Potential Housing Crisis Fix (Includes ability for permanent Housing (Sm, Med, Lrg)

Proposal: Permanent Condo Housing in Solution 9

Solution 9 is a massive cyberpunk metropolis, far larger than the playable area, filled with towering skyscrapers. Given its scale and futuristic setting, it is the perfect location to introduce permanent player housing in the form of private and Free Company condos.



How It Works

• Players can purchase condos in designated skyscrapers within Solution 9, each building featuring unique names, lobbies, and elevators that lead to assigned floors.
• Condos function similarly to apartments but have multiple sizes and floors like traditional houses.
• The ability to choose an interior size even if it costs way way way more gil (let us have gil sinks! infinite large interiors!)
• The ability to put outdoor furnishings in a dedicated outdoor section, even if that option costs more gil (like a balcony or a top of the roof garden area)
• The ability for that exterior furnishing area to support cross breeding of gardening plants
• Condos are permanent—you won’t lose them due to inactivity.

Example Condo Listings

• Sol 9 > Nexus Tower > Floor 50 > Condo 20
• Sol 9 > The Aegis Residences > Floor 2 > Condo 5
• Sol 9 > Hyperion Flats > Floor 24 > Condo 14

Each building would have its own distinct aesthetic and atmosphere, enriching the player experience and making housing more accessible for both individuals and FCs.



Accessibility for Players Without MSQ Progression

• Instead of being teleported to the lobby, players who haven't completed the required MSQ are sent to a windowless hallway within the skyscraper.
• Opt-in spoiler warning appears for condos with balconies or windows, ensuring players can choose whether to enter.
• The hallway itself does not spoil anything, making it a safe space for visitors.

Why This Works

• Permanent housing option without disrupting existing wards.
• Sol 9's vertical cityscape perfectly fits condo-style residences.
• FCs finally get permanent homes without worrying about losing them.
• Enhances immersion by tying housing directly into the world of Solution 9.

Internet Speeds & Server Load

• Instanced Housing Already Exists: Apartments and personal housing wards already function as instanced areas, meaning the game does not need to render every home in a massive open world only the instance a player is visiting.
• Condos Would Be Instanced Too: If condos follow the same logic, players would only load into their assigned floor and condo, not an entire skyscraper, minimizing bandwidth usage.
• Modern Data Centers Can Handle This: Square Enix's existing infrastructure already supports millions of players across wards, apartments, and instanced dungeons, meaning condos wouldn't introduce an unreasonable strain.
• High-Speed Internet Is Standard: Most players have access to broadband or fiber-optic internet, making data transmission for instanced condos very efficient, especially compared to large open-world areas.

Hardware & Rendering

• Low Graphical Demands Per Condo: Unlike vast open zones, condo interiors would require very little real-time rendering similar to apartments or interior spaces.
• Optimized Instancing for Floors: Since each player condo would only require their own instance to load, hardware wouldn’t need to process massive outdoor environments or dozens of structures at once.
• Pre-existing Housing Systems Can Be Used: Solution 9 furniture already exists in the game, meaning there would be no need for complex new assets, just minor layout and instancing tweaks.

Server Optimization

• Persistent But Limited Instances: Instead of every condo being “active” all the time, it could function similarly to apartments only loading when occupied or visited.
• Shared Hallways & Lobbies: Instead of every condo unit existing separately in-game, players would enter a shared hallway or lobby, reducing data consumption. (Think of WoW's phasing so it would be the same hall way for each floor but depending on which floor you are on only people on that would be visible and players on other floors would be phased out of existence / chat range)
• Smart Resource Allocation: Square Enix already manages millions of housing instances, meaning integrating permanent condos would just extend an existing system, not reinvent the wheel.

Pros

• Permanent housing option without disrupting existing wards.
• FCs can finally have permanent homes without worrying about losing them.
• Easier access to housing compared to the limited ward system.
• Solution 9’s vertical cityscape perfectly fits condo-style residences.
• More variety in housing options, with multiple floors and sizes.
• Improved immersion by tying housing into the game’s cyberpunk world.

Cons & Considerations

• No outdoor spaces, unlike traditional houses with yards if they do not add balconies.
• Might limit customization options compared to current houses if they do not add the ability to have balconies or such.
• Could be expensive, depending on in-game pricing.
• Could reduce ward-based housing demand, depending on implementation.

TL;DR

Solution 9 should offer permanent player condos for individuals and FCs. These condos would have multiple floors and sizes, exist in towering skyscrapers, and function like apartments but without the risk of losing them due to inactivity. Players who haven’t completed the MSQ would be teleported to a neutral hallway, ensuring no spoilers while allowing visitor access. This would revolutionize housing and make Solution 9 feel even more immersive!

