Solution to housing crisis

On congested servers it's extremely difficult to acquire a house. I, myself was lucky enough to get a small plot in Shirogane on Tonberry server, despite wanting a medium.

I have come up with a solution, which I believe shouldn't be too hard to implement (I have programming and networking knowledge). SE could create private islands (instanced versions of 3 types of housing plots (S, M, L)) that would be accessible via the ferry skippers. It would work in much the same way as apartments, but obviously more expensive, more spacious and with a garden.

Sure you wouldn't have neighbours, random scenery near you or have access to a market board (adding that in might be a bit difficult), but who can say no to a private island XD

Ohhhh good idea I do like Private Islands look like apts!? I Agreed with you! without problem about this! what about Owner Players Private Islands can upgrade Small to Med then Med to Large, will be awesome! what we want this too! You had good idea!

Yeah, the player should be able to upgrade their plot and/or start with an M or L house :)

then Everyone will more happy

Someone in the french forum proposed a similar solution. I think it's a good idea. It would allow everyone to get a house. There is just one problem:

If anyone can access to an instanced house, and can choose between a small, med or large one, then everyone will take a large one, since it allow players to have more slots to put items inside and outside.
That mean (almost) all small or medium houses owners in districts would leave their current house to get a large instanced one. The result will be that all houses districts will be no mans lands. There will only be a few large or medium houses, but all small plots will remain empty.

(I hope I am clear. English is not my mother tongue).

Not everyone has a ton of Gil. I've only got enough for a med and my bro doesn't even have enough for a small lol so I believe the small would be snapped up by newbies :)

I think most of these threads are missing the point. SE have made a point of stating that housing wasn't for everyone. That the rarity was -by design-. They want getting a house to be hard. The discussion shouldn't be about how to make more housing but how SE has not properly balanced offer and demand (even for something they want to be rare). And how currently there is a lot of luck involved in getting hold of one as opposed to hard work. You want players to feel accomplished, not lucky.

The best thing they could've done imo would have been to up the prices significantly. Thus limiting the amount of people capable of buying a house. If say a small sold for like 40m, medium for 80 and large for 120 then you'd have enough plots and getting a house would fit into what they designed it to be, which was to get a sense of accomplishment.

Instanced housing does not solve their predicament. Maybe if coupled with the above? but even then I'm not sure.

I think upping the prices that high would cause another problem. They have trouble with RMT already and having them so expensive would tempt people into using such services more. I've hardly spent any Gil and have been playing for close to 2 years and have only managed to save up 25mil. Also making houses for a select few seems elitist to me and I'm a socialist by nature. I think everyone should be entitled to enjoy every aspect of the game.

Owning a house is meant to be elitist by design though. So although that might be disheartening, that's kinda how things work.

And I hear you on the RMT end, that is a valid concern. I guess it would have to come with harsher RMT control from SE.

Also as for making the gil, it's not THAT hard. I made ~3m yesterday alone and I have no lvl 70 crafters (far from being omni). I suspect that omnicrafters galore make a fair amount everyday as well if they're committed (wouldn't be surprised if it were upwards of 1m/day). And every patch brings new opportunities to jump onto before others catch on.

There are ways

I think this would be a wonderful Idea. Bumping thread so more can see it

Here is another idea. Make the housing wards for personal housing only and let Free Companies purchase an instanced airship the size of the Prima Vista. All the functions can remain intact with outdoor furnishings on the top deck of the ship, multiple levels inside, personal quarters for company members and a workshop for crafting. If I recall, the reason that airships were not more widely used is due to dragon attack. Well with the end of Heavensward that should be a non issue. We can even let Nero be our black market imperial airship vendor.

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Originally Posted by EaMett

Owning a house is meant to be elitist by design though. So although that might be disheartening, that's kinda how things work.

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If owning a house is elitist and difficult to obtain by design (and could very well be true), then it doesn't seem to be acceptable to a lot of players of this game :).

It's not okay to force people to log in at a certain time when people have jobs/lives outside of the game and can't get up at the time the servers come back up, just to find out there are so many people logging in, you have to pray to RNGesus you get in and then hope to get one of the open plots. Everyone should be able to get a house if they have the gil to buy it. It's like, "hey, you can buy eastern style houses in Shirogane when it opens up! Wait, no you can't, just kidding. All the plots sold in 10 minutes or less on each server with numerous plots being sold for hundreds of millions of gil online, violating ToS."

Actually this is a good idea... each housing district with instanced islands for additional housing... this would let everyone own a house (provided they meet the housing requirements) while keeping the current housing system in tact for players who like the neighborhoods/status/ect... maybe make it a bit cheaper... like 2 mil for small 10 for med and 20 for large...

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Originally Posted by EaMett

That the rarity was -by design-. They want getting a house to be hard.

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There are much better ways to make it difficult. Enforced rarity of virtual properties and allowing rush purchase is the worst possible method.
The upgrade options OP mentioned are definitely a nice way to incentivize it. Perhaps only people who have cleared certain trials or raids can improve to medium or large houses. Or make the deed/schematics a drop from said instances. A small should be MSQ complete at the very least.

