It appears Japanese players are in agreement.

[Gaddes]

The thing that really bothers me are the white knights popping up trying to make these ridiculous prices out to be a "good" thing, to get rid of "casuals." Gil-grinding is not difficult, it is not hardcore; what it is is monotonous and not fun at all. I left FFXI after 7 years because it had devolved into some sort of second job, farming the same sh*t over and over without any real payoff or satisfaction. My fears are that FFXIV could easily become the same thing with ludicrous stuff like this. Buying land (people keep forgetting these crazy prices are just for the land, we haven't even factored in the cost of the house itself or its furnishings) should be something attainable by all... for chrissakes even the grindy FFXI provided homes for free. This is just going to foster more resentment towards the "1%" of Eorzeans and also give elitist @ssholes an additional thing to look down their noses on to those who can't afford it.

In short, it's a very odd classist sort of move on SE's part, and hopefully they see the error of their ways... otherwise this'll serve as just another excuse for people to jump to more fun pursuits and leave all the nasty elitists on the sinking ship.