Devs: Will Hurricane Michael Stop the Demolition Timer?

So I remember once joking about how the demolition timer for houses would be halted for 30 days if a fly sneezed in Africa. Now that I'm in the crosshairs of a category 3 hurricane that was claimed to have the potential to knock out power in my area for as much as a month, you can probably tell how much I'm regretting that joke.

I'm certainly not asking because I want to keep my house....in fact, this would be a good time for me to lose it given my intention of transferring my main eventually. I'm mostly asking for the other players in the Southeastern United States who may also be affected by this hurricane as well as previous ones given the path of this storm going into areas still recovering from previous flood damage.

Tomorrow will likely start my forced hiatus from the game when Hurricane Michael knocks out my power. How long this hiatus will be, I have no idea. To all of my fellow players in the path of this major storm, please stay safe out there.

They didn't stop it for Florence, so I'm doubting they'll stop it for Michael unless things somehow go significantly differently, some areas of NC and SC were devastated.

Honestly, I'm going to be very disappointed if they don't stop the timers for this. Florence was bad, but nothing like Michael. Michael by itself should be enough for a halt but with the two coming so close together, there are a lot of people displaced/in dire straits right now.

To those affected, stay safe! Can't really help with the housing timer part, but those growing things in the gardens can plop their garden's/flower pots into storage and their progress will be frozen until you place them back down. Alternatively you could see if anyone would be willing to tend them until they're all sparkly since they won't go bad at that stage anymore. Hopefully everyone has access again by the time the system eats their plot.

At least try contacting GM that beast tribe summoned Garuda and you as a true WoL will be fighting it so there is a possibility that your aetheryte crystal will not be working for some time.

They will probably not be able to do anything about your house but hey no harm done trying that.

Mostly depends on the severity, and just how many people are affected. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of the demo timer, but I'm sure they have a specific number (ish) that they adhere to before deciding to halt the timer. Also, anyone who happens to be in the path of the hurricane, be safe.

As others have said, it will depend on the severity. We'll have to wait and see.

In the meanwhile, I hope everyone in the path stays safe!

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Originally Posted by Cylla

They'll halt the timer on a drop of a dime for Japan players

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Well to be fair it's much more difficult for people to evacuate for things like earthquakes and tsunamis which can happen with little warning (which is often the case for Japan). When the US has stuff like hurricanes, residents and companies generally have enough warning to prepare and work around these types of situations. The general population density of Japan is much tighter as well meaning more people are effected by natural disasters than the spread out density of the US, not to mention the SE servers in JP (the backbone of the entire game) can suffer as a side effect.

Of course I'm in no way suggesting that US shouldn't get a stop on demolition if the situation is really bad (Puerto Rico was hit bad previously I believe), but it's not exactly fair to compare natural disasters between the countries like this as if Japan gets special treatment.

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Originally Posted by Cylla

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I'm pretty sure the point is that if the damage/impact can be reduced (i.e through early warnings) then there is less reason to constantly turn off the demolition timer. I mean of course no one is expecting an home owner to find other ways to log in to the game when the priority it getting their life together again, but in some situations people/companies can be better prepared for that's all. When Japan had the devastating tsunami a few years back (which had little warning), the Japanese government literally forced companies to ration electricity/power meaning non-important things such as this game had to be shut down briefly to help conserve national supplies. I don't believe the US has ever been in this situation on such a national scale (at least not for a very long time), so you can appreciate why Japan is often a no brainer when it comes to demolition, because the scale of vulnerability is so much higher.

There are plenty of natural disasters in the world (Indonesia just suffered from a big disaster) but SE cannot turn off the timer for every single one and the game does not revolve around the US. Granted any disaster is bad but there is a big difference between instant impact where action is often taken immediately (tsunsmi, earthquake etc), to a delayed impact (hurricanes) where decisions are made after when the full damage can be calculated. If SE decide to take action in due time, they need to be allowed that.

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Originally Posted by Cylla

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It's not about what is more important but that's fine, US takes presidence over everywhere else in the world, as per usual. You'll feel strongly about the timer, cool, it either gets stopped by SE or it doesn't, I'm not going to get any further in to it.