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Originally Posted by Okamimaru

Actually this is a good idea... each housing district with instanced islands for additional housing... this would let everyone own a house (provided they meet the housing requirements) while keeping the current housing system in tact for players who like the neighborhoods/status/ect... maybe make it a bit cheaper... like 2 mil for small 10 for med and 20 for large...

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The problem you're going to come to hate is every time you want to use the marketboard, you're going to see a loading screen.

Unless they stick a marketboard on the private island, that is.

Thinking back on it, it may not be that difficult to place a market board on the islands. Proper programming practices would dictate that they placed the code for the market board within a class linked to the object rather than hard coding it into each areas' individual market board. I can't be certain as I haven't seen the code.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...g-in-Patch-4.1 EVERYONE!!

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Originally Posted by Banyaanyaa

Thinking back on it, it may not be that difficult to place a market board on the islands. Proper programming practices would dictate that they placed the code for the market board within a class linked to the object rather than hard coding it into each areas' individual market board. I can't be certain as I haven't seen the code.

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They've already linked into the underlying MB code by allowing retainers in the house so it really shouldn't be a major architectural change to support the MB itself.

One solution would be this:

(Instance house/or maybe even plot housing)
Have an NPC that sells ghost plots. Meaning paying for a plot that doesn't exist in the game. So long you have the money you can just pay it.
Pros: Zero randomnesses, Zero obstructions and 100% availability so long you have the GIL.

[If instance]
Then once it is paid, you will immediately receive the plot

[If normal plot]
Then once it is paid, you wait for the next "Ghost housing implementation patch day" where Square Enix will launch those houses for people used the NPC to buy the house. That way there will be no oversupply and won't stress the server. You will get it eventually maybe wait for a month or two instead of never getting it. This will also give you (developers) time to put in plots/wards that will balance out demand/supply. Everyone will get a house, so long they can pay for it. That should be the only ceiling of getting the house.

Also, 1 house for personal and 1 for FC. This is key.

Change apartment to Condominium

The condominium will be a duplex type condo meaning there will be two floors and will be the size of a small house. A balcony can be purchased as an upgrade for gardening.

Put fun into getting a condo, you can add Condominium utility which everyone in that condo unit can share these utilities, these utilities would be:

1) A gym - training dummies for everyone to use
2) A SWIMMING POOL (So people can swim and stuff)
3) Workshop (Where people can use crafting station for a small fee)
4) BBQ pit! People can buy food there and be a gather spot for people to chill and meet with her condominium owners!
5) ChocoPark (Carpark) where you can park your chocobo there and do Chocobo stuff
6) Condo transport to people to Exploratory Voyages.

These will help because you will then eliminate the need for people to get their own house because they can do everything in it!~
PLUS IT IS AN INSTANCE thus helping with the server stress if any.

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Originally Posted by EaMett

Owning a house is meant to be elitist by design though. So although that might be disheartening, that's kinda how things work.

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That was true right up until they designed workshops for FCs and didn't implement a safe form of public gardening. Once they started making systems that required housing the Elitist portion went right out the window for the majority of the population as everyone would like access to airships and attempting crossbreedings.

It's my personal feeling that instanced housing for individuals is the way to go. Originally I'd have preferred the 'private island' idea that some have thrown around but the more I think about it the more I like the idea of upgrading apartments more. Make them into real gil sinks that improve the more you spend on them. Starting a simple rooms and eventually evolving into lavish multi-story affairs that could be penthouses with rooftop gardens or ground floor with access to a hidden backyard instead. Since these would all be personal instances just like the inside of houses, the only limit would be the number of apartments and the amount people spent into them.

The wards would then resume the illusion of 'elite' housing even though the reality would be everyone could own a home every bit as lavish. Some people would just be able to show their exteriors with the world while others would not.

I actually had the same idea, but to simply put don't make a size limit, make it upgradeable. So like if you're a small house, upgrade to medium, or large.

Apartments should simply come in sizes that mirror the interiors of existing housing sizes. Then at the top end, institute the instanced "private lot" which gives people who want to dish out the extra gil an opportunity to have the exterior to decorate as well. They don't have to be private islands necessarily, I'm sure they can easily copy/paste existing textures to throw together a little secluded outcropping in the various geographic styles (e.g., private islands in La Noscea, a secluded outcropping in Hingashi, etc.).

It's the obvious solution and pretty much what every game that has housing does. But they also need to continue to support the existing system because that "neighborhood" feeling really is something nice and novel.

The private island idea may cost additional extensive planning and content creation, meaning that even if this solution is chosen, it might take up to 5.0 to actually implement it. It may be better to work with what we have, such as placing limitations on house ownership limits, offering instanced houses, and/or edit the spaces available within apartments. Don't know about you, but I don't think I can sit through another 2 years for a housing solution, while watching the market fluctuates with RMT money while devs remain ignorant to the needs of regular player base.