Why Removing Houses from inactive is NOT a solution.

[Izayoichan]

My biggest "argh" with the whole FC/player housing is the simple fact that so many smaller fc's will sit there without the chance of creating a company aircraft. It can only be done with a fc house, and although I was lucky enough to get a personal house, the small company me and my friend recently made from a place to have alts into a FC we might actually us for something has no chance. There is no housing availible on Balmung and there has not been for months. There is the occasional sale, but then the prizes ar much much more insane than I would ever be able to pay.

Its like their offering something grand, something fun for free companies to work for as a team, then give you a slap in the face because your on a server where all the wards are sold out..

[Krylo]

My biggest "argh" with the whole FC/player housing is the simple fact that so many smaller fc's will sit there without the chance of creating a company aircraft. It can only be done with a fc house, and although I was lucky enough to get a personal house, the small company me and my friend recently made from a place to have alts into a FC we might actually us for something has no chance. There is no housing availible on Balmung and there has not been for months. There is the occasional sale, but then the prizes ar much much more insane than I would ever be able to pay.

Its like their offering something grand, something fun for free companies to work for as a team, then give you a slap in the face because your on a server where all the wards are sold out..

You could save up money with your FC, relinquish and immediately rebuy the plot, if it's just you and your friends in that FC and you wouldn't mind sharing.

As a member/leader of one of those 'smaller FCs' (it's really just something I make for myself in most games as I'm bad at the whole social guild thing) I'm not saying this to take away from your issue and I certainly understand it's not a perfect solution, but you know. . . suggesting a possible way for you to do the airship thing without hoping for more wards/that you're fast enough to buy one in the new wards.

Personally I'm hoping for more wards in 3.1 or so. Probably not at HW release 'cause there'll be lots of server stress already and blahblahwardsserversblahblah.

[Pterois]

you can skip around a lot of the BS if a "receipt" is issued to the player who just lost his place. This item would allow the PC to get any plot of land the same size or smaller (and same class or smaller) and would wave the 450k afterwards for the building permit.

After that... i've heard a couple ideas about getting the items back that were in the house but i haven't heard anything, or come up with anything myself that has been a solid plan for this. Maybe thats the hit you'll have to take for not logging in (whether your fault or not)

And i also agree that, even though OPs numbers are way off, this wouldn't fix the issue. Dedicated servers for housing alone seems to be a must at this point if this is gonna work.

[Madjames]

you can skip around a lot of the BS if a "receipt" is issued to the player who just lost his place. This item would allow the PC to get any plot of land the same size or smaller (and same class or smaller) and would wave the 450k afterwards for the building permit.

After that... i've heard a couple ideas about getting the items back that were in the house but i haven't heard anything, or come up with anything myself that has been a solid plan for this. Maybe thats the hit you'll have to take for not logging in (whether your fault or not)

And i also agree that, even though OPs numbers are way off, this wouldn't fix the issue. Dedicated servers for housing alone seems to be a must at this point if this is gonna work.

Ultima Online did this very thing and it worked to keep housing in check for us who were paying customers.

Over time people left and others replaced them. The people who left had a month of not logging in and refreshing their house. When they didn't, they lost their house plot, and everything in it, boom gone. It kept the housing market up for us real estate agents and kept housing for paying customers. This DID fix the issue with abandonment of homes. The issue is that as well as not enough houses per server to meet the demand. As it is now, if EVERY PLOT was taken by someone who was active and used their homes there still wouldn't be enough to go around. There needs to be an inactive time limit as well as more housing wards and dedicated housing only servers for our wards to meet the demand. If SE did these two things, there would not be a shortage of housing anywhere.

[Titor]

Ultima Online did this very thing and it worked to keep housing in check for us who were paying customers.

I never played, but were houses in Ultima Online as invested as FFXIV houses in terms of money needed? There is a huge investment in my house (over 5 months of work for a large) and if I lost it I would be very sad.

