Restrictions Being Lifted on 20th Feb

[ChaoticCody]

Did square fix the housing crisis? Course not. That's not the only problem this time though, this time I'm pretty peeved at the people I see in here too. What is wrong with a small house? It's preferable to no house right? And you can upgrade if you spot a med/large available right? And you can upgrade the NEXT time they add more wards as a solution (because you know they will) right?

So what's wrong with a small starter home?

This. 100%. This is the point I was trying to get across. Get a starter small and upgrade when you can. At best it's a 3m loss.

[Searban]

Did square fix the housing crisis? Course not. That's not the only problem this time though, this time I'm pretty peeved at the people I see in here too. What is wrong with a small house? It's preferable to no house right? And you can upgrade if you spot a med/large available right? And you can upgrade the NEXT time they add more wards as a solution (because you know they will) right?

So what's wrong with a small starter home?

There is nothing wrong with a small plot per se (even if it is, in fact, disappointingly small). But I think you're misreading the reason why some people might be upset about this situation.

After the debacle 4.1 was in regard to housing, SE have made some vague promises to improve the the system, in particular the way plots are acquired, to avoid a situation like that from repeating. Fast-forward to 4.2 and the only thing devs "improved" about the plot acquisition model is the moratorium that gave priority to FCs and (for reasons I truly can't understand) those who wanted to relocate. And so, Monday is going to be a repeat of 4.1, just as 4.1 was in a large part a repeat of 3.3.

What homeless players wishing to acquire a plot have to look forward to now is having to deal with the same mess that they already had to deal with a patch ago in order to be able to compete for scraps left behind by everyone else. There is of course the continuously remaining issue of a massive disproportion between an average number of available plots per server and a vastly outweighing it estimated average number of active homeless players per server, meaning that only a small share of playerbase will be able to take advantage of those scraps, again.

All of this a couple of months after Yoshi.P went on record saying what basically amounts to: We know we screwed up. Please wait until the next patch while we work to improve the system.

And while the idea to grab a small plot and upgrade to a larger one in the future is sound in theory, there are 2 major problems. First being the fact that most people won't even be able to get a small plot anyway. The other is the fact that contrary to what some people seem to think addition of new wards isn't something that happens too often in this game. Subdivisions in 2.4, then 9 new wards in 3.3, then 15 wards (an entire new district) in 4.1 and finally 12 new wards in 4.2. The last case also seems more like a freak occurrence caused by the playerbase outrage post-4.1 more than anything else. Every time devs are asked about new wards due to overwhelmingly low supply of housing plots compared to persisting demand the response the give is the same - that they can't expand housing districts easily due to server limitations. Even those 12 new wards added in 4.2 were supposed to require additional reinforcements of the server base.

So don't be surprised if people aren't appeased by the possibility that they may get an opportunity to get a better plot somewhere down the line, 1 or 2 years from now. Especially when SE saw it fit to make Shirogane one of the major selling points for their latest expansion.

People seem to be under the impression that because they saved gil, they are 'entitled' to obtain a Medium/Large house. Basically it comes to a greed of wanting only the best and a belief that smalls are below them. These people don't want housing, they want something to wave in front of people to show off. Anyone with a real desire for a house will take what they can get and aim for higher while knowing they always have something they already love to fall back on.

Being dissatisfied with a housing system that is unacceptably messy and inefficient at its core is not being entitled. Neither is voicing your discontent over the fact that nothing has been improved between patches 4.1 and 4.2 despite vows by the dev team to provide said improvements.

[Settiesama]

Being dissatisfied with a housing system that is unacceptably messy and inefficient at its core is not being entitled. Neither is voicing your discontent over the fact that nothing has been improved between patches 4.1 and 4.2 despite vows by the dev team to provide said improvements.

And that is the reason people are saying "I refuse to buy a small because I saved for and want a Medium/Large"? They said they want make more housing for people, they never said anything about Medium and Larges for everyone. Whether you like it or not, a small is a house, and those people who refuse to buy smaller because it's 'beneath them' don't deserve one.

[XiXiQ]

I have to agree, even on Tonberry there are smalls to be had for FCs right now. Get it while you can, worry about moving later on. If you get one, everything is available, gardening, airships, submarines, diadem, etc. It might be small, but it's a start, and better than nothing.

