The bandaid is not a fix: A warning before you jump into housing

In September my house was demolished.. this is knowledge I only realized after the fact. Life kept me away from the internet; the game, my email. Regardless, I accept that this is the way things are and I would not want to keep someone from enjoying a plot because of my forced inactivity. Anyways, I was not aware of the 35 day limitation on furnishing retrieval. I did not see anything within the game during my purchase of the house that there was such a limit. Yes; it can be Googled…no, such important information should not have to be dug from a search engine. Even speaking to the NPC; they never state the actual limit of 35 days..only that there is one. Now, I know many of you are comfortable with and frequently check every source be it developer letters; forums; every announcement that details everything about the game.. but not everyone does it. After finding the email, it is written somewhere near the bottom of the email that there is the 35 day limit to retrieve your furnishings. It’s not even in bold. It’s really important info that can get easily get lost for those of us who simply have a lot going on in life.

There should be ‘something’ in place that doesn’t wreck what should be a positive return to the game after being forced away for so long. At the very least, reimbursing our mogstation purchases with Crysta and allowing our seasonal and event purchases to be reobtained through the calamity salvager. This has been a very painful return. As an RPer, a lot of what was in my house was connected to my RP and much of it is unobtainable. It is not unreasonable to expect these considerations. At the very least…the email sent out did not need to bury this very important element towards the bottom and in plain text. Maybe even a second automated email reminding you that the day of reclaiming your items is expiring…but there wasn’t that..it was buried…as though they are embarrassed that there is such limitations built into the system.

(cont.) I am told that this is a rare occurrence..that most of the time this lapse does not happen or when it does the player never returns; then why, if it does not bog down the system with so many requests, why do they not honor their loyal players by helping them in some form instead of essentially sending out an automated shrug?

And no; I did not have the option to preplan for my unexpected absence .. I had no idea that I needed to preplan for utter destruction of all of my furnishings I have gathered over the years from events… I was not able to login for 5 months and ..that was enough to lose years of things that brought me enjoyment. There needs to be some sort of reimbursement..some sort of effort because…this return has been terribly sad to handle.

I’ve said it before; I love this game and what it does right it does beautifully..but what it does wrong..it does really wrong: the housing and the retainer system. I get it they have limited sources due to storage; but then maybe they should have never introduced housing if this was a possible outcome. I hear LOTR is just as ruthless but I never played that. Just because another game did something terribly wrong doesn’t make it acceptable either. We spend money on our mogstation furnishings…those somehow should be secure ..at this time I now feel completely uncomfortable about making anymore purchases from the mogstation..If I ever do get a house again..I would be too afraid to decorate it…not that I have anything to put into it.. like my bobble head cows…man..I loved those… I don’t get it how a game could allow a feature that can end up providing such a terrible experience.

Truth is the housing system is old outdated and doing things it was never designed or ment to do. It needs a complete overhaul from top to bottom but it has likely been a less important/popular part of the game and the developers haven't spent the time/resources needed to redo the whole system.

As far as the items you lost go they are all possible to get again, even the seasonal ones. Some items will require the help of other players and jumping through hoops. But if you really want them and it means a lot to you it is possible.

lol.......

Well.. that does give me hope unless it’s another $40-60 I have to spend in the mogstation… less appealing.

A warning about what? You unaware of the policy around housing and demolition timers and whatnot? Should've read up I guess.
Sucks you lost your house though.

Lostar dont lose sleep on Trolls and house hoarders that enjoy "housing Pain" of other players. Sorry for your loss, unfortunately housing, as other sides activities of the game, are not fully explained in their functions..

What did you think would happen to your furniture in the house that you let demolish? If it's that important, why didn't you think to look it up?

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Originally Posted by LittlePandemonium

What did you think would happen to your furniture in the house that you let demolish? If it's that important, why didn't you think to look it up?

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It is for the same reason that I never Googled "Will I return to the game after 6 months unsubbed to my character naked and armor destroyed"

The idea that furnishings (especially those purchased from the Mogstation) could become unrecoverable was just as equally unthinkable; no where in the game does it say "35 days, your furniture will be destroyed forever."

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Originally Posted by Lostar

It is for the same reason that I never Googled "Will I return to the game after 6 months unsubbed to my character naked and armor destroyed"

The idea that furnishings (especially those purchased from the Mogstation) could become unrecoverable was just as equally unthinkable; no where in the game does it say "35 days, your furniture will be destroyed forever."

