Lottery, new players, and sub time. Square?

I am a relatively new player, and I’m struggling with this brilliant RNG-based housing assignment system. This is now the third time I’ve tried to get a house, and thanks to this system, I’ve spent an entire month waiting and failing.

How did you think it was a good idea to force people into a nearly week-long cooldown after losing the lottery? How did you think it was a good idea to FORCE people to wait before they can try to buy a house again, when every day in the game comes at a real monetary cost, given that it’s a subscription-based game? How is it a good idea to rely on an RNG system where someone trying for months can be overtaken by someone who simply has more luck? How does this system make even the slightest bit of sense?

What sense does it make to lock EMPTY PLOTS WITH NO BIDDERS for DAYS, preventing people from settling for those instead of throwing them into this pointless and honestly infuriating cooldown?

Not to mention the players who own multiple houses despite the system prohibiting it, making the game even less welcoming to new players. All of this is absolutely absurd.

Get used to it. In the sense that everyone will come here and tell you how it's your own problem/fault. And the majority of those people are the ones causing this massive disparity.

Enjoy the months and months of failed lotteries, there's no way around it.

Best of luck.

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Originally Posted by WhatShiShi

I am a relatively new player, and I’m struggling with this brilliant RNG-based housing assignment system. This is now the third time I’ve tried to get a house, and thanks to this system, I’ve spent an entire month waiting and failing.

How did you think it was a good idea to force people into a nearly week-long cooldown after losing the lottery? How did you think it was a good idea to FORCE people to wait before they can try to buy a house again, when every day in the game comes at a real monetary cost, given that it’s a subscription-based game? How is it a good idea to rely on an RNG system where someone trying for months can be overtaken by someone who simply has more luck? How does this system make even the slightest bit of sense?

What sense does it make to lock EMPTY PLOTS WITH NO BIDDERS for DAYS, preventing people from settling for those instead of throwing them into this pointless and honestly infuriating cooldown?

Not to mention the players who own multiple houses despite the system prohibiting it, making the game even less welcoming to new players. All of this is absolutely absurd.

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Does it help you feel any better knowing that the lottery system was implemented at the request of the overall playerbase? The FCFS system and placard clicking wars we had before the lottery were an absolute nightmare compared to this.

They could shorten then entry and results period to three days entry and two days results seems reasonable to me. The old system we had was far worse since people that used bots usually won the placard clicking wars that had people clicking nonstop for several hours hoping to win. While it's frustrating but the lotto is a better and fairer system since I spent 7 years trying and losing trying to get my plot in Exodus but you will eventually win one like I did.

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Originally Posted by MakoEyes

Get used to it. In the sense that everyone will come here and tell you how it's your own problem/fault. And the majority of those people are the ones causing this massive disparity.

Enjoy the months and months of failed lotteries, there's no way around it.

Best of luck.

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It's your own problem/fault. I'm telling you this as someone who owns approximately twenty-two thousand, nine hundred and eight small houses, all located on Plot 41 in the Lavender Beds on Balmung, where I stack my collection of exactly thirty Heaven-On-High outdoor furnishings into the shape of a much larger Heaven-On-High outdoor furnishing.

The fact that you're taking people saying "Yeah, the housing system is frustrating, I agree with you. In the end, what I had to do to get a house was this" as anything but them trying to genuinely help you out is very much "your own problem/fault."

Or, y'know - it could just be a big conspiracy where the other millions of people who play the game secretly meet up and put bids on the houses you decide to bid on to spite you.

Good lord.

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Originally Posted by MakoEyes

Get used to it. In the sense that everyone will come here and tell you how it's your own problem/fault. And the majority of those people are the ones causing this massive disparity.
Enjoy the months and months of failed lotteries, there's no way around it.
Best of luck.

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At least you should be greatful that you get a chance very week.
If old style of placard clicking, it cost your health.
Doing more good deed, you will get it someday.

Placard clicking was better, in all honesty.

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Originally Posted by Canadane

Placard clicking was better, in all honesty.

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During a new ward release, yes.
Yet, this is the same forum ask for "Housing Lottery" with overwhelming support, remember?
If Op and 2nd poster spend 10 mins search history....

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Originally Posted by Canadane

Placard clicking was better, in all honesty.

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Pre-placard clicking was even better. When you could just walk to an empty plot and buy it immediately. No health risking required, just being there first was enough.

