Congratulations to the additional wards in 5.1!...

[Edax]

Oh, no... I got my house by sheer luck. Ward 1, Plot 22. Yes, it's beachfront. I had managed to log out in front of the house and my character never got reset back to the entrance to Shirogane. However, it took my character a little longer than normal to log in and get it. Just as I logged in and clicked on the placard, the wave of 50+ people were running in a pack to my house and the neighbor. We were SO lucky to get what we did. I had been fighting for a long time to get a house.

I personally agree with the players here who complain bout how hard it is to get housing here. This is the only game I know that makes it something elite and not common place in the game. SWTOR actually did something right with instance housing as did DAoC. Yes, expensive, but not hard to get and everyone had access to housing.

It would be very rough to change housing as it is now, but they could change it moving forward I believe.

Not a fan of the SWTOR housing. My home never felt "real" in the sense that no one ever visited it and I could never make it feel like it was a real living space. Nor did my SWTOR house have any practical uses unlike in FFXIV.

That said I've been through the Shirogane debacle and I know that unfortunately that 9 new wards were completely taken within 10 minutes (I myself couldn't log in time because the launcher kept crashing on me) They're adding 12 new wards now and at least a single player can't just go around buying multiple houses like in 4.1, but I still predict my server being completely full within the first hour. Coming sunrise I think the forum will be awash with angry and disappointed players.

[NaoTenbe]

It honestly feels like there's a lot more they COULD do, but that they're trying to hold onto older mechanics to satisfy some feeling of elitism.
There's still a lot here that feels back asswards. Having to kick people out for not visiting their house (even if they have tenants who can do that for them, or if they still have a sub, but just don't want to play the game for a while).
There's the 'can't leave the FC if you can't get your stuff out of your room but the FC has locked you out of the house' problem that was NEVER fixed.
and just... it seems they could allow most people access to a basic house and land.
That's the big thing, having an area where people can visit and get an idea of who you are, and would your house be worth investigating, by what you put on the property.

[RenofManyAlts]

(even if they have tenants who can do that for them [...]).

Tiny point of clarification, so new folks reading don't get potentially confused: tenants cannot reset the auto-demolition timer on a private estate. Only the character whose name is on the placard can do that. (By contrast, any FC member can reset the timer by zoning into the FC house.)

The system is definitely rough, and I hope that SE can put together a solution so that people who want access to housing and its features are able to do so -- without all the stress involved in the current system on more populated worlds. It has been a lot of trial and error so far, and seemingly two playerbases (JP and NA/EU) who interact very differently with the system. (I'm not sure that anybody predicted that players would feel compelled to sit there and click mindlessly for hours upon hours, and yet that is what happened.)

[EssenceFlux]

It honestly feels like there's a lot more they COULD do, but that they're trying to hold onto older mechanics to satisfy some feeling of elitism.
There's still a lot here that feels back asswards.

Of this I agree partially, holding onto mechanics? Perhaps. But I'm not certain from elitism. We learned in a LiveLetter that they even struggle making account wide items--though that too could be considered not can't but won't considering individual item sales will net more profit--but let us say they are struggling, the game coding for as much that has changed is still deeply embedded in archaic systems, dating as far back as 1.x, when they didn't foresee success or boom. The game has changed, the population has exploded, and they no longer have the excuse of being at the bottom of SE's budget; it is time for a change.

There's the 'can't leave the FC if you can't get your stuff out of your room but the FC has locked you out of the house' problem that was NEVER fixed.

This actually was patched in, even with permissions changed so long as you are a member you can no longer be barred access; you just can't leave items in storage when you part, my company recently tested this to be sure.
In addition, free company leaders can dismiss members and their items are held in storage and can be retrieved by housing attendants.

To your last bit, to explain:
To revitalize housing away from instances, FFXIV introduced the concept of 'neighborhoods' thinking the idea of people visiting one another across the way would be quite the novelty. On paper it sounds indulgent, however in practice across all regions the concept did not catch. It was brought up in later 3.x in a LiveLetter that loft size options could be the answer rather than introduce more wards..once. And hasn't been addressed since, even when pressed the topic is pivoted to another. I'd settle for such a solution if it meant a piece for all.

[Arazehl]

I was thinking. They upped the requirements to be a mentor. Took away and fix a few things wrong with the system, so that those who do not meet the new requirements to date will no longer get to hold onto something they once qualified for by some grandfather clause.

My point is, why don't they fix housing too? Make it clear cut and downgrade people so all are on equal footing with the one plot/one fc rule. Fix the wrongs and make them right for the communities of owners and buyers sake. There is no reason not to now that they stripped another system in order to make it function properly and fairly.

[Kenky]

I was thinking. They upped the requirements to be a mentor. Took away and fix a few things wrong with the system, so that those who do not meet the new requirements to date will no longer get to hold onto something they once qualified for by some grandfather clause.

My point is, why don't they fix housing too? Make it clear cut and downgrade people so all are on equal footing with the one plot/one fc rule. Fix the wrongs and make them right for the communities of owners and buyers sake. There is no reason not to now that they stripped another system in order to make it function properly and fairly.

There's a bit of a difference between Upp'ing Mentor Status' requirements and owning housing.

Mentor Status is meant to be hard to get, but once you have it, it is beaten over the head to new players and returning players that Mentors will answer what questions you may have. That Mentors know enough to give you a right answer. It's a sign of prestige that reflects what you have accomplished in the game and (assumedly) are not an asshole, since it requires other people to give you their comm. Can't really buy comms (that I know of)

Housing is rather easy to get (at least nowadays) and is first-come, first-served. The veteran players shouldn't be punished for buying the plot when it was available, purely because someone that joined the game later didn't get that same chance. Why would I have to lose my house because people who joined FFXIV a month later lost out on the exact plot I have?

Late to the party, you expect to not get fresh food. People aren't going to "restart their party" just so you feel included, when you were already included to begin with. If you got to the party earlier, you'd have a better chance.

(Metaphors!)

[Greyhawk]

Not a fan of the SWTOR housing. My home never felt "real" in the sense that no one ever visited it and I could never make it feel like it was a real living space. Nor did my SWTOR house have any practical uses unlike in FFXIV.

That said I've been through the Shirogane debacle and I know that unfortunately that 9 new wards were completely taken within 10 minutes (I myself couldn't log in time because the launcher kept crashing on me) They're adding 12 new wards now and at least a single player can't just go around buying multiple houses like in 4.1, but I still predict my server being completely full within the first hour. Coming sunrise I think the forum will be awash with angry and disappointed players.

Merely throwing SWTOR in there for the instancing. The hooks in those were horrible and a lot of that made no sense really. It was a rushed job, but instancing of the housing itself was good. DAoC was much better and that's an old game, but the housing areas were easily 10 times larger than what we have in FFXIV and there were no hooks, you could place what you want where you wanted it. The 'wards' there were much like what we have now, but actually really, really, huge areas. There were also consignment merchants so there were reasons for visiting - to buy what you were looking for after you found it on the market. It has a rent system that you had to pay, but at least someone could pay that for you either weekly or monthly, and it wasn't over the top. 4 different tiers of housing also made it nice to upgrade your plot and not be tied down to single plot locations. Mythic really thought it out well.

People rarely visit any housing as it is now so what would change? Not a lot really. If you have FC/friends that visit you there wouldn't be anything to still keep them coming to your house.