Reclamation of Inactive Housing announced

[Iromi]

I'm neither against nor for this, I don't really care..it doesn't bother me, but I can understand why it bothers some at the same time!

Anyway, I'll just leave this here:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/113554
1:14:22
Q: Will there be any maintenance fees or other costs for housing, besides the cost of the land and house?
A: In older MMOs, such as Ultima Online, there was a house maintenance fee you had to pay weekly, but in FFXIV: ARR we decided against this system. Similarly, these older MMOs also had a system where your house would break down if you didn’t log in after a while in order to have you continue your subscription, but this is a thing of the past and we won't have any system like that.

One thing I do not like, is when they say one thing and do something else. First it was personal housing being separate price from FC, then it was SMN egi, now this apparently, what is next It is hard for me to follow them and take them seriously because what they say changes so much. Not saying they are horrible people, again, they are only human, I just can't really take stuff they say seriously anymore...at all.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

I'm neither against nor for this, I don't really care..it doesn't bother me, but I can understand why it bothers some at the same time!

Anyway, I'll just leave this here:



One thing I do not like, is when they say one thing and do something else. First it was personal housing being separate price from FC, then it was SMN egi, now this apparently, what is next It is hard for me to follow them and take them seriously because what they say changes so much. Not saying they are horrible people, again, they are only human, I just can't really take stuff they say seriously anymore...at all.

You aren't understand what he is saying. He's not saying there won't be a relinquish system. Hes saying the house won't need a maintenance fee AND it won't visibly break down( start to look unused, broken, cracked walls, that kind of stuff)

[Aoxaviar]

I think that SE needs to provide the following as a means for aiding casual players and those who are not able to meet getting online (military and others who are not able to access the game for long time duration):

With the emails that they will be sending out to private and/or FC players, provide a link to take a person to the site that will allow them to either reset the clock as a way of "checking in" to the estate, or something along those lines.

In the USA, people can hold mail with the USPS if they are going to be gone for short or long periods of time. Why not have SE setup a way for a player and/or FC to be able to do the same?

This would allow for players to be able to put a start position on or reset the 45 day timer remotely in lieu of being in game. For those who unsub and those who are not able to access the game for long periods, this is a win-win for aiding those players who have worked (or grinded in some cases) to get that house and now keep it.

As for the time period of 45 days, I think it is a good one.

Let the love and hate begin!

[Fyce]

I think that SE needs to provide the following as a means for aiding casual players and those who are not able to meet getting online (military and others who are not able to access the game for long time duration): [...]

Yes, it would be nice, but that's missing the point of the system.

SE want you to use your house on a regular basis. They set that amount of time to be "at least one time within 45 days".
If you don't, they want to make it available to someone else or an FC who will hopefuly use it (if not, the cycle will just continue).

Clearly, the message they sent with that new system says that individual housing is a luxury you have to maintain/use regularly to keep. Not doing it would mean that you're not the target for that particular content.
You would have to join an active FC with a house to be free from this issue.

In short: individual housing is something for people who commit to it on a very frequent basis... which is fine considering the rarity of that ressource (plots).

[Aoxaviar]

Yes, it would be nice, but that's missing the point of the system.

SE want you to use your house on a regular basis. They set that amount of time to be "at least one time within 45 days".
If you don't, they want to make it available to someone else or an FC who will hopefuly use it (if not, the cycle will just continue).

Clearly, the message they sent with that new system says that individual housing is a luxury you have to maintain/use regularly to keep. Not doing it would mean that you're not the target for that particular content.
You would have to join an active FC with a house to be free from this issue.

In short: individual housing is something for people who commit to it on a very frequent basis... which is fine considering the rarity of that ressource (plots).

I definitely won't dispute what your saying. However, for those who are active players when they can be, will be penalized by this system due to real life.

I agree that they could join an active free company, but that diminishes the work and effort they personally put into the personal house they worked to get and make their own.

I like the basis of the system, but the big flaw is that there is not any way for players who due to real life have no way to tag their house with a "unable to log on for xx days" tag for those who need it.

