had to get a lot that only allows a small house.

Now, I know that in real-life, you cannot just fit say a mansion next to a bunch of smaller houses after the plot of land was set in size if it does not fit, but.... This is a game!

I also know that this would add a slight extra strain on the server to have to load the various house size too when you zone, but that should not be the reason to limit.

So, again, why cannot someone just buy the lot and then pay the fee to have a small house on it and then when they have the money, tear it down and build a large house?

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Originally Posted by Aladire

Now, I know that in real-life, you cannot just fit say a mansion next to a bunch of smaller houses after the plot of land was set in size if it does not fit, but.... This is a game!

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Well to be fair the plots of land in the game are set in size as well. If you actually go and look at the size of the land for each plot, there is a stark difference.
And sure you can argue that we could just pay to make the plot bigger, but then the neighbourhood would have to be remodelled or we'd have clipping issues where a small plot of land has stretched over on to a pathway in order to actually fit a mansion.

There are a number of reasons why this is, though the main reason is due to zone size limitations. In every residential zone they have created a certain amount of space in which they can place these houses, the amount of space the zone takes up is a function of what they feel is reasonable to create something that feels like a "neighborhood" while also considering the amount of resources it would take to run that zone's instance with all of those houses plus all of the yard decorations (this is also why we got more interior placement slots for furnishing and none for external placement).

Based upon that they take their 3 plot sizes and try to effectively balance the amount of each that are available versus the cost for each size, assuming that most people will likely only be able to afford the smaller houses. I haven't done the actual ratio calculations but it would seem to me that for every 3 small houses you have 2 medium and 1 large house. This means a zone of 30 houses would end up with 15 small houses, 10 medium houses and 5 large houses (the actual amount may vary from this).

This means that, in theory, they can put more of the houses people can generally afford while still allowing for people with more funds to still get a reasonable chance at buying a house. However, as we've seen, the theory doesn't always generally hold out and then over time as people get more money there simply isn't a good way to add more housing to a map and there seems to be issues adding more zones, which is what leads to the issue you're talking about.

As Meraii said, the plot sizes themselves are different, they'd have to remodel the entire zone. It's not just the appearance that would change though as large plots also allow more furniture so you'd essentially be increasing the outdoor furniture loading in each ward from 450 (900 if subdivision furniture is loaded too) to 1,200 (2,400 if subdivision furniture is loaded too).

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Originally Posted by Malzian

This means a zone of 30 houses would end up with 15 small houses, 10 medium houses and 5 large houses (the actual amount may vary from this).

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20 small, 7 medium, 3 large per map.

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Originally Posted by Dustytome

As Meraii said, the plot sizes themselves are different, they'd have to remodel the entire zone. It's not just the appearance that would change though as large plots also allow more furniture so you'd essentially be increasing the outdoor furniture loading in each ward from 450 (900 if subdivision furniture is loaded too) to 1,200 (2,400 if subdivision furniture is loaded too).



20 small, 7 medium, 3 large per map.

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Close enough to my estimate to count, and I did say that it could vary. ^.^

I understand that the zone would have to be remodeled because the plot sizes are different for each size, but how come in the first place, it was not made so that all the plots can fit a large and then just let people pick which house could be built there?

This way, you can give the option to have a smaller house, but a bigger yard. Or have a smaller house that is wider. Or have a mansion and like no yard.

I was wondering as if this was ever implemented, then people cannot complain that they could not get a large house anymore.

because like in the real world, it's the plot that's really expensive not the house.

if they released with all same sized plots, they couldn't charge drastically different prices for them.

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Originally Posted by Aladire

I understand that the zone would have to be remodeled because the plot sizes are different for each size, but how come in the first place, it was not made so that all the plots can fit a large and then just let people pick which house could be built there?

This way, you can give the option to have a smaller house, but a bigger yard. Or have a smaller house that is wider. Or have a mansion and like no yard.

I was wondering as if this was ever implemented, then people cannot complain that they could not get a large house anymore.

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They would need to resize the plots from small and medium to large plots, and then if you put a small house on a large plot you have a HUGE yard compared to a large house with a smaller yard. With the constraints of external furnishings, your large house with the small yard would look awkward with the small amount of items you could put on it and they can't really increase the external limit. It's a compromise and it also lets them price the smaller plots and houses lower than the large lots and houses which is exactly how real estate works in the real world. Mostly it's about the resources needed to load and run the ward instance, though.