In Game Housing Crisis

[Jojoya]

It's been half a decade since Stormblood and slightly less than that since those patches. The playerbase has grown exponentially since, the problem has worsened because people aren't taking it seriously and the dev team has barely touched the real issue since then except to make it moderately worse with a lottery that will only get worse with time.

Why are you taking my post out of context? My response was to HyoMinPark stating that houses have never been easy to get. That was 100% false. There have been times it was very easy to get a small house.

I've pointed out many times in other threads that getting a house has been difficult for NA players since the start of 2019, with EU having a similar problem once Spriggan and Twintania finally filled up in 2020 and JP ending up with the same problem more recently.

Not everyone is going to take the problem seriously because they don't care about housing as content in general, or they're happy with just an apartment. They're primarily here to play the game for the other content, not housing, and so housing issues mean nothing to them just as job balance issues mean nothing to someone who isn't into high end content.

Others are going to brush it off as not a serious problem because they're in housing for perceived prestige so it's to their benefit when other players can't get a house.

Ultimately, it's a waste of time trying to blame the player base for not taking the problem seriously. We're not in a position to fix what's wrong.

Only the development team can make changes to improve the system. We can't tell if the current situation is solely design decision or if there's some underlying technical issue with the game's code that prevents them from implementing the solutions we see working so well in some other MMOs.

[Kenky]

Not everyone is going to take the problem seriously because they don't care about housing as content in general, or they're happy with just an apartment. They're primarily here to play the game for the other content, not housing, and so housing issues mean nothing to them just as job balance issues mean nothing to someone who isn't into high end content.

Surprisingly enough, that mere concept is foreign to these people.. Housing is not XIVs main content. (The story, dungeons, raids, even PvP at this point) it's entirely optional and you can do quite a fair bit without ever looking or knowing that housing even exists.

Either that, or their focus is so zoned into housing being just the houses and refuse to acknowledge the Apartments (and FC rooms by proxy) even exist. They aren't "good enough". But none of them have truly given a reasonable answer to the following question.

"What do you want out of Housing?"

Decorating? Apartment.
RP? Apartment can suffice.
Gardening? Apartment / FC room / Join an FC and ask for Gardening rights.
Cross-breeding? Join an FC and ask for Gardening rights. (Note: This is not guaranteed. So I am willing to be a tad more lenient on this answer)

Down to the simplest, bluntest version of this discussion, FCs are the only ones that benefit from a house, purely on the basis that they have Workshop / Airship systems that grants access to more crafting / exclusive items from said airships. (Submersibles are added to this list too)

"But the playerbase has grown since stormblood" You are correct. But no company can truly prepare for that big of a playerbase growth in such a short time. Followed by another resurgence Post-Shadowlands drama. Adding more wards isn't as simple as "flicking a switch". It requires actual hardware and space to house said hardware. That takes time & money to obtain and even then, there's no guarantee as that would be in the hands of a 3rd party. Pushing the blame on 1/10th of 1% of the playerbase for whatever reason you fancy (usually house-hoarding / shell FCs) is not the right way about this.

I mean, they even introduced a Lottery Because so many people requested it. Now we have it, people hate it. Just like what plenty of others had said would happen.

[Kaiproberts]

Just to hash something out, housing IS the main content of the game for some of us. I personally only pay my sub to keep my house. I only login to check the marketboard, make money, and to look at getting a better house. I don't participate in any dailies or combat anymore (as tab targeting is extremely boring to me). No other game right now has housing neighborhoods; it is the main draw for me. This is also why instanced housing isn't an option for me; If I want instanced housing, I'll go play a different game for that experience (because there are so many that already do that). What FFXIV has, in terms of housing, is unique and special in the gaming world. The last game I can remember having it was Aion and even then the housing system was really expensive and kinda janky. For me, playing the game is having a personal house. FC's are not the only ones who benefit.

[Jojoya]

Just to hash something out, housing IS the main content of the game for some of us. I personally only pay my sub to keep my house. I only login to check the marketboard, make money, and to look at getting a better house. I don't participate in any dailies or combat anymore (as tab targeting is extremely boring to me). No other game right now has housing neighborhoods; it is the main draw for me. This is also why instanced housing isn't an option for me; If I want instanced housing, I'll go play a different game for that experience (because there are so many that already do that). What FFXIV has, in terms of housing, is unique and special in the gaming world. The last game I can remember having it was Aion and even then the housing system was really expensive and kinda janky. For me, playing the game is having a personal house. FC's are not the only ones who benefit.

Unfortunately, housing still is not a main content type for the game even if it's the main content type for you. It's never going to get the attention that other parts of the game get.

