Can we please just have instanced housing already?

[SamSmoot]

Actually, instancing, if done right could have many more players out in the neighborhood.
Don't put every player in their own private instance like in other games, where you don't see anyone unless you invite them in.

Keep the current housing areas, but instance the entire plots. Each plot could have 1000 different owners, increasing the chance that they'll be running around. When you first enter your development, you see your own house on it's plot, and the others are randomly filled with ones that currently have occupants. (May increase load times though.)

You could choose to see and tour any of the houses on a plot by selecting them from the placard. This would also allow you to select what houses appear near yours. If an owner is out in the yard of a displayed house, you see them there. On hidden instances, you'd only see the owner appear when they walk out into the street.

If you're outside in your plot, you see everyone out in the street or other common areas within view.

[Dustytome]

Keep the current housing areas, but instance the entire plots. Each plot could have 1000 different owners, increasing the chance that they'll be running around. When you first enter your development, you see your own house on it's plot, and the others are randomly filled with ones that currently have occupants. (May increase load times though.)

Considering my character has a temporary lockdown when a hunt train passes by, I don't think the servers would be able to handle that. Especially when multiple owners aren't just personal owners and you end up with multiple big FCs flooding their members in. I can just imagine the absolute meldown the servers that had to handle shiro plot 30 area would go through.

[Lycieus]

Considering my character has a temporary lockdown when a hunt train passes by, I don't think the servers would be able to handle that. Especially when multiple owners aren't just personal owners and you end up with multiple big FCs flooding their members in. I can just imagine the absolute meldown the servers that had to handle shiro plot 30 area would go through.

I think individual instances for each house are the only reasonable way. This is how every game with instanced housing does it.

Housing competitions and housing buffs are a decent way to get people to visit each other ala Wildstar

[YojimboM]

Considering my character has a temporary lockdown when a hunt train passes by, I don't think the servers would be able to handle that. Especially when multiple owners aren't just personal owners and you end up with multiple big FCs flooding their members in. I can just imagine the absolute meldown the servers that had to handle shiro plot 30 area would go through.

It would be possible to do this in an efficient way. Other MMOs have housing like this. The main one I can think of is Black Desert Online, which allows you to own nearly any building in the game world as a house or property while thousands of other people simultaneously own it too. Imagine if you could buy a room inside Eulmore next to the Aetheryte, that would be the equivalent. FFXIV obviously would be limited to the housing wards themselves, but it is entirely possible to have instanced plots like that without being overly taxing.

[Nabril]

Actually, instancing, if done right could have many more players out in the neighborhood.
Don't put every player in their own private instance like in other games, where you don't see anyone unless you invite them in.

Keep the current housing areas, but instance the entire plots. Each plot could have 1000 different owners, increasing the chance that they'll be running around. When you first enter your development, you see your own house on it's plot, and the others are randomly filled with ones that currently have occupants. (May increase load times though.)

You could choose to see and tour any of the houses on a plot by selecting them from the placard. This would also allow you to select what houses appear near yours. If an owner is out in the yard of a displayed house, you see them there. On hidden instances, you'd only see the owner appear when they walk out into the street.

If you're outside in your plot, you see everyone out in the street or other common areas within view.

No, I like my yard. I would rather not lose it.