This new SYSTEM DOESN'T Work

[Ayan_Calvesse]

Well,

I'm not going to rehash my original point in detail; but there is now MORE then enough housing in the data-centers.
+But there is no demolition.
+People own multiple homes.
+People only bid on the "perfect" house

Remove those 2 factors and there is a glut of housing available.
If Square insists on using the lotto system then I would ask that they put in a exponential bid system.
If you lose; your volume of bids "doubles" until it hits a "cap" like say 32 or 64. This protection only applies to 1 character. Once triggered other characters on the same account will not gain this buff. The buff expires after a full housing lotto duration - so if you think "I will only bid when I got a good chance to loose so I can bid on the perfect plot" your SOL.
Lose 1 bid - you now get 2 entrys, again get 4 and so on.
If no plots are available your buff is extended.

This means people who have been trying for a house for months will have a far greater chance at winning then someone who boosted a alt on your server to try and grab up homes to sell.

[Nepentha]

Well,

I'm not going to rehash my original point in detail; but there is now MORE then enough housing in the data-centers.
+But there is no demolition.
+People own multiple homes.
+People only bid on the "perfect" house

Remove those 2 factors and there is a glut of housing available.
If Square insists on using the lotto system then I would ask that they put in a exponential bid system.
If you lose; your volume of bids "doubles" until it hits a "cap" like say 32 or 64. This protection only applies to 1 character. Once triggered other characters on the same account will not gain this buff. The buff expires after a full housing lotto duration - so if you think "I will only bid when I got a good chance to loose so I can bid on the perfect plot" your SOL.
Lose 1 bid - you now get 2 entrys, again get 4 and so on.
If no plots are available your buff is extended.

This means people who have been trying for a house for months will have a far greater chance at winning then someone who boosted a alt on your server to try and grab up homes to sell.

Can't sell personal houses. So that point is moot.

[dspguy]

+But there is no demolition.

That is probably reason #2 for a housing shortage. There probably still wouldn't be enough, but it would make a difference if auto-demo was back on. (Reason #1 is simply not enough plots in general).

+People own multiple homes.

While this is a problem, and it "isn't fair" - it probably isn't tying up as many homes as the first point you made. Yes, there will be that one instance that people talk about - some guy or FC has nearly an entire ward. But that isn't common. There's an FC on my server that has multiple homes... but they literally have thousands of players in their FC. More than the maximum. So they own more than one plot.

+People only bid on the "perfect" house

That right there is the reason why it is so easy to get a small in week #1 of the lottery (new server or new zone or new wards). People with no housing are bidding against people looking to upgrade - on mediums and larges in the "perfect spot." All the while, plenty of other players snatch up smalls with little-to-no competition. Then week #2 comes and we already at 100+ bids on a small since that's all that is left.

[Shibi]

<snip>That right there is the reason why it is so easy to get a small in week #1 of the lottery (new server or new zone or new wards). People with no housing are bidding against people looking to upgrade - on mediums and larges in the "perfect spot." All the while, plenty of other players snatch up smalls with little-to-no competition. Then week #2 comes and we already at 100+ bids on a small since that's all that is left.

This is absolutely true, and baffling so.

Anyone who has done housing for a while has likely seen the advice for many many years "Get the worst house you can to start, then upgrade later" (pretty much like gearing up to raid, really) and that advice hasn't changed.

Just get a house, any house, the worst house out if you want to play it safe, on the outer rim of goblet surrounded by Paissas on one side and cliffs the other. You can upgrade later, and without any of the stress.

[dspguy]

Just get a house, any house, the worst house out if you want to play it safe, on the outer rim of goblet surrounded by Paissas on one side and cliffs the other. You can upgrade later, and without any of the stress.

Bingo.

If housing is truly that important to a player, then the goal should be get any house - not a large in the best possible spot. If players are doing that, they don't have their priorities straight if housing ownership was their goal.