Question?

Okies I'm actually at the place I need to be in the Goblet and I've been at this for along good while on getting this plot, I am actually on Adamantoise and transfered from Jenova awhile back, Its on the 6th hour mark and its still not ready to be bought at all.

The question is how would anyone would know about the invisible timer in order to know when you can buy the plot since I have the gil and the devaulation is starting to give me a headache and drive me up the wall, to be honest I have looked in how long it would take but in ways the timer for that long for a small house shouldn't be that high up there, to be fair that 24+ hours should be on larger homes not in my opinion just out of honesty because I've been staying up since I got on the game and I just dunno how this invisible timer works, its utterly confusing.

The invisible timer is both invisible and random - from my understanding it can take anything between 6 and 48 hours (though we dont know the precise times - could even be less or even more).

The point of this timer is that no one knows when it will end - once the plot goes up for sale, the invisible timer starts ticking. In order to give everyone a "fair chance" at it, its also random. (Dont tell me that that isnt fair or a stupid system, I did not put it in place.)

The reason behind this is that we used to have a huge problem with house flipping: People would buy plots with the sole intention of selling them off later. In order to do so, the seller and buyer would agree on a price for the house (often way, way more than the plot itself costs) and once gil exchanged hands, the seller would relinquish the plot so that the buyer could snatch it right up. To combat that, they put the invisible, random timer in place - both it being invisible and random play a role in the combat against house flipping (if it was only invisible but with a set time, people would have figured out what that timer was and would be able to plan for it; if it was only random but visible you could again plan for it - in that case everyone would show up within the last few minutes of the timer aswell, not giving anyone a better chance to get the house).

The relocation feature bypasses the timer btw - so you could always buy a house in a less desirable spot and relocate freely to any open house you want.

At the current time the timer is not a great feature, but one that is needed until the underlying problem is solved one way or another. All suggestions in order to change this timer are usually not thought all the way through and are mostly made with the idea in midn how much easier it would be for oneself to buy the house - without considering that it would also be that much easier for everyone else and there chances of getting the house in the first place would most likely go down, not up.

That I do understand because I had looked it up awhile ago within afew days back, most of it is so complexed that at times it doesn't make sense at all, I mean I'm not gonna say that it isn't fair, I mean its suppose to work as that this most of my fc leader and I know this, its just simply a pain because most of us tend to stay up and we only set a goal on how long, the sucky part is when you still do not have a place of your own before going offline to bed or have a time limit on how long you can stay on for due to " adulting " due to life, my only issue is " it is giving me a headache and its confusing on how this works. " lol

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Originally Posted by ZodiarkE

That I do understand because I had looked it up awhile ago within afew days back, most of it is so complexed that at times it doesn't make sense at all, I mean I'm not gonna say that it isn't fair, I mean its suppose to work as that this most of my fc leader and I know this, its just simply a pain because most of us tend to stay up and we only set a goal on how long, the sucky part is when you still do not have a place of your own before going offline to bed or have a time limit on how long you can stay on for due to " adulting " due to life, my only issue is " it is giving me a headache and its confusing on how this works. " lol

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Its not half as confusing as reading texts without punctuation, let me tell you... Because at this point you have me confused what your actual question is? I tried my best to answer my best guess from your first post, but apparently I wasnt able to tell you anything new. Now I have to ask: Do you even have a question that can be answered? Your wall of text comes off more like a (maybe) justified but pointless rant about a system that we all know isnt working all to great - in which case I would advise you (and anyone else whos bothered by this) to stop making individual threads about it since that achieves nothing (except maybe you feeling a bit better because you found a place to rant?). They're even aware of this issue and are working on solutions, though so far we're only getting band aids (aka more wards and apartments).

If you're wondering how we ended up here: Back in the day housing was meant for FCs only. It was meant to be a massive gil sink that only a group of people working together would be able to achieve - the devalution timer was even useful back in the day, because you could wait for your desired plot to decrease in price, you even kinda had to plan for that! Even the 4 million you had to pay for a small house was nothing to sneeze at!
Then individual players expressed the desire to own houses and formed shell FCs - and even though they promised that personal housing would be different, it ended up the same. Add gil inflation and an increased playerbase to the mix and you're at our current situation.

