Thinking this game is a bad investment

[kamikrazy]

I'm still relatively new to this game, but I've hit it hard and fast these last few weeks since I came back, I've leveled several classes to 50, unlocked all but 2 dungeons in the roulette, completed several hunting logs, completed nearly every quest in the game, nearly max ranked 2 grand companies, completed every quest in every expansion area, unlocked all the flying, etc

It's been a lot, and I've slaved away "catching up" because I felt like this game was a good investment in an MMO, with good updates, solid gameplay, and good structure.

But after this housing thing I feel like this may just be an identical investment to WoW, being that there really don't seem to be anymore longterm achievements, and even worse, I basically have to commit to this game indefinitely if I want to enjoy the ultimate reward (what I consider to be the ultimate reward) in the game (having a house). I feel like its inevitable that I just won't be able to play at one point, or I just won't want too sometime within the next 10 years.

With things looking how they are, SE doesn't look like it has any intention of fixing this problem, or they simply lack the capability to do so. Either way, I will never be able to enjoy the final reward without literally committing to the game forever.

And I really don't want to make that commitment, but I also don't want to not have the game's largest and most valuable reward for all of the time and effort I've put into it. If a game company cannot or does not feel that is a priority, perhaps this isn't a game company who shares values or a vision that lines up with my own, and is thus not worth my time, money, or emotional investment any further.

It really sucks because I like this game, but I don't want to have to literally commit forever just to keep something in the game that I consider the most valuable item. The fact that it is a limited asset is irrelevant. It's only that way because of their architecture, and nothing more. There's ways they could find to fix this, there's plans they could have made, there's steps that could be taken. Even if they had a plan to fix it in the future, they could/should have said something about that being on the drawing board.

But as it looks now, I'm destined to lose my most prized possession in the game eventually. So what's the point of going on? I'm trying to justify it, especially after I've poured so much energy into this game already, but I just can't seem to justify continuing if I'm basically doomed from the get-go.

Its a hard emotion to explain. Hopelessness is perhaps the right word. Does anyone else feel this way?

And no, I do not own a house. However I am not delusional enough to think that having a reclamation timer is going to fix that. It isn't. This is just going to insure that when I get one, I am eventually going to lose it.

[AskaRay]

Once I was part of a very fun avatar site community, and I spent $5 a month AT LEAST to get items. I didn't have to, but I did because I like the site.
Then suddenly some bad practices happened, and I said to myself "if they do this they aren't gonna get any money"
And then BOOM that site was gone within about six months or so. I was so upset, I had invested so much time and money into that site.... but the point is I don't feel like I wasted any time or money.

The moral of the story is you're only making a bad investment if that's what you THINK you're doing.
Honestly the only long term goal in FFXIV I have right now is "Wait for Void Ark". I am SO EXCITED for Void Ark okay. Beyond that, nope. So if housing was your only goal and you are literally getting nothing out of this game anymore, it's probably time to leave or take a break.

/pet

[Elim]

Join a FC with a house.

Make a FC, invite close friends and make them co-leaders. Buy a house and share it. That way, if at least one of your friends are active at a time, you wont lose your house. Have no in-game friends? Make some. Sometimes having in-game friends makes the game even better. I log on just to chat with friends sometimes.

[Whocareswhatmynameis]

If your going to quit the game do you really care if your house is destroyed? If you know that your the type of player that is going to take frequent long breaks and don't want to keep ur subscription going in order to preserve your house. I would recommend joining a free company and sharing thier house instead of buying your own. This really isn't as serious as people are making it out to be. If your willing to quit the game over a virtual dollhouse, well that's your choice i suppose.

[Blissa]

I am not happy about being a sub slave to keep my house. If they would have said something like this at the start of housing I would have never bought the house to begin with. But now I am fully invested and if anything happens out of my control I lose my house and that's a load of bull. SE makes millions off this game every month, they can afford to make new housing.

[MilesSaintboroguh]

I am not happy about being a sub slave to keep my house. If they would have said something like this at the start of housing I would have never bought the house to begin with. But now I am fully invested and if anything happens out of my control I lose my house and that's a load of bull. SE makes millions off this game every month, they can afford to make new housing.

Millions you say? And every month? Maybe in a year's time or even half a year, but in a SINGLE MONTH?

[AskaRay]

This is just my opinion but...
I DO have a house, just by the way

but if it gets to the point when I log out for the last time for more than two months, then I'm probably going to stay logged out for at least half a year to a year, and at that point I'd really rather someone else be using my plot of land. Sure I love my in-game house and the probably millions of gil that's gone towards making it great but really after coming back for that long of a break the LEAST OF MY WORRIES is my house. It's more like "damn I missed all those events :T" or "ugh I'm a million ilvls behind everyone I know"...

[kamikrazy]

Once I was part of a very fun avatar site community, and I spent $5 a month AT LEAST to get items. I didn't have to, but I did because I like the site.
Then suddenly some bad practices happened, and I said to myself "if they do this they aren't gonna get any money"
And then BOOM that site was gone within about six months or so. I was so upset, I had invested so much time and money into that site.... but the point is I don't feel like I wasted any time or money.

The moral of the story is you're only making a bad investment if that's what you THINK you're doing.
Honestly the only long term goal in FFXIV I have right now is "Wait for Void Ark". I am SO EXCITED for Void Ark okay. Beyond that, nope. So if housing was your only goal and you are literally getting nothing out of this game anymore, it's probably time to leave or take a break.

/pet

I appreciate what you're trying to say, but what I'm saying is that for me at least (but likely for a lot of people) housing is held up as the most esteemed reward that one can achieve within this game. It's the most expensive part of the game by far, it allows you to express yourself moreso than anything else, but it also has longevity. It never becomes outdated content. Your house doesn't become "useless" the way that gear does when an expansion or an update hits. It is "permanent content." Its a permanent form of content in the same way that say glamour was permanent content. Or a haircut. Or a title. Or just achievements themselves. You didn't have to replace it, it was a permanent achievement. Once you had that, you had the most prestigious reward in the game.


However that "permanent content" now no longer exists. The only way for me to achieve the highest level of prestige, is to play the game forever and never, ever leave. Ever. Its asking me to make a commitment that severely limits what I can do in real life in order to justify what I have done here in this game. Its like forcing me to choose between this game and real life...choose right now. Because housing is the greatest reward that overshadows all other rewards in the game. Any other reward is nowhere near as prestigious.

So achieving all of those other smaller rewards, yet being told from the get-go that you can never enjoy housing makes all the rest of the game feel empty and pointless. Why go on if I will never get the greatest reward? Why continue if I know at the start that I'm never going to enjoy the largest reward?

That'd be like grinding a reputation bar that was bugged and that could never be maxxed out, and knowing that it would never be fixed. The whole act became pointless, and you can't justify even starting such a task if you know you will never finish it.

It puts this huge shadow of dissapointment over the rest of the game. All of the grinding and gil ultimately adds up until you get a house. But once you get that, you are here forever, or all of that grinding and gil was meaningless. What's the point of even starting then? Why not just quit and minimize my losses?

[Kurogaea]

Millions you say? And every month? Maybe in a year's time or even half a year, but in a SINGLE MONTH?

Well how much do you think?

[Blissa]

Millions you say? And every month? Maybe in a year's time or even half a year, but in a SINGLE MONTH?

$15+ a month times at least a million active players = $15,000,000 per month. And I know it costs no were near that. And lets not forget all of the vanity items people buy plus retainers. I have 8 retainers myself and I pay a $25 a month sub to play the game and I know there are a ton of people out there with all 8 retainers. Add it up!