How do people play for 3 years without a house?

How do people play this game for 3 years without managing to find an open house from auto-demolish?

I used to find 2-3 every week on Faire, and later when I transferred servers I went to Mateus, because they were low-pop. (who needs to be in the big-city server when you can commute with party-finder).

So how do people endure 3 years without a house suddenly "need" one right meow?

I was thinking this same thing, I started playing last January. Bought a small in about a month and a medium in the summer. Relocated to a large yesterday. But I play in a lower population server I think, which probably is the difference.

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Originally Posted by Alyanna_Elingval

But I play in a lower population server I think, which probably is the difference.

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There have been a few threads started about people finding houses on Balmung (before 4.2 went live). Even though it's harder on a higher population server, it's still completely possible depending on how much you're camping the wards.

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Originally Posted by JackHatchet

So how do people endure 3 years without a house suddenly "need" one right meow?

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Most of them have wanted one, just when the issue comes up again, the complaints are renewed. And, you know, SE markets housing as a major game feature in their material, which new players and probably returners will be seeing.

FWIW I got mine, but I'm not about to say "screw you" to those that didn't. It's still a crap system.

4 years, the best i saw available was smalls on gilgamesh... but now i am set :)

Houses are not everything.
I have an fc room. Thats it. Rather happy with it. But nonetheless, i'd be happy with a house too.

February 2015 started

Most of the people complaining are on high pop servers.
Well, you can play on a high pop server, or you can have a house.
I've only played for a little over a year and I've already moved to a different house a half dozen times.

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Originally Posted by MizArai

There have been a few threads started about people finding houses on Balmung (before 4.2 went live). Even though it's harder on a higher population server, it's still completely possible depending on how much you're camping the wards.

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I used to check every day when I logged on before I got my first house. I got the medium just because one day I decided to run through the ward instead of using the aether and there it was.

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Originally Posted by JackHatchet

How do people play this game for 3 years without managing to find an open house from auto-demolish?

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The first auto-demolition happened in December 2015, so it's only been 26 months. Of those 26 months, auto-demolition was inactive for 9.

Even if you were actively looking - even if you were present on Christmas 2015, during the first ward expansion and during 4.1's Shiropocalypse - it's still pretty likely that people couldn't get houses even before factoring in server sizes. Especially if they could only play during weekends and prime time.

it's not that hard really it's all about timing. I use to sell my FC's until I decided to stick with a large on that I created. I'm in a legacy server and if I was able to find housing it was more do to luck I guess. That and I know how to bargain lol. If you think about it ost people that complain are usually the ones who make the least effort. 3 yrs.... well people must of been doing something right if people still got houses.

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Originally Posted by Taebok

Most of the people complaining are on high pop servers.
Well, you can play on a high pop server, or you can have a house.
I've only played for a little over a year and I've already moved to a different house a half dozen times.

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The system should be flexible enough that server population is a non-issue.

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Originally Posted by Almagnus1

The system should be flexible enough that server population is a non-issue.

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Oh? If it is really a non-issue why is Balmung received server lock?

I have been playing for about one and half year.

I did not have the Gil for the first six months as I leveled every job for fun

Over the last year, I have gotten one small, moved to medium and relocated to a large this Tuesday

I play on Behemoth so it is not a small server. It is really just a matter of checking housing board regularly.

I also scouted houses for friends and some houses were unsold for a long time because nobody bothers checking.

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Originally Posted by Darrcyphfeid

during the first ward expansion

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There have been a few ward expansions. Digging through patch notes, 2.3 added the 6th ward, 2.38 added wards 7 & 8, 2.4 added subdivisions (doubling the existing plots), 3.3 added wards 9-12, then Shirogane with 4.1, and now wards 13-18 with 4.2.