...I'm still not sure if I answered any question because I'm not sure there actually is a question to be answered here...

How to know about the invisible timer? Ask another player how the housing system works. Read the Lodestone housing guide, which specifically states

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Plots will be temporarily unavailable for purchase if they are emptied for any of the following reasons:
・Selecting "Relinquish Land" from the Housing menu
・Auto-demolition
・Relocation
・The character that owned the plot is deleted

* During this period, plots will still be available for relocation

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Originally Posted by ZodiarkE

That I do understand because I had looked it up awhile ago within afew days back, most of it is so complexed that at times it doesn't make sense at all, I mean I'm not gonna say that it isn't fair, I mean its suppose to work as that this most of my fc leader and I know this, its just simply a pain because most of us tend to stay up and we only set a goal on how long, the sucky part is when you still do not have a place of your own before going offline to bed or have a time limit on how long you can stay on for due to " adulting " due to life, my only issue is " it is giving me a headache and its confusing on how this works. " lol

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The system isn't complex. A plot becomes vacant. There is a short period of time (less than 24 hours) that it is only available to relocation then it becomes available for both relocation and purchase. That's pretty simple.

What's causing the problem is the lack of supply adequate compared to player demand. When we had an adequate supply back in 2018, the timer wasn't a problem because there were plenty of vacant plots on all but a few congested worlds. Something was always available for purchase.

Making changes to the timer is not going to get you a house because it does not fix the supply problem.

Update: 5th attempt on the housing and failed and on my sixth one, I realized what I have gather and honestly this entire housing does need to be absolutely fixed, think about it for a moment between on the game and outside of gaming, to those camping outside the plot itself is one thing and understandable outright actually not healthy for both body and mind let alone sleep patterns, even if you go to sleep that does not change the fact the place you tend to look for or get will still be there when you log on, this is not at all about what anyone would say for the said reasoning for the invisible timer and devaulation timer itself and honestly this should be addressed for those reasons why that shouldn't of ben in the game in the first place due to the idea being unhealthy for alot of other people either with work or needing sleep or other means, honestly anyone tell me anything about what those can do, but here's the thing....it is considered to be unfair, unhealthy and unwanted as well as utterly a waste of peoples or players time that could be doing clears and relic hunt to other things before either eating dinner and everything else, you can tell me I am wrong, you can tell me its fair buuuut that's your view and opinion, alot of others if you gone and look how many people do not like the idea of the timer and seeing those take the land and able to know when to take it does prove that fact it becomes a disadvantage and with that being said it's in the long lines kind of need to be overviewed because that is beyond overboard on causing people to lose their jobs, they time and things they can do, not just me, but everyone on different forums who made mention that this is either completely an understatement or simply out right wrong and these are those players that still play and don't need a home because of how this entire thing has been handled with that implement, I'm only mad at the fact they made it extremely difficult to get a home and disappointed they went way way to far with that idea.

But like I said your views and opinions you see are different from mine and those our there that I had to listen to or read up on and honestly mine and there's are not so different other than that the implementation idea of invisible time has gone far off to much for alot of players health where they can spend all that time sleeping and getting up and get on he game when given the time they wish and not feel obligated to getting to a point of camping long hours which mind you standing for long periods of time can render things on you own legs when standing or sitting and I am sure if you told people to take a break from doing such and they do, keep this in mind deeply in your head....what happens when they do from trying to get a plotted land they want? to their view its something they want but to tell them that and suddenly come back 5 minutes later or more to find the place they wanted is taken? see that is now how things work in housing unless its fraud if you work as a estate agent or any of the above or below that has to do with housing, if you tend to look at a home in real life and want it, I am sure you'd actually buy the place and keep it as it should, not this whole gambling with your gil hope and prey to get a plot where its still claimed and deemed unfair and a wreck, mind you if I wanted to gamble on something I'd go over to Destiny 2 and play Gambit to gamble with points and lives and destruction that's how you play it, this however is just messed up to its core.

