Can I report people for buying multiple houses?

[Kenky]

You do realise that a great deal of players are alienated by the current housing system, right?

Do you mean raid progression? That comparison doesn't work.

How do you expect people to take action?

1. The Housing System, as plenty of people have said and will continue to say. Was never meant for everyone to have. That's just a fundamental part of the Housing System. If SE truly wanted everyone to have housing, they would've gone for Instanced from the get-go. Not the ward style it currently has and will continue to promote. While yes, plenty of people don't get the chance currently, that isn't to say they have lost their chance all-together. Demolition System is the reason for that.

2.No. I don't mean Raid Progression. Please read the ENTIRETY of what I stated, as I even point out I was talking about "House progression" a-la Free Company Workshop content. You know, the only ACTUAL reason to have a house?

3. How do I expect people to take action? Preferably by doing research and learning why things are the way they are, before demanding for change. I'm not saying this thread in particular has that issue, but plenty of other threads that have screamed and clamored for things to change, did so with invalid information and refused to learn the truth. Holding to their guns and attacking anyone that tried to give them the proper info. That isn't to say every thread is doing that. Just that some threads certainly take a lot of liberties with crying about not having a house, despite stating they aren't trying to get one. They just want one GIVEN to them.

I can understand why threads like these exist. But I still fall back onto my original mentality of "People are putting way too much weight on a virtual plot of land." and ignoring the unspoken contract you sign with your blood to KEEP that land. The commitment to maintain that virtual plot getting to some people, which is why the "Pro apartment" group has sprouted to such a high number recently.

"What contract?" Glad you asked!
By purchasing land, you have a month to put a house on it. No big deal there. But you have to enter said house once every 30 days, unless it gets slapped with the Demo-timer. That doesn't sound all too bad on paper, but when it comes to the two to three month lulls of content, it may start to become more of a chore to keep your subscription up, just to log in, enter your house and reset the timer. At that point you're not playing the game, you're not doing anything or progressing anything. You're just keeping your house until the next content drop, when your playtime goes back to normal.

I say this because not everyone wants to get every class to 80, complete eureka, do savage and ultimate raids, always aim for the best gear and do beast tribes. Sometimes people just want to do dungeons, do the story and then go inactive until the next patch. Nothing wrong with that playstyle, but they would rather like to avoid losing something they worked hard to get. Even if it costs them more $ and maybe 5 minutes every two weeks.

[Penthea]

The Housing System, as plenty of people have said and will continue to say. Was never meant for everyone to have. That's just a fundamental part of the Housing System. If SE truly wanted everyone to have housing, they would've gone for Instanced from the get-go. Not the ward style it currently has and will continue to promote. While yes, plenty of people don't get the chance currently, that isn't to say they have lost their chance all-together. Demolition System is the reason for that.

How quickly you run away from your "alienating the playerbase" argument when I use the same argument against you, and then basically say "SE intend for some of the playerbase to be alienated" to support the current situation.

So which is it? Is alienating the playerbase bad or not?

No. I don't mean Raid Progression. Please read the ENTIRETY of what I stated, as I even point out I was talking about "House progression" a-la Free Company Workshop content. You know, the only ACTUAL reason to have a house?

Interesting. You essentially say people don't need a private house for any form of progression, as a way to make it look as if these players do not need a house unless they are a fc...

...which then begs the questions: what sort of progress do house hoarders get from their houses? How is their personal progress anymore legitimate than another player's personal progress from one personal house?

And there is no way all these hoarders lead multiple different distinct fcs (note I say distinct, shell or sub fcs branching from or only existing to support another main fc do not count). I lead a fc myself, and having just one to look after is a lot of work. The amount of people who lead more than one distinct fc is incredibly small, for reasons I hope I don't need to explain.

How do I expect people to take action? Preferably by doing research and learning why things are the way they are, before demanding for change.

Many people complain while being perfectly aware of how it works. Also keep in mind how SE have still not updated the housing section of the lodestone, which actually gives out of date information about purchasing restrictions. So it's not as if SE make it super easy to get completely updated about it. Players literally cannot get all the factual information from an official source. So sometimes it's not really fair to complain that they get some things wrong.

Also just because a person isn't aware of every last detail of the system doesn't mean they're wrong when they say something about it is bad.

Just that some threads certainly take a lot of liberties with crying about not having a house, despite stating they aren't trying to get one. They just want one GIVEN to them.

I have rarely seen people outright say they're not trying to get a house, but want it handed to them.