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You're not going to lose your house in most other games, either. The FFXIV housing system seems to be uniquely bad when it comes to player ownership and respecting player time/effort within the content.

There is a spot in the game where it does state that you only have 35 days to reclaim your furnishings and a partial refund of the gil you paid for your house. It's buried in the walls of text the Resident Caretaker has to share that almost no one ever reads. I really wish that the "Where the Heart Is..." quests would either put the basic info about ownership/demolition on the Grand Company NPC that players talk to or would change the quest to refer players to the Resident Caretake to continue to the quest. By the time someone is eligible to buy, they have long forgotten that the original quest tells them to talk to the Resident Caretaker for details.

Better yet, have a second quest that becomes available once the player has met the requirements for private purchase that actually unlocks the ability to purchase and cover demolition in that quest.

As for comments being trollish, both of you have been a little off in this conversation. Better to put aside the assessments of personalities and stick to the problem with the system.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

You're not going to lose your house in most other games, either. The FFXIV housing system seems to be uniquely bad when it comes to player ownership and respecting player time/effort within the content.

There is a spot in the game where it does state that you only have 35 days to reclaim your furnishings and a partial refund of the gil you paid for your house. It's buried in the walls of text the Resident Caretaker has to share that almost no one ever reads. I really wish that the "Where the Heart Is..." quests would either put the basic info about ownership/demolition on the Grand Company NPC that players talk to or would change the quest to refer players to the Resident Caretake to continue to the quest. By the time someone is eligible to buy, they have long forgotten that the original quest tells them to talk to the Resident Caretaker for details.

Better yet, have a second quest that becomes available once the player has met the requirements for private purchase that actually unlocks the ability to purchase and cover demolition in that quest.

As for comments being trollish, both of you have been a little off in this conversation. Better to put aside the assessments of personalities and stick to the problem with the system.

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Yeah I admit this had put some sourness in my mood; and responses that lack empathy worsen it. Agreed though; egos aside...

They could make us take a short quiz when we are ready to buy our first house that has multiple answers so as to make certain that we know without a doubt that we know these mechanics and we know what we are getting into. If I had known about the 35-day limit; I would have definitely found a way or at the very least prepared myself for this disappointment when I return. But if they just flash windows in our face with little more interactivity besides clicking ok; people can spam through it (yes, their fault in the end but that's not even really offered in a good form). An idea; one of many that could save others from this grief.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

There is a spot in the game where it does state that you only have 35 days to reclaim your furnishings and a partial refund of the gil you paid for your house. It's buried in the walls of text the Resident Caretaker has to share that almost no one ever reads.

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You are right when you say 'almost no one ever reads' what the caretaker has to say. I vaguely remember the caretaker being mentioned in that quest too. However, the caretaker does not say that the furnishings will be demolished in 35 days. They only say 'a limited time' and they try and say that the fact they hold them at all is only for our convenience which is an utter slap in the face to the meaning of the word 'convenience'. So; really important and relevant to furniture ownership information is literally buried in a single sentence at the very bottom of the demolision email and a vague mention of a vague but limited amount of time by an NPC that few first time home owners even realize is an imporant NPC even if they don't offer good information.

A second letter sent out a few days before the furnishings are due for deletion would also be actually helpful. I'm still bummed.. lesson learned though. Absolutely no more mogstation purchases until this is fixed. First MMO that actually stole money from me (refuses to reimburse my mogstation purchased furnishings) and it's a Final Fantasy one </3

The reason that your furnishings don’t stay permanently, or at the very least longer than 35 days, is because the NPC that holds your furnishings holds, well, everyones furnishings when they lose their house. I don’t remember the specifics.

I’m no expert by any means, but it doesn’t work like a glamour dresser where it’s instanced and tons of people can access it at once without it failing so long as it’s in an inn. An oversight on their part, yes, however on every page that sells a furniture item on the mog store it does state in no uncertain terms: “Please note that the following may result in the loss of this item: The demolition of an estate.” And not in a hard to notice spot too, right where it also says the description for the item is where it says that.

Your estate was demolished, and SE told you before you bought the item that you could possibly lose it if something like that were to happen. I understand it sucks to lose stuff you paid for but genuinely, the loss of your items was ultimately due to your negligence in reading the small amount of clearly laid out terms in the description.

I hope if you ever make future purchases anywhere online, that you take this as a sign to read the description of what you’re buying, always.

