Current Housing System is Exhausting and Unfun

With the current housing system, a dozen people are crowded around a placard futilely clicking over and over again for hours at a time. I'm currently on day 6 of 4+ hour stints competing with a large group of people for the same plot of land. Others in that group have been trying for a house for much longer. Imagine the frustration when standing at a placard for 7 hours for somebody else to show up and, because of the luck of the draw, they get it. The existing system wouldn't be so bad if demand didn't perpetually outstrip supply, but it does and it needs to change.

-ANY- system would be better than the current system. I propose a lottery system where all interested parties have 24 hours to sign up. During the 24 hours, the money for the house is in escrow. Anybody who loses the lottery gets their money back. At least that way everybody gets to play and enjoy the game instead of wasting hours and going insane from trying to appease an implacable, inanimate placard.

oh look yet another thread spouting an argument that already exists. don't start more threads of the same, add it to one of the existing threads.

Stop. Bringing up. A. Lottery. System.

I sincerely doubt anyone wants more competition and RNG added into the mix, which is exactly what this would accomplish. Be careful what you wish for, because you will probably regret wishing for this.

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Originally Posted by Vahlnir

Stop. Bringing up. A. Lottery. System.

I sincerely doubt anyone wants more competition and RNG added into the mix, which is exactly what this would accomplish. Be careful what you wish for, because you will probably regret wishing for this.

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Obviously they do when this idea keeps getting brought up.

Then they'll be back to continue complaining when they still can't get a house because competition has increased from a half dozen players willing to put in the extra effort to get a house to several hundred players who sigh up for the lottery because hey why not? no effort required.

It's a shame they won't ask for what's really needed, which is a system that provides enough houses to meet demand.

Oh, bully.

This thread.

Again.

Just wait until Ishgard housing is out and more wards are added. Trying to get a house while demolition is turned off and no new wards is literally going to give you cancer.

The only solution to the current system, is to make the invisible RNG timer, a visible RNG timer.

This will reduce the hours spent clicking, for those who actually do...
It will continue to restrict people from instantly buying up pre-agreed demolished land

Anything else, in my mind, would just be a convoluted mess resulting in increased RNG, decreasing the likelihood of individuals obtaining a house and allowing players to find a loophole to exploit the system.

As others have said though, best to wait and see what Ishgard brings us.
Perhaps it will be just more of the same, or maybe they will shake things up and implement a different system but of course, SE learning from very loud backlash doesn't exactly have the best reputation.

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Originally Posted by Avyiur

Just wait until Ishgard housing is out and more wards are added.

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There is no confirmation that Ishgard housing will be available to players at all.
This is for the NPCs that have lost their homes to the dragonsong war. Not us.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vahlnir

Stop. Bringing up. A. Lottery. System.

I sincerely doubt anyone wants more competition and RNG added into the mix, which is exactly what this would accomplish. Be careful what you wish for, because you will probably regret wishing for this.

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I mean, as far as I'm aware the timer was asked TOO to stop house flipping which it has not. It has just made it harder for everyone, house flippers and the people who thought they were tearing down the flippers' business.

But the "I want it and I want it NOW!!" attitude with houses is strong on this board. Music stays the same, only dancers change.

I can kinda see some kind of new/next storm brewing with people hyping "Ishgardian housing"/Ishgard restoration. If shitstorm over no female hrotgar/male viera was unsavoury, this has all the potential to be as bad.

Ugh this again?

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Originally Posted by KyleKatarn7

The existing system wouldn't be so bad if demand didn't perpetually outstrip supply, but it does and it needs to change.

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If you know supply and demand is the issue then I really wonder why you think lottery would somehow help. Yea sure no more placard camping but it just swaps one issue for another.

Some people would actually complain that placard camping was better for them because they had less competition so they had a better chance to get a house. A low effort lottery system makes their chances crazy small because literally anyone can participate. Which would of course mean a crazy amount of competition on highly populated servers. There would still be just as many people complaining about being unable to get a house.

