Suggestion: Housing stays as is, but add full housing to Sanctuary Islands too

[Altherael]

Hello all!

As we all know there is a mass shortage for housing, which absolutely sucks for those wanting a house, and those are quite many (myself included).

This idea will solve that problem and keep everyone happy.

1. Add full and complete housing to Sanctuary Island. As much detail as the usual housing.
2. Keep the Wards as they are and add more wards according to capacity too.
3. Apartments, perhaps build on that too. Add a balcony!


1. Sanctuary island, the Sanctuary that is your Home.

Sanctuary Island was and is the perfect sollution to put an end to the Housing shortage ingame.
All you have to do is add full housing in there too, what house you want, garden decorations, interior decorations, every detail normal housing has too on Sanctuary Island too.

Give people the choice on their Sanctuary Island to build a Small, Medium, or Mansion as a house, each costing their own equivalent price.
Let the players make and shape it as they wish, like I said, it has to be in as much detail as the usual housing in the Wards.

This way Sanctuary Island truly becomes your Sanctuary, you Home away from Home.
Your ephemeral place of rest and relaxation.

Sure, people cannot see your house and beautiful garden unless you invite them to your island but all players will have a Home then they so desire, I know I do.

Added some later:
Of course for the Island it would be nice to be able to choose the way it looks, fore example like Mist areas, or Lavender Hills areas, etc.
Oh, and choose other more natural looks/things instead of robots and machines/factories, magical stuff. (I am personally not a fan of robots and factory/machine looks either)

2. Wards, the neighbourhoods you know and are there to stay.

The wards will be staying as they are, that's definitely nice for the people that got their plot there, plenty having gone through lots of frustration and disappointment trying to get one, sometimes even for years I came to understand.

Add more Wards along the way, increasing the capacity on the servers for them as needed. (quite needed for sure, people like having a nice home, it's immersive too)

This way people having a plot in a Ward will keep what they had, and if a plot gets free and/or new Wards get added people will still and always be able to get such a plot. (which now is done through that lottery of course)

That way those who had that can still and forever be in their sweet sweet neighbourhoods, and others can still try to get that too.

Unlike The Housing on Sanctuary Island that can only be seen by those you invite, Wards of course can and will always be as they were and open to walk into by whomever wants to go check around the Wards and into people's Houses there (Unless someone locked his door for visitors, those also exist of course haha).

[Altherael]

3. Apartmens, did you say Balcony?

Yes, I did say Balcony.

Add an optional Balcony to the Apartments, no loading screen between them, just make them part of the Apartment if purchased.

This gives people who take an Apartment the ability to use outdoor decorations, plants, gardening, etc.
Unless too tall and reaching the roof I guess, though, perhaps that can be solved too by rooms actually sort of being "zigzag build".
Apartments are instanced so one can play with this, a background of the Ward they are in as if really outside.

No loading screen between the Apartment and it's Balcony means able to just walk in and out as if walking to the basement and such in a House.

An Apartment is 500.000gil of course, perhaps if you want a Balcony it will be 750.000gil.

If only purchasing the Apartment the Balcony will be sealed, however! You will always be able to still purchase the Balcony later if you so wish.
On top of that you can choose what door you want in between, big glass sliding doors, those japanese sliding doors, something else.

Like this people who just want an Apartment can use their outdoor rewards often given in events too, and do some extra gardening, while making a nice cosy Balcony of their own.

[Jojoya]

I'd rather have instanced house plots in a separate location. Island Sanctuary may look nice but it's not really the environment I would want for my home. I'd rather see each of the housing districts have instanced house plots built around their themes so players get a choice.

But if placing them in Island Sanctuary would be the only way we get them, then I'd settle.

[Altherael]

Yeah, that can be a good nice option too, instanced houses added as a choice to the existing housing wards, then also adding something for those choosing instanced ones to make them able to have a garden, like an underground garden or something with a little waterfall and a stream or something, greenery, nice rays of light in the day, something atmospheric looking.

[Pablomaldito]

The problem with island sanctuary is that you have to be online and in your island for it to even be accessible to anyone else.

I'd rather see instanced houses that are accessible from a directory in the wards, just like apartments. At least that way you can make your house available for the public to visit. They should also be mutually exclusive with ward houses (but not apartments), so that people can choose between having the neighborhood feel or choosing the house size they want and not having to deal with auto demolish.

[Brygd]

The problem with island sanctuary is that you have to be online and in your island for it to even be accessible to anyone else.

I'd rather see instanced houses that are accessible from a directory in the wards, just like apartments. At least that way you can make your house available for the public to visit. They should also be mutually exclusive with ward houses (but not apartments), so that people can choose between having the neighborhood feel or choosing the house size they want and not having to deal with auto demolish.

Being unable to visit someone's house unless they were online and already there would be horrible. That's why I'm hoping they don't tack on player housing to island sanctuaries.

I would love to own a larger house with a yard in an instance like an apartment though. Wards can be incredible. I have a friend who owns the same exact plot I do, but every house nearby is decorated nicely and open to the public, with players hanging out nearby and forming a great community. Then you have my house...3/4 of the houses that border mine are closed, with minimal if any outside decorations, and my views are dominated by a large Paissa house and a large candyland house. I've seen one nearby neighbor once in the past few months. I was so sad when my neighbors installed that candyland exterior...

[dspguy]

My wife owns a house next to an FC (before the ward designations were introduced). It is nice to see actual people hanging out around the area. Same with my FC house. However, the only people I see in the vicinity of my FC house are our FC members. There's never any neighbors that I see coming up to the MB or summoning bell or seen porting to their houses.

So much of the housing wards are ghost towns.

"This was NOT my intention" - Yoshi

[Altherael]

hm yeah, there is of course indeed the point of whether or not Island Sanctuary is a nice environment to someone, perhaps that part could be solved by making the whole Island customizable to whatever environment you want it to be.

I have not gotten to the island yet myself, did hear something very recently about robots and factories being there, which I agree would not be much of a sanctuary to me either.
I like nature and cosiness, not cold buildings or machines etc.

I very much prefer the environment of Lavender Hills, nature, beautiful trees and water, best place to me personally.


The neighbourhood feel would be nice indeed, hence why I also put that down as a thing that has to stay.
Wards do always seem the best options, like I said, I would go for Lavender Hills, but I have no idea to what capacity they can keep adding those.

In the end it's just nice to have a home yes, in a Ward/location you like the most, and indeed if a nice neighbourhood in terms of people, that's cool.

So perhaps not the "best" suggestion but at least a good way to see what people want I guess.

Seeing Sanctuary Island though for every player, also buildings placeable on that etc, should adding much more Wards then not also be a possibility (instead)?

[Illmaeran]

I'd rather have instanced house plots in a separate location. Island Sanctuary may look nice but it's not really the environment I would want for my home. I'd rather see each of the housing districts have instanced house plots built around their themes so players get a choice.

If only they'd left that rank 10 spot available for future placement of a house instead of a landmark. It kind of makes me wonder if they made that little island off the beach specifically to hold a house in the future. Tsunami and hurricanes aside, having a house on that outcrop would be pretty badass.

[Altherael]

Added a bit to the Sanctuary Islands section:

Customization of what you want the island to look like, aka, like Lavender Hills, Mist, Shirogane, etc.

Plus the option to not have robots/machines/factories but more natural or magical choices instead.
I myself am not a fan of factories etc, I highly prefer natural and magical.