Separate FC Workshop from Housing

[tank2fish]

I don't know if this has been suggested already, but here goes.

As it stands right now, a single individual across multiple alts and alt accounts can own entire wards, restricting smaller and newer FCs from being able to win a home of their own. With such limited supply for housing, and an unwillingness to punish players who are using a loophole to own multiple houses on one account, I suggest that the dynamic and interesting gameplay system attached to the FC workshop should be uncoupled from the housing system entirely. I think this would be a fair compromise, and perhaps even disincentivize at least some people from buying up entire wards on their own, since they would also no longer require a housing plot in order to utilize the sub/airship system.

As an alternative, please add an NPC, or a door, to every Grand Company HQ to allow free company members to access the FC workshop via the grand company HQ their FC is allied with. That way, smaller FCs with limited resources (who cannot compete against others with far more gil and ability to bid over them) are still able to interact with all the features within the free company workshop.

It's such a dynamic and interesting system, it seems like such a shame to have it completely restricted to a section of the game that is entirely out of reach for the average player, for reasons entirely outside of their own control.

[Jojoya]

Yes, it's been suggested many times by me and by others.

As far as I know, SE has never made a direct response to the suggestion so we don't know if they're not interested in making that change or if there's some sort of code issue that prevents them from doing it. There had been a comment by YoshiP a couple of years back that they were considering making a personal version of the workshop but nothing has been heard about that since.

[tank2fish]

Yes, it's been suggested many times by me and by others.

As far as I know, SE has never made a direct response to the suggestion so we don't know if they're not interested in making that change or if there's some sort of code issue that prevents them from doing it. There had been a comment by YoshiP a couple of years back that they were considering making a personal version of the workshop but nothing has been heard about that since.

That's disappointing to hear, but I'm glad many people have made the suggestion over the years. Ugh lol I guess it can't be helped but to keep asking and hope for the best

[Ayan_Calvesse]

Aye it would go a long way to freeing up space I suspect. I think part of the problem is that to do so they would have to migrate the DB that is always tracking workshops; because workshops are like players with progression in the form of unlocks and each one has multiple constant timers that if they went out of sync might wreak havoc. Not to mention the problem of folks whom have like 50+ workshops and determining how many deployables a person is permitted. The reason its tied to the FC itself at the moment I think has to do with how it is able to be shared - so the FC tracks the timer versus the player that commences it; likewise for projects. Its why sadly I think we cannot have our friends help manage our island sanctuary.

[JimCasey_RF6]

It's such a dynamic and interesting system, it seems like such a shame to have it completely restricted to a section of the game that is entirely out of reach for the average player, for reasonsentirely outside of their own control.

I agree, it's a fun and unique game system and one of the things I like most about this game. It is not, however, out of reach for the average player at all. Especially not for reasons outside of their own control.

If a player has their heart set on doing company workshop content, then they simply need to find an FC that will allow them to use the workshop. Another option would be to start up their own free company to have a workshop of their own. Housing is still overabundant on the four new Dynamis DC servers ruling out any issues with obtaining a plot.

The company workshop system is functioning very well as it currently is. It can be one of the most rewarding systems in the game for players with the determination to manage one long-term. It is unlikely that this particular system is ever going to receive major changes such as complete removal or an additional method of access.

[Jojoya]

Aye it would go a long way to freeing up space I suspect. I think part of the problem is that to do so they would have to migrate the DB that is always tracking workshops; because workshops are like players with progression in the form of unlocks and each one has multiple constant timers that if they went out of sync might wreak havoc. Not to mention the problem of folks whom have like 50+ workshops and determining how many deployables a person is permitted. The reason its tied to the FC itself at the moment I think has to do with how it is able to be shared - so the FC tracks the timer versus the player that commences it; likewise for projects. Its why sadly I think we cannot have our friends help manage our island sanctuary.

I would hope it wouldn't be that difficult since we don't lose workshop progress when we relocate a FC house. The workshop progress seems to be attached to the FC and not to the house.

[Crafoutis]

Instead of implementing a brand new subsystem which would also increase inflation (100% of accounts having access to sub/airship missions), the OP should instead continue to advocate for the remedy of players owning entire wards.

Misplaced energy for what seems like a beg for sub/airship missions.

[Ayan_Calvesse]

I would hope it wouldn't be that difficult since we don't lose workshop progress when we relocate a FC house. The workshop progress seems to be attached to the FC and not to the house.

Aye its tied to the FC itself; the problem with removal of Workshops from the FC Workshop is because the workshop is "part" of the FC and I suspect its tied to the House itself because loss of a FC house due to inactivity (no one going into the home) results in the Workshop also disappearing. Upon my consideration I think if you no longer had a housing requirement you would have a army of singular person workshops far greater then what we see currently.

[Jojoya]

Aye its tied to the FC itself; the problem with removal of Workshops from the FC Workshop is because the workshop is "part" of the FC and I suspect its tied to the House itself because loss of a FC house due to inactivity (no one going into the home) results in the Workshop also disappearing. Upon my consideration I think if you no longer had a housing requirement you would have a army of singular person workshops far greater then what we see currently.

You might have a point about the house. It's hard to say. Yet I still believe SE needs to do something so that housing can better serve its core purpose in player eyes. Whatever SE's original vision was is over a decade old. Times change and if they're going to use housing as a way to attract new players while retaining veterans, they need to do a better job with it.

Personally I don't care about an "army of single person workshops" appearing because the workshops aren't the best way to make gil and those running multiple generally are not inserting that gil back into the game economy. Having tens of thousands of additional players running their own workshop doesn't really bother me either because most of those players would be doing it to get access to the items that come from subs as opposed to using them to make gil. They're not going to go to the effort that the sub farmers do.

Most of the concern about workshops is overblown outside of the effect they have on house supply. Even that is smaller than some think, though it's still bad design that workshop demand can push players out of a chance to own a house. If Salvaged Accessories were the creating the gil problem that some think, SE would have killed the sell value by now just as SE killed the sell value of other items like demimateria in the past. It's something they could still do if an increased number of workshops turned it into a problem.

[Ayan_Calvesse]

You might have a point about the house. It's hard to say. Yet I still believe SE needs to do something so that housing can better serve its core purpose in player eyes. Whatever SE's original vision was is over a decade old. Times change and if they're going to use housing as a way to attract new players while retaining veterans, they need to do a better job with it.

Personally I don't care about an "army of single person workshops" appearing because the workshops aren't the best way to make gil and those running multiple generally are not inserting that gil back into the game economy. Having tens of thousands of additional players running their own workshop doesn't really bother me either because most of those players would be doing it to get access to the items that come from subs as opposed to using them to make gil. They're not going to go to the effort that the sub farmers do.

Most of the concern about workshops is overblown outside of the effect they have on house supply. Even that is smaller than some think, though it's still bad design that workshop demand can push players out of a chance to own a house. If Salvaged Accessories were the creating the gil problem that some think, SE would have killed the sell value by now just as SE killed the sell value of other items like demimateria in the past. It's something they could still do if an increased number of workshops turned it into a problem.

I agree that Housing really needs to at some point get more then lip service. I disagree that subs are not a cost effective gil making measure however - I mean 400m a month worth of gil with 40 characters is nothing to scoff at and I think theres probably more folks running subs in that fashion then gathering items to market board/use.

I also agree that SE probably could end the problem simply by blowing up sub instant gil returns and at the very least require sub fcs to play the market.