Pushed to quit after 1,860 days subbed

[Skivvy]

The more I find out about how SE present their information about housing, the more I'm convinced that it was a deliberate decision to be unclear about the existence of demolition.

I don't think that SE is necessarily hiding information intentionally. In all the years I've played their MMOs (starting with XI), I just think they are incredibly inept at certain things. With XIV alone, I can't tell you how many times I've been excited to hear about a new feature, and then I am left shaking my head in disbelief when they implement it in the most convoluted way possible.

XIV is an absolute dream when compared to XI's UI and its complete lack of just about ANY information in game, but that game is ancient now, so it's probably not great to use that as what you aim to surpass :P

So yeah, I feel that they are trying to do a decent job with housing, but they're missing the mark in a huge way at this point. I really wouldn't be surprised if this gets a slight update in a future QOL patch (fingers crossed!).



Also, nice showcase of the lodestone! After all the further digging in-game and with the Lodestone, it is a bit surprising how difficult it is to find information regarding the demolition process - or that there even is one in the first place :X

[R-Pete-G]

Very happy to see the thread is back to mainly constructive discussion posts!

I think I am slightly cynical enough to think that the lack of focus on housing on the Lodestone etc is because they don't want to draw too much attention to it. Not hiding it, per se, but more that they can't make a big song and dance about how great it is because they'll start attracting more players who quickly realise they can't have any!

[TaranTatsuuchi]

I don't think that SE is necessarily hiding information intentionally. In all the years I've played their MMOs (starting with XI), I just think they are incredibly inept at certain things. With XIV alone, I can't tell you how many times I've been excited to hear about a new feature, and then I am left shaking my head in disbelief when they implement it in the most convoluted way possible.
...

The glamor dresser is a great example of that...



SE is really bad about this type of thing...

[Penthea]

I think I am slightly cynical enough to think that the lack of focus on housing on the Lodestone etc is because they don't want to draw too much attention to it. Not hiding it, per se, but more that they can't make a big song and dance about how great it is because they'll start attracting more players who quickly realise they can't have any!

I don't think it's cynicism because it's plainly true. I have studied web design and there is no way anyone qualified in that would do something like make the housing button small with no image while links to all other content guides are big and flashy, unless there was a reason for it. It was definitely a deliberate decision to make that link appear far less prominent.

I don't think that SE is necessarily hiding information intentionally.

You would have to be a very optimistic person to think that SE aren't trying to hide the existence of demolition given the large amount of screenshots that show how information about it is extremely difficult to find in the game and near non-existent in the Lodestone. It would be different if they treated all content like this, but it's only housing that is so poorly explained.

So yeah, I feel that they are trying to do a decent job with housing, but they're missing the mark in a huge way at this point. I really wouldn't be surprised if this gets a slight update in a future QOL patch (fingers crossed!).

SE are trying to improve the housing system, recent major patches are definite signs of this. But I don't think this excuses making a major housing mechanic so difficult to find out about in the game and the official website.

Don't get me wrong. I don't hate SE and I don't particularly enjoy bashing them. However I strongly feel that hiding a major mechanic that auto-deletes your house and furniture is a huge disservice to the players. You should not have to seek third party sources to find out something as pivotal as that. It's not even difficult to explain the demolition mechanic. It takes only a few sentences.

[SenorPatty]

Been reading this thread for awhile and it was very illuminating. Now I'm curious about one other thing:

Show of hands, how many people became aware of demolition timer information through the game first?

Trick question really because we already know the amount of people aware of it far exceeds that of people who manage to find it in game. Never mind the lack of ease to find about it also.

That's a problem SE needs to rectify.

Now about the OP: the loss of the house is not what was relevant for me. Wether it'd be 3m, 15 or 50, those are numbers I could scrounge up again to buy a house. What kills me on the other hand are all the goods inside that house that are permanently lost. Forget the stuff you can craft again, what about goods you can only obtain during specific events or goods bought in the mogstation? What rng based housing loot? What abouy goods you can only get with special currency?

That stings.

[Jojoya]

Been reading this thread for awhile and it was very illuminating. Now I'm curious about one other thing:

Show of hands, how many people became aware of demolition timer information through the game first?

Trick question really because we already know the amount of people aware of it far exceeds that of people who manage to find it in game. Never mind the lack of ease to find about it also.

That's a problem SE needs to rectify.

You have to pick up a quest to even enter a Residential District for the first time. The quest tells you to visit the Residential Caretaker to learn how housing ownership works. You have to repeat the local version of that quest for each of the Residential Districts in order to enter them. That's 3 times (4 if you have SB and have gone to Kugane) the game has told you to visit the Resident Caretaker to get more information.

SE shouldn't have to sit there and hold every player's hand, forcing them go talk to the Residential Caretaker to learn about house ownership. It is not their fault if the player chooses not to do that despite being told multiple times they should.

My only complaint would be the quest is far better off being made available when the player is eligible to make a purchase rather than at level 5 or 10 when they're far away from being eligible. Aethernet access to the Residential Districts can be automatically unlocked at the same time it unlocks for the city gates so low level players visit friends or their FC's house. Make the quest available after the GC rank needed to purchase is acquired so the information will be fresh in the player's mind.

[Claviusnex]

I never received a notice that my house was actually demolished. I received a 3 day warning and only knew it happened for sure by no longer having the house listed as a teleport destination. Since that is the point the 35 day retention and refund period starts SE should ensure some type of notice there as well.

[SenorPatty]

You have to pick up a quest to even enter a Residential District for the first time. The quest tells you to visit the Residential Caretaker to learn how housing ownership works. You have to repeat the local version of that quest for each of the Residential Districts in order to enter them. That's 3 times (4 if you have SB and have gone to Kugane) the game has told you to visit the Resident Caretaker to get more information.

SE shouldn't have to sit there and hold every player's hand, forcing them go talk to the Residential Caretaker to learn about house ownership. It is not their fault if the player chooses not to do that despite being told multiple times they should.

My only complaint would be the quest is far better off being made available when the player is eligible to make a purchase rather than at level 5 or 10 when they're far away from being eligible. Aethernet access to the Residential Districts can be automatically unlocked at the same time it unlocks for the city gates so low level players visit friends or their FC's house. Make the quest available after the GC rank needed to purchase is acquired so the information will be fresh in the player's mind.

Go to page 33 and read Skivvy's post, then tell me if the hand holding is as apparent you think it is.

[Dyvid]

Skivvy brings up good points and obviously they need to add the warning message when you first purchase the plot of land. As for how they warn players that are coming up on Demolish, how about the following:

-In-game Mogmail

-Email

-A push notification on the FFXIV Companion App.

[Jojoya]

Go to page 33 and read Skivvy's post, then tell me if the hand holding is as apparent you think it is.

The quest (that she didn't bother to provide screenshots for) tells you to visit the Resident Caretaker to get more information.

The Active Help window (that she did screenshot) tells you to visit the Resident Caretaker to get more information.

The Resident Caretaker has an option for more information about land ownership. If I think I'll want to buy, pretty sure I'm going to be looking at that option. There's are separate options for relinquishing and abandoning. Since the game has gone to the effort of making a distinction between the two, I'm definitely going to want to read both to understand the difference. If you click on the abandoning option, you get several special information messages (that she didn't bother to screenshot) about exactly what will happen and when.

She did a nice job of selectively editing what appears in her post rather than showing everything.

If you need more than that, then you need someone holding your hand and you probably shouldn't be owning a house.

I'm sorry. Personal accountability needs to kick in some place instead of people constantly passing the blame for their own negligence to someone else. The information is there. SE tells you where to find it several times. Try making use of it instead of ignoring it?