Permanent condos wouldn’t require excessive resources because:

- They’d be instanced, only loading when entered.
- Square Enix already manages housing efficiently across wards and apartments.
- Modern internet speeds can easily handle this type of instancing.
- Graphical and processing demands would be low, as condos are interior spaces.
- Server optimization could ensure only occupied spaces use active resources.

I would rather they just gave all apartments/FC rooms a refresh in general to have their own small, medium and large layouts. Maybe the larger two could have an outdoor patio or balcony for gardening and decorating. And they should definitely incorporate the interior remodeling we just got for regular houses. But it would be nice to have more places with apartments available in general, and S9 is high up on a lot of people’s wish lists.

Like Island Sanctuary, Cosmic Exploration holds the potential to introduce an instanced housing system to supplement existing ward housing. Give us a small Moon or planet or even just a small area of one, with some hologram technology to make our plot look however we want, including scenery, being able to adjust house size at will, etc. One could hope they see how disappointed people were that we didn’t get this with the Island and make it the big payoff for the Moon, but that’s just hopium on my part. lol

Ngl starting to think Cosmic Exploration wont involve future housing... That being said it could easily be a stepping stone for a ton of other kinds of content.

Apartments really have no reason to have limited amounts, unlike houses, because as a concept they are meant to have lots of residents. That they limit them when other MMOs wouldn't is either an excessive attempt to obey the lore that only a certain amount can be residents, or they are not technically competent enough to achieve what every single other MMORPG can that has implemented houses.

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Originally Posted by Khryseis_Astra

I would rather they just gave all apartments/FC rooms a refresh in general to have their own small, medium and large layouts. Maybe the larger two could have an outdoor patio or balcony for gardening and decorating. And they should definitely incorporate the interior remodeling we just got for regular houses. But it would be nice to have more places with apartments available in general, and S9 is high up on a lot of people’s wish lists.

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Look I fully agree with you on this,(especially the minimalist designs for apartments, not so much on the FC rooms being resizeable tho though I guess with tardis living that could be possible but if housing is not permanent that is asking for ALOT of upset when an FC house gets auto demo'd cause people either didn't use it enough also what if the leads lock the house than you can't even bring guests into your large room) but I would just love to live in Solution 9, lore wise there is no reason that we can't live there there is clearly more than enough housing available based on the cityscape backdrop, and I am a cyberpunk girl so being able to live in a cyberpunk city would just make the game for me I really don't fit the aesthetics of Mist, Goblet, Lav Beds, Empy or Shiro, and I would give up customizable outdoors to have a permanent house in Sol 9, the island sanctuary was nice, but you couldn't run a bar out of it, randoms could no visit you were limited to friendlist people only, with sol 9 condos randoms could be teleported to your floor at the elevators and it would never have to be a spoiler break due to that they can't actually see outside ever, unless they (which the probably will eventually) add a Sol 9 Phasmascape.

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

Apartments really have no reason to have limited amounts, unlike houses, because as a concept they are meant to have lots of residents. That they limit them when other MMOs wouldn't is either an excessive attempt to obey the lore that only a certain amount can be residents, or they are not technically competent enough to achieve what every single other MMORPG can that has implemented houses.

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From my understanding it's the second in that they don't think we're worth the investment in putting extra development in rewriting the code logic of wards and housing in general, just like how they can't be assed to redo the cosmetic code for glamours and the like even if the rewrite would save on a lot of date storage resources.

I mean, we already have like apartments. I thought this would be about adding like, penthouses or having an entire floor dedicated to 1 character's home.

My two cents on housing fix they can with current spaghetti code; apply ability to upgrade interior sizes to both houses and apartments. Double the amount of current apartments. Kick everyone out of houses with full refund, make all houses exclusively FC only, allow those FCs that perviously owned a house 1st pick. Allow those who owned peviously owned personal houses free upgrades to mansion interior in apartments.

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Originally Posted by CCheshire

I mean, we already have like apartments. I thought this would be about adding like, penthouses or having an entire floor dedicated to 1 character's home.

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yes you're on the same track as me Penthouses/ Condos essentially the same thing. The reason I pick Solution 9 is because well look at all the potential housing condos/penthouses that it COULD have

https://i.imgur.com/CBz6PEC.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/7CZPv1M.png
https://i.imgur.com/JjY71Ae.png
https://i.imgur.com/E641Ihc.png
https://i.imgur.com/ZKRsFAR.png
https://i.imgur.com/hMBppCq.png
https://i.imgur.com/ivcje1M.png

All of these COULD be condos/penthouses for players

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Originally Posted by Hanayumi

My two cents on housing fix they can with current spaghetti code; apply ability to upgrade interior sizes to both houses and apartments. Double the amount of current apartments. Kick everyone out of houses with full refund, make all houses exclusively FC only, allow those FCs that perviously owned a house 1st pick. Allow those who owned peviously owned personal houses free upgrades to mansion interior in apartments.

