Instanced Housing

[Rymm]

if it was FCs only, we'd already have enough housing available across all servers and our only issue would be the uneven population

While I agree that having both personal owners and FCs competing for the same houses certainly exacerbated the problem, claiming that limiting it to FCs only would fix the problem is being overly optimistic. Lamia is fairly middling in population and we have multiple FCs who (using 'shell' FCs with a single member and almost the exact same name) own multiple plots. One FC even has no less than seven plots in addition to their main FC mansion, in just the Mists alone.

Limiting housing to FCs would just increase the number of shell FCs.

In general, I feel that apartments are a (baby)step in the right direction. Square should leave the wards as they are, maybe occasionally add more (like they do now) or open a new housing district (like they are with SB,) but their main focus for housing should be in improving and expanding the apartment system. Adding more size tiers at a range of prices, giving the larger ones access to gardening somehow (greenhouses or balconies,) allowing owners to share them with other players, and maybe even giving them workshop access (slapping a door in the lobby that can take you to your FC's workshop can't be that hard to swing) would do wonders for the housing situation.