My free company and I have been trying to get a house on Adamantoise for months after returning to the game. We periodically check the boards and rarely find a house up. When we do, there's always people swarming them. We are not picky and will literally take a small house in some alley somewhere, but it doesn't matter.
Here are some of the issues we've had.
We waited for the patch to come out that added new wards. All houses were gone by the time we got up in the morning. The patch times make it easier for certain time zones to get houses. We work so we're not staying up all night or waking up at 5 am to get a house. Even so, I heard that many people just used the new spots to instantly relocate to and put them on a timer. Really? NO ONE thought this would be a problem?
Auto-demolish is off, so even people who no longer play, have been banned (heard of a case of this), etc have a house. I understand that people impacted by COVID should get to keep their house, but demolish the rest! There is an easy way to account for this: have a check-box when people un-sub!
People will have multiple personal houses using alts.
People get houses to sell to other people.
People relocate on to plots that people will have been clicking on a placard there for 5 hours and it doesn't matter.
Housing is a broken system for those who don't already have a house. Free companies of a certain standing should be assured a house. That's it. There are too many selfish people on the server taking all the houses for themselves using alts and other work-arounds. I've seen multiple people botting at placards.
How are we supposed to get a house with all of this going on? I even looked into relocating free companies to other servers and that is somehow not a thing?
Add to this the issue of having to stand by a placard and click it over and over again for the unlikely chance you get a house over multiple bots who have all the time in the world and... yeesh.
Anyway, I am getting really annoyed with this as this has been content I've wanted to explore for a while with our free company. I even went to play another MMO after the patch because this is ridiculous.
Getting Housing is a Problem
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11-03-2020, 10:35 PMalpacaurbagsGetting Housing is a Problem
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11-03-2020, 11:29 PMKadaRemnant
I agree with you and it needs to change asap. It's not a fair system and sadly people in this forums will defend it with whatever nonsense.
The timer should be reduced even removed. I rather see no houses than showing me a house to my nose and slap my face to tell me i'll never get it anyway. At least if i'm fast enough and see a house i can get it and not wait like an idiot for hours.
And yeah, people are so selfish having multiple houses on one account and not even sharing. This needs to be adressed too. 1 personal house per account. Fc leader should have priority too. -
11-03-2020, 11:41 PMSauteed
Yeah it really is a problem, and yes it was actually worse long ago and could be worse now.. although a few modern methods could be implemented to better the situation.. the same thing people have suggested like going instanced WITH improvements over standard apartment instances would greatly benefit our current situation.
Unlike most people suggest improved apartments should be subject to the same decay timer of regular housing imo. Normal apartments stay the same. Give an option for improved fc rooms as well.
But overall echoing the sentiment of many, the current and for years before situation is jacked up. -
11-04-2020, 01:35 AMCatstab
I don't do a whole lot of defending the system, except in cases where people want to make things easier for exploiters. People suggest lotteries often, and unfortunately that system would just make it harder for players to get a house, as the queue fills up with bots and multi-boxers.
What I do a lot of is advising people on how to operate within the current system. There was a ward expansion just 4 weeks ago, where 720 new houses were open to the first people to grab them. In the past, these expansions favored FCs and you would have indeed been guaranteed a house. For the time being, it is best to assume that future ward releases will behave as this one did, and not favor FCs.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...me_buyers_and/
Please check out my reddit guide on how to best ensure getting a house on the next ward expansion, which could come as soon as SE can move servers to the US. If you scroll to the bottom, it expands to list a pile of general camping tips that you can use even now to improve your odds.