The majority of the threads like this one are from disgruntled players who are sick of camping placards only to lose the plot to a bot or someone relocating. Others are from people who wonder why a system allows hoarding when the very limited space is full while a large number of players cannot get a house. Some are from players like me who are sorted with housing but still think the system is awful. And then you have people like OP, who look at a situation and think "no way can this be allowed, this is ridiculous" and then to their shock they find that it is permitted. None of those qualify as "just want one given to them"

Focusing on a minority who have actually said they want something for nothing doesn't discredit those who want their work to result in something instead of nothing. I know this isn't what you said, but I can't help but you feel you highlight this minority as a way to make everyone who dislikes the current situation to appear entitled.

And at the risk of sounding like a broken record: instanced housing would literally fix everything while allowing house hoarders to continue hoarding in peace. But I feel I must add something to this often repeated statement of mine...

...I have noticed some of those who champion the rights of house hoarders rarely show support for instanced housing. This makes me inclined to think that some of them not only want to hang on to all their houses, but they also want to hang on to the prestige of having a large amount of a limited resource.

[Big_Bap]

Have you purchased your account at level 80 to post on here? For someone that sure likes to spout so much nonsense about housing, you once again demonstrate how little you actually know about all this.

[Brynne]

And at the risk of sounding like a broken record: instanced housing would literally fix everything while allowing house hoarders to continue hoarding in peace.

No joke. SE wouldn't even have to create an instanced housing system from scratch. They could build on what they already have with apartments and add on some purchasable upgrades to allow more of the amenities of a house. And on that note, workshops for FCs don't even need to be tied to houses. They're a separate instance, and SE could allow access to them from other sources (grand companies, Cid's workshop in Mor Dhona, etc). It would require a bit of tweaking, but I don't think it would be a lot of overhead.

I understand the argument that SE intends housing to be a limited resource that not all of the playerbase owns. That's a fine stance on its own, but if that IS the intention, SE would be well served to take the few pieces of gameplay that are gated behind it (ie: workshops, crossbreeding, and the aetherial wheels) and allow access to them from elsewhere.

[Illy_Peridot]

the same people always rush to the defense of owning multiple plots because they themselves do it. they just come onto these threads to stir the pot and talk condescendingly down to the rest of us.

[Tohe-Spidhire]

No joke. SE wouldn't even have to create an instanced housing system from scratch. They could build on what they already have with apartments and add on some purchasable upgrades to allow more of the amenities of a house. And on that note, workshops for FCs don't even need to be tied to houses. They're a separate instance, and SE could allow access to them from other sources (grand companies, Cid's workshop in Mor Dhona, etc). It would require a bit of tweaking, but I don't think it would be a lot of overhead.

I understand the argument that SE intends housing to be a limited resource that not all of the playerbase owns. That's a fine stance on its own, but if that IS the intention, SE would be well served to take the few pieces of gameplay that are gated behind it (ie: workshops, crossbreeding, and the aetherial wheels) and allow access to them from elsewhere.

the same people always rush to the defense of owning multiple plots because they themselves do it. they just come onto these threads to stir the pot and talk condescendingly down to the rest of us.

Yeah, I can only describe the housing as a Sales-gimmick to create artificial lock-in, as in, "Oh, I really need to take a break from the game and suspend my subscription, but I don't want to lose that Medium/Large house that I have."

And likewise for Small home owners, they're strung along with the faint hope that a Medium will open up. But each ward has a total of 30 houses, with the ratio of S/M/L being 20/7/3. This implies that SE Sales considers multiple home ownership to be a double bonus because it totally locks people into paying ongoing subscriptions.

In other words, if you own a plot, or want a plot, SE has you by the lala's. If there's any bright side to the matter, it's that multiple home owners have the most wretched position because they are completely locked into their subscriptions.

[Bravely_Default]

I am hoping SE uses ishgard as a base for instanced housing and even goes so far to have a limited "free house" for players while still maintaining the other wards so people can flaunt their 10 houses while I happily sip tea in my little dinky abode.

[Tohe-Spidhire]

I am hoping SE uses ishgard as a base for instanced housing and even goes so far to have a limited "free house" for players while still maintaining the other wards so people can flaunt their 10 houses while I happily sip tea in my little dinky abode.

The proof will be in the pudding. If Ishgard has instanced housing that provides enough to meet demand, then SE devs are seeking to improve the game experience. Otherwise, SE Sales are intentionally manipulating the game mechanics to create artificial scarcity that locks people into paying subscriptions, even when such players would like a break from the game.

