Yes or No, and Explain, Please.

[NomadicDragon]

Is house buying/selling in a the context of normal gameplay a punishable offense? Not in the context of land barons(whom I know are a major contributor to this whole problem), but for those of us that MIGHT buy/sell one or two houses in our entire FF14 career. I was hit for a violate of the User Agreement, but the listed 3.2 and 2.6 do not fit, I was not disrupting the client, data, connection, SE software, or SE hardware, not was I using FF14 to commit fraud, defamation, or gambling. I know 3.6 refers to using the game to commit these crimes since casinos are gambling but since they are ingame only they are not a violation. Who do I talk to in order to get this mark against my otherwise good record removed? Who in authority over this matter going to answer these questions once and for all for myself but most importantly the entire fanbase?

[LordLucavi]

It has been mentioned before that selling houses is a violation of the terms and conditions. I'm not sure where in the t/c it says so though, but there was a recent forum post about it. I think it's due to the whole buy a place, then sell it for gil, then the person has to pay more gil to buy the plot, then more for the housing permit, thus encouraging RMT activity. I think it'll ease up if they fix the housing issue.

[Canadane]

You can get 80% of your plot investment back if it's demolished. This is what SE has deemed acceptable.
They aren't products to be used to flip a profit.

[Judah_Brandt]

It's because you aren't selling anything. You're performing an unprotected transaction. There is no guarantee that a third party couldn't run up and just buy the house right after you've taken the Gil. There are also people abusing the system, unfortunately regardless of how poor a system we perceive it to be, you're still committing the same violation as those who abuse it. One time or fifty, it makes no difference. Waiting the 45 days for the plot to demolish and return your Gil and furniture is the only protected way of return. Nothing is transferred between you and the person you're taking Gil from, thus you are not selling anything. It's ultimately a bribe to demolish your house and vacate, while the other player must actually go purchase the plot from the game directly, and then pay to have the house constructed on said plot.

[NomadicDragon]

LordLucavi, I've heard, but there is nothing in the UA that can be applied to house selling. I'm ok with them adding a clear one, for OR against housing sales. EU GMs seem to think house selling even in PF is OK, but NA GMs are adamant against it.

Canadane, it might come to that. :\ I bought the house from a player...they probably flipped the lot, but since I didn't have the time to camp on Christmas I'm fine with trading my gathering/crafting gil. Market systems rock.

Judah_Brandt, that's true of everything, sadly. My 99 stack of Blue Ooids isn't mine, nor is the gil I get when I sell them on the market board. Nowhere is housing sales disallowed, and it's true no guarantees are made. Let the players have that risk, or support the market by implementing systems, or explicitly ban it!

Please, Devs, be explicit on this, I'm down with whatever you decide! I'll keep the mark on my account against me if it'll mean the policy is clear and correctly followed by all GMs!

[MistakeNot]

It's because you aren't selling anything. You're performing an unprotected transaction. There is no guarantee that a third party couldn't run up and just buy the house right after you've taken the Gil.

So? There is no rule against doing that kind of transaction.

Reading through the official rules there is nothing, absolutely NOTHING in them that would indicate to any reasonable person that selling a house for Gil would violate any of the rules.

[Judah_Brandt]

All right. So I say I'm selling you a house. You give me 40 million Gil. I walk away. You're now out 40 million Gil. Is that wrong? Because there's nothing in the official rules saying I can't do that. Hiding behind "It didn't EXACTLY say I can't do something" is a poor argument. You won't agree, however, so there really isn't a point to carrying this conversation further.

[StouterTaru]

All right. So I say I'm selling you a house. You give me 40 million Gil. I walk away. You're now out 40 million Gil. Is that wrong? Because there's nothing in the official rules saying I can't do that. Hiding behind "It didn't EXACTLY say I can't do something" is a poor argument. You won't agree, however, so there really isn't a point to carrying this conversation further.

http://support.na.square-enix.com/fa...=68216&id=5382

Scam
In-game scams are defined as any inappropriate actions meant to defraud a fellow player with the intent to take in-game items or other possessions from them.

Selling relinquishment of your plot isn't a scam, taking payment for something you don't do is a scam.

[Judah_Brandt]

Yeah, you aren't selling a Plot. You're taking a bribe to demolish your house. They have to purchase the plot from the game. You've just taken an in game item from a player for nothing. There is no exchanging of goods. Gouging another player for millions of Gil, then they still have to purchase the plot. So there you go. You aren't selling value. You're inflating an action to have perceived value. So you'd report a player for taking your Gil, because you were trying to buy something that explicitly can't be sold. Thanks for the citation. Therefor, there can't be a scam, just a player who gave someone a bunch of Gil to try and circumvent a poorly implemented housing system. Quit defending it.

[Judah_Brandt]

It isn't though, because you're listing the item on the market board for direct purchase, as in they receive the items in exchange for the Gil. The transaction can not be tampered with. If there was some form of Market Board for housing, then that would be fine, but there isn't and the workaround is heavily exploited.