Yes timer, no to the length and put a random timer on relocations

There should be a timer. 26 hours is too long. 4 hour max timer would be more than sufficient and allow people to try for it. It would 100 percent keep people from flipping houses and you wouldn't have houses go into DEVALUATION while there are thirty people outside trying to buy it. Its disrespectful and it's a a waste of players time.

Put a limit on transfers. The same person has moved 3 times in the last week. I only remember because I jokingly said they were my arch nemesis after they won the first house, and now they are in fact my arch nemesis. With a timer this long you shouldn't be able to move multiple times in a week. It's absurd.

"This is better than it was" isn't an excuse. It doesn't have to be so extreme and it can definitely respect the players time more than it is.

people surrounding an open plot seems like random selection anyways, so why not just have a 4 hour period where people obtain a ticket to buy the plot, and the winner is notified by mail, and if the plot isnt purchased in 24 hours, ban that person from purchasing that specific plot until the next time the house goes up for sale and choose another lottery winner.

also, just make transfers go through the same nonsense as everyone else. me and a FC mate were the only two people buying a property when some one walks up to transfer after we were there for 5 hours. that was probably the best chance we had at obtaining a house too. other people have been through alot worse.

Put up some kind of glowing light around the plot or a flag or something to indicate the timer is up. That will allow people to not have to click every few seconds and hope that they are blessed by RNG.

Better solution would be instanced housing though.

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Originally Posted by Losara

Put up some kind of glowing light around the plot or a flag or something to indicate the timer is up. That will allow people to not have to click every few seconds and hope that they are blessed by RNG.

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This solves nothing, as the same millisecond the house is available for purchase one of the 6 players spamming the placard will instabuy it. You won't even get the chance to see your suggested flag.

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Originally Posted by Gallus

This solves nothing, as the same millisecond the house is available for purchase one of the 6 players spamming the placard will instabuy it. You won't even get the chance to see your suggested flag.

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Suggested this because when I spoke with people camping plots they said that clicking the sign constantly hurts their hands though the people I am mainly referring to are the ones who camp the plots upwards of 6 hours.

Agree with the OP that the timer length is too long for this reason. People are seriously putting their health at risk if they constantly monitor these house plots for hours on end.

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Originally Posted by Losara

Better solution would be instanced housing though.

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^this though

Yes instanced housing would be best. My FC was fortunate enough to get a house early early Sunday morning. even so, I would gladly give up the uniqueness of my situation if it meant everyone could have a house. this guy had a pretty good idea of how to handle instanced housing:

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Originally Posted by Nalien

Make the plots instanced; Wall them off, have us interact with a gate or the placard to enter the instance. Would actually make the neighborhood feel of housing wards feel more alive; Rather than one or two groups gathering at the nearest Market Board, you'd have far more people. Right now everyone who owns Plot 3 in the Lavender Beds, for example... That's 1 plot spread across 18 wards + subdivisions, those people will rarely, if ever, see each other. Make the plot instanced though? They all gather in the same zone, walk up to the same placard, and enter their own instance. That'll feel far more like a neighborhood than what we currently have, which is pretty much just a dead zone...

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Scraped the failure timer system and just allow 24hr for people enter for a ticket and draw out a random one after 24hr is up
Still help eliminate “estate agents” issue and sort of fair but without having everyone just camp there and do nothing

Nothing like scrapping a whole day's plans to instead spending it spam clicking a sign and practicing the clicking rotation to make your checks as fast as possible.

It's an exquisite frustration to be so close to getting something you've been trying for only to be blocked by an invisible wall. Those dreaded words, "This plot of land is not yet ready for purchase," as it sits empty in front of me, haunt my dreams. Dreams within a sleep that are troubled by the urge to rise from my bed in the dead of night, hoping against hope that I'll log on and LO!, there it is, that hated placard, empty of the presence of others and waiting for me to make my long awaited purchase. Only to do so and see the words, "This plot of land is not yet ready for purchase." And I watch a Lallafel ride up on their Fenrir mount, ready to give up the time and effort that I cannot, because in this Game of Homes, there can be only one winner.

Okay but realistically theyre not redoing the entire housing system. Theyre not gonna spend resources to implement a lottery. We will get new housing wards before that happens. Changing the timer would be a huge improvement in everyone's lives and still offer the benefits of not allowing private housing sales AS WELL AS adding a random timer to you being able to move houses. Just so people aren't skipping around spending their money to ruin other people's chances.

On the one hand that idea would be nice for seeing more neighbors. On the other hand, that also means you can't use the yard to demonstrate and attract people based on your design skills. Then again, if nobody ever walks by that house then they won't walk in either. I have maybe like 4 or 5 guest book entries of people who just walked in the house as opposed to like 20 being asked to come visit.