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Originally Posted by Kurando

I'm pretty sure the point is that if the damage/impact can be reduced (i.e through early warnings) then there is less reason to constantly turn off the demolition timer. I mean of course no one is expecting an home owner to find other ways to log in to the game when the priority it getting their life together again, but in some situations people/companies can be better prepared for that's all. When Japan had the devastating tsunami a few years back (which had little warning), the Japanese government literally forced companies to ration electricity/power meaning non-important things such as this game had to be shut down briefly to help conserve national supplies. I don't believe the US has ever been in this situation on such a national scale (at least not for a very long time), so you can appreciate why Japan is often a no brainer when it comes to demolition, because the scale of vulnerability is so much higher.

There are plenty of natural disasters in the world (Indonesia just suffered from a big disaster) but SE cannot turn off the timer for every single one and the game does not revolve around the US. Granted any disaster is bad but there is a big difference between instant impact where action is often taken immediately (tsunsmi, earthquake etc), to a delayed impact (hurricanes) where decisions are made after when the full damage can be calculated. If SE decide to take action in due time, they need to be allowed that.

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They waited until after Irma before they suspended the timer for Harvey and Irma. And no amount of prep could have prevented the flooding that occurred in the Houston area from Harvey (not that forming about a day before a storm hits gives people much prep time anyway). 50+ inches of rain is just too much, especially when you add in everything that was coming from upriver into the calculations. Too much water, it just could not drain into the gulf fast enough. I know people here in Texas who still are displaced from Harvey, still trying to get homes repaired or re-built.

The only "blessing" I can think of with Michael was that it moved fast, so it didn't stick around and 'cause even more damage, but those 155mph winds are stupid bad, and the fact that it was a hurricane or a tropical storm as it continued to roll through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia would not have been great for them either.

I'm not really pushing for the demo timer to be paused here, if I was affected by something like that I'd find a way to keep my house in game through all that mess because it is important to me, but I am trying to help people realize how much damage these huge, nasty hurricanes can cause, and how long it can take to fully recover.

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Originally Posted by Cylla

It been a month since Flo hit NC and SC, how about them people who may have been playing XIV and had a house but are now displaced?

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I'm pretty sure that SE has a very good idea of what players might have been impacted by that. It's not hard for them to pull up a list of accounts with active subscriptions that have addresses on file in the affected areas.

Before any more start with the "SE only cares about those in Japan", maybe you should take a look at the timing of the demo suspension on the JP servers earlier this year. The flooding in Japan started in at the end of June and kept escalating until the rains finally started to die out on July 9th. It wasn't until July 30th, 3 weeks later, that SE announced the suspension of the demo timers.

If it was a knee jerk reaction just because the flooding was happening in Japan, they wouldn't have waited until 3 weeks after the flood waters began to subside to announce the suspension. They were trying to see just how many players were being affected in the long term before deciding if they should suspend the timer.

Have faith they will follow the same procedure for other major disasters around the world, including the current and recent hurricanes in the US. They did suspend the demo timers last year when they felt there were enough players affected to warrant it. They will do the same again this time if enough players are actually impacted.

The sad truth is most who come in here going "Look, a natural disaster! Suspend the demo timers for my region" aren't affected by those disasters, do not know anyone affected by those disasters and don't even care about those who are. They're looking to turn misfortune suffered by others to their own benefit.

Instead of worrying about demo timers, how about worrying about the real life health and safety of those affected instead? That's far more important than some virtual house in some video game.

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Originally Posted by MizArai

but I am trying to help people realize how much damage these huge, nasty hurricanes can cause, and how long it can take to fully recover.

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Which makes such dramatic concern over something in a video game even more pathetic.

People need to stop obsessing over the status of FFXIV houses and start thinking of the people instead.

Hi,

So, I dont post much/at all here, but I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring as one directly affected by Hurricane Michael and as a homeowner (in game and irl).

I live in Panama City, Florida and work on Tyndall Air Force Base. If you follow the news at all, the base was leveled and my neighborhood in Callaway wrecked. Both of these places have been visited extensively by the media. My house has no power, no water, and I have insurance claims in progress for extensive house and car damages. I'm currently living with family in Tallahassee until things get fixed.

