Instanced Housing: Ideas and Details

[not_ya_wify]

I'm strongly in the camp of keeping the neighborhoods we have. However, I wouldn't mind if we got a new housing area that is instance based. I would love a decoratable apartment in Amaurot (Emet-Selch DID invite us to live there), Eulmore, or the Crystariym.

Visiting could work similarly to islands but there should be a way to access apartments that are not from your friends or party members, so housing designers can still have random visitors.

I'd also be ok with upgrading apartments where you can buy upgrades like extra floors and balconies as you level your grand company rank past captain.

[Solowing]

While housing a big appeal in the game, it's not the only content the game offers. If you think they'll lose out on money because they implement instanced housing that doesn't have auto-demo, you're mistaken.

but personally I would enjoy the game better if I could have a house without the fear of losing something I worked hard for.

Exactly why you shouldn't let your sub lapse.... Even if the game isnt fun for you anymore, are you willing to accept the loss of something you put time and effort into that you may not have access to for months if not potentially years when you return?

I haven't gotten another medium since i left Brynildr in 2016 (R.I.P Mist Ward 7 Plot 42) currently i have 2 smalls (Mist,Ward 4 Plot 41 and 42). I cant have a setup like this anymore. So im not risking letting my sub lapse to lose a more so ideal setup to keep both houses. No matter the content drought, players with ward housing will likely keep their subscription active to keep their house.

[Solowing]

Lost. Again. It’s so crushing to keep getting your hopes up over and over only to lose every single time. Dream plot or random small, depending on what’s available, doesn’t matter, I lose them all. This time I had probably the best odds (ie: lowest number of bids) since the new wards opened. And still nothing. Some people really are that unlucky when it comes to RNG. And now there’s only going to be a random trickle of auto-demos left to look forward to… and those will have tons of bids too, since a lot of people are still going to be homeless after this lotto.

Housing should not be a prize to be won, it should be a given. It’s a game feature and we’re all paying a sub here. Seriously we need instanced already.

Its not, apartments are housing. Just not your choice of housing.But it is housing. Which you do have access to but maybe willingly choose not to engage with. I see alot of empty un-decorated Apts, and that doesnt help the arguments for more housing if the housing that is available isnt even used.

[Khryseis_Astra]

Its not, apartments are housing. Just not your choice of housing.But it is housing. Which you do have access to but maybe willingly choose not to engage with. I see alot of empty un-decorated Apts, and that doesnt help the arguments for more housing if the housing that is available isnt even used.

I never said apartments weren’t a formof housing, just that an apartment is not a house, and most people who are complaining about the lack of housing already do have apartments and FC rooms. I have all 3; it took 9 months for me to win a small house! Do some apartments sit empty or used just to store housing items? Sure, but I doubt those are the same people complaining about not having a house; they’re just looking to save some inventory space! lol

Also yes you can make the argument that the current system gets SE more subscription money. But what you can’t measure is the number of people who quit subscribing at all because of their frustration with the housing system, whether that’s the inability to secure any house, a larger house or having their house demoed. That’s lost revenue too, and I know many people who quit for those reasons. Anecdotal maybe, but if I know a lot, I’m sure others do too.

Adding to all that, an instanced system has the potential to offer more features than a ward house does. Just for an example, you can place 90 outdoor furnishings on your Island. You’ll never see that number in ward houses because the outside ward area is permanently loaded. And that’s probably why we’ll never see enough wards to accommodate every hopeful homeowner, especially on crowded servers. Instanced has the ability to bypass some of these limitations. While the housing system is great now, it could be a lot better and we could do a lot more.

And even if they don’t add a fully instanced option (wards aren’t going anywhere and I’m not campaigning for that; people will choose which they prefer), they ARE moving in that direction, however slightly. The talk of a “housing mirage” to change interior layouts and even size? That’s because the inside of your house is instanced. Indoor item limit increases coming in 7.x? Possibly removing pillars from the walls? They can do more with instanced areas.

And for the “people will always want ward houses because they’re superior crowd,” to each their own. But give enough people who’ve gone through this lotto system for years now and are still house-less a choice of a guaranteed house that has no legit reason to be subject to auto-demo or a ward house to bid on a couple more years and hope for good RNG? I know which I’d pick. They can get just as much sub money out of happy customers as they can with the ward house demo timer.