You're not supposed to stay up all night clicking to buy a fake house in a game..

[Penthea]

There’s no question the current placard-clicking system is terrible for everyone involved. But at the heart of the issue is that people are fighting over a finite resource. There will be winners and losers.

It is not realistic to expect this coveted neighborhood housing to become readily available for all players.

The neighbourhoods were at first intended to be for fcs only. SE created a system that would have had enough houses for at least most fcs that were in the game at the time, but due to their lack of use SE allowed individuals to purchase houses. However they did not change anything about the housing system itself to adapt to the change in its target audience save for adding tenancy. There are several times more players than fcs. This is why there is a severe shortage. It's not because "oh it's old school" that most players cannot get a house. It's literally because the ward system was not made with individual players in mind. We're stuck with a system that was intended for a far smaller amount of buyers.

And because the player population keeps growing, SE can't keep up with the demand. The housing system is suffering due to its design being unsuitable for its current purpose, and the success of the game bringing new players in faster than SE can keep up with when it comes to houses.

[Tommara]

It’s not a change of tune. For a house decoration game housing would be a requirement. You can’t decorate a house if you do not have access to one. So every player can expect easy access to housing.

In an MMORPG housing is optional; it’s not the core content from a developers point of view. So it’s entirely up to the developers whether they even want to implement a housing system, where they want to place it, and what they want to do with it.

SE’s stance so far seems to be that they want neighborhood houses to be coveted. So that’s how I based my expectation on its availability.

which I disputed, by referencing old MMO's from over 20 years ago and so you replied:

"Just because it’s done in one game doesn’t mean it’d be done in another. For example, some games have seamless transition between maps while others have to zone in/out.

Either by design or due to coding/hardware limitation, FFXIV has not offered “neighborhood housing” for all of its player. And all indications are that they don’t intend to do so anytime soon. Simply asking for it to happen on a game forum is not likely going to change their mind, or budget, or code.

They have offered apartments as a more available housing option. It’s just that many players are not interested.

And MMORPGs are all massive time-/money-sinks by design anyways; thats how they keep players subscribed/paying for items."

[Tommara]

As I've said before, I don't believe the FF14 devs are stupid. I believe everything they do is exactly what they have intended.

And so while I'm having to deal with the worst inventory system I've ever encountered in any game, I'm not thinking kind things about them.

And while I'm not into decorating, I've played games with housing that is a lot more useful than FF14's housing, so I'm not interested at all in FF14 housing at all. But it bothers me that the FF14 devs have convinced so many players to "stay up all night clicking to buy a fake house in a game".

It smacks of Cow Clicker - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_Clicker, see also http://bogost.com/blog/cow_clicker_1/

It also makes me sad that the best strategy game I've ever played, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Me...Alpha_Centauri (all Civilization games that followed sucked in comparison), was led by Brian Reynolds, who after its commercial failure, despite SMAC's acclaim, joined Zynga. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_...game_designer))

[Doozer]

But it bothers me that the FF14 devs have convinced so many players to "stay up all night clicking to buy a fake house in a game".

Which Live Letter or announcement did they say "you need to stay up all night clicking to buy a fake house"? I'm having a hard time finding anywhere where they told players or even implied that they had to do that. Perhaps I'm missing it, or maybe it's not SE that did the convincing. I guess we oft forget we can convince ourselves of things too.

[Tommara]

Which Live Letter or announcement did they say "you need to stay up all night clicking to buy a fake house"? I'm having a hard time finding anywhere where they told players or even implied that they had to do that. Perhaps I'm missing it, or maybe it's not SE that did the convincing. I guess we oft forget we can convince ourselves of things too.

Look at the title to this thread.

Then read what I said about Cow Clicker and Zynga.

The fact that you can't rely on devs to do the right thing is pretty much my point.

Edited Note: But yeah, the fact that players fall for it, is also my point, having once been an Evercrack addict, and so I seek to educate new gamers from becoming so.

[Doozer]

Look at the title to this thread.

Then read what I said about Cow Clicker and Zynga.

The fact that you can't rely on devs to do the right thing is pretty much my point.

I thought your point was that SE "convinced" people that they need to stay up all night clicking the same thing to get a chance at a house. Because that's what you said:

But it bothers me that the FF14 devs have convinced so many players to "stay up all night clicking to buy a fake house in a game".

So I asked where you read that. If that's not what you meant, then go right ahead and say that and I'll go on my merry way. That's specifically what I was referring to, so I don't really feel like hopping around reading a bunch of other things that aren't related to what I asked you.

You said SE has told players they have to do that. I asked you how you knew. You then say to read about Cow Clicker? They didn't even make that game, nor does it give me any more detail on your claim. If you want to avoid answering my question, just ignore me altogether.

[Tommara]

I thought your point was that SE "convinced" people that they need to stay up all night clicking the same thing to get a chance at a house. Because that's what you said:



So I asked where you read that. If that's not what you meant, then go right ahead and say that and I'll go on my merry way. That's specifically what I was referring to, so I don't really feel like hopping around reading a bunch of other things that aren't related to what I asked you.

You said SE has told players they have to do that. I asked you how you knew. You then say to read about Cow Clicker? They didn't even make that game, nor does it give me any more detail on your claim. If you want to avoid answering my question, just ignore me altogether.

You're right about that.

The FF14 players have done that to themselves.

Edited Note: The stuff about Cow Clicker is an attempt to educate new gamers to not fall for it, as I see housing in FF14.

[Doozer]

You're right about that.

The FF14 players have done that to themselves.

Alright then. Thread over, I suppose.

[NibblzofFire]

I agree the choice to stay up is my own, but I will selfishly ask for a small update to the timer system. For example, a plot has been on the timer for 6 and half hours in a highly populated. In that time, no one else but me has come to the Placard. On a highly populate server, 6 and a half hours is a long time for only 1 person to pop in for a peak (me)(havent left at all since it started, so can confirm). I believe that at the very least, the timer should shoot it self forward by like 5%-10% if only one account on the entire world seems interested. Not asking for a freebie, but I mean come on, at least take the number of accounts per an hour showing interest into account. Highly populated server = only 1 account period clicking on the placard should = a small fast forward of the timer at least, cause you know, the supply is currently outweighing the demand for this particular plot.

[Xelanar]

There is no need for the timer to be this long in the first place.
2-3 hours would be more than sufficient to discourage reselling of plots.
Or just have a fixed and visible timer of i.E 5 hours where no one can make a purchase(to discourage reselling during times of low server population), and have a random hidden timer of 1-2 hours afterwards.