There is another game that has housing neighborhoods - Lord of the Rings Online. They've been in existence since 2007 and are even called Neighborhoods. Rather than wait until the player base gets angry about a lack of available house, new Neighborhoods are automatically added as old ones fill up. The decorating system is far worse in my opinion so I can understand why you may not want to use that housing but to say no other game has neighborhoods is false. There are probably others out there that neither of us are aware of.

[Bladehawk]

The decorating system is far worse in my opinion so I can understand why you may not want to use that housing but to say no other game has neighborhoods is false. There are probably others out there that neither of us are aware of.

Ultima online has quite advanced housing and neighborhoods, but it's also older then most of the current players in ff14

[Besame]

SWtOR has fortresses that you can decorate with inside and outside areas like Tatooine. Some are huge, some are factioned.

[Toutatis]

SWtOR has fortresses that you can decorate with inside and outside areas like Tatooine. Some are huge, some are factioned.

It’s very basic and doesn’t compare to FFXIV. You have a fixed layout that cannot be edited, you can only place furniture of a certain size on hooks at predetermined locations. You can only subdivide the bigger hooks in a limited way to place smaller items, move an item very slightly along an axis from the hook location and rotate it in one direction. You can’t combine items and build interiors like in FFXIV.

You also can’t craft furniture and what in game merchants sell is very limited. Save for a rare item here and there, all the new decos are sold on the CM for real money since years now.

For many who play ffxiv, housing is an important part of the game.

[Besame]

It’s very basic and doesn’t compare to FFXIV. You have a fixed layout that cannot be edited, you can only place furniture of a certain size on hooks at predetermined locations. You can only subdivide the bigger hooks in a limited way to place smaller items, move an item very slightly along an axis from the hook location and rotate it in one direction. You can’t combine items and build interiors like in FFXIV.

You also can’t craft furniture and what in game merchants sell is very limited. Save for a rare item here and there, all the new decos are sold on the CM for real money since years now.

For many who play ffxiv, housing is an important part of the game.

I did not say it was wonderful, Wild Star's housing was supurb but, it IS something you can decorate and a decent storyline. I played SWtOR for 5 yrs before this. You do not have to convince me that SE is negligent and a big fail in not making housing available and enjoyable for their playerbase. Hunts, housing and gathering/crafting are just about all I enjoy after 7 years here. I do not enjoy the toxic raids or spend any time in dungeons that I am not forced to by MSQ so I am with the housing community here to apply pressure to make it better. I can say with certainty that if I had never been able to get a FC and house that I would long ago have been gone with the wind

[Gaspodia]

It’s very basic and doesn’t compare to FFXIV. You have a fixed layout that cannot be edited, you can only place furniture of a certain size on hooks at predetermined locations. You can only subdivide the bigger hooks in a limited way to place smaller items, move an item very slightly along an axis from the hook location and rotate it in one direction. You can’t combine items and build interiors like in FFXIV.

You also can’t craft furniture and what in game merchants sell is very limited. Save for a rare item here and there, all the new decos are sold on the CM for real money since years now.

For many who play ffxiv, housing is an important part of the game.

EQ2 is my go to for housing but I've found FF14 to be a nice alternative (when you can get a house!). EQ2 housing is instanced, and I spent a lot of time going in and out of other people's houses for decorating inspiration. It also has a far higher volume of furniture and housing choices and I think around 800 items can be placed in the larger houses? I particularly like the pets that wander about - I would love to see that feature in FF14

[Ronin_Symphony]

There are a large number of apartments available, whether they are in an FC house or in residential areas, they all work similar to what you say, even small houses are easy to get
Honestly there is no problem with housing, there is only a problem of greed. Everyone wants a palace. This is the real problem.

Greed? LOL no - FFXIV Economy is basically capitalist. Housing economy is regulated specifically so that all players who want a house have an "equal" economic chance. (this is not a measure to stifle the capitalist economy but one of the many protocols in place to limit RMT, cheats and exploitation).

When everyone wants a thing that's called demand. The amount available of a thing is called supply. It's not greedy to want a medium house. When demand exceeds supply - that is not called greed - -- that is a shortage. In this case - a housing shortage. This can also be accurately referred to as a housing crises.

Wanting MULTIPLE of a thing or more than anyone else - that could be referred to as greed.

In the old system of house purchase, I spent 10 months clicking on placards to win a small house. 10 MONTHS. I did not feel I was being "greedy" wanting just a small house.

THAT is a crises.

Now in the single regulated auction bid anywhere from 4 - 20 people were bidding on a house when I finally placed my bid - and I checked every. single. medium. house. available.

Housing shrortage/crises - - - Demand exceeds Supply.

Greed is a moral judgement as you apply a defect to a player for wanting a house - "They must be greedy". That is not capitalism - that would be more of a communist economy.