Yoshida telling players to go play other games is very damaging to FFXIV

[Welsper59]

Concerning the whole housing thing, i think it’s a bit hypocritical to say players should take a break from the game every now and then, but then have something time consuming and time gating like housing limit you to only being away for 45 days. Especially when this was stated long ago that it would never be a thing.

In older MMOs, such as Ultima Online, there was a house maintenance fee you had to pay weekly, but in FFXIV: ARR we decided against this system. Similarly, these older MMOs also had a system where your house would break down if you didn’t log in after a while in order to have you continue your subscription, but this is a thing of the past and we won't have any system like that.
Source: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/113554 at 1:14:22

45 days is pretty long, all things considered. There are a couple things to keep in mind though regarding that time limit existing and the loss of property.

1) The devs stupidly built the housing system with the false impression that what limited amounts there were was going to be good enough. This was the earlier days of the team, where they failed or half-assed things way more often than people care to remember. Perhaps that was due to many limitations out of their control (e.g. funding). Regardless, that limitation is what sparked the decision to have that time limit. It's to be "fair" to all players that want to take part in the housing system, given the way they chose to make it.

2) With 1 in mind, do note that it's not like he's telling people to take breaks in specific quantities or time away from the game to equal taking months off. If you're playing other games, chances are you're not going to be spending 45 days on them with no free time to play XIV throughout that entire span of time. Taking a break from the game is a personal choice, not one he's dictating. If you feel you need to do that, do it. It's that simple. Failing to understand that is pretty common, as sad as that is to say. It is the right outlook though. If people can't wrap their heads around needing to take a break, when they clearly need to, again... that's a personal choice to actually feel like you need to stay as though someone is demanding it or pointing a gun at you.