I swear it's like everyone who suggests lottery only ever thinks about the placard and almost nothing else.

Yes the placard sucks but it's a symptom of the bad system. Not the cause.

Be careful what you wish for. One day you may get your lottery system and then you and hundreds of others will crawl back here whining that it's not fixed and probably only worse.

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Originally Posted by DrWho2010

oh look yet another thread spouting an argument that already exists. don't start more threads of the same, add it to one of the existing threads.

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Maybe it is a topic that bothers many people and just shows that the system needs an update.

Hello, I would like to give a suggestion about purchasing housing plots:

Once there is an open plot, the placard shows a message containing the time when the plot will be available. (for example "This plot of land will be ready for purchase in 8 hours." similar to the message during FATE's in The Firmament for Ishgard restoration.)

So when the plot be available, players can try to buy it in the same way they do right now, but instead of doing that for 30 minutes - 22 hours, there will be a shorter range like 1 hour for example.

So players won't suffer by clicking on the placard for too long, and they won't lose the opportunity because they will have 8 hours to be ready.

What do you guys think?
(This is my first post in the forums, I noticed there is a thread open about it so I didn't create a new one, but I hope my suggestion is useful :) ♥)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KawaiiNe

Hello, I would like to give a suggestion about purchasing housing plots:

Once there is an open plot, the placard shows a message containing the time when the plot will be available. (for example "This plot of land will be ready for purchase in 8 hours." similar to the message during FATE's in The Firmament for Ishgard restoration.)

So when the plot be available, players can try to buy it in the same way they do right now, but instead of doing that for 30 minutes - 22 hours, there will be a shorter range like 1 hour for example.

So players won't suffer by clicking on the placard for too long, and they won't lose the opportunity because they will have 8 hours to be ready.

What do you guys think?
(This is my first post in the forums, I noticed there is a thread open about it so I didn't create a new one, but I hope my suggestion is useful :) ♥)

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It's still something that comes with considerable drawbacks because of the way the zone instancing system works and it does nothing to solve the core problem - the need for more houses.

I can see the following happening. Everyone trying to buy a house floods the ward in advance of the stated time. Instead of a dozen players, a hundred or more will be there to trying to buy.

Many of them get their FCs and friends to go into the ward to mess with other players there to buy (this already happens), and potentially fill the ward to capacity reducing the number of potential buyers that can enter.

If the ward fills to capacity, players who already own a house or apartment in the ward won't be able to get in. They'll be angry.

Some of those hoping to buy won't be able to get in because of the random players hanging out. They'll be angry.

Lag in the ward (which is already noticeable in housing even under normal conditions) will be terrible, especially at the plot being sold with a hundred or more players standing right at the placard. Players will be angry.

Object culling will prevent many players from being able to interact with the placard at all even if they're using keybinds for targeting. They'll be angry.

Those who still don't manage to get a house despite camping the ward for a couple of hours will still be angry. And they'll still be angry when they do it a second or fifth or twentieth time and still don't have a house because there are not enough houses to fill demand.

We can come up with all sort of different ways to change the purchase system but unless supply is sufficient for everyone who wants a house to own one, those who can't get a house are going to remain angry.

The only real fix is to significantly improve supply so it matches demand. More wards help but I doubt they could afford to open as many as they need.

Two possible solutions:
-Apartments should be upgraded to give more space inside and an outdoor area where people can garden (not just pots, proper plots with cross-breeding).
-Instanced houses

Making FC workshops accessible to all FCs maybe through a door at the GC would help reduce demand as well. A lot of people buy houses just for workshop access.

I don't like the idea of a lottery for the following reasons:
-It will probably make demand to jump by a huge amount as almost everyone would apply regardless of whether they really wanted a house, just in case they might want one later. So, your chances may actually be reduced with this system.
-People are going to feel resentful if they've been waiting years for a personal or FC house, when someone announces that they got their house pretty much as soon as they dinged 50 and met the requirements, because that is going to happen; RNG is a cruel mistress.