I got my first house with 3.3. I set my alarm and got up super early, made sure I had plenty of time to download the patch, and got a great beachfront small in the mists. If people have played for 3 years and don't have a house, I'd say they don't really prioritize housing, as there have been countless opportunities to own houses, and so many servers had tons of empty houses before the free transfers (though I realize that transferring with money was more difficult back then it was still possible if you were smart about it). I really have almost no sympathy for people who have played a long time and don't have a house. The opportunities were there, people just had to be willing to do whatever (camp wards, transfer servers, take something that was not a dream plot) to get a home.

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Originally Posted by Divinemights

Oh? If it is really a non-issue why is Balmung received server lock?

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Try reading that again.

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Originally Posted by Almagnus1

The system should be flexible enough that server population is a non-issue.

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They were saying the housing system should be more flexible so that no matter what size a server is looks at Balmung housing will not be an issue.

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Originally Posted by MizArai

There have been a few ward expansions. Digging through patch notes, 2.3 added the 6th ward, 2.38 added wards 7 & 8, 2.4 added subdivisions (doubling the existing plots), 3.3 added wards 9-12, then Shirogane with 4.1, and now wards 13-18 with 4.2.

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Fair enough. That was before my time; started around 2.55.

We're getting close to the 3-year anniversary of Heavensward already. Time flies.


Edit: Oh, and for the sake of contributing-

Got my first home Christmas 2015. Later relinquished it and turned it into an FC house, and then randomly found a crappy small in Mist somewhere around 3.4 or 3.45, I think? Passed that on to the missus a few weeks later, and then found a small in Beds somewhere around the tail end of HW. Gave that one to a friend a couple days before 4.2 dropped since I saw the cluster**** coming.

Found a medium in Goblet and a medium in Lavender Beds at different points between 3.4 and 3.56, and let friends know so they could quickly pick them up. Have definitely seen my fair share of houses, but I also have the ability to be logged into the game far more than most.

Lack of gil, or lack of solid play time to keep/maintain a house, thus not being able to justify the purchase at the time.

If people have a clue when seeking out a new game, they will come read the boards like I did and see all these issues with housing. If they are in it for the raiding, they won't care and might sub up. If not and want a crafting/housing model more that banging your head killing mobs constantly, they will pass on FF. I enjoy some raiding but I also craft/gather and deco my house a lot. I want a system where I can do all these things and enjoy it for the money I pay.

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Originally Posted by JackHatchet

How do people play this game for 3 years without managing to find an open house from auto-demolish?

I used to find 2-3 every week on Faire, and later when I transferred servers I went to Mateus, because they were low-pop. (who needs to be in the big-city server when you can commute with party-finder).

So how do people endure 3 years without a house suddenly "need" one right meow?

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I imagine it'd be quite easy. Unless you play 24/7 it's quite easy to miss plots because the reclaimed ones don't sit empty for very long at all.. I've literally been in my garden when a neighbour's place suddenly vanished and within an hour it was bought up by someone else.

Most of the empty ones don't stay empty very long at all. So quote easy to miss if your not watching 24/7.

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Originally Posted by Dzian

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Most of the empty ones don't stay empty very long at all. So quote easy to miss if your not watching 24/7.

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Pretty much this. For a couple months I followed some new friends by making alts on their servers, and when they had to move the FC there were always some of them looking for houses for a time before getting one. One extra blink and you may miss it, specially on higher pop servers.
For who just plays sometimes, not having a home is actually the easiest-expected.
The only reason I got my small was because I was in the right place and right time on the first demolition. I was at the FC house talking to our lead when I suddenly saw plots popping up. And it took no more than a couple minutes for all of them to vanish, this considering that my server is not even a crammed one.

The thing is a player should not have to camp wards just for the "chance" to get a house.

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Originally Posted by Awha

The thing is a player should not have to camp wards just for the "chance" to get a house.

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While I agree with it, as far as I remember it seems that the idea of housing was exactly what it is: something you need to earn, and not for everyone. Looks like they wanted players to have that feeling of accomplishment on getting something really rare...
Which, for me, it only tends to backfire at some point D:

Priorities ya know hhhhh

Yeah, like, I have maybe a couple of hours a night to play around all the typical rl stuff. So that's when all the dailies, leveling, dungeoning, etc has to happen. I can check the boards during that time but there's also only so much of the game that you can participate in while stuck scanning the wards. Weekends are better sure, but still time is limited.