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Originally Posted by MilkieTea

The reason that your furnishings don’t stay permanently, or at the very least longer than 35 days, is because the NPC that holds your furnishings holds, well, everyones furnishings when they lose their house. I don’t remember the specifics.

I’m no expert by any means, but it doesn’t work like a glamour dresser where it’s instanced and tons of people can access it at once without it failing so long as it’s in an inn. An oversight on their part, yes, however on every page that sells a furniture item on the mog store it does state in no uncertain terms: “Please note that the following may result in the loss of this item: The demolition of an estate.” And not in a hard to notice spot too, right where it also says the description for the item is where it says that.

Your estate was demolished, and SE told you before you bought the item that you could possibly lose it if something like that were to happen. I understand it sucks to lose stuff you paid for but genuinely, the loss of your items was ultimately due to your negligence in reading the small amount of clearly laid out terms in the description.

I hope if you ever make future purchases anywhere online, that you take this as a sign to read the description of what you’re buying, always.

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It was genuinely an oversight on their part as well; any feature that can lead to this sort of incident is not a feature worth having. It is a disregard to our time and investment. I might have read that information on the mog station purchases as well; and it was simply forgotten. I've been in this MMO thing since 1999 and this is the first MMO where one is expected to be dutifully careful lest the built-in limitations of the game ultimately destroy what you have earned in seasonal events or purchased. It is an absurdity that even after a few years here, I have not grown a tolerance for.

Also; why is there nothing for furnishings like what we have for everything else. The game knows what we should have access to when we speak to the calamity salvager-- why is there nothing like that for our seasonal items? Why can't SQEX look at our mogstation purchases and issue a reimbursement upon request? Why is there little done for those of us who might have known of the warning but for whatever real life reasons; they could not avoid it? Let us not pretend this is a reasonable limitation or that there is not something SQEX could do to lessen the severity.

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Originally Posted by Lostar

Also; why is there nothing for furnishings like what we have for everything else. The game knows what we should have access to when we speak to the calamity salvager-- why is there nothing like that for our seasonal items

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Part of the "why" is likely because you can sell/trade the housing items and se can't prevent that unless they remove the ability to share or trade ownership of a house including a Fc house.

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Damn. You're right.

So the only viable solution I can think of is sending it through the mail system; a solution that's been brought up many times. This is really kicking a dead horse. But man, this particular dead horse stinks to high heaven. I just wish SQEX would do more about the smell. :(

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Originally Posted by Bladehawk

Truth is the housing system is old outdated and doing things it was never designed or ment to do. It needs a complete overhaul from top to bottom but it has likely been a less important/popular part of the game and the developers haven't spent the time/resources needed to redo the whole system.

As far as the items you lost go they are all possible to get again, even the seasonal ones. Some items will require the help of other players and jumping through hoops. But if you really want them and it means a lot to you it is possible.

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Wait you said housing isn't important/popular.. it is probably the most wanted thing in the game.

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Originally Posted by Lostar

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Damn. You're right.

So the only viable solution I can think of is sending it through the mail system; a solution that's been brought up many times. This is really kicking a dead horse. But man, this particular dead horse stinks to high heaven. I just wish SQEX would do more about the smell. :(

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They do send emails but this portion of the email needs to be more specific. There should be an exact time limit on how long they'll keep your furnishing's.

■After an estate has been removed
Once a plot of land or estate has been removed, furnishings and items left within the estate will also be automatically removed. However, for a limited time after an estate has been removed, some indoor and outdoor furnishings and gil can be retrieved from the “Resident Caretaker” NPC in each residential district.

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Originally Posted by Lostar

-__-

Damn. You're right.

So the only viable solution I can think of is sending it through the mail system; a solution that's been brought up many times. This is really kicking a dead horse. But man, this particular dead horse stinks to high heaven. I just wish SQEX would do more about the smell. :(

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After a certain point, when SE can no longer do anything about the scent, and if you find it obnoxious enough, you must come to a decision on whether or not you’ll power through the stench or leave to find clearer air.

I really don't think a game company is required to holding their own player's hands at micro level.
Your in-game asset is your own responsibility.
We are in the age of smart phone and I am pretty sure this statement "I didn't see this warning email" is a valid excuse any more.
I am pretty sure IOS (Not sure about android, but I assume it is the same) will let you filter email as VIP email to be show on main smartphone screen as notification.
I personally got this notification myself and log on to get rid off my house demolition timer once because I was away for a vacation.
Try to use this function maybe for future occurance.

