Thoughts on Relocation removal

[Arazehl]

My only issue is I have a solo FC so am I required to have 3 other people in mines just to relocate? Or is it just for new starter FC’s?

So you got a house as an FC, but not using it right now in the way that it was intended, with it's restrictions of at least 4 members? I think FC housing should not be permitted to be owned unless it has the required members and SE should send out demolish notices base on the less than 4 members. People shouldn't be buying FC houses as private residences or own them as such.

[Chrisnetika]

So you got a house as an FC, but not using it right now in the way that it was intended, with it's restrictions of at least 4 members? I think FC housing should not be permitted to be owned unless it has the required members and SE should send out demolish notices base on the less than 4 members. People shouldn't be buying FC houses as private residences or own them as such.

Spot on, to add to that pretty tiring seeing everyone and their pet dog have their own fc then take over lots with only 1 member in their fc. Other month saw a 2 person fc with a mansion and was shaking my head. I think more can be done to fine tune the housing like have certain amount of members depending on the lot and so on.

[SchwarzwaelderTorte]

Bleh I was about to start a thread but it took so long to write there are already several lol

Here are my thoughts:

Like many people here I love the housing feature, and I was dissatisfied with how plot purchasing was being handled until now. It's a very frustrating, exhausting and time-consuming process.
So a lottery system is a welcome change! Everyone gets the same chance to own the plot they're after (if their schedule matches with the lottery schedule).

However, I'm concerned about the removal of the relocation feature.

Each housing area has its own uniqueness and internal architecture. So that is also a big choice when you're deciding where you want your house to be.
Until now, if you already owned a plot, by relocating you could bypass the internal timer. This gave you a significant advantage when a new housing area or ward was released, or when a plot you were coveting was free, as you could instantly move there.
In a lot of people's cases, it was a way to secure a plot in the hopes of moving to a better one in the area of their choice, even if that meant spending more gil (empty plot fee + relocation fee).

So, for example, I was lucky enough to purchase my small plot 2 years ago in Shirogane, which was the only plot available on my server at that time. I think I spent 6 hours clicking on the placard, and it was the third plot I was trying to get. The only reason I got it was in the hopes of an Ishgard housing area (which was eventually announced). It was a long-time investment, and I was happy to have a way to immediately move in the area I wanted.

The removal of the relocation feature, as far as I understand, means that this long-time investment is basically rendered null. So players who have worked very hard until now to get a plot with the current system lose that advantage.
Basically, we've all become new house hunters, even if we already own a house.
Of course, some people might not really care about where their house is, as long as they own one, but conversely, if I want a house in a certain housing area that is completely full, I don't really care about all the free plots in other housing areas.

So while the lottery system is absolutely fair for new house hunters, I find this a bit unfair to the players who had made preparations (and invested tons of time and gil) to move to a different housing area (be it Empyreum, or getting one of the plots left behind by someone who'd just moved there).
Is this something that the dev team has considered while designing the lottery system? Isn't there a way to give a slight advantage to current plot owners, like VIP lottery tickets?
Also, something that wasn't really mentioned: do you still get a discount if you want to relocate to the plot you're applying for, or do you have to pay the full price?

[Jojoya]

Also, something that wasn't really mentioned: do you still get a discount if you want to relocate to the plot you're applying for, or do you have to pay the full price?

I assume the relocation "discount" will be unaffected by the changes, not that amounts to much. Someone who currently owns a small would only get 446-558k gil applied toward the purchase price of the new plot. It may as well be full price at that point.

S.E. Just needs to stop with the band aid fixs flat out there had 2 years to have a team redo the housing into instance so everyone could have a house. Its not hard many games have it.. They proved they can do it with Apartments.. Just make it so houses are like that and remove outdoor deco.. Put gardens on the door to your GC along with Airships and work shops so everyone in a FC or Not have access. Its not rocket science. They keep making the Jobs easier to play and housing harder then it needs to be..

No need to remove outdoor decor with instanced housing. Outdoors can be a part of the instance just as much as the indoors.

A better solution is to remove Outdoor Furnishings as a category and move those items into the other categories. Why should I not have a Carbuncle table on my lawn to go with my Carbuncle Bench, or Lattice Planter alongside my Doman Dogwoods?

Let me explain something to you. I own my solo FC because not everyone wants to be in drama filled larger FC’s filled with immature and envious people.

I chose to build my own and became extremely rich through hard work and dedication. My FC is rank 30 with all maxed out airships and submarines. I did it all by myself.