The pre-click placard wars era was bad since it allowed the black market to extort plots and not everyone had time to rush to click on a placard. Therefore, the lotto is the fairest for now. They should reduce the time for both the entry and results period to something like 4 to 5 days total. This would allow much more chances of winning a plot within a month instead of the current 3 times that just feels too long of a wait in between lotto cycles that frustrates many people.

I prefer the first come first serve system. But giving everyone a fair equal chance at a house isn't bad. If some of you guys remember when Shirogane released. If you DCd after getting in, you weren't going to find a house once you managed to log back in. This version is healthier for the game.

The system is made so it is fair for all, new as old... we already have enough grandfathering scandals in FFXIV that SE should simply just had dealt with.

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Originally Posted by WhatShiShi

I am a relatively new player, and I’m struggling with this brilliant RNG-based housing assignment system. This is now the third time I’ve tried to get a house, and thanks to this system, I’ve spent an entire month waiting and failing.

All of this is absolutely absurd.

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You don't know what it was like before the current system. Some history:

First system was first-come, first-serve. And players found ways to buy up multiple plots. At the time, the cost of housing was actually steep for much of the population. In order to compete in this system, there was a land rush when a new ward/zone was released. You had to log in right when the servers came up, and deal with a somewhat random chance of actually getting through the queue and hoping you got to one of your preferred plots before it was purchased by another player.

Later on, they added auto-demolition to remove housing from players that no longer subscribed (after 45 days). Once those houses were demolished, they were immediately available. During this time, it was also possible to sell your house on the black market for large sums of gil (or RL cash?) by arranging to relinquish your land while the buyer stood there to snap it up. In order to compete in this system, you either had to purchase it on the black market (2x-5x more than the value, plus the actual cost) or camp the Ferry Skipper to watch for when a plot came available. And you'd be doing this 24/7 to succeed. And then race to the plot.

Afterwards, they put a lockout timer on all relinquished/demolished plots. The black market dried up (other than FC sales), but purchasing was FCFS after the invisible timer came up. Which was anything from 6(?) to 24 hours after the plot was demolished. Which meant that hundreds of players were spamming the placard at the property for hours on end, competing with bots that could do this for days if necessary.

That brings us to today's system. You walk up to the placard for an available plot (which isn't all that common), you bid, you walk away. Come back in 5 days.

Every system before this had some form of RNG or time sink:
- being lucky enough to login early, not disconnected by the server (RNG)
- no one else buying that plot before you (RNG)
- watching for open plots for hours on end (time sink)
- spamming a placard with hundreds of other players/bots (time sink and RNG)

Now it is just RNG. And it is "fair" RNG. A bot could click that placard without breaks for days. You can't. A bot could do that for days while the "player" does other things. You'd have to dedicate a day just for one plot - and bring a bottle to relieve yourself in. Chances are, if there were 100 people present, your chances were LESS than 1/100 because you couldn't spam as often as others were.

While the system isn't great, it isn't a time-sink. Bid on a plot. Go level, go AFK, go watch a movie, go play with your dog. Go to work. Etc etc. Sure, the system could be better. They could add more wards/plots - that'd be nice. But the system we have today is far better than what we had previously. If this was ARR, you'd just never have a house. There was no auto-demolish. So once all plots were purchased, you were out of luck.

Far as I know, there's still plenty of available housing on Dynamis. If you don't want to transfer there, then you're best bet will be the next time they add more wards or a new housing district.

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Originally Posted by AnjouMaaka

Far as I know, there's still plenty of available housing on Dynamis. If you don't want to transfer there, then you're best bet will be the next time they add more wards or a new housing district.

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But then the downside is that you’ll have to DC travel every time you want to do something in DF (or so I’ve heard). Now if they implemented cross DC DF, I’d world transfer in a heart beat.

The root of the problem is that they designed housing to have a finite # of plots, rather than making them all instanced. Any other solution is just a bandaid. Reducing lottery timers doesn’t increase housing supply, it just increases # of chances but not % chance of winning a house. Adding more wards/districts is great until they’re all snapped up then we’re back to this again.

I was on hiatus during EW, so I’m not sure why the resources they put into Island Sanctuary couldn’t have been directed towards implementing instanced housing so everyone could finally have one.

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Originally Posted by WhatShiShi

I am a relatively new player, and I’m struggling with this brilliant RNG-based housing assignment system. This is now the third time I’ve tried to get a house, and thanks to this system, I’ve spent an entire month waiting and failing.

