A few questions for returned player

[Mikasa_Ackerman]

Hi all, I have been away for 2 years and now I'm trying to re-learn my roles now.

1) I recently bought a room in a FC estate and furnish it with bed and stuff. But I do not have the option of "Log out" or "Exit" like the one in the inn when I click on my room's bed. I was wondering if it gives the same rested experience as the inn if I just log out in my room?

2) What is maximum number of retainers you can have? I heard the expansion gives more retainer? I bought the expansion but can't seems to find the clues on getting additional retainers except from mogstation.

3) I read SE are freeing up more estates from inactives. How do I know which one is avaliable? The icons are really confusing sometimes.

Cheers

[Enkidoh]

Welcome back!

1). Sadly you cannot log out inside your room in a FC house and reappear back in there when you log in next time like in the Inn Room - you will automatically appear outside the house when you next log in if you log out inside one. I assume it's because the house interiors are temporary instances, but I'm not sure. Luckily though FC houses are classed as sanctuaries though so you do still get rested exp if you log out inside one.

2). You can have up to two free retainers by default, but you can now also hire more by purchasing them outside the game through the Mogstation. From what I understand, you can hire up to an additional six retainers, making up to eight in total (2 free and 6 paid). Each extra retainer on top of the default 2 costs an extra monthly charge to hire however.

3). The only way you can tell if there is any land available is to click on the entrance to a housing ward or to click on the aetheryte in each city and manually view the wards - lots that are already owned will have the owner's name plus the price they paid for it beside it, but if it's available, it will have no name beside it. Unfortunately there is no easy way to check if a housing area has any available land or not sadly.

Hopefully this has helped.

[Mikasa_Ackerman]

Thanks for answering!

This leads to a few more questions.
1) So if I get the retainer from mogstation which I have to pay monthly, what happens if I decided to stop the retainer's subscription for a period of time? Do the retainer still retain his/her profession levels and whatever items he/she is carrying?

2) I have another character which is on the same account and same server too. But I couldn't find any ways to transfer the gils between my characters as the mail system doesn't seems to work that way. Do I need to find a trusted friend everytime to do this or is there another easier way to do this?

Thank you for taking time to answer

[Enkidoh]

1). I'm not 100% certain (as I haven't purchased any extra retainers myself), but it is my understanding that if you stop paying for that retainer then you lose all access to that retainer until you reinstate the subscription for it. I am very confident that anything stored on them is not lost and you just lose access to the retainer itself. Someone who actually has purchased an extra retainer would be able to properly clarify this though.
2). Unfortunately there is in fact no direct way you can transfer gil or items between multiple characters on the same account (you can only mail gil and items to people on your Friend List, and you cannot add your own characters to your Friend List because to add someone to your Friend List requires the message to be accepted immediately and is discarded if you log out) - presumably SE did it to try and stop gilsellers transferring their ill gotten gil around, but it's just inconvenienced innocent players. The only way you can really send gil between others is to use a third party you trust like a friend I'm sorry. :9

[Niwashi]

I read SE are freeing up more estates from inactives.

They're planning to, but it's not implemented yet, nor do we yet know exactly how it will work. Once it is in place, though, you'd presumably find available plots the same way you do now, by checking at the Aetherite whether there are any that list a price rather than an owner.

I couldn't find any ways to transfer the gils between my characters as the mail system doesn't seems to work that way. Do I need to find a trusted friend everytime to do this or is there another easier way to do this?

As Enkidoh pointed out, there's no direct or simple way. A couple other workarounds if you don't have a trusted friend available to help you:

If both your characters are in the same FC and have access to full use of the FC chest, you can use that to transfer items or possibly gil between them. Make sure that it's ok with the FC leader and that you have that access, though. Particularly for gil, most FCs limit gil withdrawal privileges to officers only (or even leader only) to prevent new people from joining just to steal from them.

Another option, one that doesn't require special access like that, but which costs a bit in market board tax, is to sell stuff to yourself. To pass items to your alt is pretty straightforward, just put the item up for sale, switch to your alt, and buy it. Just be sure it's priced high enough that someone else won't come along and buy it instead while you're switching characters, but low enough the alt you want to buy it with can afford it. To pass gil to your alt, start with the character you want to receive the money, use them to place a single simple cheap item (typically a common drop like an animal skin or something) on the market board priced at however much gil you want to transfer. Then switch to your richer character who's going to provide the gil, and buy it.

presumably SE did it to try and stop gilsellers transferring their ill gotten gil around

Possibly, but if so, it was pretty short-sighted. Gil sellers have multiple accounts and plenty of characters active at once, so have no problem transferring gil around between them. Plus they also form their own FCs, so are presumably using its chest to accumulate gil from their farming bots to be available to whichever character is used to transfer it to their buyers. The restriction really isn't hurting them at all. It's only a hassle to legitimate players, ones who only have one account's worth of characters to work with, and want to join an FC for social or gameplay reasons rather than finding or making one that will give them item/gil transfer capability.

[SpiritMuse]

1). I'm not 100% certain (as I haven't purchased any extra retainers myself), but it is my understanding that if you stop paying for that retainer then you lose all access to that retainer until you reinstate the subscription for it. I am very confident that anything stored on them is not lost and you just lose access to the retainer itself. Someone who actually has purchased an extra retainer would be able to properly clarify this though.

You're absolutely right. If you don't keep the payment you won't be able to access the retainer, but all their levels and gear and inventory will remain intact and will be waiting for you when you hire their services again.

[Mikasa_Ackerman]

Thank you Enkidoh and Niwashi! You guys are great!