My home doesn’t just sit there unused. I am very happy there. I just asked a simple question. I can always create Alts and put them in my FC so I can have 4 total members that’s not the issue.

I think before you assume you know what’s going on get the facts straight.

I don't think anyone has the facts wrong here.

Solo players were not intended to have workshops all to themselves. Otherwise SE would have allowed workshops to be added to personal homes instead of limited to FCs.

I know people like to point to "but SE removed the light party requirement on the fabrication station" but that was to solve a different problem, not because they wanted solo players operating workshops for personal profit.

You did in fact exploit the system. SE is going to continue to allow you to exploit the system for since none of the changes are addressing workshop access.

The only thing that is changing for you is that you will no longer be able to relocate your FC, or purchase additional FC houses on the same world using your alts.

I'm sad I was hoping to relo to a medium when people jumped ship to Ishgard. I wish they still allowed reloing for the older wards, but my med dream is dead.

It shouldn't be a dead dream, just one more difficult to obtain. You'll still be able to enter the lottery or camp the placard for your chance along side everyone else who would like that plot.

[FrogDog]

It shouldn't be a dead dream, just one more difficult to obtain. You'll still be able to enter the lottery or camp the placard for your chance along side everyone else who would like that plot.

There will never be enough housing available to meet demand, especially since this game's popularity has been skyrocketing for the past 2 years.

3 years ago on Mateus you could find several plots open at once and I got my first personal house, which was a beachfront cottage in the Mist with zero competition sometime shortly after the placard system was introduced. Now, you may find one or two plots open and they'll be camped by at least 20 people, many of which are automating the process. I would be surprised if anyone could load into a housing ward if a medium or large happened to be up for sale because there are sure to be a ton of people camping it if it's under the placard system. A lottery is more convenient but the odds are going to be even worse.

So, yes, the dream a lot of people have of upgrading their house size is going to be dead for all intents and purposes. Resellers are no doubt making a mint right now as a lot of people will be reaching that conclusion and this is their last best chance to get something.

[Jojoya]

There will never be enough housing available to meet demand, especially since this game's popularity has been skyrocketing for the past 2 years.

I agree that it will always be a problem as long as SE continues to focus on wards instead of working on an enhanced instanced system.

But that still doesn't mean that someone who really wants that medium or large won't be the lucky recipient in a lottery once that is implemented. It means that getting the medium or large during 6.0 is going to require placard camping and a bit of luck. At least you'll finally get to see those mediums and larges become available when relinquished/demolished and have a decent change. Right now that doesn't happen because the resellers using the bots are all over them within minutes.

[Arazehl]

Taking away the relocation feature has it's pro's and con's.
Relocaters swiping plot out from under the noses of first time buyers is bad. Yet for an FC who wants to upgrade to a larger size home it's going to be tough.
With all these houses turned into cafe's, pubs, casinos and yes brothels for earning gil, the demand for mediums and mansions have greatly increased.
For the first time in my ffxiv gaming carreer I was offered 300 mil gil for my FC mansion which I flatly refused.
I feel there are too many loop holes left open for players to cheat the system and SE needs to clamp down, regardless how mad people get. Especially in this one area of housing. Restrictions to what is considered an FC needs to be address. An FC is not meant for a single member and so on. The 1 FC rule needs tighened and monitored. SE needs to quit leaving so many grey areas in the system of buying plots.

[TwistedTea]

So you got a house as an FC, but not using it right now in the way that it was intended, with it's restrictions of at least 4 members? I think FC housing should not be permitted to be owned unless it has the required members and SE should send out demolish notices base on the less than 4 members. People shouldn't be buying FC houses as private residences or own them as such.

FC members quit playing the game. From your perspective, you would have legit FCs of 3 or less members who lost a member either, lose their house or be forced to recruit members whom they might not gel with.

Also, the restriction is 4 characters to purchase a FC house from the placard and these all can be alts on the same service account.

SE's website states, a player is allowed to purchase a personal and a FC house.

[Youkulm]

So you got a house as an FC, but not using it right now in the way that it was intended, with it's restrictions of at least 4 members? I think FC housing should not be permitted to be owned unless it has the required members and SE should send out demolish notices base on the less than 4 members. People shouldn't be buying FC houses as private residences or own them as such.

This is an excellent idea. I see so many houses owned by FCs in my FC's ward that are undecorated, empty and owned by 1 person FCs. The one that is directly next to us? We see him log in every once in a blue moon, walk into the house, then logout... its disheartening.