[Searban]

And that is the reason people are saying "I refuse to buy a small because I saved for and want a Medium/Large"? They said they want make more housing for people, they never said anything about Medium and Larges for everyone.

You can't even refuse to buy a plot under current circumstances. What people are saying is, at best, I refuse to participate in another serving of the 4.1 housing debacle for a chance to buy a small plot none of the FCs and privileged players wanted. Because that's how Monday is going to look like, as nothing has really been improved since 4.1.

In other words, promises to make improvements so another 4.1 (or 3.3) doesn't happen were made but not upheld. The only thing that SE have achieved with 4.2 was appeasing some of the FCs breathing down their collective neck. While I agree that increasing % of FCs with access to housing can only be considered a success, it can't be a justification for the fact that literally everything else about the housing system was left where it was before - in the gutter.

I don't even want to discuss the matter of whether a small plot has a sufficient size for anyone or not (although the fact that small plots used to come without basements originally tells you something about how SE devs perceive the concept of sufficient space). But complaining that people aren't happy with having a (very long) shot at a handful of small plots come Monday is starting to sound a lot like Housing is fine, stop complaining. Shut up and gratefully accept the scraps you're given.

[MizArai]

And so, Monday is going to be a repeat of 4.1, just as 4.1 was in a large part a repeat of 3.3.

There were houses still available for purchase on Hyperion for like 3 days after 3.3 launched. Granted, they were usually in the Goblet which most people find undesirable, but they were there. 4.1 wasn't like that and I doubt Tuesday will be like that.

And while the idea to grab a small plot and upgrade to a larger one in the future is sound in theory, there are 2 major problems. First being the fact that most people won't even be able to get a small plot anyway. The other is the fact that contrary to what some people seem to think addition of new wards isn't something that happens too often in this game. Subdivisions in 2.4, then 9 new wards in 3.3, then 15 wards (an entire new district) in 4.1 and finally 12 new wards in 4.2. The last case also seems more like a freak occurrence caused by the playerbase outrage post-4.1 more than anything else. Every time devs are asked about new wards due to overwhelmingly low supply of housing plots compared to persisting demand the response the give is the same - that they can't expand housing districts easily due to server limitations. Even those 12 new wards added in 4.2 were supposed to require additional reinforcements of the server base.

They added Ward 6 with 2.3, Wards 7 & 8 with 2.38, subdivisions with 2.4, Wards 9-12 with 3.3, apartments with 3.4, Shirogane (with it's 12 wards) in 4.1, and finally Wards 13-18 with 4.2. I'm kind of confused about the 9 new wards and 15 wards and such that you're talking about. From my count since housing started they've added 13 wards, subdivisions, apartments, and a new housing district. And while that's been spread out over a few years, it does show they're kind of trying to work on the problem. It may not be at the pace we'd like to see, but they do have other things that needed to happen in game. New content has to come out so often. They have their silly holiday events to plan (since they don't reuse events like other games). They're supposed to be expanding apartments soon (which sounds like we'll be able to upgrade our apartments and hopefully that will lead to things like being able to expand the inside of your home since it's instanced like apartments). And I imagine that if expanding apartments doesn't help with the housing situation enough, then they'll work on adding more wards again. Housing has become a large part of this game for many people so it should continue to see improvements and additions.

Being dissatisfied with a housing system that is unacceptably messy and inefficient at its core is not being entitled. Neither is voicing your discontent over the fact that nothing has been improved between patches 4.1 and 4.2 despite vows by the dev team to provide said improvements.

They did improve some things. There is now an RNG timer so houses cannot be purchased when relinquished so it's harder to sell plots (have to sell with an FC attached or sell to a relocation, cuts down the market). FCs were the only ones able to purchase new houses at first, which means that FCs that were left out in 4.1 and couldn't beat the rush of personal house buyers now had a shot and could buy a house to let them have access to features that are locked behind housing (workshop stuff like grade 3 buffs, airships, subs, housing skins). It may not have been all the improvements you want to see, but they're working on it.

