Allow People To Withdraw Their Bids

[LordSunny]

This is probably going to be more preachy and venting, but I feel so defeated with this housing system.

I've been trying for over a year for a house. Waited during the release of Empyreum, tried bidding when the new Empyreum wards were released, and was one of those folks who stayed up hours clicking the placard when that was a thing.

I have lost on every. Single. House. Even when it was only 2 people bidding (including when lotto dropped).

I recently moved to the new DC to try my luck. So far, Maduin is calm and there are a *ton* of empty lots.

So why, with a ward that has over 4+ empty mediums, and 6+ empty smalls, are people bidding against eachother in 50/50 bids?

I honestly wish I could retract my lotto ticket to try for an empty plot with no contest, but if I lose this lotto, I will have to wait an entire cycle to bid against other folks who are either 1. Moving in with alts or 2. Other folks who didn't make the first cycle.

I appreciate no longer having the days of clicking a placard and the lotto system is a vast improvement. But for the love of god, why lock people in? Or better yet, why penalize fellow players when there are literally numerous equally sized plots open?

I'm just salty about the entire experience and will be doubly so if I lose to rng yet again.

[Iscah]

I would guess that the "no withdrawals" approach is intended to stop people from getting their friends who already own houses to put in fake bids on the plot that the house-seeker wants, resulting in what appears to be a heavily contested plot, and then withdrawing those bids just before the cutoff time.

[Curisu]

You could have just waited for the very last minute to bid on that plot with the least amount of bidders.

But as iscah said, it probably is not possible to prevent that kind of fake bids.

[DeNada]

May I know which plot did you go for in the new servers?

I still see plenty of plots with zero bids, you probably went for a highly desired plot such as Lavender Beds Plot 41/46 which is normal for it to be contested due to their sublime locations.

Don't be too despondent, you still have a chance to win the lottery and even if not, you'll stand a better chance now going into the next lottery round to enter late in an uncontested plot to make certain your winning chances.

Best of luck!

[Jojoya]

If you're concerned about competition, it's always best to wait until the last possible moment to bid so you have a better chance at controlling if there will be any and how much it will be.

As for why people place bids on plots that already have bids, there are many reasons.

It's one of the very popular plot locations and that location is starting to get multiple bids in every ward.

They're after that specific plot location, not just any plot with the same size house.

The ward is their favorite number.

It was the location of their house on their old world.

They have friends bidding on other houses in the ward and they're trying to be near each other.

Someone did something foolish like publicly say they're calling dibs on X plot and some troll with more gil than empathy and common sense decided they were going to mess with that player (I have seen plenty of that sort of thing in a discord this past week, I hope very much you didn't tell anyone what you were bidding on).

On the positive side, being on Maduin you will be able to get a house even if you don't win tomorrow and you need to wait an extra 9 days. It's better than being on 24 out of 28 of the other NA worlds where pickings are slim this week from the few houses vacated by transferring players and it will likely go back to being no houses in the next lottery.

Let's hope that all that bad RNG in the past means the good RNG has been saving up to grace you at 7:00am PST tomorrow and you will have your house at last.

[CammyBear]

Some people are just that toxic about it. Or (for some of them, perhaps) they could just be bidding on the same one with multiple alts.

But yeah, it baffles me that someone would bid on a plot of a specific size when there are still so many left with 0 bidders. Some people just like to watch the world burn. That reason alone is why I don't tell anyone outside my FC which plot I'm gunning for.

As a side note, I don't wait until the last minute because stuff can happen. Last-minute emergency maintenance, or maybe the power and/or internet went out where someone lives. Then what? Naw, screw that noise. I can at least have some chance rather than have zero chance because of a risky wait.

(And yes, I have had times where I lost power/internet where I live during critical housing moments. That's why I prefer to be safe than sorry. If you want to wait, that's cool. I won't stop you. I just don't consider it the best choice.)

[Frizze]

If the goal is to get "any small/medium house/any house in ____ district", then waiting until as close to the last minute as possible is the best plan. If you can be on 5 mins before the lotto goes, you can be 100% sure that yours is the only bid and you get a house this round. If you goal is "any large/some specific popular medium plot" then you have more of a dilemma. Waiting until the last minute will let you bid on the best option with the lowest number of other bids, but with larges and the handful of super-popular mediums because there just arent as many of them, many if not all will have multiple bids. So in this instance, there is some merit to bidding early and hoping that most of the other bidders will leave you alone and pick another spot. Regardless of how you bid, good luck to all bidders, and congrats to our soon-to-be homeowners.

[dspguy]

You should have waited until the last 30 minutes to place your bid. Friend of mine did that in Round 1 when Empyreum came out. Got a medium with no other bids. All because he waited.

[Pablomaldito]

Did you bid on one of the most desirable locations in the ward? (like Lavender Beds 11/41, Mist 5/35, 6/36, etc....) . If so, then competition was to be expected. Nobody owes you the courtesy of forgoing their own chance at a premium lot simply because you bid first. Regardless, if you did pick one of the most desirable plots, I personally feel that you made the right choice. You still have an actual reasonable chance at winning it. And unlike the launch of Empyreum on crowded servers, losing your bid does not mean that you have lost your only realistic shot at a house.

Don't worry about it. There will still be plenty left in round 2 (and probably 3 & 4) if you don't win. With your first choice out of the picture, that is the time to follow the advice given here. Keep yourself updated with how the bids are distributed, and then at the 11th hour, choose a house with 0 bids. You're virtually guaranteed your plot.

I'm facing competition, but that's OK. I expected it. I know that there are still plenty of viable plan Bs if things don't work out, and I will not have to deal with the regret of not trying.

[LordSunny]

I appreciate everyone's advice and courtesy on this-- I'm fairly new to the forums, so it was nice to get some sound advice out of it.

Much as everyone has guessed, I did end up going for a premium plot (unknowingly). It just felt like a good spot, but I'm going to wager quite a few other people did, too. And that's okay. As mentioned, no one owes me any kind of courtesy or to forgo their own chances at a really good space. But even so, I did end up putting my bid in right away with the hopes it would help discourage others. We will see what happens tomorrow! I'll try to follow up here.

That all said, I am hoping that in the event that I do end up losing out, that there are still plenty within the ward to pick from. And obviously waiting this time around would be the best advice overall. I am just hoping that nothing sells out within the area last minute, as I had transferred in with friends and we all ended up picking this specific ward. (I was the only one to get bid against, unfortunately).

That said, it would be nice to still have an option to withdraw a bid in the event that someone does in fact change their mind. And whilst I understand it isn't an option due to not wanting people to flood and retract lotto bids to ensure it goes to one person, in situations like this, it is sort of wishful thinking.