Private housing is in total shambles

[Illmaeran]

I think a lot are going to wait till the last hour before they put in their ticket. I know of a few who are so they can see the odds they are up against and pick different plots accordingly depending on the kind of chance they want.

Exactly this. Expect to see a massive surge in participation over the weekend and the hours right before the lottery closes. People are going to try faking others out and/or snipe plots at the last second.

I was the first one to put a deposit down on the plot I want so now the hard part's going to be not going back to check how many people have put theirs down when I log in each day.

[SweetPete]

Honestly I think some of the FC ward homes will be empty after the closing. Not allot of people actually wanna move and some can’t even afford medium/large homes. I mean at this point, after this closing no FC should be on the forums even talking about how they can’t get no homes because SE is literally throwing all FCs a bone this first lottery.

Private home owners your time will come next time.

[Jojoya]

Honestly I think some of the FC ward homes will be empty after the closing. Not allot of people actually wanna move and some can’t even afford medium/large homes. I mean at this point, after this closing no FC should be on the forums even talking about how they can’t get no homes because SE is literally throwing all FCs a bone this first lottery.

Private home owners your time will come next time.

It's going to vary from world to world, especially if RMT is throwing in the towel as Nepentha says they're talking about in their reseller forums. Certainly lower population worlds like those in the Materia data center will have a large number of vacancies. Very high population worlds like Balmung will probably see their wards filled by the end of the third lottery period (I can't see resellers ever giving up on Balmung due to the high demand from that community).

Keep in mind this current situation only benefits those FCs that exist right now and are eligible to buy right now. In the future, it could go right back to only the occasional plot available for the FCs created or that become eligible later. Those FCs absolutely would have the right to complain.

SE should never have tied FC only content to ownership of a FC house. They should have made that content available through other means. Workshops could have been accessed through the affiliated Grand Company headquarters, just as we access our Squadron Barracks. Grade 3 FC actions could be made available for purchase using Company Credits upon attaining an appropriate rank (they still haven't added any entitlements for the last 10 FC ranks). If it weren't for that content, the need to make certain there are always plots available to FCs wouldn't exist.

[SweetPete]

It's going to vary from world to world, especially if RMT is throwing in the towel as Nepentha says they're talking about in their reseller forums. Certainly lower population worlds like those in the Materia data center will have a large number of vacancies. Very high population worlds like Balmung will probably see their wards filled by the end of the third lottery period (I can't see resellers ever giving up on Balmung due to the high demand from that community).

Keep in mind this current situation only benefits those FCs that exist right now and are eligible to buy right now. In the future, it could go right back to only the occasional plot available for the FCs created or that become eligible later. Those FCs absolutely would have the right to complain.

SE should never have tied FC only content to ownership of a FC house. They should have made that content available through other means. Workshops could have been accessed through the affiliated Grand Company headquarters, just as we access our Squadron Barracks. Grade 3 FC actions could be made available for purchase using Company Credits upon attaining an appropriate rank (they still haven't added any entitlements for the last 10 FC ranks). If it weren't for that content, the need to make certain there are always plots available to FCs wouldn't exist.

You’re correct. The less populated worlds will have some free wards for sure. Yeah I can’t see aether and primal having any wards left after the closing. Crystal, for some servers I definitely think there will be lots free wards.

[Themarvin]

the system is fine, with this system, people can't just flock the houses in the new area by using tickets to relocate to... as the houses then would be blocked up in other zones, it was a very clever move done by SE.

[Somnolence]

Exactly this. Expect to see a massive surge in participation over the weekend and the hours right before the lottery closes. People are going to try faking others out and/or snipe plots at the last second.

I was the first one to put a deposit down on the plot I want so now the hard part's going to be not going back to check how many people have put theirs down when I log in each day.

Same here. I just picked a plot that is farthest from aetherite and market board and harder to get to. It should remain closer to lowest entries in the end - makes no sense for the least desirable plots to be contested more than average.

[Heh]

in my server FC wards are like free cake to pick, so many plots that only have 1 participant. Meanwhile the personal housing wards are already have 20-30 people participants each plot. And I believe the amount will just be double during the last hour. Just what are SQEX thinking?

[hotakako]

I would just hold on to my gil and pick the lowest ballot at the last hour.

I hope the deadline as indicated on the placard is "Local Time" though. Would be so screwed if it was some other timezones.

[Jojoya]

Exactly this. Expect to see a massive surge in participation over the weekend and the hours right before the lottery closes. People are going to try faking others out and/or snipe plots at the last second.

Forgot to add earlier that people waiting until the weekend to participate may end up very disappointed, especially if they're NA. The local cut off time for entries is 8am Pacific Saturday morning. Works out a little better for EU (late afternoon), JP (late night) and OCE (very early Sunday morning).

[UkcsAlias]

The local cut off time for entries is 8am Pacific Saturday morning.

I guess the same timer as the mini cactpot. For CET that means 5pm (where the giant cactpot is 9pm).

Note that 5pm is for a lot of EU players still during working hours. So a big portion europe (west europe is mostly CET or CET-1) might still actualy have to do it the day before.