The HORRENDOUS State of Housing

[Jojoya]

Instanced housing would do more harm in my opinion than it would fix stuff. Sure the instanced housing would give everyone their plot but i learned in wildstar that this isn't really the greatest way. Ofc it's nice to build as you wish but at the end the housing system we have here in XIV is based on a specific feature, it's limitied and to show off what you have. And for that reason it needs to be "open" or as we have it now "semi-open" so others players are forced to see other players houses, somehow.

And i think the housing system is just fine as it is, it is exactly what it wants to be and the devs go even further and for all that don't want to hunt (as far as i heard a great deal in the asian community) for plots literally everyone can get a apartment and they already talked about us being able to upgrade (?) the apartments someday.

For the asian market this system is just right, it's hard and grindy and it's a achievement to get a house and you can show off at the end of the day. Maybe our western mentality isn't made for that and we want it all for free but tbh it is not the main feature of the game and it is exactly what it wants to be, exclusive and grindy.

So i don't know why people always cry so much about the housing system. If you don't like cucumbers then don't buy them. Play something else that suits your wishes more and don't try to force the cucumber seller to change cuz you like eggplants more.

But it's not grindy, nor was it ever intended to be grindy.

If SE had wanted to it to retain some sort of grindy prestige factor, they would have never expanded from the original 5 wards without subdivisions to the current 21 with subdivisions. They would have never reduced purchase prices to a fraction of their original. They wouldn't have added relocation, instead forcing players to start from scratch if they wanted to live in a different location.

You've got some warped idea of what housing is supposed to be.

No one is getting a better game experience by being forced to stare at another player's Paissa house. Instanced doesn't mean others can't visit. I wander into random apartments frequently to see the creative ways players use small spaces. I don't get any sort of preview, I just walk in out of curiosity assuming the apartment is open to visitors. If we had instanced house plots, I'd be doing the same thing with them.

If you feel a need to show off your house, then invite others to come visit it. Considering how empty wards are even in the best of times, that's a better way to make certain your house gets seen than relying on almost non-existent foot traffic to do it.

[MsQi]

But it's not grindy, nor was it ever intended to be grindy.

If SE had wanted to it to retain some sort of grindy prestige factor, they would have never expanded from the original 5 wards without subdivisions to the current 21 with subdivisions. They would have never reduced purchase prices to a fraction of their original. They wouldn't have added relocation, instead forcing players to start from scratch if they wanted to live in a different location.

You've got some warped idea of what housing is supposed to be.

No one is getting a better game experience by being forced to stare at another player's Paissa house. Instanced doesn't mean others can't visit. I wander into random apartments frequently to see the creative ways players use small spaces. I don't get any sort of preview, I just walk in out of curiosity assuming the apartment is open to visitors. If we had instanced house plots, I'd be doing the same thing with them.

If you feel a need to show off your house, then invite others to come visit it. Considering how empty wards are even in the best of times, that's a better way to make certain your house gets seen than relying on almost non-existent foot traffic to do it.

Some games that have instanced housing, like SWTOR (one of the least creative decorating systems) and RIFT (One of the most creative) have a listing system that allows other players to come visit and upvote your house. It's been a while, but I think the SWTOR lists were based on upvotes, and the RIFT system allowed you to manually list your dimensions ocasionally, so you get pushed to the top temporarily. THis form memory from a few years back.

[tdb]

I don't think instanced housing would be a bad idea. Probably there are some people who only use gardening as an excuse, and probably some people will complain about something regardless, but there's likely to be a lot of those who will just be happy to have their own private house. I currently own a medium plot in Lavender Beds (plot #41, so no neighbors visible from my yard) but I could be won over and move to an instanced house if it got me a lot larger yard with more room for decorations. The 30 decoration limit is just so restrictive, although I understand it's needed because the outdoor decorations of all 30 houses in the ward need to be loaded at once.

[ForteNightshade]

because Instanced housing is basically apartment with garden, some people say yes that's all they want, but if both Instanced housing and shared instanced exist people will again complain the lack of shared instaced plot, why? because they want the best for them.

a LOT of people say they don't want apartment because they want gardening but once they got a house plot they never touch gardening, it's just an excuse. apartment is good enough as it is but people just never stopping wanting more.

Except apartments aren't "good enough." They're FC rooms that cost more. That had far more of an impact on why people ultimately dismissed apartments; their lack of size. And why shouldn't people want more? This is a theme park MMO, where the goal is to cater towards a variety of niches. For several people, housing is one such niche. SE is simply stuck in the sunken cost fallacy; continuously adding to a system that doesn't work well instead of fixing the problem with proper instanced housing.

[Stanelis]

Honestly the solution is simple : implement a guenine solo player housing system that doesn't sux (fully instanced) and keep the current system (semi instanced) for FCs only. I ve been "owning" a house for years but it isn't fair. Equal subscription fee should lead to equal gameplay opportunities for everyone.

[LuciferNacht]

Honestly the solution is simple : implement a guenine solo player housing system that doesn't sux (fully instanced) and keep the current system (semi instanced) for FCs only. I ve been "owning" a house for years but it isn't fair. Equal subscription fee should lead to equal gameplay opportunities for everyone.

That solution is not simple. It sucks. Players that own houses now shouldn't be penalized and lose them because they are personals. FCs are not more deserving of a physical plot. They should just add instanced period and leave the current system alone for those that have been here playing loyally for years and want to retain what they worked hard for.

[Stanelis]

That solution is not simple. It sucks. Players that own houses now shouldn't be penalized and lose them because they are personals. FCs are not more deserving of a physical plot. They should just add instanced period and leave the current system alone for those that have been here playing loyally for years and want to retain what they worked hard for.

"worked hard for" = being in the right place at the right time before the restrictions to acquire one's first plot was added and before the random plot acquisition timer (I got my plot in ARR and I know very well how the system used to be). Individual players that have housing (I m amongst those and I even have a medium house) wouldn't be penalized by individual housing. Let me remind you the current housing system was never designed to be for individual players. It only got opened to individual players after SE decided to srap whichever individual player housing thay had originally planned. Now, almost 8 years away, maybe it is time to add a relevant individual player housing system (like in all modern PVE MMORPGs that have housing).

[Reinha]

To be fair it does solve the issue of people endlessly clicking because they personally they feel the need to do so to get a house.

Granted I do not think people should camp out for plots, but a lottery system would allow them to not feel the need to endlessly click for a plot. So for the most part it would solve the issue some people have with our housing system. Though I do agree a lottery system is a meh idea at best and just trades one form of inadequate distribution method for another.

Raising the housing price would fix this problem too. Many of the people clicking placards would have to go back to making gil. At the same time more gil would be removed from the game every time someone buys a house, making it slightly more difficult to acquire gil. If there is going to be competition I'd rather have the opportunity to affect my standing than be denied a house forever based on RNG.

[FF16Necromancer]

This system definitely seems better than the fallout we have seen today - housing plots gone within minutes.

[BehindTheFlowers]

It need fixed. And welcome to the horros of ingame housing hunting. Where bots rule and SE ignores everything, from positive suggestions, to rage, to bots aparently. But fight on!
I suggest a unsbuscribtion for 1 month, so they can feel it in the accountains departement instead of here. Best to vote with our money then words it seems.