Why is the random purchase timer up to 24 hours rather than 8-12 hours?

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09-28-2021, 05:07 AM
MellowMink

Why is the random purchase timer up to 24 hours rather than 8-12 hours?

I understand why having some degree of randomness for waiting to purchase a newly released plot might be needed to prevent people from being able to privately "sell" (which really means to accept money solely to release their plot at an exact time) their plots of land to someone else, which obviously goes against the terms of service, but is it really necessary for the maximum amount of time to be an entire 24 hours? People will realistically camp at the plot spots spending extremely unhealthy amounts of time to get a house, and I don't see how ranging from 30 minutes to 8-12 hours (or even lower) would make the "selling" problem more likely than having a 24 hour limit as long as the random amount of time isn't advertised to any players.

Until a lottery system is universally enforced for all new plots, and not just for Ishgardian housing either, the health of the game's housing community could be dramatically improved simply by reducing the maximum amount of time spent waiting while still keeping it randomized.

I hope a developer or designer looks at this; I really don't see why the maximum amount of random time couldn't be shortened so long as the wait periods are still ultimately randomized.
09-28-2021, 05:39 PM
Bladehawk

Its actually longer then 24 hours.

They arent going to universally enforce a lottery for ALL new plots in or out of Ishgard at any point. They have a mix of different buying options they intend to have.
09-28-2021, 06:11 PM
Kleeya

So that more people can have a chance to get a house. If a plot is becoming free at midnight, and that the timer duration is 8-12h max, you exclude from the sale all players reconnecting the next evening in peak hours.

And the lottery is not gonna be as fabulous as you think. People are already getting angry not getting their drops against 7 other players in an instance spammable every 10 minutes. Now imagine it with hundreds of players to compete against, and having to wait several days between each try the rare times a plot become available again XD
09-29-2021, 04:46 AM
Jojoya

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kleeya

So that more people can have a chance to get a house. If a plot is becoming free at midnight, and that the timer duration is 8-12h max, you exclude from the sale all players reconnecting the next evening in peak hours.

And the lottery is not gonna be as fabulous as you think. People are already getting angry not getting their drops against 7 other players in an instance spammable every 10 minutes. Now imagine it with hundreds of players to compete against, and having to wait several days between each try the rare times a plot become available again XD

The timer isn't there to give more players a chance to buy. It's to hinder direct sale of houses player to player.

People end up excluded regardless depending on when the timer is released. Either someone can be online at that moment or they can't. Demolition doesn't occur at a specific time daily so there's still going to be variety in when the timer gets released.

I would agree that the shorter the timer, the more the competition at the placard would increase.
09-30-2021, 12:51 AM
Almagnus1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jojoya

The timer isn't there to give more players a chance to buy. It's to hinder direct sale of houses player to player.

People end up excluded regardless depending on when the timer is released. Either someone can be online at that moment or they can't. Demolition doesn't occur at a specific time daily so there's still going to be variety in when the timer gets released.

I would agree that the shorter the timer, the more the competition at the placard would increase.

A lot of people don't get that housing has (and will continue) to be used in RMT, and SE has been fighting that battle for a long time. The timer is an anti-RMT measure... but its effectiveness is debatable.
09-30-2021, 01:27 AM
Misutoraru

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kleeya

And the lottery is not gonna be as fabulous as you think. People are already getting angry not getting their drops against 7 other players in an instance spammable every 10 minutes. Now imagine it with hundreds of players to compete against, and having to wait several days between each try the rare times a plot become available again XD

I believe only those who can spend countless hours camping Placard would get mad about lotto system, while other players who prefer playing other content would welcome a system that give a much much wider inclusion despite the higher competition.
09-30-2021, 05:50 AM
Nepentha

Quote:

Originally Posted by Almagnus1

A lot of people don't get that housing has (and will continue) to be used in RMT, and SE has been fighting that battle for a long time. The timer is an anti-RMT measure... but its effectiveness is debatable.

Interesting to see you admit this finally.

It's not much of a deterrent at all. In the place of rampant RMT going on before, there's still rampant RMT going on, and now a flourishing bot underground going on at the same time. Which is more RMT, because these people are paying the bot developer actual money to be able to use it.
09-30-2021, 11:23 AM
Almagnus1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nepentha

Interesting to see you admit this finally.

It's not much of a deterrent at all. In the place of rampant RMT going on before, there's still rampant RMT going on, and now a flourishing bot underground going on at the same time. Which is more RMT, because these people are paying the bot developer actual money to be able to use it.

You:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f_DPrSEOEo
09-30-2021, 05:08 PM
Sotaris

Quote:

Originally Posted by Almagnus1

You:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f_DPrSEOEo

Are you the news paper frame admitting what Nepentha mentioned? If yes I agree.
10-01-2021, 05:41 AM
Jojoya

Quote:

Originally Posted by Misutoraru

I believe only those who can spend countless hours camping Placard would get mad about lotto system, while other players who prefer playing other content would welcome a system that give a much much wider inclusion despite the higher competition.

Yet they're still not going to be happy in the long run when they are still not able to get a house.

All this is doing is changing the nature of the RNG involved in acquisition of plots in some wards. It is not addressing the real problem - supply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nepentha

Interesting to see you admit this finally.

It's not much of a deterrent at all. In the place of rampant RMT going on before, there's still rampant RMT going on, and now a flourishing bot underground going on at the same time. Which is more RMT, because these people are paying the bot developer actual money to be able to use it.

The timer was never intended as a deterrent. Deterrents are meant to remove the desire to do something. Putting in a timer doesn't take away someone's desire to sell houses for profit.

It was intended as an obstacle, something to make it more difficult to accomplish a task. That it has done. Instead of being able to flip to anyone, resellers are limited to those who either already beat Housing Savage to own a plot or who are willing to forego membership in an active FC to buy A FC that already has a house. It also makes it more difficult for the resellers to obtain new plots once they have sold their previous one.

What it didn't do is stop reselling completely, but that will never happen as long as the game allows players to own the "title deed" to a specific location within the game.