How did you think it was a good idea to force people into a nearly week-long cooldown after losing the lottery? How did you think it was a good idea to FORCE people to wait before they can try to buy a house again, when every day in the game comes at a real monetary cost, given that it’s a subscription-based game? How is it a good idea to rely on an RNG system where someone trying for months can be overtaken by someone who simply has more luck? How does this system make even the slightest bit of sense?

What sense does it make to lock EMPTY PLOTS WITH NO BIDDERS for DAYS, preventing people from settling for those instead of throwing them into this pointless and honestly infuriating cooldown?

Not to mention the players who own multiple houses despite the system prohibiting it, making the game even less welcoming to new players. All of this is absolutely absurd.

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The players asked for people who didn't have a lot of time to play or traveled a lot to be considered for. And this is that consideration in practice.

3rd time?

Bruh I gave up my ward 7 plot 44 medium on Brynildr in 2016 because the population was really low, it took until shirogane released until I got my first plot in the Mist. That was because I cut my losses in shirogane being 700 in queue and realizing I'd likely DC if I stuck around with the ward crashing around me and I certainly wasn't going find a plot if I did. So I left for the mist and found an uncontested small (that I still reside at)

But don't expect to win, just hope. Expectation leads to disappointment. I got cozy in my apartment when I transferred to Excalibur, and just bid my time till I come home across a empty plot. (which was about a year later)

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Originally Posted by kiotsukete

But then the downside is that you’ll have to DC travel every time you want to do something in DF (or so I’ve heard). Now if they implemented cross DC DF, I’d world transfer in a heart beat.

The root of the problem is that they designed housing to have a finite # of plots, rather than making them all instanced. Any other solution is just a bandaid. Reducing lottery timers doesn’t increase housing supply, it just increases # of chances but not % chance of winning a house. Adding more wards/districts is great until they’re all snapped up then we’re back to this again.

I was on hiatus during EW, so I’m not sure why the resources they put into Island Sanctuary couldn’t have been directed towards implementing instanced housing so everyone could finally have one.

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Moving to a instance system would pretty much kill off venues in 1 fell swoop.

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Originally Posted by Solowing

Moving to a instance system would pretty much kill off venues in 1 fell swoop.

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I doubt it… there’s still the ward plots to fight over for those that care about having more visitors at a time than, for example, Island Sanctuary could support. At least with instanced, everyone could be guaranteed at least one personal plot.

If they did it so you could change your background scenery to any of the existing neighborhoods (seeing as you can finally change your interiors now!), I’d give up my ward plot so someone who wants one could have it. And if they ever made it so you could choose background scenery from other places in the world, the option wouldn’t be available for more than a second before I’d move. Not that I don’t love my current plot, but having the option to choose its setting would be a real game changer for me.

And I’m one of those rare birds who actually does look at people’s apartments through the directories when I don’t have anything better to do, or when I’m just looking for decorating inspiration! lol I’d definitely be checking through the directory of instanced houses, just because I know so many great designers who have been limited by only being able to have an apartment, and I’d be excited to see what they could do if they finally got a house of their own. :D

I was just throwing out the available options to improve your chances of getting a house. Instanced housing has such a low chance of ever becoming a thing in FFXIV that mentioning it would solve anything is a null argument at this point. I agree that instanced housing would fix a lot of housing problems, but realistically speaking, we should not expect it to ever happen.

I will once again state that all current problems with housing stem from the fact that they are artificially limited.

Add Instanced housing. Make wards automatically generate at certain population thresholds. Take the silver spoon out of the mouths of the ward-hogs who were grandfathered in to the current system. Add more restrictions/rules to prevent a single person with 60 characters and shell FCs from vacuuming up houses. Do literally anything except adding more empty servers for people to go 'duhh, just transfer to Bajookie on Skibidi if you want a house, forget about your FC and every other reason you'd want to stay on your current server' at.

I was lucky enough to get my house because I was one of the first on Seraph, and I specifically picked a small in the Goblet to minimize the amount of competition I'd have (and I still had 2 other people bidding on the plot). And now Seraph is full, just like all the other Aether servers full of people telling others to transfer. The problem continues and the housing mains continue to cry on the forums and on Reddit about people trying to take away their exclusive special virtual land.

At this point, SE needs to sell FFXIV to a different company. Dragging your feet on improvements to explicitly broken systems has overstayed its welcome.

can’t understand: Where is the limit? Why are wards limited? Why can’t they be generated on demand? Why does there have to be a fake finite number of houses? We ALL pay to play this game, so if I ever wanted a large house, and I have the gil to buy it, I should be able to have a large house, because I pay for this game and every feature it offers. And yet, I’ve never seen large houses available. Not that I have the money to buy one, but the fact remains that I can’t, and I never will, and that’s ridiculous.Moreover, if we all start moving, we haven’t solved anything except having to move again and again, leaving behind empty or half-empty servers. When it would literally be enough to just add Wards when the previous ones are full. It’s not hard.

