Housing: Purchase Timer - Alternative Idea

[AriesMouse]

Sorry but I fail to see how a system that intentionally employs such blatant favouritism can be seen as better.

The things above were a suggestion, and one of them was a bonus for "first time buyers" meaning, new players. How is there blatant favoritism at all, when those were a few options for potential bonuses that could be applied to literally anyone, new player, or veteran. Rather that balking at the idea and pushing it off the table, why not make a suggestion for how it can be tweaked, improved, etc?

The way the system is now is basically a lottery anyways, making it an actual lottery just removes people botting, and gives more players a chance at a house. It would be a better system on those grounds alone.

[Penthea]

The things above were a suggestion, and one of them was a bonus for "first time buyers" meaning, new players. How is there blatant favoritism at all, when those were a few options for potential bonuses that could be applied to literally anyone, new player, or veteran. Rather that balking at the idea and pushing it off the table, why not make a suggestion for how it can be tweaked, improved, etc?

My suggestion was at the end of my post.

I think a lottery system would be awful so my suggestion to improve it would be to have none at all. As for the favouritism maybe have a look at the bonuses you posted yourself. They appear to be designed to increase the odds of players with specific circumstances.

While placards do favour certain types of players, they were not designed with the intention of doing so. Your suggested bonuses would be designed with that intention.

The way the system is now is basically a lottery anyways

Yes it is, which is why replacing it with another lottery is not a solution.

making it an actual lottery just removes people botting, and gives more players a chance at a house. It would be a better system on those grounds alone.

It would vastly increase the competition on plots on highly populated servers. It would only improve the chances for players who have never engaged in placard spam. Those who did engage in placard spam would actually have a smaller chance because the amount of competition would increase due to the ease of entering a lottery. The odds of winning on the likes of Balmung would be insanely low. It's a very old server filled with veterans who never had a house.

I am not advocating for placard spam, I think it's horrendous. I think it's a disgrace that this is what a lot of people have to do to even have a chance to get a house. However I think the lottery idea would be equally disgraceful. I absolutely do not support any form of rng when it comes to housing.

[AriesMouse]

As for the favouritism maybe have a look at the bonuses you posted yourself. They appear to be designed to increase the odds of players with specific circumstances.

Again, these were just a few possible suggestions. There are dozens of options that could balance things out in either direction, so the favoritism argument doesn't really get much traction, since realistically, it could go either way depending on what sort of system was put in, and what sort of bonuses were put into place, since the ones I listed are not the only options.

Using a server like Balmung is never really a good point of reference. That server, and Mateus to a degree, are exceptions to the rule, not examples of it. We can not base the entire housing system and how it works on one, maybe two servers.

My point here is, if they are going to insist on keeping the rng aspect, keep the timer and everything, they should just make it a lottery, rather than leave the system as is with the placard spam. If we have to have the time, have to have the rng, at least make the rng truly fair, and something that is inclusive for all that qualify by the rules to purchase a house. A lottery system could be made to benefit people rather than the current system that just screws people over endlessly. Hell, it could even be made so that if a certain number of people apply for a plot via lottery, that the plot is then locked and people can not relocate to it. That could cut some of the headache and heartache out for a lot of people.

[Ittapupu_Berry]

at least make the rng truly fair, and something that is inclusive for all that qualify by the rules to purchase a house. A lottery system could be made to benefit people rather than the current system that just screws people over endlessly. Hell, it could even be made so that if a certain number of people apply for a plot via lottery, that the plot is then locked and people can not relocate to it. That could cut some of the headache and heartache out for a lot of people.

yessss positive thinking and brainstorming, well done m8

[Penthea]

That's very fortunate for your server, however on highly populated servers there tends to be no plots available. Even the Goblet. Goblet is completely full like the others. And just like every other residential area, if a plot is open, at least 3 people are there spamming a card with you for hours on end.