Best of luck! -
11-04-2020, 08:14 AMDrWho2010One thing - you are going to have to get over this if you ever want something that is in high demand like housing. You are definitely shooting yourself in the foot if you are not willing to work with how the servers come online.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
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11-04-2020, 11:40 AMCatstabThis is beyond true. The 'no timer' houses lasted 30-60 minutes on most servers. So if "when you got up in the morning" was not 6am eastern when the servers came online, you were not motivated enough to skip the timer. There were houses open for the entirety of the day, but they were houses that needed to be camped. By 8pm eastern, only half of the houses with timers were gone. To have "All houses gone" by the time you got on means you didn't log on at all on 10/13.Quote:
Originally Posted by DrWho2010
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11-04-2020, 11:59 AMalpacaurbagsDespite whether we got on then or not, I heard from others that most housing was gone or on a timer anyway and the queue was in the 1000s, so despite what both you and Catstab below say, there was indeed no housing the rest of the day. We checked at 8 am.Quote:
Originally Posted by DrWho2010
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11-04-2020, 12:00 PMalpacaurbagsWe did not expect the demand to be as bad as it was. We got on at 8 and all housing was gone, don't know what to tell you. We checked, assume what you want about the situation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catstab
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11-04-2020, 01:10 PMGreyhawkHow could you not? Housing has been the hottest topic around for years - one of the biggest gripes of not enough housing. You literally have to have the game patched, ready to hit 'Play' the moment it comes up and get in queue to be able to even have a chance at getting a house right now (if servers are brought down for patch/maintenance/etc.). You'd probably have to be logged out where you want to buy in order to get it - that was the only way I finally got mine. I hit 'Purchase Land' just as the steamrolling stampede of Shirogane was rolling to my house. I've also literally camped a house for over 12 hours for my wife (we took shifts), just to get her a small house. Housing is like Black Friday for the first time, every day.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
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11-04-2020, 01:30 PMCatstabThat's totally impossible.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
Timers last a minimum of 8 hours on relocated houses. Many of the new 720 houses were relocated to. That means that the houses those players relocated from were open and on timers until at least 4 pm eastern time, 8 hours after the server came up, in the original wards 1-21. -
11-04-2020, 02:30 PMFrizzeEven the lowest population servers saw the most desirable plots scooped up in the first few minutes. The full lot of 500+ smalls took anywhere from 30 mins to several hours to go through on the north american servers(the smaller japanese and euro servers actually still have some houses open even now). But as Catstab points out, its statistically impossible that all 720 new houses on your server were taken by first time buyers. Many were relocated into from less desirable plots in wards 1-21(and some of those plots were relocated into from even less desirable plots). Those timers expiring throughout the rest of the day is what these people refer to when they say housing was available the rest of the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
But repeating what others have said isnt why i started typing this response. I did so to dispel a misconception. A queue in the 1000s to log on means that the login server was congested. Those players were being distributed to all the various servers. Had you been sitting 2000th in line and taken 20 mins to log in, you still would have found a few hundred houses to choose from. Not the best plots, but plenty of options. -
11-04-2020, 09:42 PMalpacaurbags
Honestly could care less about your comments on what is true or not.
The problem is the housing system. You are all saying: "work within the system, you aren't doing enough or trying hard enough, this is what it is."
I am saying: the system needs to be fixed. I shouldn't have to do that. It shouldn't be this hard.
Not here to argue semantics on some patch that didn't add enough houses.
Even if there were houses on a timer (my free company mate checked, so maybe a couple were left, I have no idea, still does not matter), we then what? Sit there all day with 10 other people?
I'm saying that shouldn't be how you get a house. So stop defending the problem? -
11-04-2020, 09:47 PMalpacaurbagsBoy were you right on your first line... haha!Quote:
Originally Posted by KadaRemnant
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11-04-2020, 11:20 PMCatstabYou can be fine with posting things that aren't true. But, you don't get to choose whether or not people who read it say back "hey, that can't possibly be true!"Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
Is the timer system bad? Yes. Have many people expressed their displeasure? Yes. Has anyone offered a better solution? Unfortunately no. Best we can do for now is educate people about the standing system and encourage them. And when people post blatant falsehoods like "No houses were open 2 hours after the server came up" or "I've been trying to get a house for 7 years with no luck" it only serves to distract from productive conversation. -
11-04-2020, 11:49 PMalpacaurbags
I don't know how many houses were on timer, if any, were up. However, all houses that were not on a timer were gone. Even if they were up, we all had to go to work. It's not a falsehood to say all houses from the addition were unobtainable to us. We all had to work that day. By the time we got back on, all were gone.
I also never claimed I've tried for 7 years. Housing on the server was okay a year ago or so, but our server pop has increased and housing is crazy now. We have one ward with a free company that owns half the houses in a subdivision there, uses each property as a different cafe or whatever for RP. Like sheesh. There should be a limit here. -
11-05-2020, 01:01 AMKadaRemnantYeah, this community makes no sense. I will never defend and agree with the current hidden timer system even if it's because rmt. It's not fair and it shouldn't be there at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
Seriously this house selling can be avoided by just putting a timer but that we can see like this house can be bought in 5 hours or something. Yes we'll have a crowd but at least people can't sell houses because it doesn't open immediately and we'll know when it's available and don't waste our time and can do something else and have fun. We don't need a hidden timer. -
11-05-2020, 01:55 AMCatstabThis statement is a lot clearer now that you've said what you mean, rather than using hyperbole and saying 'no houses were open' when a few hundred were.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
Yes, the houses not on timers all sold out by 6:30-7am eastern. If you got on at 8, you were less motivated than the ~400 or so first-time-buyers that did get to skip their camp. You were still free to claim the remaining ~300 houses that were on timers any time between 4pm eastern on patch day and 4am on 10/14.
Have you used the official forums previously? I made a post on these forums and also on reddit/FF14 cautioning players that the new houses would sell out in 20-40 minutes and that anyone who wanted to skip the timer would need to be logging in the second servers went live, with a plan as to where to run. At least now you know for next time, you can't wake up 2 hours after servers go live and hope to claim one of the no-timer houses.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...me_buyers_and/ here it is for reference. There are some general tips for camping at the bottom, and the tips at the top should come in handy next ward release. -
11-05-2020, 02:01 AMalpacaurbagsApologies if it was unclear. No, I have not used the forums previously but figured this was the place to provide feedback to Square about this issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by Catstab
There were far less than 300 houses left, for the record. According to my FC mate I checked with about this, there were a handful and they were all heavily camped.