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I would be okay with this as a solution but I still think *solution 9* is the solution to permanently fix housing it's in the name, it's your actual eyes as you look around the city, it's a metropolis it's set up to look like there's a billion potential residential locations, it's litterally the BIGGEST city the game has ever had visually, it makes Gridania, Limsa, Ul'dah, Foundation, Shirogane, Old Sharlayan, Radz-at-Han, Tuliyollal and their residential districts (for the ones that have them) look like villages.

As long as any improvements to apartments include the following:

- The ability to choose an interior size even if it costs way way way more gil (let us have gil sinks! infinite large interiors!)
- The ability to put outdoor furnishings in a dedicated outdoor section, even if that option costs more gil (like a balcony or a top of the roof garden area)
- The ability for that exterior furnishing area to support cross breeding of gardening plants

Whether that's an improvement to existing apartments, or new apartments in Solution 9, or housing on the moon, I don't really care.

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Originally Posted by Catwho

As long as any improvements to apartments include the following:

- The ability to choose an interior size even if it costs way way way more gil (let us have gil sinks! infinite large interiors!)
- The ability to put outdoor furnishings in a dedicated outdoor section, even if that option costs more gil (like a balcony or a top of the roof garden area)
- The ability for that exterior furnishing area to support cross breeding of gardening plants

Whether that's an improvement to existing apartments, or new apartments in Solution 9, or housing on the moon, I don't really care.

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I would be okay with Solution 9 housing to have a balcony and/or even windows that show the city scape as long as there is a warning for players not that far along in the MSQ that entering said residents could spoil their MSQ progression.

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Originally Posted by s32ialx

I would be okay with Solution 9 housing to have a balcony and/or even windows that show the city scape as long as there is a warning for players not that far along in the MSQ that entering said residents could spoil their MSQ progression.

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Yeah, the downside of S9 housing is that you'd need to have completed to DT 97 for it to even make sense. Ishgard and Kugane housing wards didn't have timey-wimey problems.

I think the next planned housing ward is in Sharlayan, based no the NPC there who brags about the house they are building for her.

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Originally Posted by Catwho

Yeah, the downside of S9 housing is that you'd need to have completed to DT 97 for it to even make sense. Ishgard and Kugane housing wards didn't have timey-wimey problems.

I think the next planned housing ward is in Sharlayan, based no the NPC there who brags about the house they are building for her.

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That's why I suggest players who have no completed it instead of being teleported to the building lobby are teleported to a windowless hallway inside one of the skyscrapers + adding a "if you enter this resident it could spoil the MSQ for you" toast notification for houses that opt into a window into sol9 or a balcony to give the sprout the choice to say nah I would rather not enter than, but the main this is the hallway would not spoil anything it would just be a hallway like at any apartment building (since player houses already have sol 9 furniture it wouldn't be any more of a spoiler to have a sol 9 themed hallway it would just explain how players have that furniture in Mists or Lav Beds etc), and the hallway would have say 20 or 30 doors each leading to a player house and the elevator could say "sorry but you do not have access, as you are not a resident here" when trying to go to the lobby

Sorry for the run-on sentence

Also from what I heard which is speculation as well, is that Mare will be the next housing since the bunnies have all been boasting about the houses they made for "everyone" and that there is enough housing for "everyone"

UwU I still think this would be a good idea.

Hey I just wanted to bring this back up for fresh eyes....
also Why FFXIV’s Housing System Is Failing Its Players, and Why It Must Change <another important thread

We don't need Solution 9 housing.

We need instanced housing. Not on Solution 9. In the zones that are already built for this workload.

Please stop demanding the devs to build houses in every expansion we get, it's tiring. Every single expansion we get the same tired-old request. "Build me houses here!" "I want this zone to be housing!" "I want to have houses on the moon!"

...Let's work with what we already have.

The same could be said for the demands to implement instanced housing. Some of us vastly prefer the system we have, and would like to see it expanded. Nothing wrong with that.

Either put instanced housing or make everyone be able to get large / medium which includes even outside. Problem is that large houses are very south after for specific reasons. Some people hostage large houses so they could build small houses with 200 items only. Some people get them so they could sell their accounts later and most of FC houses are sought for selling FC. There has been a lot of FC selling recently and even advertised in PF.

People will buy any large house FC if you are willing to sell. Yeah that is happening.

This is something devs made themselves and this entire housing system needs to be remade. But of course we will see: "servers can't handle it, we need it for subs 24/7".

Edit: All servers on Chaos / Light are getting emptied currently due to bad game design, nothing to do, yawntrail,etc. so now it's your best chance to get a large one since every week there is one new opened.