But do you not get my point? Things on my server are more favourable because there are more houses per active accounts. Placard spam is little more than an annoyance because there isn't so much competition. Surely the answer to your plight is to decrease the amount of competition by giving players more and better access to housing with various improvements to houses and apartments, as well as the addition of more wards?

I really struggle to understand how you seem to want merely another brand of rng instead of a legitimate improvement to the housing situation as a whole. Especially a suggestion that wouldn't change much for servers like mine, and would probably make things much worse for servers like yours.

I get that you want to remove the stress and tedium of placard spam, but you can't just look at placard spam on its own. You need to look at the reasons that make it so horrendous on servers like Leviathan, and why it isn't such a problem on servers like Moogle.

yessss positive thinking and brainstorming, well done m8

Am I to take from this that you do not think that giving players access to more and improved housing is positive thinking? That you would honestly prefer to rely on luck than to have more choice?

I remember what it was like to not have a house and to want one so damn much. I was lucky to get my house when I did and I really hate that I had to be lucky to get it. No one should need to be lucky to get a house. The housing system must get to a point in which it's normal for everyone to have one. Lottery will not normalise the status of having a house.

Well whatever happens I truly do hope you will get a house soon. You clearly want one very badly. Hopefully you will be able to get one when the world visiting and free server transfers get introduced. Maybe you could go to a new server on the same data centre and buy a house, or grab one someone left behind. If you are considering leaving then I suggest you have a look at other servers now to figure out which would be the best destination to increase your chances of getting a plot. Preparing as much as possible will increase the likelihood of success. Good luck.

[Ittapupu_Berry]

I really struggle to understand how you seem to want merely another brand of rng instead of a legitimate improvement to the housing situation as a whole. Especially a suggestion that wouldn't change much for servers like mine, and would probably make things much worse for servers like yours.

:/ Never said i disagree with that, though I can see how you came to the conclusion that I do. idk if I've said this yet but I feel that implementing a lotto system would be an easy thing to do while they make those new houses. I want both our ideas. More houses, and a system of acquiring them that gives more people a chance at a home. I don't care that it brings more completion. That means the people that were being excluded before get a fair shot and can play the game instead of clicking a sign for 22 hours. If there must be an rng to determine who gets a house, I'd like the more inclusive one.

[Penthea]

:/ Never said i disagree with that, though I can see how you came to the conclusion that I do. idk if I've said this yet but I feel that implementing a lotto system would be an easy thing to do while they make those new houses.

That's quite the assumption to make. There is still 1.0 spaghetti code lurking in the game. We really don't know if it would be easy or even possible to make a lottery system up to the standard you want. SE have cited server issues as the reasoning for not introducing a lot of things that are standard in other games.

However things such as more tenant slots for houses and tenancy for apartments are possible given that tenant slots already exist. Letting fcs use apartments is possible given that fc houses already exist. There are many ways to improve the current situation that we know would be possible with the current limitations of the game. Lottery would be something completely new and would have to be made from scratch. It would be easier and faster for SE to improve and expand on what we currently have than make something entirely new.

I want both our ideas. More houses, and a system of acquiring them that gives more people a chance at a home.

I'm glad that you do want a better housing system. However there would be no need for lottery if the competition for houses gets drastically reduced. It would be very redundant to create a feature from scratch that would only be relevant temporarily, never mind how it would have little to no relevance on a lot of servers. SE so far haven't been in the habit of making housing features targeted at specific types of servers. As far as I know, aside from free server transfers and server locks, SE haven't made any features targeted at handling situations on specific servers.

I don't care that it brings more completion. That means the people that were being excluded before get a fair shot and can play the game instead of clicking a sign for 22 hours. If there must be an rng to determine who gets a house, I'd like the more inclusive one.

The thing is the main intention of the placard system is to prevent house flipping. Not to create a lottery. The lottery is a side effect of preventing house flipping. An actual lottery would be intended to be...well, a lottery. I would hate for SE to go into the direction of focusing on players to be lucky to get houses instead of making and improving content that meets the demands of the population.