At any rate, speaks to the issue again, which is all I'm trying to express here. I don't have a solution to the problem. I think a lack of a timer and a lottery system all present their own unique problems as well. At any rate, I would never claim to know more than Square about the ins and outs and pros and cons of such a system. I'm sure they've thought through many options, but I hope they listen to feedback on some of the problems.
I do stand firm, however, that FCs should have priority housing to benefit the many rather than the few. -
11-05-2020, 02:08 AMCatstabYeah, housing is for sure in shorter supply than we would prefer as players. Some say this is by design, but SE has also expressed that they want to open more wards, but this is all that current servers would allow.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
FCs were prioritized in last year's housing expansion. SE made the decision this time to allow first-time personal buyers to share in the relief, since auto-demo stoppage has affected everyone. It's tough to say if they will continue with that moving forward or not. -
11-05-2020, 02:38 PMFrizze
FC priority would have benefited you personally, but in general it causes as many problems as it solves. The best plots will still all be scooped up in the first 10-20 mins. Most of the lots will sit empty until the restriction is lifted, causing players who want personal houses to complain even more. But the bigger problem is the shell FCs. It takes less then a day to form an FC and grind it up to the level to buy a house. So what happens is those people who want to sell houses for RMT purposes(or even just for 5-10 times the board price) are given more time to buy them up. Even if the FC restriction was as short as an hour, if it was announced in advance the resellers would already have their shell FCs primed to go right when the servers came up.
The FC solution is to de-bind some aspects from housing. Mechanically, a house allows an FC to cross-breed plants, charge wheels, run a workshop, and set up airships/subs. Take those out of housing. Every FC is alligned with one of the GCs, so why not turn the GC barracks entrance(where players can manage their squadrons) into an entrance to a command room where you can send out the subs/airships? Wheels and workshop? An instance off the ironworks building in revenants toll. Gardening? They mentioned working on a green-house/farm type instance without giving many details. Finish that, and allow FCs to run some garden plots. If you do those, then the house serves no mechanical function. It becomes just a place to decorate and/or RP. If decorating is all we need(you can RP anywhere), is there no reason an FC could "rent out the 12th floor of an apartment building"? That might require tweaking the rules of apartments to give more options, but more options benefits individual players as much as FCs. -
11-05-2020, 03:38 PMShibi
Sadly, it is how it is, and it won't change in the near future. So like grinding raid progression you need to get in there and just do it.
For weeks and weeks anyone who was placard clicking had known demand would be huge.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
The housing discords had spreadsheets that tracked the vacant properties, and those show you were wrong. And this is the thing... Most housing becomes available around 12.5 hours from the point it's vacant, 10 to 14 hours being the prime window. This means you could have come on - with your FC members - at 6pm your time and likely taken a property.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
Best advice I can give is; join the housing sweep discord plus rope in your FC members to look three or four times each day, turn up to a placard around the 12 hour mark with as many FC people as you can and get to clicking for 30 to 45 minutes. The more FC members you can get clicking the greater your chance. -
11-06-2020, 01:52 AMCatstabWith respect, OP did amend her statement when pressed to 'all houses with no timers were gone by the time I woke up' as she was not interested in placard clicking. So while you are correct, this is covered in previous pages of the thread. Appreciate you lending some advice, too. I also supplied my reddit thread with new ward tips and general camping tips. Hopefully something helps her out!Quote:
Originally Posted by Shibi
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11-07-2020, 02:28 AMSeddrinthHonestly, that is your own fault because there are many people who work that woke up early or stayed up late for the chance for a house. It was 3am my time and I made myself wake up early. I had work next day as well. So a system that rewards people who put in more effort is not an issue. The issue is some people who woke up early had internet/connection/crashes. But if you don't even make an effort, you are not going to find much sympathy.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
This I agree with 100%. It's been what 7 months already? It's time to turn back on auto-demolish. There are current players who are paying subs who deserve the houses more than someone who left over half a year ago and who may not ever come back.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
This is not really an issue because even if people have alts, they still can't buy more than one personal house on the same server. So it will have no effect on your ability to buy a house. I have 3 alts on different servers and 3 houses, I do this because SE doesn't allow me to share 1 house with all 3 alts.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
This is a huge problem. The people who are doing are using the fc glitch. They make these fake shell fcs, buy the house, and then sell the fc along with the house. The only way to stop this abuse is to stop allowing fc to buy house. Only 1 house per player, period. If you want to house fc mates, turn your personal house into an an fc house, allow tenants to buy rooms the same way fc house allow members to buy units. That is the only way to stop the selling of houses from shell fcs.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags
I've always thought this was unfair. Why should someone who already have a house be able to bypass the timer while people who don't have houses have to suffer? I'm speaking as a player with 3 houses. They should make all players have to deal with housing timers and not allow existing house owners to bypass that.Quote:
Originally Posted by alpacaurbags