Being punished for playing with friends? (would love dev insight)

[Aunkah]

So I'm looking at server transferring to play with a bunch of real life friends but from what i can find if i transfer my character I will lose my house. My question is how the hell is that fair? I can understand not having it transfer because of land claims and all that but I don't get why I have to lose my investment just because I wish to play with friends. I know I could probably try to sell it off to some free company but thats a hassle and im not even sure if i can as it is set as private residence. so my options is stay on a server im not fond of and play alone or transfer and lose my 3+mil gil investment.

so would love some insight on why players are punished for wanting to pay together at the least refund me my plots worth.

[Noxifer]

I've seen people offering to sell their plot on PF sometimes. Which basically means you're selling someone the privilege of being there when you relinquish the land so they can snap it up right away without having to check every now and then if a plot has opened up and hope they get there in time to buy it. You can't sell a house right off, whether it's a private or an FC house. The only way to transfer a house/plot to someone else is to relinquish it and they buy it when it becomes free. And none of that money will end up with you.

I'm not too keen on the "plot selling" practice, to be honest, but that's my personal opinion. I just don't think it's fair to make someone pay twice for a plot: first to the previous owner and then to the 'real estate agency' or however you want to call the gilsink function. But like I said, they're not really buying the plot from you; they're just buying the privilege of being there when it becomes open. Price-wise, expect to get about as much as half a plot's worth from it (so about 1-2mil for a small plot), depending on how scarce free plots are on your current server.

Edit: Also remember there's a limit to how much gil you can bring, so if you have more than that you'll probably want to buy lots of items you can then sell on the new server -- allagan coins seem a popular choice, but you can also check with your friends on your intended server what items are expensive and see if you can pick those up cheaply before the transfer =)

[Aunkah]

I've seen people offering to sell their plot on PF sometimes. Which basically means you're selling someone the privilege of being there when you relinquish the land so they can snap it up right away without having to check every now and then if a plot has opened up and hope they get there in time to buy it. You can't sell a house right off, whether it's a private or an FC house. The only way to transfer a house/plot to someone else is to relinquish it and they buy it when it becomes free. And none of that money will end up with you.

this isnt the only way to do it. you can join a free company and set it as a free company house and pass leadership then leave it will then be the new free company leaders house/free company house but again its a hassle and hard to find some that want a small house.

[Noxifer]

this isnt the only way to do it. you can join a free company and set it as a free company house and pass leadership then leave it will then be the new free company leaders house/free company house but again its a hassle and hard to find some that want a small house.

Oh, I had no idea you could do that. Then again, I only have an FC house available to me ^^

[kyuven]

It's simply a programming oversight. They're not maliciously "punishing" you, it's just they set a hardline on the "no refunds" thing with housing because they want them to be gil sinks. If you could get a return on your purchase for any reason, it would negate the purpose of the gil sink in the first place.
And if you think this game doesn't need gil sinks...yyyeeeeaahhhh

[Aunkah]

It's simply a programming oversight. They're not maliciously "punishing" you, it's just they set a hardline on the "no refunds" thing with housing because they want them to be gil sinks. If you could get a return on your purchase for any reason, it would negate the purpose of the gil sink in the first place.
And if you think this game doesn't need gil sinks...yyyeeeeaahhhh

even some refund would be nice cause your not taking into account the fact that im losing money on the things that have to be destroyed like choco stables and such.

[kyuven]

even some refund would be nice cause your not taking into account the fact that im losing money on the things that have to be destroyed like choco stables and such.

You losing money is precisely the point. If they did this for you, they'd have to create an option for EVERYONE, which would negate the purpose of the gil sink. While the primary purpose for players for housing is to have something nice to decorate and build, the primary purpose from the development side is to maintain the server's economy, which can get out of control VERY quickly on some servers if there is *any* remote possibility of getting a return of any sort on a house.
I'm sorry but your money is as gone as the tomestones you spent on your gear.

[Aunkah]

You losing money is precisely the point. If they did this for you, they'd have to create an option for EVERYONE, which would negate the purpose of the gil sink. While the primary purpose for players for housing is to have something nice to decorate and build, the primary purpose from the development side is to maintain the server's economy, which can get out of control VERY quickly on some servers if there is *any* remote possibility of getting a return of any sort on a house.
I'm sorry but your money is as gone as the tomestones you spent on your gear.

this it at last should be transferable like my gear if not the plot entirely then at least a slip that allows you to reclaim of plot of same value.

[kyuven]

this it at last should be transferable like my gear if not the plot entirely then at least a slip that allows you to reclaim of plot of same value.

Prices vary from server to server, though. Some people could buy a plot cheap on one server then transfer to another and use their "plot coupon" to get the same plot at a lower price. Or, better yet, what if all those plots are occupied for whatever reason?
Again, it's a gil sink. You're not supposed to get your money back.

[ofTheMoores]

It's simply a programming oversight. They're not maliciously "punishing" you, it's just they set a hardline on the "no refunds" thing with housing because they want them to be gil sinks. If you could get a return on your purchase for any reason, it would negate the purpose of the gil sink in the first place.
And if you think this game doesn't need gil sinks...yyyeeeeaahhhh

I always hate games that use the 'gold sink' excuse to make things astronomically expensive. There's always going to be kids that spend their life in-game and have crazy amounts of gold. To wrap content around THEM, screws your average player over big time.

They should remember that it's only the top 10% that can afford all these things and they are shutting out the vast majority of players from content. ...and here I'm referring to housing that everyone should be able to get for a reasonable cost up front. THEN, gil-sink you to upgrade it if they want.