You may not understand what I am saying but all in all your views are different from mine on how you see fit but its still " unfair, a disadvantage, out right wrong, unhealthy, un-needed, unwanted, obligated and unnecessary. "

Everyone agrees with you, the system isn't great.

Tips for camping:

-Be courteous. If you win a plot, lose a plot, or are joined by another camper please remember not to act cruel or entitled. The other players deserve the same chance you do

-Check city aetherytes at the top of any hour exactly, right as the clock rolls over from --:59 to --:00, this is when demolitions go off

-from the city aetheryte plaza, choose 'Residential District Aethernet,' check the directory page for all 48 wards and sub-wards, plots for sale show a price in white

-Goblet plots will be abandoned most frequently and camped by the fewest others, conversely, lakefront and beachfront properties are very likely to be taken by relocators

-Use the numpad (with numlock on: 0,0,0,0,4,0) or a controller to target/navigate the placard dialogue rather than the mouse, this avoids 'large mount' griefing

-Type /busy once to automatically reject all tells and trade offers while camping. Enter the command again when done to cancel.

-Conventional wisdom says that a plot will not become available until after the eighth hour of the hidden timer. So if you see a plot become vacant or know where someone relocated from, return in 8-10 hours with the goal of camping 14-16 hours, rather than camping the full 24.

-When possible, do not camp a house on a character that can relocate a different house. Make an officer-alt to camp the FC house on, do not risk your personal. Make a leader-alt to hold your FC while you camp a personal, do not risk the FC house.

+FC specific: give multiple ranks the ability to purchase land for the FC, allowing you to camp multiple plots at one time and/or to camp plots in shifts

-NA users can try Sadu's Housing Alerts discord. This community gives you an opportunity to crowdsource your ward checks with other campers and help determine the time that a plot opened. They also have extensive reading materials.
https://discord.gg/saChECt

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Originally Posted by ZodiarkE

You may not understand what I am saying but all in all your views are different from mine on how you see fit but its still " unfair, a disadvantage, out right wrong, unhealthy, un-needed, unwanted, obligated and unnecessary. "

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I think I understand that you actually dont have a question that can be answered in a helpful way, but just want to rant. Which is quite understandable, dont get me wrong - I dont think anyone (save for some trolls) will argue that the current housing system with its limited supply is great.
The devs clearly had something different in mind from what the playerbase wants (now) when they designed the housing system and apparently its not so easly changed - keep in mind here that housing is but a small part in the entire game and they cant focus all their ressources on fixing it! (On top of the problem that the housing problem will most likely also always be a storage problem - something else they seem to struggle with massively)
That they've made certain changes to the system - including the addition of apartments, more wards, extra space in small houses, an increase of the item limit, limitiations on how many plots people can buy now aswell as systems (like the timer) to make house flipping more difficult - shows that they are aware that a problem exists, they just havent found a way to implement a real solution yet.

I hope your rant made you feel better - because it wont change the housing system and there is no need to make the devs aware of this again (because they already are). Just as a future hint: If you ever want to get an actual message across, be less missleading with your thread-title and a bit more clear in your wall of text. In addition to that: You can bypass the characterlimit on the forum by first typing your wall of text, then copying it, deleting most of it, posting and then in a last step editing your post (in this case you'd simply paste your previous text. Could also just post some placeholder, then edit and type the whole thing up).

...and yes, maybe my view differs slightly from yours, because I'm usually not getting worked up over things that arent all that important in the end - like a virtual house (or really anything that happens in a videogame... or, honestly, outside of a videogame unless it has a long lasting, negative effect on my life). Its simply not worth the stress and the bad mood.

Actually getting a plot is an effort in determination. If it's any comfort, you are one of a great many who has had to endure this hardship.

It's best to view camping like a primal ex boss fight you've never seen before: you're not gonna win your first try, it will take a concentrated effort to succeed, it's best done with help, you will have a time limit, you may end up crying.