Please fix - really poor game design

[worldofneil]

As a current home owner, I really wish they would just say, 'Sorry for the ongoing trouble. We know we messed up really badly with the housing system and we're unfortunately going to scrap everything and redesign it from the ground up. It will all be instanced so that everyone can have a house if they want one and we'll do our best to refund all gil that people have spent on the current system and to give people a chance to reclaim their furnishings.'

And also as a current home owner I hope they DON'T do that. Sure they can refund gil, but they can't refund time. Limited as the current system is, for those of us with housing removing it now is just a giant kick in the teeth. We've spent time making/acquiring/decorating the houses, including the special exteriors from the FC crafting. Even if we got most of the items back, without their respective house their reason for being there might be pointless.

Also instances might give everyone a house, but they then lose the neighbourhood feel there is now and I can't think I'm alone in thinking how nice it is to meet up with regular friends outside at the marketboards in front of our group of houses? Also if houses are instanced... isn't that then a series of rooms rather than a house? If you can't see the actual exterior of the house, is it still even a house? (and if you can see the exterior what on earth is that in, it's own little instance with nothing else around it? Kind of lonely....?)

I know people want more houses and I feel bad for those that want/haven't yet been able to get, but taking away the existing houses isn't the answer (other than demolition for inactivity etc which I have no problem with).

More wards are being added in 3.3 and hopefully they do actually mean a LOT more.