The Demolition Timers Need to Be Clearer for Peace of Mind

[Penthea]

I have read yet another post on reddit about a player who lost their house as a result of a malfunctioning demolition timer. These demolition bug rumours are very alarming considering the issue regarding emails not being sent to players notifying them of demolition has remained unfixed for months.

Like any other home owner the recent rise of these sort of posts is worrying me greatly. Even more so because I am a fc master with a house the entire fc loves.

Part of the issue is the demolition timer being invisible until the house is close to the deadline. Some players are concerned that due to the malfunction of the timer, it won't always display when it randomly decides the deadline to reset it is near. If the timer was permanently visible this specific worry would lessen greatly. This information is already in the game. It would not be difficult for SE to make it permanently visible.

Additionally the timers window should make it abundantly clear when the demolition timer has been paused on the data centre. Again this information is already in the game, so it's not much work for SE to make it visible to players.

These two changes would lend greatly to peace of mind for players worrying about their houses.

I cannot fathom why SE choose to hide the demolition timer up to a certain point, and why we are never told in-game about a demolition pause. I am not sure what they gain from this other than our irritation.

EDIT: Additionally it is very misleading to have the timer invisible up to a certain point. I have informed many very confused players that it's intentionally invisible until the house is close to demolition. Having it invisible can lead players to think they're looking in the wrong place, their ui is bugged or there is no timer at all.

[Dustytome]

Assuming you're talking about this one? Having the timer always visible would be nice, although some people might worry unless the description and maybe a little info blurb accompany it. A pop-up notice the first time or two that you login during the 30 day period without resetting it would be nice to have as well.

[Jojoya]

More prominent demo timer notifications wouldn't prevent problems from timer malfunctions if what people reported was correct. A few said they had entered their house the day before but it was gone the next time they logged in. The notification would never have been there for them to see.

The pause is for the benefit of those who are unable to play due to real life natural disaster and therefore wouldn't be able to see any in-game messages. That's why the notification is posted outside of the game. There's no need for one in the game since you're able to play and of course able to enter your house.

If someone can't be bothered to enter their house to reset the demo timer 2 weeks before it expires, I doubt showing them a message a month in advance is going to help. They're going to ignore it just as much as they already ignore the 2 week message.

If you rarely enter your house so you're scared you're going to get demo'd, put a mender or summoning bell in it and use them there instead of in one of the zones. That way you'll be entering on a regular basis so you don't have to worry about it.

More and more in-game notifications would not be the answer because players are already ignoring the abundance of notifications we already get after logging on our characters. I can't tell you how many times FC members haven't known about emergency maintenance because they didn't bother reading the system message after they logged in and only found out because someone made a comment about wanting to get something done before the servers go down.

A better place for the notification would be the game launcher. Add an Alert icon next to the Play button that lights up after the player enters their log-in information if there's an account specific notification. The player can then click it to see the relevant message, whether it's game time is about to expire, their house is about to get demo'd or whatever. That's going to get the player's attention better than more in-game spam.

[Luna-M]

I enter my house daily. Problem solved.

[Rymm]

While I have no reason to be against adding an in-game notification (as long as they keep the email notices as well) I stand by what I said last time that this exact same topic came up- I doubt it'll make any difference. People ignore the in-game timers now, there'll still be those who continue to ignore it no matter how many popups, check boxes, or blinky lights are added. And they'll still flock to reddit or the forums to complain how it's unfair or "broken."

Like any other home owner the recent rise of these sort of posts is worrying me greatly.

Eh, hate to quibble with you but I'm a homeowner (and an FC master with a house) and I'm not fussed at all. The last time there was a big panic about the "bugged" demo timer nothing whatsoever came of it and it was never substantiated as anything more than a vague rumor.

If you think you lost your house due to a bug, file a bug report; encourage anyone claiming it happened to them to do the same. It's the only way anything (that's actually broken) can get fixed. Crying about it on reddit, or even the official forums, does no good whatsoever and is little more than a plea for attention.

[Zephanoa]

It'd be nice to have it where it says which plot and last entered date and time but if it was a lot of work to mess with it then it's fine the way it is. Bottom line go in your house as frequently as you can and use it and you won't lose it. :P

[ern815]

so, what exactly is this failed demolition timer that I kept hearing? If players are kept subscribed then there isn't a timer, is that correct?

[Rymm]

so, what exactly is this failed demolition timer that I kept hearing? If players are kept subscribed then there isn't a timer, is that correct?

No. Subscription has nothing to do with the demo timer. It is based solely on the last time you entered the house; the yard does not count.

Honestly, most of the hullabaloo around a "bugged" timer seems to stem from people not understanding the convoluted rules pertaining to housing. They misunderstand the rules (like the poster above) and then see posts and threads like this and the one that was floating around the forum a few weeks ago talking about a "bug" and immediately jump to the conclusion that they did nothing wrong and it's somehow the system's fault.

If anything ought to be made clearer, it's the housing rules themselves. Unfortunately, I'm afraid displaying them more prominently in-game will have the same effect as doing so for the demo timer- little to none. You can't force people to pay attention.

[Jojoya]

so, what exactly is this failed demolition timer that I kept hearing? If players are kept subscribed then there isn't a timer, is that correct?

The timer isn't tied to the player subscription. It is tied to the character actually entering the house they own. A tenant entering won't reset the timer. An alt on the same account entering the house won't reset it.

Honestly, most of the hullabaloo around a "bugged" timer seems to stem from people not understanding the convoluted rules pertaining to housing.

How is "enter your house at least once every 45 days or have it demolished" convoluted?

The system really isn't convoluted. Too many just assume that things will work they way they personally envision and don't take the time to learn how it actually works even though the game encourages players to talk to the Resident Caretaker to get the details before making a purchase. That's on the player for not heeding the warning they're given.

Maybe SE should add a quest that unlocks once the player reaches level 50 and the appropriate GC rank that must be completed before they can buy a house. Then again, the quest text will probably get ignored like players usually ignore quest text unless there's some sort of dialog option where the player has to give the correct answer to questions before they can complete the quest.

[Kittypryde]

The timer isn't tied to the player subscription. It is tied to the character actually entering the house they own. A tenant entering won't reset the timer. An alt on the same account entering the house won't reset it.


How is "enter your house at least once every 45 days or have it demolished" convoluted?

The system really isn't convoluted. Too many just assume that things will work they way they personally envision and don't take the time to learn how it actually works even though the game encourages players to talk to the Resident Caretaker to get the details before making a purchase. That's on the player for not heeding the warning they're given.

Maybe SE should add a quest that unlocks once the player reaches level 50 and the appropriate GC rank that must be completed before they can buy a house. Then again, the quest text will probably get ignored like players usually ignore quest text unless there's some sort of dialog option where the player has to give the correct answer to questions before they can complete the quest.

Exactly. Great points. I make it a habit to fully study ANYTHING before I commit to it in game, housing included. You sort of have to treat housing preparation like raid savage preparation. You have to do your research, and perhaps watch videos. Before I got into housing , I researched and read everything I could on Google, and found out about the auto demolish feature, when houses spawned, what different grades were. I even memorized plot #s and location, especially in the months before Shirogane released. If you fail to prepare, then you are planning to fail