Another housing delay, imagine that.

[Knot_D]

Just suspend NA/EU housing. Why drag the JP servers into it?

Well not everyone at JP server is from Japan. I have FC mates who are from Europe as well

[Dzian]

Again the demolition thing is there to prevent complete perma-housing spots on a very limited system for new people to get a chance on gaining a plot if somebody hasnt logged for a good amount of days. Yes the limited plot system itself sucks a lot but its either that or no new players will ever get a house for their own.

The demo system still sucks though, When it's suspended for more months of the year than it ever runs for, what does it actually accomplish? Nothing! Even when it has been active people have managed to keep housing without paying subs due to free login campaigns and such.. It's beyond busted..
Not to mention that famous quote from Yoshi that players can take breaks and there stuff will be safe when they return...

Best thing they could do is scrap demo timers and add a leasing system... Use GC seals or something to buy housing ventures or something to pay a lease.. Allow a decent advance say 180 days maximum and with that you'd accomplish more than a demo system that only works 2 months of a year..

You'd still free up houses from long quit players when there leases expire giving new players a chance,
Current players could safely take breaks between patches which again the famous quote says players should be able to do...
And might even free up a few dormant plots in the process. why pay keep paying for a house if you never use it..

The system has spent more of the games life suspeded than it ever has working.

[-BlueGreen-]

IMO, the solution to the problem isn't to resume the demolition timers. The real solution is to remove them completely.

On topic with the OP's post (and oddly ignored by most replies) COVID impacted them as it did with many others. The situation with Ukraine has many similarities with respect to how it'll impact players around the globe, and from the looks of things, isn't going to be resolved anytime soon (if at all during the lifespan of FFXIV).

Go ahead and freeze the timers for now as a mercy, but it's a pathetic response honestly. OP's personal situation with respect to COVID will only be repeated by others impacted by this situation with Ukraine. The freeze will eventually be lifted as the world reaches a "new normal" even if the problem is still there (be it COVID, cold war, or some other long-lasting thing) and some unfortunate souls will continue to be impacted by it for far longer than the freeze remains in place. When those same players eventually (if we think positively) return, they will find themselves in the same situation as the OP described.

Yes, there will certainly always be some tragedy at any given time, and it doesn't even have to be of the scale to be world news for it to impact some player somewhere.

I know there was someone who had (still does?) a quote as their signature in the forums about how Yoshida believed auto demolition shouldn't exist.

If SE really wants to address this and show real empathy:

• Implement true instanced housing - not apartments. Let every player own a large if they so want complete with exterior decorating capabilities including gardening.
• Implement the ability for players to log into the mog station to freeze their subscription, or better yet, don't count down subscription days on days players don't log in effectively auto-freezing player subscriptions and equalizing value across varied schedules. Power players who play every night pay every night, but weekend warriors only pay for weekends. Impacted by a global event that prevents you from having an internet connection for months? No problem, auto subscription freeze has you covered! Not able to play because an expansion dropped and the login queue is 5k+ and takes more time than you have available in the evenings? Yup, still covered!

[Nyxs]

I think that the autodemolitions should never be turned off. You shouldn’t be worrying about pixels over real life issues. I had a house but needed a break so I let it go. Im sure whomever bought it is enjoying it now plus Im not going to sit here being upset that I couldn’t hold onto it because of rl.

[TristanX]

I'm replanting some lavender...... on my real house!

[Illmaeran]

I'm replanting some lavender...... on my real house!

Wait. Are you saying you're making Lavender Beds?

[xenahawk]

I think that the autodemolitions should never be turned off. You shouldn’t be worrying about pixels over real life issues. I had a house but needed a break so I let it go. Im sure whomever bought it is enjoying it now plus Im not going to sit here being upset that I couldn’t hold onto it because of rl.

Your right pixels shouldny be taking a priority over real life however if sometimes a little act of kindness when there is shittiness going on in your real world is what keeps someone going even if its just a couple pixels. Just sayin'

[Jirah]

I think that the autodemolitions should never be turned off. You shouldn’t be worrying about pixels over real life issues. I had a house but needed a break so I let it go. Im sure whomever bought it is enjoying it now plus Im not going to sit here being upset that I couldn’t hold onto it because of rl.

It shouldn’t! And if we constantly kept turning it off because real world events it would never be turned on.

[Krotoan]

The system has spent more of the games life suspeded than it ever has working.

has it? Anyone wanna run the actual numbers? So far as I remember they suspended it for the hurricanes and flooding in America, the Tsunami in Japan, The launch of EW and now the conflict in Ukraine. I know I must be missing a few. Demolition was implemented in 3.1 (2015) So has it been suspended for more than 4 years?

[Shibi]

So far as I remember they suspended it for the hurricanes and flooding in America, the Tsunami in Japan, The launch of EW and now the conflict in Ukraine. I know I must be missing a few.

Yep, Tokai Tsunami was ~07/2/2016 until 26/9/2016 (patch 3.4)
US Hurricane Harvey was ~02/9/2017 until 29/1/2018 (patch 4.2)
Endwalker was 6/12/2021 until now, with the current world situation merged into it.

So, 16 months out of about 96.

(I am using d/m/y dates)