I just spent a total of 28 hours across the last 36 hours camping 3 different housing plots to try and get a house, only to fail each time. I know that the housing situation is well knowing amongst long time players but as someone who is relatively new (6 months), I frankly didn't believe it was as bad as people claimed until I had actually experienced it for myself.

I work in the games industry (on MMOs, in fact) and I'm legitimately stunned that the current system was be allowed to go live as it is not to mention that it has existed in the game for well over a year. This is the kind of system that should have existed for *maybe* a month while a patch or hotfix was worked on to solve the root problem around RMT and scalping. The fact that the timer can go for up to 24hrs is actually a liability/safety concern with legal implications. It's stunning that square enix hasn't faced actual litigation for this yet in its current form. I did the math and in the 18 hours I camped one of these plots I input roughly 470,000 "clicks" (I had to break it up between mouse, keyboard, and controller usage to prevent actual injury).

A few suggestions (which I'm sure have been suggested countless times here):
1. Make it a simple lottery. When a plot becomes available you put your name in the hat and pay the cost of the plot and its luck of the draw. If you win it, the game keeps your money and you get the plot. If you lose, most of your money is returned.
2. Make the timer be up for a maximum of 4 hours to prevent health concerns and injury. 24 is far too much and is dangerous.

I know the argument is "well if you really want it you'll endure this to get it" and while that is true, the reality is just because people are willing to do it doesn't mean its safe for them to do so, and game developers bear some of the responsibility for the health of their players in how they design and implement their systems. I grinded to Rank 14 in original World of Warcraft, which was another legendarily grueling and unhealthy grind, but even that was able to be managed by organized players via setting daily or weekly honor caps and effectively "fixing" the brackets, and you could theoretically arrange breaks or plan out your time around the grind. You could even more or less estimate what your gains would be each week, ensuring that "eventually" you do get what you want. It's entirely possible with housing to just be unlucky and miss nabbing your plot by a fraction of a second every time you try, forever.

In closing, this is--with no hyperbole--the worst and most actually legally dangerous game system I've ever encountered in an MMO. Its cruelty is on a whole different level from anything that came before it, and this is coming from a former rank 14 pvper from WoW. Change this immediately. Don't add new plots, don't add new wards, don't do ANYTHING to the game until this is changed. Run, don't walk, to do literally anything else with the timer system.