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Originally Posted by Divinemights

I really don't think a game company is required to holding their own player's hands at micro level.
Your in-game asset is your own responsibility.
We are in the age of smart phone and I am pretty sure this statement "I didn't see this warning email" is a valid excuse any more.
I am pretty sure IOS (Not sure about android, but I assume it is the same) will let you filter email as VIP email to be show on main smartphone screen as notification.
I personally got this notification myself and log on to get rid off my house demolition timer once because I was away for a vacation.
Try to use this function maybe for future occurance.

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Asking for rather basic warnings is not hand-holding and it is something that should be built into a system that can result in a permanent loss if they are simply unable to do something much older MMORPGs managed for their player base. Yes, I do believe that this one aspect of the game along with the retainer system are two frustratingly broken elements in a game that is otherwise loved. Yoshi even has expressed shame about this system and also wants to fix it and until that is possible; giving us safeguards like just sending out just a few extra emails at very important moments before and during the demolition process should be welcomed and not scorned.

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Originally Posted by Lostar

Asking for rather basic warnings is not hand-holding and it is something that should be built into a system that can result in a permanent loss if they are simply unable to do something much older MMORPGs managed for their player base. Yes, I do believe that this one aspect of the game along with the retainer system are two frustratingly broken elements in a game that is otherwise loved. Yoshi even has expressed shame about this system and also wants to fix it and until that is possible; giving us safeguards like just sending out just a few extra emails at very important moments before and during the demolition process should be welcomed and not scorned.

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Sending more emails won't do much when most players aren't reading the emails already being sent, not to mention the emails aren't always sent correctly (players have gotten email demo notices for FC houses when they don't belong to the FC affected).

Timing on "Where the Heart Is..." is bad - it's happening when the character is new, won't even be eligible to purchase and probably doesn't even belong to a FC yet (assuming they even join a FC that was able to get a house) so any housing information is mostly irrelevant. They're not going to pay attention to it beyond knowing they want walk into that specific housing district now if they want.

As much as the housing system needs a total overhaul, I'm not expecting it to happen. What SE need to do is rework the quests involved in housing, or add a new quest at the time someone otherwise becomes eligible for purchase before they're allowed to buy. Adding in a new quest that unlocks when the player gets their Grand Company rank needed for estate purchase shouldn't be that hard to do. Include housing purchase, demolition and item reclamation information with that quest so the player will be given the information at a time that is actually relevant and more likely to be remembered.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

Sending more emails won't do much when most players aren't reading the emails already being sent, not to mention the emails aren't always sent correctly (players have gotten email demo notices for FC houses when they don't belong to the FC affected).

Timing on "Where the Heart Is..." is bad - it's happening when the character is new, won't even be eligible to purchase and probably doesn't even belong to a FC yet (assuming they even join a FC that was able to get a house) so any housing information is mostly irrelevant. They're not going to pay attention to it beyond knowing they want walk into that specific housing district now if they want.

As much as the housing system needs a total overhaul, I'm not expecting it to happen. What SE need to do is rework the quests involved in housing, or add a new quest at the time someone otherwise becomes eligible for purchase before they're allowed to buy. Adding in a new quest that unlocks when the player gets their Grand Company rank needed for estate purchase shouldn't be that hard to do. Include housing purchase, demolition and item reclamation information with that quest so the player will be given the information at a time that is actually relevant and more likely to be remembered.

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I totally agree; the email idea is just the least they can do; Putting the "items will be destroyed forever at [insert date]" in bold towards the very top instead of how they do it where it is buried at the very bottom in plain text would also help... but a quest that gives concise information as the one I proposed in an earlier post in this thread where we have to answer a few multiple questions relevant to the most important and permanent aspects of the housing would have been an incredible tool as well. I'll be bitter about this for a long while.. the cash shop items not even being recoverable have made it to where I will not spend another penny on mogstation furnishings simply out of worry that I will be losing them due to unforeseen circumstances once more.

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Originally Posted by Garten

Lostar dont lose sleep on Trolls and house hoarders that enjoy "housing Pain" of other players. Sorry for your loss, unfortunately housing, as other sides activities of the game, are not fully explained in their functions..

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This comment doesn't get enough love. Shame on those who "lol" at their fellow player's grief.