FC Wards split is legitimately awful

[Raige]

I think housing wards should have stayed limited to FCs.

Personal housing is, for the most part, quite antisocial and a imo not a very efficient use of server space. Not to mention could be viewed as a central if not *the* central impetus for FFXIV's botting problem. If housing were fairly money-independent and only limited to FCs, we wouldn't really have a real estate market and all the terrors that accompany it.

In the realm of how they designed the housing system, I agree with you.
They initially only released housing for FCs. It wasn't until much later that the doors were open to individuals.

I do however think that once they saw the demand for private housing, it should have been made instanced.
Now we're 10 years into it and it is what it is. Maybe in their next mmo. Stay tuned.

[SeverianLyonesse]

In the realm of how they designed the housing system, I agree with you.
They initially only released housing for FCs. It wasn't until much later that the doors were open to individuals.

I do however think that once they saw the demand for private housing, it should have been made instanced.
Now we're 10 years into it and it is what it is. Maybe in their next mmo. Stay tuned.

I agree that having some kind of instanced personal "housing" is a good idea for the game. It should be either free or have a fixed price, and give players some reasonable space to work with and enjoy most of the decorative conveniences of a full FC house.

Which is basically apartments.

Aside from outdoor furnishings (which are a tad overrated) and gardening, players already have their instanced housing. So to my mind the solution was never to make personal housing, but just to build out apartments. And it appears that Island Sanctuary may be another sort of instanced "outdoor" housing that will fill in the gaps not covered by apartments, so imo we may not even need apartment buildouts.

Here's the thing about personal and instanced housing. Most personal housing are very insular fantasies that players buy and then barely use. They like the idea of having the aesthetics of a personal house, but few take advantage of it in a social manner, i.e. inviting other people over frequently or interacting with their neighbors. And if you made it all instanced then that completely defeats the purpose of having neighborhoods. The ward system is quite antithetical to personal housing, so I don't know why players want to shoehorn personal or instanced housing into it when it functions much better as what it always intended to be: social hubs.

I will note that there is a category of personal housing that is actually well utilized in a manner similar to FC houses, and that is players who actually build out their house for public use. They make bars, lounges, cafes, restaurants, bathhouses, etc. etc. And so far that is the only manner I have seen personal housing that isn't a cancer on the community. Because it is using personal housing to create community infrastructure instead of being self-saken and masturbatory. So I might be in favor of *commercial* licenses being available for single-player housing if we could get around the botting market problem, but seriously I don't know why all these narcs just NEED a personal house.

[Illmaeran]

Aside from outdoor furnishings (which are a tad overrated) and gardening, players already have their instanced housing. So to my mind the solution was never to make personal housing, but just to build out apartments. And it appears that Island Sanctuary may be another sort of instanced "outdoor" housing that will fill in the gaps not covered by apartments, so imo we may not even need apartment buildouts.

If Island Sanctuaries have open landscaping/outdoor decorating the same way houses do, I'll be 100% satisfied with my apartment, FC room, and island. If they don't, I want a house because the landscaping and relaxing in my garden is what's most interesting to me.

[Jojoya]

Here's the thing about personal and instanced housing. Most personal housing are very insular fantasies that players buy and then barely use. They like the idea of having the aesthetics of a personal house, but few take advantage of it in a social manner, i.e. inviting other people over frequently or interacting with their neighbors. And if you made it all instanced then that completely defeats the purpose of having neighborhoods. The ward system is quite antithetical to personal housing, so I don't know why players want to shoehorn personal or instanced housing into it when it functions much better as what it always intended to be: social hubs.

Not everyone is an extrovert and wants to be surrounded by other players constantly. They want a place to go to and relax as a break from the socialization while staying in game to do other things (maybe they're crafting, maybe they're playing games in the Toy Box, etc.).

They want it to be a place that reflects their preferences and style. Inn rooms don't work.

Apartments would have been a good solution except for one thing - they are small. They all to often end up feeling cramped by the time decorating is done do the awkward scaling of some of the furnishings and the need to cram all the furnishings that represent a home into that small space. That's not going to appeal to everyone.

It's pretty ironic to be complaining that personal housing is anti-social at the same time SE has stated their goal is to make the game more solo player friendly. Not every bit of a MMO's content needs to be social.

[Stormpeaks]

Not everyone is an extrovert and wants to be surrounded by other players constantly. They want a place to go to and relax as a break from the socialization while staying in game to do other things (maybe they're crafting, maybe they're playing games in the Toy Box, etc.).

They want it to be a place that reflects their preferences and style. Inn rooms don't work.

Apartments would have been a good solution except for one thing - they are small. They all to often end up feeling cramped by the time decorating is done do the awkward scaling of some of the furnishings and the need to cram all the furnishings that represent a home into that small space. That's not going to appeal to everyone.

It's pretty ironic to be complaining that personal housing is anti-social at the same time SE has stated their goal is to make the game more solo player friendly. Not every bit of a MMO's content needs to be social.

FC houses are nothing like personal housing, they are basically a glorified tenant system where fc members can hang out, they have no say in any of the decoration, be it inside or outside, I dont know why other people even use it as an argument to justify fc houses being more important than normal houses, plus as I mentioned earlier, most fc houses are abandoned and used for submarines, a lot of the time even empty.

[ElenaRedoran]

FC houses are nothing like personal housing, they are basically a glorified tenant system where fc members can hang out, they have no say in any of the decoration, be it inside or outside, I dont know why other people even use it as an argument to justify fc houses being more important than normal houses, plus as I mentioned earlier, most fc houses are abandoned and used for submarines, a lot of the time even empty.

this is going to sound slightly rude but wouldn't it be better to find a new fc? one that isn't run by one person that wants to decide absolutely everything

[Shibi]

FC houses are nothing like personal housing, they are basically a glorified tenant system where fc members can hang out, they have no say in any of the decoration, be it inside or outside...

I've been a guild/fc leader in many MMOs for many years. I've never had issues with people coming up and asking for decoration changes. I usually do have an officer or two who are entrusted with decorating - because they are good at it - but it's never been a problem for me to incorporate everyone's wants.

If you are finding your current FC is a little like a dictatorship, then maybe it's time to move on and find one where you are treated more like part of the family.

[leoxastaroth]

I've been a guild/fc leader in many MMOs for many years. I've never had issues with people coming up and asking for decoration changes. I usually do have an officer or two who are entrusted with decorating - because they are good at it - but it's never been a problem for me to incorporate everyone's wants.

If you are finding your current FC is a little like a dictatorship, then maybe it's time to move on and find one where you are treated more like part of the family.

I think pretending that FC members coming up to you and asking you to place down a certain furniture or move a certain thing is the same as getting to decorate a house on your own house interior, exterior and all is a little bit dishonest.

I get that some people maybe don't understand the appeal of wanting to 'decorate' or furnish a house but it is a legitmate part of the game that a lot of people want to do and partake in and apartments just don't provide that. Whether you enjoy the content or see it as important or not, it is to other people and no content in an MMO should really be locked away behind a leadership only position for GMs/FC leaders, plus not to mention all it does is discourage people from bothering to join FCs and instead encourages tons of shell/lone-man FCs to circumvent access to that content.