Quote Originally Posted by kaynide View Post
As the owner of multiple houses, my solution is simple:

1) Make the island getaway thing include instanced housing.
2) Remove the option to even buy a house for individuals in wards. From here on out, all ward-houses are for FCs
3) Require some sort of minimum activity level via the FC's accumulated points (the currency we use for submarines, etc). Make that work in a way we spend that currency automatically to "pay rent". Nothing insane, but enough that a small house would require 3-4 people actually playing the game regularly. Maybe as many as 10 for a large. (This would require tweaking as to how that currency is generated).
4) Remove demolition timers entirely, as it'd work on the currency instead.
5) If/when that housing currency hits zero, you get the 45 day notice to demolition.
(I don't really have a good answer on how to have individuals grandfathered in pay "rent")

Do that, and I happily give up everything but my FC house.
Except that just pushes everyone into make their own FCs so they can get a house and we're right back at the same problem.

If you think your point 3 is a meaningful obstacle, it's not. HQ crafting and expert delivery generate crazy amounts of company credits compared to other content. SE would have to completely rework the company credit system just to make it an effective barrier to shell FCs (such as removing all credit generation from crafting and Expert Delivery). Even then, a solo "no life" player would still be generating more credits each week than 3-4 average time players.

Something you neglected to mention in your previous post about original housing prices were that those prices were intended to bleed some of the leftover legacy currency out of the game economy. Not every player had a legacy stash, and not all those who did were willing to give up that gil to FCs they didn't control. That meant the wards were mostly empty because FCs didn't have the gil needed to buy. SE had to drop the prices and add in private ownership because that was the only way to get anyone to buy.

Housing should not be a FC only playground. It should be for every player, just like it is in other MMOs with housing. It should not just target rich players. It should be affordable for any player (within reason). If you want to target the rich players, then create a system where any player can own multiple houses if they want. Again, something that other MMOs with housing have done yet FFXIV will not do.

People like the neighborhoods? Then use the plot placards in the ward as the entry portals to instanced house plots just as the apartment building is the entry portal to our apartments. Wards would feel so much more alive if there were several dozen players always coming and going because the ward was the gateway to a thousand houses instead of just 30.