The devs are doing a very good job of maintaining the proper housing availability levels. Very few, if anyone, actually quits the game because they can't get a house. Far more players who are upset with the housing system end up using that emotion to become more driven and more willful in their own quest to obtain a house. That sounds like a net positive for the game, to me.

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Originally Posted by WhatShiShi

I am a relatively new player, and I’m struggling with this brilliant RNG-based housing assignment system. This is now the third time I’ve tried to get a house, and thanks to this system, I’ve spent an entire month waiting and failing.

How did you think it was a good idea to force people into a nearly week-long cooldown after losing the lottery? How did you think it was a good idea to FORCE people to wait before they can try to buy a house again, when every day in the game comes at a real monetary cost, given that it’s a subscription-based game? How is it a good idea to rely on an RNG system where someone trying for months can be overtaken by someone who simply has more luck? How does this system make even the slightest bit of sense?

What sense does it make to lock EMPTY PLOTS WITH NO BIDDERS for DAYS, preventing people from settling for those instead of throwing them into this pointless and honestly infuriating cooldown?

Not to mention the players who own multiple houses despite the system prohibiting it, making the game even less welcoming to new players. All of this is absolutely absurd.

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In a world with limited space, the only way to make things fair is a lottery.

First-come-first-served has a massive problem with botters and no-lifers.

Price-based bidding and outbidding run the problem where only the gold-capped players can ever get a house.

You come into the forum making a post about how this feels unfair for you to lose 3 lotteries over the course of a month? You're being treated with the same fairness as everyone else, this is equitable treatment.

You can just go get an apartment, there are no lotteries for those, the game doesn't owe you a house.

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Originally Posted by Canadane

Placard clicking was better, in all honesty.

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Hot take but I agree - it would have been nice for more transparency of when the "click window" began. So I would have basically put up a series of windows for every plot to give folks of time zones a chance. So like plot 41 would rotate through the click windows and you would know when you gotta get there to click for your chance. Sorta like the lotto system we use now.

So I would say "Plot 41 goes up at 10pm." and from 10 to 11pm everyone can click. After which it resolves like a regular lotto. That way lag doesn't factor as much but reduces the fair weather competitors that bid and accelerates housing turnover.

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Originally Posted by Ayan_Calvesse

Hot take but I agree - it would have been nice for more transparency of when the "click window" began. So I would have basically put up a series of windows for every plot to give folks of time zones a chance. So like plot 41 would rotate through the click windows and you would know when you gotta get there to click for your chance. Sorta like the lotto system we use now.

So I would say "Plot 41 goes up at 10pm." and from 10 to 11pm everyone can click. After which it resolves like a regular lotto. That way lag doesn't factor as much but reduces the fair weather competitors that bid and accelerates housing turnover.

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Simply adding a visible 24 hour cooldown on freed plots would have solved every issue regarding the distribution of available housing. Couldn't trade plots for Gil or RMT because other people might show up to take it before the client can. No need to get carpal tunnel from clicking or to camp the plot because you'd know exactly when to show up. Couldn't use your alts to increase odds since only one character per account can be logged in. Plots would go to active players and not a bunch of inactive ones who stay logged off for a week and still take part in the lottery.

Typical.

Always the same rage-bait kids in here on the housing topics making any excuse but the issue as to why it's your own fault.


Keep at it. Good thing you stay here.

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Originally Posted by MakoEyes

Typical.

Always the same rage-bait kids in here on the housing topics making any excuse but the issue as to why it's your own fault.


Keep at it. Good thing you stay here.

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And yet, you keep being baited, so let me sip on some more tea while you go about with you tantrums when there are hundreds of medium plots and even a few mansion plots free for bidding as we speak but you're too stubborn to make an alt to enjoy it while you wait for your main to get theirs :3


https://i.ibb.co/R2c2zqp/ffxiv-11132024-212734-097.jpg

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Originally Posted by MakoEyes

Typical.

Always the same rage-bait kids in here on the housing topics making any excuse but the issue as to why it's your own fault.


Keep at it. Good thing you stay here.

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I'll dry my tears over the insult using the deeds to my houses.

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Originally Posted by WhatShiShi

I am a relatively new player, and I’m struggling with this brilliant RNG-based housing assignment system. This is now the third time I’ve tried to get a house, and thanks to this system, I’ve spent an entire month waiting and failing.

