PSA/ALERT: Houses are getting demolished when they shouldn't. SE needs to see this!

[DelSolstice]

Not receiving an e-mail is not the same thing as an e-mail not being sent. Bayohne said e-mails were sent. Anything after that is out of their hands. That's why they say to make sure you don't have some kind of spam filter that's preventing you from receiving it.

There are multiple reasons a person might not be receiving their e-mail. They haven't updated their e-mail address, they entered the wrong one, it's going to some kind of junk folder, it's getting caught in a spam filter, etc.. Sure, there could be a problem with e-mail notifications, but it's still quite likely that those e-mails were sent and simply not received.


And as far as post history of people posting about this issue, I don't think the first person who posted this issue is very credible. As I implied in my first post in this thread, I actually don't think they're even subscribed to the game. I have no proof of that, but I think it's quite likely.

EDIT: yes I did quote the wrong person originally fml

Okay, so your entire counter argument is "these couple people are lying/might be the same people and all these other people are just really incompetent with their emails."

Let's even say you have a 90% chance of being correct, which I would say is waaaaay too high considering SE's ridiculous handling of the Ungarmax bug (and I like SE). Let's say there's only a 10% chance this is true. Let us, in fact, give your argument every benefit of the doubt.

If there is a 10% chance that houses are being autodemolished as a bug they should still pause the timers a a couple weeks just to be safe, that shouldn't even be a question.

I can't believe you are arguing against safety here because you have a gut feeling or whatever. Even if this was all not true, pausing the timers would immediately quell the panic, and believe me there is a pretty severe state of panic, and that alone is enough to pause things. If it turns out that it was all bs, then great. A few people trolled SE into pausing autodemolish. Big whoop. But either way, this is not a risk that people should be taking. Are you seriously giving zero credence to all this? Because at this point that's not being skeptical, it's having a religious level of faith in Square Enix's competence in this area, which they have very much not earned.

[nranola]

Greetings everyone,

Apologies for the delay in sharing a response regarding this matter.

From our investigations, we have not found cases where housing demolition warning emails were not sent to users who were approaching an estate demolition deadline. To ensure that important notifications such as these are received, we ask you to confirm that your email address is up to date in your Square Enix account settings.

However, if you feel there was an issue regarding your estate being demolished erroneously then it is imperative that you submit a detailed bug report (either via the official forum, (NA) Support Center/(EU) Support Centre, or an in-game GM call) so that the team can do a thorough investigation. We would need information from those affected directly to ensure we gather as much pertinent information as possible.

Hello Bayohne, thank you very much for the response.

There have been two kinds of reports that we have been seeing posted on reddit and the official forums: 1) Cases of houses being demolished prematurely, 2) Cases of the demolition timer being triggered earlier than scheduled. May I ask what kind of information proves to be most useful for the devs to verify these cases? Particularly for players whose houses have already been demolished, I believe there's not much evidence that they can provide after the fact apart from dates (or approximate dates) of when then they last entered the house and when the house was demolished (or when they first noticed it being demolished). Will this be enough information for the devs to go by to be able to investigate thoroughly?

I believe that the more information we have on what would help the devs look into this matter best, the better we'll be equipped to inform the playerbase on what steps to take. I think I speak for every homeowner here that the prospect of this bug existing is a big concern for all of us and we'd like to do what we can to help the process along.

[ExKage]

There are possible ways that Square Enix had sent out emails but that it's not the receiver's email that is the issue but the back end of the sender's. I'm also not saying that's the case. I'm not saying this is the exact case either, but I've had issues with the sender being unable to actually get an email to me because of a pdf. Some setting with the pdf, the fact that it was a pdf, the file size, anything. There just might be an issue on that end. I had issues with someone else's work email not sending to me or them not receiving anything which led to my sending and receiving from their personal email.

[MomomiMomi]

Okay, so your entire counter argument is "these couple people are lying/might be the same people and all these other people are just really incompetent with their emails."

Let's even say you have a 90% chance of being correct, which I would say is waaaaay too high considering SE's ridiculous handling of the Ungarmax bug (and I like SE). Let's say there's only a 10% chance this is true. Let us, in fact, give your argument every benefit of the doubt.

If there is a 10% chance that houses are being autodemolished as a bug they should still pause the timers a a couple weeks just to be safe, that shouldn't even be a question.

I can't believe you are arguing against safety here because you have a gut feeling or whatever. Even if this was all not true, pausing the timers would immediately quell the panic, and believe me there is a pretty severe state of panic, and that alone is enough to pause things. If it turns out that it was all bs, then great. A few people trolled SE into pausing autodemolish. Big whoop. But either way, this is not a risk that people should be taking. Are you seriously giving zero credence to all this? Because at this point that's not being skeptical, it's having a religious level of faith in Square Enix's competence in this area, which they have very much not earned.

Did you quote the wrong person?

Anyway, I never said they shouldn't stop timers. And I'm pretty much the last person to believe in Square Enix's competence. I'm probably one of the most critical people of them on these forums.

What I am saying is that people should calm down and be reasonable. A lot of people have made mistakes in their panic, which has led to false information being spread around. And a lot of information is getting mixed up. And most of it is hearsay.

[DelSolstice]

Did you quote the wrong person?

Anyway, I never said they shouldn't stop timers. And I'm pretty much the last person to believe in Square Enix's competence. I'm probably one of the most critical people of them on these forums.