[SinisterJointss]

I'm neither against nor for this, I don't really care..it doesn't bother me, but I can understand why it bothers some at the same time!

Anyway, I'll just leave this here:



One thing I do not like, is when they say one thing and do something else. First it was personal housing being separate price from FC, then it was SMN egi, now this apparently, what is next It is hard for me to follow them and take them seriously because what they say changes so much. Not saying they are horrible people, again, they are only human, I just can't really take stuff they say seriously anymore...at all.

You can leave it there all you want. It says nothing about land relinquishing. That specifically refers to housing Maintenance (repair costs for housing)

[Avidria]

I'm neither against nor for this, I don't really care..it doesn't bother me, but I can understand why it bothers some at the same time!

Anyway, I'll just leave this here:



One thing I do not like, is when they say one thing and do something else. First it was personal housing being separate price from FC, then it was SMN egi, now this apparently, what is next It is hard for me to follow them and take them seriously because what they say changes so much. Not saying they are horrible people, again, they are only human, I just can't really take stuff they say seriously anymore...at all.

In fairness, that post you linked is from 2 years ago.

They probably shouldn't have made a definite statement like "this won't happen" back then at all, as people (and their design plans) are wont to change.

Actually, in the context of that Q&A, it looks like that's an article from when (actually looks like before) they first released housing. So, at the time that this was written, his statement was true - they didn't have a system like this when housing was released.

[Ibi]

In fairness, that post you linked is from 2 years ago.

They probably shouldn't have made a definite statement like "this won't happen" back then at all, as people (and their design plans) are wont to change.

It's old, but I think most people would say their original intention was clear.

To my mind, it seems more telling that Yoshi-P's specifically referred to such systems as "a thing of the past". To me (and here's a case where I can't really argue with someone who wants to say I'm reading too much into it), that sounds pretty derisive of such a system.

Extrapolating from there (and, again, I can't argue with someone who wants to say this is an unreasonable extrapolation), it feels like this isn't a decision that they're being forced to make, rather than finding an alternative solution.

The question (which is far more important in the grand scheme of things than any bickering over housing space) is why a game that's such a huge success, both critically and commercially, isn't getting the appropriate resources to support and take advantage of that success.

[OfTheWhitewind]

The question (which is far more important in the grand scheme of things than any bickering over housing space) is why a game that's such a huge success, both critically and commercially, isn't getting the appropriate resources to support and take advantage of that success.

Just because a game is successful doesn't mean they have infinite resources. New space or servers for housing means more manpower, more time to upkeep them, more money, etc. It isn't really as simple as you seem to think it is. Not to mention how much of that is going into patches and expansions which should definitely take priority over housing. Housing is in high demand now more than ever so they had to find a solution sooner rather than later. Perhaps a better one will come along. We just don't know yet. For now this is fair and faulting Yoshi-P for something he said over two years ago when housing shortage wasn't an issue seems silly.

[Ibi]

Just because a game is successful doesn't mean they have infinite resources. New space or servers for housing means more manpower, more time to upkeep them, more money, etc. It isn't really as simple as you seem to think it is. Not to mention how much of that is going into patches and expansions which should definitely take priority over housing. Housing is in high demand now more than ever so they had to find a solution sooner rather than later. Perhaps a better one will come along. We just don't know yet. For now this is fair and faulting Yoshi-P for something he said over two years ago when housing shortage wasn't an issue seems silly.

No one's faulting him for say it. People are trying to explain why they're shocked and disappointed at the announcement of this system, based on the expectations that were set initially.

If the system had been launched with this restriction, people would have been afforded the opportunity to factor it into their decision to purchase (or not purchase) a house, but adding it on as a new factor after people have invested large sums of gil and time into their houses is a tough pill for some to swallow.

I'm also not sure it's fair to say that the housing shortage wasn't an issue. It might not have be voiced by the customers, but they've known from even before they first added housing that they weren't adding enough plots even to allow for every FC that wanted a house to purchase one.