How to combat housing resellers and make it fair for everyone

[Nabril]

Doing away with relocation would be a massive step backward for FCs. Before relocation, FCs had to demolish their existing houses if they wanted to move. This would mean losing all workshop progress. It also means all players must demolish their FC chambers (anyone offline/in duty would need to be kicked)

On top of this, relocation guarantees that any person or FC must only sit through the successful camping of one plot, and then becomes free of the system.

So with it being a massive step backward for FCs, and a reasonable step backward for individuals, calling for an end to the relocation system is not logical.

Fair point. Really fair point. Then remove relocation for just personal houses.

Personal houses only. Let FCs keep relocation.

[Themarvin]

there is no housing resellers in this game, but there is FC sellers... and with the current lottery system, it may end getting quite a new expensive affair being able to get a house as with the lottery system, the RMT bots could get up high enough to put in tickets for plots... and then sell them for real life cash, for a desperate person who wants a house, which would be another 1 person FC popping up.

And it is unbelieveable, but on some servers they can really decide the price for it as well.

[Almagnus1]

there is no housing resellers in this game, but there is FC sellers... and with the current lottery system, it may end getting quite a new expensive affair being able to get a house as with the lottery system, the RMT bots could get up high enough to put in tickets for plots... and then sell them for real life cash, for a desperate person who wants a house, which would be another 1 person FC popping up.

And it is unbelieveable, but on some servers they can really decide the price for it as well.

If SE has it so the tickets are non-refundable... that will only work for so long until they run out of gil.

[Nepentha]

If SE has it so the tickets are non-refundable... that will only work for so long until they run out of gil.

We don't know if they will do this, also I highly doubt they'd make it non-refundable. More likely if you don't win the lotto either your gil will just return to you, or be mailed back to you with a note about how you didn't win but try try again.

[Almagnus1]

We don't know if they will do this, also I highly doubt they'd make it non-refundable. More likely if you don't win the lotto either your gil will just return to you, or be mailed back to you with a note about how you didn't win but try try again.

Which means (again) we're coming back to the same thing that people losing their minds over housing is premature at best.

[Darthgummibear]

Which means (again) we're coming back to the same thing that people losing their minds over housing is premature at best.

Given their track record of things they have ACTUALLY DONE vs empty statements, it's a completely valid concern...and one which is honestly pushing me away from the game.

[Kniteroad]

Would it not just make sense to make it so that a new person joining an FC has to wait an X number of days before it can be promoted to guild master? The X can be debated but if lets say you make it 30 days, it shouldn't effect the workings of most FCs. And this would be applicable to only the guild master role not an officership.

[Catstab]

wait an X number of days before it can be promoted to guild master?

SE has a seldom-discussed system that would trip that up, unfortunately. If the leader of an FC is offline for 30 days, they are demoted and leadership is handed off by an algorithm. If the only person to hand leadership to is too new to become leader, I'm not sure how the auto promotion system would deal with that.

[Kniteroad]

SE has a seldom-discussed system that would trip that up, unfortunately. If the leader of an FC is offline for 30 days, they are demoted and leadership is handed off by an algorithm. If the only person to hand leadership to is too new to become leader, I'm not sure how the auto promotion system would deal with that.

Yes, but it almost doesn't matter. If you set the auto-demote and the time requirement for GM promotion at the same time people will still have to wait 30 days to purchase their plot from a re-seller. I don't think it will completely solves the problem 100% but it will be a large deterrent in my mind. If you think about it from the buyer's perspective, you'll have to wait 30 days to take ownership of the house. It would be foolish to hand over the gil before the 30 days are up as it is already based on the honor system. this would also tie up the reseller's alt/bot for 30 days every time they sell which would mean they would need a lot more accounts to make the same profit.

and if we want to go a step further, what if they add a really long timer on creating a new FC a certain number of months after you already chartered an FC.

[Nepentha]

Yes, but it almost doesn't matter. If you set the auto-demote and the time requirement for GM promotion at the same time people will still have to wait 30 days to purchase their plot from a re-seller. I don't think it will completely solves the problem 100% but it will be a large deterrent in my mind. If you think about it from the buyer's perspective, you'll have to wait 30 days to take ownership of the house. It would be foolish to hand over the gil before the 30 days are up as it is already based on the honor system. this would also tie up the reseller's alt/bot for 30 days every time they sell which would mean they would need a lot more accounts to make the same profit.

and if we want to go a step further, what if they add a really long timer on creating a new FC a certain number of months after you already chartered an FC.

I've suggested that, actually. To curb the FC house flipping market. You can't hand down FC master to a member who has not been in the FC for at least 30 days. Prevents someone from creating an FC, leveling it to 6, botting their way to a house (just about everyone who does this is botting the placards as well, usually on multiple characters to raise their chances of winning), and then selling it rather quickly. These operations count on speed, get a house and dump it to a buyer ASAP. (If that doesn't happen, they have a low level alt join to hold it while they look for a buyer.) That frees up their FC making alts to rinse and repeat the process.

But, as someone pointed out that would complicate things with even small FCs who have no housing. SO, here's another thought:

1) Put a timer on when you can go buy a house. Freshly made FCs cannot purchase homes for 30 days, no matter what the FC rank is.
2) A double whammy would be your FC has to be lvl 10, just to purchase a small plot.
3) The purchasing member of the FC has to be able to purchase personal housing (meaning they have to be at least lvl 50 and gone through the motions with their Grand Company to get to Second Lieutenant).
4) If your FC has a home you can't hand down FC master to someone who doesn't fit the criteria to own personal housing. In the instance the FC master vanishes and the algorithm cannot find a member who fits criteria to have the house handed down to them (making them FC Master) a demolition timer is enacted regardless of any remaining members going in and out of the house. Giving members who remain 45 days to get to the point they meet the criteria to have FC master handed down to them. (FCs with no housing can have FC master handed down without this requirement, as they have to be meet all of that criteria in order to buy a house.)

Only issue I can see is the FC Master not meeting the criteria for personal housing with an officer who does trying to buy the plot. Might have to counter that with a notice to any players wanting to buy that their FC master must meet these criteria in order to buy it.

Would this stop house flipping? Absolutely not, it's naïve to think so, they'll think of a workaround. But it would slow down these operations that count on fast sales. Making a group wait 30 days to try for an FC house wouldn't be much of a burden.

I'd also look at relocation. A five minute cooldown is laughable, and creates a scenario where people can just bounce from house to house to harass players by resetting the placard timer. (I've seen this happen. It's weird, but it has happened.)

1) On a freshly purchased house you can relocate immediately if you want to.
2) Your first relo has a 15 day cooldown. You cannot relocate until that 15 days is up.
3) Your second relo has a 30 day cooldown. Now you have to wait 30 days to relocate again.
4) Your third relo has a 45 day timer. I'd make this the max. Once you hit this point, you have to wait another 45 days every time you relocate.
5) In order to reset the cooldown, you must wait double the time of your cooldown. (You wait 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days with no relocations in order to restart the timer back to #1 there.)

Most players are not going to bounce around. They may relocate once, and be done with it, maybe twice if their cooldown timer is up and there's a plot they've been dying for released. It also makes people pause and think about it. "Do I want to move to this plot? I'll have a relocation cooldown and the plot I really want may come open during that wait period." For serial house flippers ward scanning to pick up medium and large houses, this would make their lives a bit more difficult.

Of course, SE could just give us more housing to resolve this problem all together. Or implement instanced housing to alleviate the problem. But they have bigger fish to fry atm and we're probably on the back burner.