And just to reiterate it, housing is literally advertised on the page SE uses to sell the features of the game and it's the only one that has a limited number of participants per server. IMO, getting a house shouldn't be seen as something to earn(beyond the cost involved). Getting a good spot maybe, but I feel like that's just the beginning, then you move onto decorating/gardening/etc

I remember FFXI. Camping HNMs for weeks where the placeholder pops every 3 days and what not against other shells. For the 0.1 percent chance for an item to drop. Just to lose to them being faster in claiming. It was content. Everyone wanted that. Everyone "should be able to get this or that dropping item". I've never seen this sort of qq-ing there...

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Originally Posted by Serendair

I remember FFXI. Camping HNMs for weeks where the placeholder pops every 3 days and what not against other shells. For the 0.1 percent chance for an item to drop. Just to lose to them being faster in claiming. It was content. Everyone wanted that. Everyone "should be able to get this or that dropping item". I've never seen this sort of qq-ing there...

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Just as a fyi, I still play FFXI & hnm time pop days are over, how come? part of it is because ppl did QQ while you claim they did not do it, that led to ppl rage quitting & what not, but thats so not the point here, this is not a monster fight with drop rate % this is a whole different context, so please leave xi out of this

In the end it's the same. It's content that is not available straight away from day one. You have competition. You need to put effort into it. You'll get it eventually. Welcome to life, where you have to work towards things, be patient and get used to someone beat you to it. I don't say that's fair but are you quitting life like that when you didn't get the job even though you aced the interview?

If someone beats you to a demolished house, you're still without one, and the number of plots hasn't increased, if there are 200 players that want a house, even if an entire ward got demolished, it would leave the majority homeless.

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Originally Posted by MizArai

If people have played for 3 years and don't have a house, I'd say they don't really prioritize housing,

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But wouldn't the amount of people wanting a house stay the same? let's say everybody got up early, and rushed newly released houses, even if those that complain now were to get houses, the others would be stuck without one, and a part of those will start complaining.

It doesn't matter if you rush houses or not, the amount of plots is limited and can't satisfy everyone.

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Originally Posted by Amantisa

While I agree with it, as far as I remember it seems that the idea of housing was exactly what it is: something you need to earn, and not for everyone. Looks like they wanted players to have that feeling of accomplishment on getting something really rare...
Which, for me, it only tends to backfire at some point D:

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The problem is that housing doesn't really reward accomplishment. It rewards being able to log on at the right time, get lucky in the queue and click faster than the other guy. Anyone can do that if they don't have to work and have a good internet.

Fully upgraded Anima weapons are an accomplishment because it does reward people who put in the work.

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Originally Posted by Amantisa

While I agree with it, as far as I remember it seems that the idea of housing was exactly what it is: something you need to earn, and not for everyone. Looks like they wanted players to have that feeling of accomplishment on getting something really rare...
Which, for me, it only tends to backfire at some point D:

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Not sure what feeling of accomplishment one gets from getting a house in game. I own multiple plots and never really felt much accomplishment, mostly just a matter of me being in the right place at the right time and also having no life.

R-really? The idea that someone may not be available at the exact right moment one house out of not-that-many becomes available is too much to grasp? Let's set aside all the other stuff one could do in this game. Let's set aside the countless IRL responsibilities and obligations one may have that keep them occupied. Let's set aside the fact some may not want to move servers because of all the friends they've made. Let's set all that aside and pretend someone has been logging on every day to stare at the housing list, waiting for a plot to open up.

Even in this magical world, the mere idea that plots may not open up or someone might beat them to it is too much to grasp?

I have a house btw. That doesn't change the fact this whole thing is still a glorious mess.

I've been wondering the same thing with "veterans" complaining about this house change. I can understand new players but people who have been playing for years?? I've had many houses in different areas, mist and goblet and if I got tired of the location I just sold it and was without a house for a few months. Managed to grab a house in Shirogane and last year finally upgraded to a medium.

