Open Letter to SE:Redesign Apartment Interiors & Make Apartments Relocatable to Plots

[Penthea]

or even make apartments relocatable into small plots.

This would render the placard timer irrelevant. While I hate that blasted thing your relocation idea won't fix much of anything because the fact is we have so many unhappy players due to a shortage of houses. Not because players can't relocate from apartments.

If relocation from apartments was possible there would be just as many unhappy players because that change does not increase the amount of houses in the game. The root of the problem is the lack of houses.

The change we need to apartments is significant upgrades for them. Right now they're just fc rooms with a chocobo stable. You have a very small room to decorate, no cross planting, no outdoor space to use outdoor furnishings, no tenancy, and fcs cannot use them. They're not a legitimate alternative to housing because they lack so many of the features houses have.

If apartments were bigger, could have more than one room or floor, had a balcony to use outdoor furnishings, the ability to crossplant, have tenancy, and fcs could use them complete with a workshop and fc rooms...then the housing situation would improve quite a lot without needing to add more houses. The only completely absent feature would be the ability to use outdoor housing skins.

Of course even if we had the above players would still want houses but at least they would not be locked out of so many features so many wouldn't feel as bad about not having a house if their apartment offered mostly the same features. Many players want a house specifically because apartments lack the upgrades I listed. Especially in the case of fcs given that apartments are currently strictly for individual use.

[Jojoya]

but at least they would not be locked out of so many features

It's phrases like this that might be twisting players expectations about personal house ownership out of shape.

It's not many features. It's a couple of features. It's a lot of fun if you've got a creative itch you want to scratch, no doubt about it, but it's not a game changer.

You can still garden in an apartment or FC room using flowerpots. You cannot crossbreed to get new seeds (something that most players don't care about and many of those who think they do stop caring once they experience it).

You can still decorate in apartments or FC rooms. You can't place outdoor furnishings.

That's the extent of the differences for a personal house versus an apartment. You still get a teleport to your residence (included with the apartment, must buy separate for a house). You still get access to a chocobo stable (included with apartment, must buy separate for a house).

The differences for a FC are a bit more pronounced because apartments are not an option.

You get a unique place for your FC to meet where others can't intrude (not an option if you're trying to use a member house/apartment since guest access has to be allowed so other members can enter).

You get the opportunity to place a Grade 6 Aetherial Wheel Stand to change up Grade 3 actions not available at the GC QM. Not quite as big a deal as it sounds - takes 72 hours to charge and you can only charge 1 at a time - but definitely a good perk if you plan ahead for special events like Make It Rain (Jackpot III) or an expansion launch (Heat of Battle III so everyone can get their main jobs to level cap a little faster).

You can purchase a workshop for crafting the full housing skins, some of which can be a good way to make gil for the FC.

You can make airship/submersible parts and send your fleet on voyages. As others have said, they're really just a glorified version of retainers but they're still a good way to earn gil for the FC.

But still, not having any of those things is not a massive game changer for the individual player. For FCs, it makes it more difficult for the FC to raise gil without relying on member donations and to find places to meet where other players won't suddenly appear to disrupt but there are lots of FCs that function just fine without a house.

All of that said, we still need a system where any character can get a house if the player wants their character to have one. The game experience is not being enhanced by this limited availability and the resulting Housing Savage PvP/black market sales for both gil and real money.

[Penthea]

It's phrases like this that might be twisting players expectations about personal house ownership out of shape.

It's not many features. It's a couple of features.

Well according to the below list apartments have literally half the features that private housing does. And this is without even vaguely mentioning the huge difference in furnishing space you get going from an apartment to just a cottage, never mind anything bigger.

Private Housing:

Tenancy
Indoor furnishing
Outdoor Furnishing
Crafting Stations
Npcs/retainer bell, etc
Exterior housing skins
Being able to change your door and window shape (this matters as this does change the interior, but these are not always part of house skins)
Indoor planting
Outdoor/cross planting
Chocobo Stable

FC Housing:

Can be shared with fc members
Indoor furnishing
Outdoor Furnishing
Crafting Stations
Npcs/retainer bell, etc
Exterior housing skins
Being able to change your door and window shape
Indoor planting
Outdoor/cross planting
Chocobo Stable
Aetherial Wheels for better fc buffs (thinking about it now I can't remember if these can be placed in a private residence or not)
Fc rooms
Workshop
Airships and Submarines

Private Apartments:

Indoor furnishing
Crafting Stations
Npcs/retainer bell, etc
Indoor planting
Chocobo Stable (that you cannot customise at all unlike house owners)

FC Apartments:

Doesn't exist

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I mentioned the door and window shape because when I only had an apartment I actually crafted myself some new windows only to find that I could not use them. It really surprised me because apartments clearly do have windows.