[Ariane]

Did square fix the housing crisis? Course not. That's not the only problem this time though, this time I'm pretty peeved at the people I see in here too. What is wrong with a small house? It's preferable to no house right? And you can upgrade if you spot a med/large available right? And you can upgrade the NEXT time they add more wards as a solution (because you know they will) right?

So what's wrong with a small starter home?

What if SE disables personal house relocations next time because people complained so much about it being unfair? That would be funny, actually.

[Searban]

There were houses still available for purchase on Hyperion for like 3 days after 3.3 launched. Granted, they were usually in the Goblet which most people find undesirable, but they were there. 4.1 wasn't like that and I doubt Tuesday will be like that.

Using a single server to prove anything is anecdotal evidence at best. I may as well mention that Cerberus saw every plot taken in 30-60 min in 4.1. And before someone is going to claim that I'm playing on an overpopulated server - that's not the case, as Cerberus isn't nowhere near being the largest on Chaos. EU simply seems to have a bit more even spread of active playerbase in general, with even Omega, a new server added during SB launch, having all plots taken within a short time span after the maintenance ended.

They added Ward 6 with 2.3, Wards 7 & 8 with 2.38, subdivisions with 2.4, Wards 9-12 with 3.3, apartments with 3.4, Shirogane (with it's 12 wards) in 4.1, and finally Wards 13-18 with 4.2. I'm kind of confused about the 9 new wards and 15 wards and such that you're talking about. From my count since housing started they've added 13 wards, subdivisions, apartments, and a new housing district. And while that's been spread out over a few years, it does show they're kind of trying to work on the problem. It may not be at the pace we'd like to see, but they do have other things that needed to happen in game. New content has to come out so often. They have their silly holiday events to plan (since they don't reuse events like other games). They're supposed to be expanding apartments soon (which sounds like we'll be able to upgrade our apartments and hopefully that will lead to things like being able to expand the inside of your home since it's instanced like apartments). And I imagine that if expanding apartments doesn't help with the housing situation enough, then they'll work on adding more wards again. Housing has become a large part of this game for many people so it should continue to see improvements and additions.

For some reason I got confused and was sure that the base number of wards per district prior to 3.3 was higher than it actually was and thought 3.3 added 3 wards per district up to 15, with Shirogane consequently launching with 15 wards. It's my mistake and I can only blame the lack of sleep. I should've double-checked that. My point however wasn't the number of wards, but frequency at which they're added. I skipped additions in and prior to 2.38, because personal housing was added in 2.38. And I assume people complaining about the moratorium currently in effect are interested in personal housing, not FC housing. For obvious reasons.

Saying that addition of new wards, even if spread across a long period of time, is a sign of SE trying to work out the problems is a very lenient implementation at best. It might as well be said that they try to avoid and postpone doing anything about plots shortages as long as they can, until they're absolutely forced to act. I could also point out that if the dev team has actually been trying to solve those issues all this time it's every bit ridiculous that it took 3 years or so and a debacle of the size of 4.1 for them to finally realise that under their housing system a 1 plot per account per server limit is an absolute necessity.

That being said, if the reason usually quoted as being the key one preventing them from expanding wards more often or adding procedurally generated wards are servers capacity limitations, one has to question quality of their server base or quality of the basic code this game relies on. No other major MMO I know of has ever had this kind of problems with housing. And then there is of course the question whether the assumption they'll surely add more wards in the foreseeable future will always be correct.

Mentioning apartments in this debate doesn't make much sense either. They're not an alternative to housing plots, but to an alternative to FC private chambers for people who don't belong to an FC. Until they can be compared to housing plots in terms of size and available features that's all they'll be. And Id' like to see a source regarding planned apartment expansion if you have access to it, because last thing I remember anyone on the dev team saying about it was when Yoshi.P was asked about potential instanced housing and expansion of apartment system, which at its core is a possible foundation for it. He answered that they have no plans to do anything like that and want to further focus on wards instead.

Finally, the issue of "other content" being developed. That's a strawman based on an assumption that every person on the dev team is involved into all, or at least majority of ongoing projects all at once. In this particular case this is a reversed strawman derived from the one some of the hardcore raiders like use - that if it wasn't for "useless" stuff like housing and other carebear things there would be more raids and raid-like content. We all know the team responsible for XIV is (too) small and that it has been a problem for years. But to use this as a justification of the condition housing is in right now is a strawman. Unless they're so small that they couldn't put a single person on the job of solving most pressing housing problems for more than 3 years. But in that case they should've never even develope the thing in the first place.