If a person of many years gaming experience wanted a house badly they would have gotten it by now. It just means they didn't see any effort to try and find one instead waiting for new wards every update and then they start complaining, like the house should come to them.

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Originally Posted by JackHatchet

How do people play this game for 3 years without managing to find an open house from auto-demolish?

I used to find 2-3 every week on Faire, and later when I transferred servers I went to Mateus, because they were low-pop. (who needs to be in the big-city server when you can commute with party-finder).

So how do people endure 3 years without a house suddenly "need" one right meow?

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1- Old player wants a large house for him and his wife
Large houses are extremely scarce, 272 per server + 144 with this new patch, but all were taken by FCs

2- Old player casually plays 2 hours weekdays, 6 hours weekends
Can't stay checking 24/7 for availability of larges since they will probably last max 10 minutes before someone else takes it. Even in reddit/forums in the past year only 2 people .

3- Old player lives in a high populated server
Can't afford to lose FRIENDS + REAL MONEY(I know there was free transfer in the past, but friends are priority there) for server transfer

4- Old player can't offer high enough to buy off people
Nobody wants to sell their large plots if asked by PM, they say it has no 'price'

5- But sure, they are supposed to be hard to get.
I'll make a list with the name of all large houses owners, send tell I want their home, add as friends on my social page so I can assure 100% availability when they decide to sell. Check their last login info in case they forget to sell me, count the 45 days pass. Buy it. Yay! Worked my *** more than I would raiding in a ultimate savage content.
All in all I can always get an apartment or a FC room cause that's the workaround they have for the millions I have stocked for 18 months all this time waiting for a Large they can't give me.
Ah, I could also wait for the 3rd housing patch, after the last residential district patch was a fiasco and the one after it was priority for people that already owned/FCs. The next one is going to give us the Large ones we have been waiting for so long!!

@Manual Bravo i am sorry but least amount of effort i do not agree with, and it could come down to timing.

I have been a player of FFXIV for over 4 years and have tried since launch of housing to get a home and ...
Usually when they add more wards and the patch goes live i am @ work so of course when i get home at night nothing is available.
For SB i had taken holidays, logged in on time and was in a queue of around 1400 so of course once again i missed out.
So i guess when i am saying is there could be many reasons why players still do not have a house since launch.

Same reason as always. Entitlement. The game is far more mainstream and popular now than ever. With that comes waves of... I'll just say "diverse" groups of people to keep it cordial.

How about going from closed beta 1.0 til now and not having even an apartment?

Because it's no big deal.

I will maintain on even on a high pop server that if you've been playing for a few years and don't have a house, look in the mirror when you complain. Every person that has paid attention to auto demo on a consistent basis has gotten multiple plots, no matter the server. I know people form every server personally that have done this. If you truly wanted a house as bad as you complain, and contend that you've been " playing for years " then I reitetrate : look in the mirror when complaining, because you probably don't want one as bad as you think, or at least not nearly as bad as people actually getting them.

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Originally Posted by QueenSophie

I will maintain on even on a high pop server that if you've been playing for a few years and don't have a house, look in the mirror when you complain.

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Or idk....some of us have jobs that interfere or life in general...But y ou're right, we should look in the mirror and shake our fist at things we can't always control...

OP

I only got one when they added wards at one point to the three mains (sometime in 3.X). And only because the game kept giving me housing stuff that was occupying retainer space better used for glamours XP But really, it took me 2 years to finally buckle down and make some gil since normally I just dungeon, I don't craft or gather and then I ran into some FC problems. Everyone has their own reasons why they didnt need a house until now "3 years later" OP. For some, the timing is just right. :)

Get in line behind people that play more then. Everyone has a real life they are dealing with too. This is a moot point. If you're argument is that you dont play enough, then yes, people who play more deserve them more. Either way, quit complaining and get in line. And if you " just decided" you wanted a house and think you're entitled to one, again, get in line.