Pushed to quit after 1,860 days subbed

[R-Pete-G]

It was the OPs fault. Let's be clear about that.
House gets demolished if you don't use it after a set time. He was even logging on and not using it. Working as intended I would say.

How much hand-holding do people need? Perhaps a countdown timer on the log-in screen?

This is the response I find most perplexing. Do you really consider an in-game helper text - akin to the hundreds that already exist in game for far less significant systems - such a distasteful level of "hand holding"?

[Ilyrian]

This is the response I find most perplexing. Do you really consider an in-game helper text - akin to the hundreds that already exist in game for far less significant systems - such a distasteful level of "hand holding"?

No I think it's a good idea. Put it in if needs be.
What is interesting though is whether it would have made you use your house - a limited commodity, as you know, - something that you seem very upset over to lose but not interested enough to even set foot in.

[R-Pete-G]

As I've mentioned, losing the house was frustrating but something I could deal with. I take issue with the way the system is communicated, but that's that. It's the permanent loss of rare furnishings I'd collected over the years that has really made me feel the impact.

But the answer is yes. If I had known the system existed, I would have kept that upkeep going during the challenging period in my personal life, and would be - now, in fact - putting more work into furnishing it and enjoying it when I was able to again. To know that auto demolition was a thing, where the timer was, and what was required of me, was all I would have needed. Are the timers discrete? Yeah, they are. But I'd have been fine with them if I knew they were there to keep an eye on.

To reiterate - despite all of that, I know why the system is in place. The limited nature of housing is something that's frustrated me since it was introduced, hence my excitement to finally get a plot (real life impacting on my playtime notwithstanding) to call my own. To fall foul of that system is upsetting, but I understand the nature of a limited commodity. But to lose furnishings that were not a limited commodity in this way - no one else benefits from my loss, they don't have a real or meaningful level of scarcity for the playerbase as a whole - is the biggest failing of the system, I think.

[Ilyrian]

To reiterate - despite all of that, I know why the system is in place. The limited nature of housing is something that's frustrated me since it was introduced, hence my excitement to finally get a plot (real life impacting on my playtime notwithstanding) to call my own. To fall foul of that system is upsetting, but I understand the nature of a limited commodity. But to lose furnishings that were not a limited commodity in this way - no one else benefits from my loss, they don't have a real or meaningful level of scarcity for the playerbase as a whole - is the biggest failing of the system, I think.

I imagine that they'd find issue with this as they keep banging on about server limitations as it is.
It would be nice in theory - but you know there would be some kind of timer placed on top of that too. But then if they can keep your character indefinitely - would keeping all these items with them take up that much space? I really don't know. Probably not?
I get the impression that SE wished they'd never started this whole housing fiasco in the first place.

[Solarra]

then if they can keep your character indefinitely - would keeping all these items with them take up that much space? I really don't know. Probably not?

Storage is much, much cheaper than it used to be. This isn't an issue of cost.
I suspect that the timer is due to them wanting to remove the gil from the game permanently after a period and just tying the furniture to it as well because it was easier than keeping them separate. Whatever the reason, I think deleting a person's furniture along with their gil was a terrible decision and one that the community took surprisingly quietly. If nothing else changes regarding housing, I'd like to see that decision reversed.