Why is buying a house in FFXIV so complicated

[LaylaTsarra]

Do ppl who preordered Shadowbringers have an advantage in buying the housing plots there? Or is SE going to block the purchase of houses till its actual launch date?

I pretty sure new housing will not be available upon release of the xpac. My recollection was that housing wasn't made available until the 4.1 update for Stormblood and then everyone had equal access to housing based on a first come first serve basis. Later when additional plots were made available they came along with the new rules restricting one FC and one personal house per account per server after the log in fiasco's for purchasing and fan unhappyness. In addition FC's had first crack at purchasing houses as well as those making transfers. I forget how long that was but I believe it was a couple weeks at least before personal plots could then be purchased by 1st time home owners.

It's hard to say if something similar will be in effect when new housing is made available in ShB although the SB model might still apply. I suspect there will be some changes and I doubt that any housing will be locked behind doh/dol participation. Perhaps when the community has completed the rebuilding it will trigger the ability to purchase for everyone. One also has to wonder if apartments will be getting the small, medium and large treatment they hinted at in discussing housing at that time.