They did improve some things. There is now an RNG timer so houses cannot be purchased when relinquished so it's harder to sell plots (have to sell with an FC attached or sell to a relocation, cuts down the market). FCs were the only ones able to purchase new houses at first, which means that FCs that were left out in 4.1 and couldn't beat the rush of personal house buyers now had a shot and could buy a house to let them have access to features that are locked behind housing (workshop stuff like grade 3 buffs, airships, subs, housing skins). It may not have been all the improvements you want to see, but they're working on it.

The actual improvement that helped with plots selling/flipping was the "1 plot per account per server" limit. Shame it was introduced so late, since it has no retroactive effectiveness. But that's a step in the right direction nevertheless.

However, moratorium which allowed FCs priority when buying plots in recently added wards is not an improvement, but a band-aid. I said it in my previous post, it's a band-aid aimed at appeasing angry FCs breathing down SE's collective neck. Is it a good thing that the % of FCs with access to housing and its features increased? Absolutely. But does it solve any issue in a longer run? Not really, as any FC formed or grown into proper shape from the next week onwards will face the same problems many FCs prior to 4.2 faced. And if they intend to reintroduce this moratorium every time new wards are added it'll to cater to the FCs at the expense of personal housing it'll only further prove that personal housing is an afterthought that should have never been introduced in its current shape (and in fact wasn't meant to be, but someone got lazy).

It also needs to be mentioned that application of that band-aid was botched regardless. Because while only FCs were able to purchase plots if they didn't have any before, relocation was open for everyone, effectively allowing players with personal houses to take advantage of it and grab more desirable plots, while leaving those individual players that were affected by 4.1 debacle the most out of the equation entirely.

Limits on the plot hoarding aside, 4.2 has provided very little improvement from the point of view of an individual player interested in personal housing. It is still an unacceptably messy and inefficient system at its core.

[ElasmoFan]

I mean it's pretty clear all SE wanted this time around was to give FCs access to any house / workshop, no matter the preference or size. That's why relocation was allowed, since it still freed up a house somewhere and why they haven't really said anything about the FCs owning wards or people using alts or making sham fcs. I mean when the Shiro thing happened, they apologized and said they would add more. At this point it's fairly clear by their actions they had no interest in individuals getting a house or fcs getting a preferred or larger size house, just them getting any so they have access to their workshop. Which if that was their only goal this time around, it worked. Though it also didn't appease everyone and still upset a lot of people, especially since there wasn't a lot of communication on their intent this time around.

I think their main focus after this might be to make apartments larger and possibly with that pseudo patio thing, add gardening and access to some outdoor furniture to apartments as well. At least this is what I'm speculating and hoping. I don't really think there's much they can to get everyone into houses because of server limitations and just how many individuals want housing. I'm sure there's more they could/should have done but it's clear their intent was really just for fcs to get any house right now and then anyone else was an after thought.

As a note I'm not defending them or anything but it's clear this ward add-on was rushed as a result of what happened with Shiro and had a very specific intent in mind.

[Searban]

I mean it's pretty clear all SE wanted this time around was to give FCs access to any house / workshop, no matter the preference or size. That's why relocation was allowed, since it still freed up a house somewhere and why they haven't really said anything about the FCs owning wards or people using alts or making sham fcs. I mean when the Shiro thing happened, they apologized and said they would add more. At this point it's fairly clear by their actions they had no interest in individuals getting a house or fcs getting a preferred or larger size house, just them getting any so they have access to their workshop. Which if that was their only goal this time around, it worked. Though it also didn't appease everyone and still upset a lot of people, especially since there wasn't a lot of communication on their intent this time around.

If that was their goal and if they were clear on that fact from the beginning, since early days of 4.1 I'd argue that current complaints from individual players are unjustified. But if they were clear on that they would never be able to appease individual players angered by the events of 4.1. Following this train of thought however we'd have to assume that SE withheld any communication on the matter of housing to keep players placated, and that right there is an ugly thought. Although not an impossible one.