If it proves the latter, with Ishgard essentially being more of the same housing mechanics, then this means that SE Sales has done an analysis (probably by watching the numbers of people hunting for plots, and collecting stats based upon predictable MMO subscriber traits), and estimated how much additional static plots are needed in order to lock in an additional X subscribers.

I would say that, since SE does absolutely nothing about multiple plot ownership, the entire state of the game is intentional, and Ishgard is going to be more of the same. The positive side is that subscription income will be improved, which helps to keep ffxiv servers running.

[Kenky]

How quickly you run away from your "alienating the playerbase" argument when I use the same argument against you, and then basically say "SE intend for some of the playerbase to be alienated" to support the current situation.

So which is it? Is alienating the playerbase bad or not?

If SE truly did intend for some people to be alienated, then the Auto-demo timer wouldn't be a thing. Previously, it was because server burden was too much to be able to handle more housing and since then, they're working on adding more wards. But even then, when they added new wards and explicitly stated "You can only relocate or buy as an FC house in these new wards", people complained and intentionally avoided that notice and not only that, but some even began to say that public housing was the root of the problem.

Let's go back to when Shirogane was released. 18 wards of FC-only plots for a noticably long amount of time. Barely any plots got snatched up (with the exception of a handful of servers here and there) and it only filled, once the public wall was taken down. Wards 19 - 21 then, offered relocation to expand on space in the other 18 wards and again, not many people flocked to it. Barely any FCs took advantage that they were given, only to cry about re-locators because they took too long.

In the end, yes. Some people aren't going to get a house At present. But you don't lose your ability to get one purely because there isn't any being sold right now. There's always tomorrow and the Demo-Timer, as much as people may dislike it, actually helps keep some form of availability.

Instanced housing would fix the issues, yes. But we already have a form of Instanced housing and people vehemently despise it, purely because it's "Not as good" as a ward house. If SE fully went to Instanced Housing in 5.2, would people actually like it? Where it stands now, I doubt it. Purely because of the lack of gardening and whatever other reason people clamor for these days. But when given the option, very rarely do they use it. Plenty of FCs (On mateus at least) who have openly stated they were going to use every inch of their new plot to make up for the cost simply stopped using it after a few days.

"Interesting. You essentially say people don't need a private house for any form of progression, as a way to make it look as if these players do not need a house unless they are a fc..."

I do, because as an owner of a private house, there's little for me to actually do IN the house besides decorate it to my personal tastes. I know I'm a hypocrite in that regard and I accept that, since there's little reason for me to defend my position when, nine times out of ten, I am aware I'm in the wrong. But my point does stand. There is (from a gameplay side) nothing to do in a personal house beside decorate. That may be enough for plenty of people, I know it is for me. But I also know that a few FCs have gotten.. Shall we say 'less than friendly' when it comes to losing the plot to a private-buyer? It's not very common, but it's happened enough to be tired of it. Plenty of people have been sent unsavory whispers and chat messages because they have a plot and the FC members don't.

And I'm not saying the hoarders are safe from blame or hate. Far from, I'm merely stating that, when the hoarders purchased the land they have now, they did through legitimate channels and, to SE's eyes, are doing nothing wrong. Sure, the fact that they are grandfathered in to the old system (though I am unsure if that still remains, mind!) does suck quite a fair degree. But there is little else one can do as I doubt SE will actively take away the plots they have legitimately obtained, to appease a crowd that may not play the game after a few months.

With the people that own housing, they need to remain active in the games eyes in order to maintain ownership. That guarantees SE some form of cash. SE is a company at the end of the day and if it can do anything to ensure a little bit more fills their coffers, then they'll do it without hesitation. SE isn't evil or malicious in that regard, either. They're just doing what they have to in order to pay their employees. I would love to see everyone get a house at the end of the day, but I do not want it to come at the cost of other systems being neglected or, worse.. People losing their jobs to make up for server costs. (Rather extreme, but still a scenario I doubt many people want played out)

[Illy_Peridot]

And I'm not saying the hoarders are safe from blame or hate. Far from, I'm merely stating that, when the hoarders purchased the land they have now, they did through legitimate channels and, to SE's eyes, are doing nothing wrong. Sure, the fact that they are grandfathered in to the old system (though I am unsure if that still remains, mind!) does suck quite a fair degree. But there is little else one can do as I doubt SE will actively take away the plots they have legitimately obtained, to appease a crowd that may not play the game after a few months.

just gonna point out that at least one person out there (posted in this thread, in fact) has not done it through grandfathering and has instead bought out an entire ward within the last few months using an FC ownership loophole.