What I am saying is that people should calm down and be reasonable. A lot of people have made mistakes in their panic, which has led to false information being spread around. And a lot of information is getting mixed up. And most of it is hearsay.

Yes I did quote the wrong person, fml, since corrected.


Fair enough that people should be reasonable and try not to spread exaggerated rumors. There's probably been a fair amount of that. But at the same time, this is an extremely serious issue (at least as far as this videogame goes), and caution absolutely trumps skepticism here. Once SE has actually taken precautions, then I would agree with you that yes, people should calm down. Until then, given SE's uneven track record and de-prioritizing the non-Japanese datacenters, I'm all for banging pots and pans about this. I don't care if we get some false noise, that's a secondary priority.


And also until then, I'm taking precautions so if it happens to me, I at least have everything documented. I don't have a super strong attachment to my house but I love my plot to death. I'd be horrified if I lost it.

[Teraluna]

No housing demolition
Increase instances
Add Ishgard housing
Allow movement of your complete house for a punitive fee (if any)
Allow your character to retire in your house as per an inn room

Get it done SE

[Bourne_Endeavor]

Yes, as I mentioned, we are asking users who feel that there was an error outside of the normal housing demolition procedure to fill out a bug report so we can investigate the claims case by case.

I have to ask, how does this help people who have already lost their houses or those fearful of losing them? There are numerous reports of houses being demo'd mere days after the owner stepped inside them. A bug isn't report give them their house back.

[Raven2014]

I have to ask, how does this help people who have already lost their houses or those fearful of losing them?

Eh ... it would help addressing the problems (if exists or doesn't exist) so people don't have to fear any more for once?

There are numerous reports of houses being demo'd mere days after the owner stepped inside them. A bug isn't report give them their house back.

For two, it helps to verify if the report is factual. If they can verify that it is, they can both stop it and find a way to compensate the affected players. It seems you're asking the questions already assuming what people are claiming are true. But until it's verified as factual, there is nothing else to do really. And like I said, if people are interested in seeing the issues come to light/resolves quickly, then it's their interests to make the reports.

[Luna-M]

Dear Bayohne,

Thank you for responding. For the inevitable complaints and comments in poor taste that you'll receive in response to your post on here and Reddit, I wanted to say thank you on behalf of us reasonable players. Please don't get discouraged by this community. Some of us appreciate the work you do.

---
For everyone ready to take pitchforks to SE headquarters, read the response again. SE can't do anything or look at anything if there are no reports submitted. How can they possibly check to see if someone lost their home, but was in it recently, if they don't have a name? At this point in time, the alleged people that had their houses dissapear before the 45 days or their timers not show, have actually NOT posted proof. I saw reddit posts of an alleged convo with SE support but then no follow-up. Ask yourself, have you been personally affected or are you just listening to hearsay?

SE is directly engaging you right here, right now. Bayohne is one of our community reps that can get something done! You have his attention, don't waste it!

If you have proof, SUBMIT IT so that this very important bug can get fixed if it does exist. None of us want to randomly lose our houses. We need to come together at this time, and show the devs that there is in fact a problem so they can fix it. This thread really needs to focus on providing proof instead of people looking for any chance to sheep out and complain.

Turning this thread into a complaint thread is going to get us ignored. For once in your lives be a constructive community that gets stuff done. If none of the victims are willing to put proof forward, just remember this is not SE ignoring the NA community. It's us crying wolf and doing nothing.

Please for the sake of getting something important fixed, be constructive and let's solve this together.

Finally someone saying what i been saying for days.

This "Me too" post doesn't offer anything except from more water in the rumour mill.
Fill in the bug report and submit it to SE.
Also take screenshots of everything concerning this bug from in game logs and screenshots to mails and support conversations.

Agree. On the forum and Reddit combined we've seen dozens of people claiming they affected but only 1 person reported it (granted they might filed in game GM calls or chat) but normally people are really vocal about this stuff and it been pretty low on that part and no ss of conversations, nothing. At this point I kinda lean towards people just wanted attention.

EDIT: yes I did quote the wrong person originally fml

If there is a 10% chance that houses are being autodemolished as a bug they should still pause the timers a a couple weeks just to be safe, that shouldn't even be a question.

If SE don't get any reports it like a needle in a haystack to even troubleshoot or investigate a alleged bug.

[Riardon]

So we have 2 aspects of this alleged catastrophic bug.
E-mails won't reach the house owners for various reasons.
And houses being demolished earlier than the 40smth days limit despite of the owners' recent activity in the house.
These are 2 different things.
The second one is what gives me chills down my spine as I own a mid plot and spent too much time and gils decorating not to mention the stress to hunt down this specific plot.
I wish those people who said they are affected would post more proof like screenshots etc of the conversations they had with SE support and GMs be it here on the OF or Reddit.
Up until now I saw no solid confirmations or valid clues that indeed this thing happens. That doesn't mean it's not real but we need more proofs for that.
If this would happen to me I would bombard the OF forums and Reddit and would never return to the game unless they would give the house back to me.
One thing is certain I wouldn't let this go in peace and you would see me posting screenshots of everything I could.
SE should cancel the auto demolish system until they are 100% certain there isn't such a bug.
The whole housing system needs to be looked into again and they should change some things.