Forcing players to pay to keep housing is unfair.

[LalaRu]

When people have an hard time where they cannot login for 45 days or more, or cannot afford a sub of about 10 bucks per month, I think them have priorities higher than some housing in a game.

[Hitsuzen]

I get what you are saying truly, but if they didn't do this new players would not have the opportunity to get housing and your neighborhoods would begin to stagnate as players who have quit would leave massive areas of housing empty and unused.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

The same devs that already said that its completely fine to take breaks and the same devs that once said that such a timer would never come and also the same devs that created this system that was always going to be quite limited. And the problem is not only the sub (well in OP case it is) but people can be subbed all the time but if they have no way to log in the game they will still lose their house. So you are paying them the money and yet lose it. That for me is the most bad point of this timer. So they not only went against their own words..no they just hit us twice by needing to log in too. (And just for the record, I dont plan to take a long break or anything but I also know how fast things can happen in real life too and how bad it can turn fast)

You are conflating two difference stances. Take a break is not without consequence nor did Yoshi insinuate otherwise. If I unsubbed after a handful of Savage clears, I can't expect my current static to kick whomever replaced me months later when I decide to come back. Housing, due to its limited supply, is similar. Our sub only guarantees us access to the game itself, not the side amenities. I'll grant you, being subbed should protect your house even if you cannot set foot in it, though I can't see that causing a problem since you could easily have someone log on for you. I mean, I could even explain how to do it to my mother if need be and she's not great with games lol. I also never recall them saying they wouldn't implement a demolish system and I suspect you may have misinterpreted it. With the way housing works, you'll inevitably have whole sections where the players quit along ago and have no intention of coming back yet no one can ever occupy the plot. It's wasted resources I cannot see the devs just sitting on. Unless they do adopt a better system where everyone is guaranteed a house, demolition is necessary.

Could they extend the timer? Sure. But if I remember right, they disliked the original 90 days because it took too long. Which brings us back to my previous point: they don't want us unsubbing for long periods of time while holding onto limited supplied content. The person you quoted beneath me has a good suggestion though.

I do want to say I don't like their system. It's stupid they should accept people just aren't interested in a large social ward setting. Instanced housing would be a massive improvement and allow for more customizable feature, especially if it's all handled client side. I partly wonder one of the reasons they don't go in this direction is the enormous undertaking required to essentially rebuild housing. A good number of players couldn't care less about it, so that content update would be utterly meaningless to them yet likely be all we got just due to time constraints. More likely, they're being a tad stubborn much like they were with Grand Company restrictions in PvP. Perhaps this is less an issue on JP servers? Maybe people socialize better there. Who knows?

[Zojha]

I also never recall them saying they wouldn't implement a demolish system and I suspect you may have misinterpreted it.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...810-30-2013%29

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.

I dunno. It seems pretty clear to me what they meant. If there is a misunderstanding, it's on the translator's part.

[Masekase_Hurricane]

I also never recall them saying they wouldn't implement a demolish system and I suspect you may have misinterpreted it.

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.

Letter from the Producer

Yoshida has backtracked multiple times with regards to housing. Since they were implemented we have been told of a new system, this new system was supposed to enable them to make unlimited houses with the usual "please look forward to it "since ARR. We were promised Ishgard housing before and during HW and even SB housing isn't going to be implemented straight away, transfers have also been mentioned as "please look forward to it" since ARR.

I wish SE would stop waving a carrot in front of our faces to keep us subbed.

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Well, I stand corrected. o.o

Could be a translation error, but that would be a pretty egregious one. Now I wonder if the demolish system was a Square Enix idea since it does effectively lock people. Either way, it's definitely a backpedal even if it does make sense. Sometimes, I think the devs have a bad habit of promising things they don't entirely think through. Hence egi glamours taking forever and a day before finally happening.

[Centershock]

Didn't they also say that player housing would be on a completely different "instance" than FC housing? I'm not sure of the exact wording but I'm almost positive something like this was said.

[Masekase_Hurricane]

Didn't they also say that player housing would be on a completely different "instance" than FC housing? I'm not sure of the exact wording but I'm almost positive something like this was said.

They said player housing would be cheaper than FC housing and in a different area.

[ToasterMan]

SE promised those housing implementations before they realised just how crappy their current servers are. You notice how they brought it back up again after they announced new servers and a budget increase?

[Masekase_Hurricane]

SE promised those housing implementations before they realised just how crappy their current servers are. You notice how they brought it back up again after they announced new servers and a budget increase?

Not really Toaster they have mentioned it every few patches since 2.3. Then they teased more housing and Ishgard pre HW launch, then they said it wouldn't fit in with lore and will be after dragon song.

After this we got apartments will be coming first and shortly after Ishgard housing and now we have Ishgard housing will come after SB housing area. Then we get SB housing wont be released on launch and will appear shortly after. To me this just feels like history repeating itself.

If housing does come it wont be till around 4.3 as they will use busy balancing raids, classes and waiting for it to fit in with the story.