How did you think it was a good idea to force people into a nearly week-long cooldown after losing the lottery? How did you think it was a good idea to FORCE people to wait before they can try to buy a house again, when every day in the game comes at a real monetary cost, given that it’s a subscription-based game? How is it a good idea to rely on an RNG system where someone trying for months can be overtaken by someone who simply has more luck? How does this system make even the slightest bit of sense?

What sense does it make to lock EMPTY PLOTS WITH NO BIDDERS for DAYS, preventing people from settling for those instead of throwing them into this pointless and honestly infuriating cooldown?

Not to mention the players who own multiple houses despite the system prohibiting it, making the game even less welcoming to new players. All of this is absolutely absurd.

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The results period being so long is to give people a chance to actually go to the placard and either claim their plot or their gil back.


Not everyone can be at the placard the moment the server hits 15:00 on the day the lottery ends.






As for the plots having a cooldown, Plots that become available when a lottery period is underway become available at the next lottery which is why it feels like a week.




Lottery system is better than sitting at a placard hoping to outclick someone using an autoclicker.


I wish you luck, I was bidding each week for almost a year before I won my Medium plot.


Many devastating losses where I was #2 and #3 won etc.

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Originally Posted by Reinha

Simply adding a visible 24 hour cooldown on freed plots would have solved every issue regarding the distribution of available housing. Couldn't trade plots for Gil or RMT because other people might show up to take it before the client can. No need to get carpal tunnel from clicking or to camp the plot because you'd know exactly when to show up. Couldn't use your alts to increase odds since only one character per account can be logged in. Plots would go to active players and not a bunch of inactive ones who stay logged off for a week and still take part in the lottery.

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Anyone with a high end PC or a SSD is going to have a massive advantage over older PC/ PS4 users

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Originally Posted by WhatShiShi

How did you think it was a good idea to force people into a nearly week-long cooldown after losing the lottery?

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Hmm. The idea came from players. It's a thing.
Every few years we get super pissed with our house acquiring methods. Then we riot until the currently most popular method gets implemented.
But it can never be instanced housing or apartment upgrade. :)

I'm almost a year in - losing every single bid in every single auction. And yes, a few folks here own every house in an entire ward. Others have commented that it took them 5+ years to get a house. This housing system needs a complete overhaul. The worst housing system in any game out there today. We pay a sub but not guaranteed whatsoever to ever get a house. The only solution has been to move to a newer realm where housing may have less bidders; increasing odds of winning. Other than that, an apartment is always available. Or play a different game. It is frustrating. 100% agree.

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Originally Posted by RhaenysT

I'm almost a year in - losing every single bid in every single auction. And yes, a few folks here own every house in an entire ward. Others have commented that it took them 5+ years to get a house. This housing system needs a complete overhaul. The worst housing system in any game out there today. We pay a sub but not guaranteed whatsoever to ever get a house. The only solution has been to move to a newer realm where housing may have less bidders; increasing odds of winning. Other than that, an apartment is always available. Or play a different game. It is frustrating. 100% agree.

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Again, grandfather plots have nothing to do with this as these people that claimed their house according to the rule setup by SE.
Move to a less populated server to obtain a house if you really want it.
I am not sure what is the excuse now when there is datacenter travel and cross datacenter linkshell available now
Please keep in mind, the demolish timer and lottery system is created by this forum.

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Originally Posted by RhaenysT

I'm almost a year in - losing every single bid in every single auction. And yes, a few folks here own every house in an entire ward. Others have commented that it took them 5+ years to get a house. This housing system needs a complete overhaul. The worst housing system in any game out there today. We pay a sub but not guaranteed whatsoever to ever get a house. The only solution has been to move to a newer realm where housing may have less bidders; increasing odds of winning. Other than that, an apartment is always available. Or play a different game. It is frustrating. 100% agree.

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Honestly, I disagree.I think the housing system is pretty good. The game never promised you a plot.It never promised anyone that. It does, however, offer you housing. You are not locked out of housing, You simply don't like not having a plot.

The players ask for the system to be changed for something more accommodating. And they got just that, yes, it may have dropped their overall chances because they dedicated few aren't the only ones competing anymore. It's the general audience.

To be honest I only see the demand so high because the supply is limited, If supply was infinite no one would care. Because it's a given not a commodity, As the system is set up currently, it's a hot desirable commodity.
That players are willing to stick around for years on end to not lose.