Major changes needed for housing

[Divinemights]

i.e., I pretty much don't get the purpose of FF14 housing except as status symbols or fulfilling people's dreams of owning a house, neither of which I need. But I do think the devs are incompetent of they can't manage it, having played so many games where housing for all is not a problem, and isn't reserved for only those who are stupid enough to watch a stump for days, as I did, even though it at the time, it did result in a combat advantage, not a house.

FF14 Housing, what you are seeing is the culture difference between Eastern and Western, in another word, individualism vs collectiveism
Most of NA players has no interest in Housing when it first installed (no EU at that time) because there is no private ownership.
When Personal Housing is available the just want it for status symbols, not really because they cares or will actively use it (Not saying everyone, but majority of us)
You will see the claim for Garden Plot, but everyone knew that is just a fat lie and excuse.
No matter how good apartment is, people will still want House for status symbol

[Tommara]

FF14 Housing, what you are seeing is the culture difference between Eastern and Western, in another word, individualism vs collectiveism
Most of NA players has no interest in Housing when it first installed (no EU at that time) because there is no private ownership.
When Personal Housing is available the just want it for status symbols, not really because they cares or will actively use it (Not saying everyone, but majority of us)
You will see the claim for Garden Plot, but everyone knew that is just a fat lie and excuse.
No matter how good apartment is, people will still want House for status symbol

As I said before, I understand the cultural differences. I was born in Japan, but raised in the US. Basically, in Japan, they are trying to preserve resources for future generations. I think they're right for doing so, but I also recognize that won't work in the US for a variety of reasons.

Modelling Japanese values for resource conservation makes no sense in a video game. Video games are all about indulging fantasies.

Someone earlier mentioned that SE is also bound to server hardware that they trust, which I can't fault them for (although it reminds me of IBM's fate, which I watched in the US since my Dad worked there) and that these servers can't handle instanced housing for some reason.

It's not clear to me why they can handle apartments without gardening, but can't handle them with gardening. But if that is a real issue, maybe it would be a good opportunity to test another server provider.