This housing "fix" is nothing more then sweeping a mess under the rug.

[Jetstream_Fox]

I understand that if a player isn't subscribed to the game that certain things shouldn't remain with the player. However with this "fix" the current problem of not enough housing will not be reduced nor will it be improved by any means. Housing is a limited resource, SE developed it that way and from the looks, they're going to continue to leave it limited. Where the issue comes from with this current ideology behind housing is that even if all plots are in use and active, that any new player and new free company are essentially being told they will not be able to utilize anything that is built into using housing, that is of course until a plot actually opens, then the cycle continues. This demolishing of abandoned plots is only going to serve very small numbers of players on each of our servers and we will be right back at square one each time the housing zones are filled. We need to face the fact that this current system is not beneficial to the all communities and push for more plots and ward or in the extreme case, a completely redone housing system moving forward, when it boils down to forcing a entire community to wait for something that current gameplay is focused on, history has shown that the players who wait typically grow frustrated and leave the game, we can look no further then Grand Theft Auto 5, ESO and Destiny as prime examples when gameplay is structured behind content that is either not done or poorly designed and see what happens to those games. Let's not have that happen here.

[Lexia]

This isn't actually new news, it was posted some where either by a forum mod or in a live letter that this exact type of system was being worked on where inactive housing would be destroyed.

[Eye_Gore]

However with this "fix" the current problem of not enough housing will not be reduced nor will it be improved by any means.

They have to start somewhere. Currently they may not know how many houses are uninhabited. This measure will show how many are actually abandoned. Afterwards they may add more. They may not want to add more until they know how much to add. We always hear of limitations.

If you have a 3 car garage and one car in there is abandoned but you need more space, do you build a new garage or get rid of the junk and see how much room you actually had?

[Rufalus]

I think taking back inactive land could have a huge impact. On my world it seems like there are more abandoned homes than inhabited ones so I am expecting a very large number of vacancies on the first wave of demolishion. Going forward it will at least ensure plots become available on a more regular basis as all the people who quit the game to play something else will be creating new spaces. I assume more wards will be added within the next few months and the lack of spaces will gradually become less of an issue.

[Kuzonoha]

I feel that this isn't all there is to their method of "fixing" housing. I think this is more of a first step kind of thing to see how many spots are opened up, and how many are claimed.

In this manner, after surveying the effects of this inactive housing ruling has on the servers, they can implement more concrete things accordingly much like Eye_Gore said.

[Jetstream_Fox]

I think taking back inactive land could have a huge impact. On my world it seems like there are more abandoned homes than inhabited ones so I am expecting a very large number of vacancies on the first wave of demolishion. Going forward it will at least ensure plots become available on a more regular basis as all the people who quit the game to play something else will be creating new spaces. I assume more wards will be added within the next few months and the lack of spaces will gradually become less of an issue.

I'm not disagreeing, plots should be removed if abandoned, but it doesn't change the fact that how limited the resource and how much gameplay is tied behind this system. It's essential gameplay players might not even get to utilize that is being pushed away due to the developers near sighted system that only 50 players should experience while the other 90 must wait until a spot potentially opens up, that is my issue with this "fix."

It shouldn't be we may add more wards and plots to accommodate the growing community we created while putting various types of expanded gameplay into housing. It should be we will add more plots and wards for our players to explore the new content we are going to implement behind housing. This is almost as bad as when Rockstar released apartments for players to plot heists but that game type took 2 years give or take to be released.

[Riardon]

They already said Clearing the abandoned lots is only the first of the steps they will make on housing. First they gonna clear those, then some additions to the Housing system will arrive (sharing a house with a partner/friend) and then new Housing areas will also arrive. Please look forward to it.

[Seryl199]

I'm not disagreeing, plots should be removed if abandoned, but it doesn't change the fact that how limited the resource and how much gameplay is tied behind this system. It's essential gameplay players might not even get to utilize that is being pushed away due to the developers near sighted system that only 50 players should experience while the other 90 must wait until a spot potentially opens up, that is my issue with this "fix."

It shouldn't be we may add more wards and plots to accommodate the growing community we created while putting various types of expanded gameplay into housing. It should be we will add more plots and wards for our players to explore the new content we are going to implement behind housing. This is almost as bad as when Rockstar released apartments for players to plot heists but that game type took 2 years give or take to be released.

We don't know what the endgame for housing looks like. This band-aid fix could be the first of several steps in the right direction. As long as housing continues to remain limited, inactive players will eventually need to be purged for active players. This adjustment does not fix housing. Instead, it creates a revolving X% of players that have access to housing while they remain active, whereas the current system has a stagnant X% of players that have access to housing whether they are active or not. It's a small improvement, to be sure, that doesn't account for any growth in the game, but it's an improvement that we would have needed anyways so long as player housing doesn't encompass 100% of the player base.

[TouchandFeel]

A good number of members on these and other forums (I wasn't one of them) continually asked for this to be implemented with the average number of days of inactivity being thrown around seeming to range from 1-2 months iirc. In fact, this was the most commonly brought up recommendation/solution put forth in the many "fix the housing situation" threads.

Now SE has given what was asked for and people are grabbing their torches and pitchforks declaring it a travesty.

So if SE doesn't implement what people on the forums suggest or ask for, they are lazy, bad developers that don't think or listen and are destined to fail.

Yet if they do listen and implement what people on the forums suggest or ask for, they are lazy, bad developers that don't think or listen and are destined to fail.

Hmmm.....

p.s. and as others have stated, I don't believe that this was ever intended to be a cure-all for the limited housing problem, but a solution to one aspect of a larger problem, namely inactive players using up a limited and highly sought after resource.

p.p.s. If people want more of a solution to the issue with the current housing system's limited supply, wouldn't time and energy be better spent coming up with and suggesting additional housing systems or adjustments that could potentially be added instead of spending all that time getting worked up and complaining? If you want solutions, then reorient the conversation to that direction. The longer you spend focusing on problems, the less you are looking towards solutions.

[Dree-Elle]

Plots should be removed if abandoned, but it doesn't change how much gameplay is tied behind this system. It's essential gameplay players might not even get to utilize.

Wait, WHAT "essential gameplay"? The only two things left that are 100% tied to housing that you *cannot* get anywhere else are Chocobo coloring and Gardening (and even then, you can still buy the results of said gardening on the MB, thereby bypassing that altogether). It's already been stated that players without FCs can pick up an airship for the upcoming "islands" content in Ishgard. And even that is optional content, not "essential".