I also, maybe a week and a half before the storm went through, bought a medium plot and decorated it extensively. I'm now concerned that I'm going to lose my new house just after buying it, through no fault of my own. An extension of the housing timer would be welcome.

Sorry to hear you were one of those affected. I hope all your friends and family are well.

If you're unable to borrow someone's computer or PS4 to log into the game, you might want to contact Customer Support through the Lodestone and explain your situation. It could be there is something they can do to help you if there is no general demo timer suspension in the works. I know with some other online games, Game Masters are able to log onto a player's character to perform actions to fix an issue with that character. Perhaps one of the FFXIV Game Masters could log onto your character and enter your house to reset the demo timer. I don't know if their policies will allow it in your situation but it's worth a try.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

If you're unable to borrow someone's computer or PS4 to log into the game, you might want to contact Customer Support through the Lodestone and explain your situation. It could be there is something they can do to help you if there is no general demo timer suspension in the works. I know with some other online games, Game Masters are able to log onto a player's character to perform actions to fix an issue with that character. Perhaps one of the FFXIV Game Masters could log onto your character and enter your house to reset the demo timer. I don't know if their policies will allow it in your situation but it's worth a try.

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Thank you for your response. Per contact with customer service, this is a service they cannot provide.

Looks like the demo timer has been suspended for now on Aether & Primal worlds.

Hi everyone,

We recently announced that the housing demolition timer has been suspended on both the Primal & Aether data centers temporarily.

The entire team would like to personally send our best wishes to all those affected by the hurricane, and we hope you are able to find relief very soon.

I appreciate that the game stopped the timer- but now it needs to come back on.
Thank You~

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Originally Posted by MeriAngel

I appreciate that the game stopped the timer- but now it needs to come back on.
Thank You~

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...this post might not be related in any way to this one:

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Originally Posted by MeriAngel

I wish they gave more money back to those who want to give up home so as to make more available. I know many who dont want to be part of the seller problem - but really want some money back and to transfer to a small (which is what I want) will loose me over 10mil.
I know it is a money sink- but it shouldn't be this much of a ding.

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Because if it is, that would be pretty damn tasteless...

If it isnt, I'd be curious to hear why the demo timer needs to come back on again. Are the effected areas magically fixed?

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Originally Posted by MeriAngel

I appreciate that the game stopped the timer- but now it needs to come back on.
Thank You~

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They literally just stopped it last week, and the areas affected that this was in consideration towards are not anywhere near being "better". I know you're trying to get rid of a house and it sucks that the auto-demo is down (and, honestly, there should be an option to "get rid of your house" but still get the gil in times like this) but you wanting to get rid of a house doesn't outweigh the thousands of people who would lose their houses if they put the demo back on after one week.

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Originally Posted by MeriAngel

I appreciate that the game stopped the timer- but now it needs to come back on.
Thank You~

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To the best of my knowledge, the suspension of the demo timers on the JP realms due to the flooding in Japan back in July is still in effect 3 months later. I doubt very much that the suspension of the NA demo timer is going to end any faster.

Just relocate and move on rather than wait if you really want to get rid of your medium. If all you were really after is the gil, then earn it. It's not hard to make 10 million gil.

This is why I'd like to see them implement some sort of non-refundable monthly maintenance fee on ward housing. That becomes the gil sink and then players could get full refunds of the purchase price when they no longer own the plot. It becomes the demo timer (two weeks past due on your fees? demo). It would also make players think twice about buying up a house they aren't really going to use when they have to keep paying monthly.

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Originally Posted by MeriAngel

I appreciate that the game stopped the timer- but now it needs to come back on.
Thank You~

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While this one is trying to convince Square Enix to bring back autodemo timer to lose her house, rest of the people in real life are automatically demolished or damaged by natural disasters..

But keep in mind that it'll take another 45 days for you to even get auto demo.

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Originally Posted by Aldotsk

But keep in mind that it'll take another 45 days for you to even get auto demo.

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It pauses the timer where it was. As long as she doesn't re-enter the house and reset the timer, then she won't have to wait another 45 days after it comes back on.