Quote Originally Posted by Seleni View Post

Apartment still costs 500k. Unless it becomes free, dropping the required GC rank is probably not going to make a difference. Most people don’t drop 500k gils just to check things out. (Which was why I tried to suggest a demo/trial experience quest for apartment before.)

And I seriously doubt they’d just let it become free with or without GC rank requirement. They probably don’t have enough capacity to provide apartments for every single character created on all the servers. I haven’t actually gone to check it out, but someone already claimed on the forum that apartments on Balmung are full.
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I'm not suggesting that the apartment price be lowered or removed.

The required GC rank actually would make a difference. GC rank isn't earned by doing MSQ outside of the rank you get when you first join. It's earned through side content the new character is ignoring as they work their way through MSQ. That (not to mention the general distaste for doing Dzemael Darkhold and Aurum Vale) slows down how fast they get to the higher ranks.

A veteran player being aware of content that requires 2nd Lt might focus on getting that rank faster. New players generally don't because the game doesn't give them that information. They only learn when hear other players mention the locked content they've never seen and start asking questions.

Lowering the GC rank requirement for an apartment would definitely get some players into apartments faster, especially if at the time they get the relevant promotion there's a message stating "you're now eligible to purchase an apartment in Mist, Lavender Beds or Goblet". What do most players do when they get a message they're eligible for new content? They go try it out.

I'm really confused why you're against this idea when you're the one that thinks players should be using apartments instead of getting houses.