So, a lottery system and a divide between FC and solo wards, eh?

[Ashennae]

My only concern is the possibility of solo players and FCs losing the houses that they currently have with this lotto system. Otherwise, this is mostly great. Finally, we see an end to people standing 12+ hours at a plaque trying to out-click someone else, or even worse, cheaters with 3rd party programs stealing houses from honest players.

[PangTong]

I agree. "I've been doing the housing lottery for MONTHS and I never win!" threads incoming, lol.

Lottery system is effectively the same as the current system except you don't need to be physically at the sign, spam clicking it in the hopes that you are the one who can click "Buy" when it finally becomes available. Either way the person who gets the plot is up to chance, but now you don't need to damage yourself by staying up for 24 hours camping the plot, or running a bot to do it for you.

It's true it doesn't fix the lack of supply but it does fix a serious problem with the current purchasing system. Even if there were enough plots for everyone, there would still be competition for the most desirable ones such as larges or plots in attractive locations, so a lottery system is a valid addition either way.

[Payadopa]

This solves absolutely nothing.

It fixes clicking a sign for w

[Payadopa]

Butter fingers.

It fixes clicking a sign for weeks on end. That's a huge improvement.

[IckeDerTyp]

As people earlier said, not the acquisition is the problem, its the supply.

I still believe housing isn't a thing ya need in this game until... Mostly everything else has become boring but... It has big appeal and that's why we got Apts. Shame those are too scuffed.

I think enhancing those would've been the best decision buuuuuut... Doubt it!

We'll just have to wait and see what they come up with.

However, don't you dare and touch my neighbourhood. Even if 90% isn't busy, the remaining 10% are good friends who I love visiting, by foot. Don't kill the bit of immersion that's left and make the wards like... Even emptier by splitting the pop in half!

Anyway, stop camping placards and start enjoying the game again for what it is, housing is just a very smol part and if we're Frank... Who needs it anyway? Soooo relax and let fate get you into your house.

^^

[ForteNightshade]

I think this actually makes buying a house worse. He's described 4 different groups for buying a house with wards to accommodate each: FC Lottery, FC Purchase, Solo Lottery, and Solo Purchase. This means no matter which group you're in, you have 1/4th the available houses to pick from. If you want to buy, instead of running to a ward and getting one, you now have the extra step of figuring out which wards you're even allowed to buy a house in.

So we end up with less houses to pick from, more hoops to jump through to buy and it doesn't fix the fundamental issue of NOT ENOUGH SUPPLY. I get that some people like the Lottery idea but this just makes it a worse mess.

This is my concern as well. If they're opting to use this system for Ishgard, it'll make getting a house worse in many ways. I want to relocate. I'm guessing the lotto system will only be intended to replace Placard clicking. If not, and literally every house is now a lotto. Well, that'll be fun. But even then, I'll have like 8 wards to choose from. We'll have to wait for more details but it is a little disconcerting.

[Hoehenflug]

I'm kind of torn. I got back to FF14 rather recently, and just as in SB, my main endgame is my house. I got mine fairly quickly within 30h, in the meantime writing on term papers during European nights. On that night like 10 plots opened in the Goblet, and even after 10 hourse of casually clicking, I got my premium. A friend of mine that I made during that journey also got lucky that night.

This sort of system makes it unfair for people like me and him. While I do get that not everyone can afford the time, I feel like with this system you can easily make you go a year without a plot by making less plots available.

I also don't really like the divide. I do like my FC neighbors, I don't want less of them.

The changes also won't fix accessibility of mediums and larges since most of them are already owned by FCs ( to resell them online, because owners know their worths). They won't kick those people out, so this will basically only affect Ishgard?

[StriderShinryu]

Thinking a little more about this, it's possible that they will be able to apply more protection into the lottery system than they currently can with the placard system as far as bots are concerned so maybe this will have dual functionality to at least hamper botting in general. And I wonder if the lottery system will allow you to choose your specific plot at all or if you're basically just buying a ticket for "1 Small Plot in Shirogane" and you get what you get. This would certainly make the "first come first served" wards still the most attractive option for many players.

I guess I'm lucky in this as I already have a house I like in the area I like so it's mostly scientific for me but I can't help but hope for the best. Even though I have a house of my own I only want others to be able to have the same thing.

[NyannCat]

I don’t really appreciate the lotto system. The problem isn’t procurement, it’s supply. A lotto system doesn’t fix that - they need to somehow up the supply or lower demand by allowing gardening in apartments.

The problem isn't that they don't want to supply, is that they can't. There are data issues.
People keep asking for the same thing, but it's just not doable.

Also, supply isn't an issue, to be honest. The biggest problem is that every ward is filled with empty abandoned houses. Because there is no cost to keep them.
Housing needs a weekly/monthly fee for rent cost or something, so people will have to be active enough to keep their houses. I see so many houses in my ward that haven't been touched in months, and I never see my neighbors. Meanwhile people keep wanting more wards, more plots. Why?
Why do you need more plots and wards if those are also going to be filled by empty abandoned houses?

All the time I see people saying "Oh my god I want a house so much!!!" and then they finally get one just to find out how hard it is to decorate one. And even when they do decorate them, they become bored of it and never touch them ever again.

Seriously. Farming 3-4m gil isn't even that hard. It's absurd that you only have to pay that amount once and now you can keep your empty house forever. Meanwhile SE spends millions in servers to be able to add more wards.

Seriously, if they add a rent cost, you'll see the housing supply and ward activity improve a lot. It won't solve it 100%, but it will improve.

(As for gardening issues, I really wish they fix this by allowing people to plant stuff in island sanctuaries. It is so dumb that you need a house to do gardening.)

[StriderShinryu]

Eh, I'm not a fan at all of a rental system. But I do agree that there is an issue with people basically squatting on houses and not using them or doing anything with them. Maybe just a more frequent check-in requirement or a way to cede your house/plot back to the system with no money lost (assuming such a thing doesn't already exist).