Also, is taking a system from a game made in 1997 really the best way to go? That is almost 20 years ago, surely we can come up with more fair solutions in today's day and age.

[Madjames]

I never played, but were houses in Ultima Online as invested as FFXIV houses in terms of money needed? There is a huge investment in my house (over 5 months of work for a large) and if I lost it I would be very sad.

Also, is taking a system from a game made in 1997 really the best way to go? That is almost 20 years ago, surely we can come up with more fair solutions in today's day and age.

It took me 4 years in that game to get enough money to buy a castle. When I quit for WOW back in 2004 I lost it after I didn't come back after a month. Sorry but life isn't fair and I would NOT EXPECT EA to cater to someone who may or may not return by letting them keep an in game feature that is limited and SHOULD ONLY BE for paying subscribers.

If some people want to whine and complain about a time limit go ahead. I have never missed a subscription payment since I as 10 years old out of my own money (I am 30 now and never missed a sub payment)

SE should have a housing time limit on subscriptions. If you continue to pay you keep your house. If you stop paying, you lose it after a month end of story.

In uo you needed to physically log in and open your house door to refresh your house from decaying and it going bye bye.

[Nexxa]

Being able to pay rent for an extended amount of time in advance would help. As long as the fee is trivial enough, owners are reimbursed their house's value, and the time you can pay ahead is capped at like a year or something super forgiving I don't see a problem. If you're gone longer than a whole year you're not really active enough to clog up a housing slot, I feel.

[Titor]

I have never missed a subscription payment since I as 10 years old out of my own money (I am 30 now and never missed a sub payment)

I am glad for you that you were financially stable enough to have constant access to a computer/internet that worked and were able to upkeep your sub. I am also glad that you never had a medical emergency that kept you debilitated for a while, never served in the military, or never had any other type of RL situation that would keep you away for a while.

Other people may have these issues. It is unfair to take it away from people when those circumstances are out of their control. If you really want to make it fair for everyone, push for upgrading servers and making new wards.

[Madjames]

Being able to pay rent for an extended amount of time in advance would help. As long as the fee is trivial enough, owners are reimbursed their house's value, and the time you can pay ahead is capped at like a year or something super forgiving I don't see a problem.

I payed for my house free and clear outright. Rent is something I will not stand for.

However, if you made it like a property tax fee like IRL and make it as trivial I can support that. Putting a cap on it is a no no though. You can pre-pay property taxes as far ahead into the future as you want to my knowledge. I pay $120 a month for my 1,700 square food home on a half acre lot. I could do 120 gil a month.

[Madjames]

I am glad for you that you were financially stable enough to have constant access to a computer/internet that worked and were able to upkeep your sub. I am also glad that you never had a medical emergency that kept you debilitated for a while, never served in the military, or never had any other type of RL situation that would keep you away for a while.

Other people may have these issues. It is unfair to take it away from people when those circumstances are out of their control. If you really want to make it fair for everyone, push for upgrading servers and making new wards.

I was on the military. When I was gone, I would have my friends or family to log into the game for me and keep my stuff going. I also had a credit card that my sub was paid on every month. When I was 10 and didnt have a credit card, I used my parents and paid them the 10 dollars a month by doing yard work for the next 8 years of my life until I graduated high school and moved onto college.

I also had a computer die on me and couldnt afford to get another one for almost a year during my college years. I kept my sub going and used my library to log in and keep my stuff going while studying. The point here is that there is ALWAYS a way to keep a subscription going and an account active. I had and always will have the determination to keep my sub active and my game going.

I also went on vacations and still, kept my sub going and had friends log in when my family and I were gone. When I was in the military I was gone for just about 4 months straight. No sub, no computer, nothing. My family kept my sub going and I kept the card automatically paid for and my family would be there to make sure I kept my characters running and my businesses in game going. Until I was medically discharged and came home.

If you cant afford 15 dollars a month (I pay 30 a month and have been for 10 years straight now for my and my wife now) then you have much bigger issues in your life and probably shouldn't be worried about an online video game anyway.