After spending the day trying to calm myself and gather my thoughts, here are the things I would like to say about the fiasco that was the Shirogane Housing Release. I know that the odds of someone from SE or the Dev Team actually reading this are slim, but I would just like to get them off my chest, and maybe hope for the off-chance that one of the moderators or developers will see this, and pass it along to someone who can actually take it to heart, and do something about it.
This post is not meant to offend, nor to be a venting post or a whining post. It is merely my thoughts and my opinions on the matter, and solutions that I think would help prevent this sort of thing from occurring again, and crushing the efforts of many like Shirogane did.
I am sorry for this post being so long-winded; I didn’t realize it would end up that way, but I just had a lot to say.
On October 10, 2017, thousands upon thousands of players stayed up, waiting eagerly for the servers to go live at 3am PST, and hoping beyond hope to have a shot at probably the most eagerly awaited vanity content of Stormblood: Shirogane Housing. Advertised as a main attraction of the second expansion of FFXIV, the hype surrounding housing started about 6 months prior to release. Players everywhere worked hard—alone, and with their friends and Free Companies—to earn and save Gil so that they would have the funds available when the time finally came for the plots to go live. Players made lists of desired plots, and lists of back-up plots, and even lists of back-up back-up plots. Players made macros to set themselves to /busy immediately to block trade-spam, and mapped out the fastest way to get to the plot they most desired, and any back-up plots in the event their favorite was taken. FCs distributed funds amongst several members to hopefully increase their odds of getting a house. The planning and dedication of everyone was astounding.
However, a lot of these dedicated players lost out. A lot of then were unable to even come close to obtaining a house. And the worst part is:
They weren’t beat by failing to Sprint fast enough.
They weren’t beat by trade-spam.
They weren’t beat by poor planning.
They weren’t beat by lack of funds.
They weren’t even beat by slow load times, or “Unable to Process Action” errors.
They were beat by the servers.
A lot of people were beat instead by 5606 and 2002 Lobby Server errors upon trying to connect to their Data Center. A lot of people were beat by a completely unresponsive “PLAY” button on the FFXIV Launcher, or just an unresponsive launcher in general. Some people were even having troubles with the patch download—consistent drops in download speeds and “Unable to download patch file” errors, which started the minute the patch was available for download (around 12am PST), and did not seem to resolve much over time. And, finally, after getting past the Lobby Server errors, they were beat by a massive queue, upwards of 1,000+ players. At that point, they knew it was over.
On some servers, housing was sold out in less than half an hour. On my server (Cactuar), all Shirogane housing was gone in less than 15 minutes after patch launch—after only half that, only small plots remained. All other houses in The Lavender Beds, The Mist, and The Goblet were gone 5 minutes later. 20 minutes. That’s how long it took for all the plots to disappear. 20 minutes.. Speaking from my experience, it took me 15 minutes to get into the game. I was hit with a 5606 error at 3:01am PST, followed by an unresponsive launcher for 2 solid minutes. Then, I got a 2002 Lobby Server error. When I finally selected my main character at approximately 3:06am PST, I had a queue of nearly 1,700 players (1,698, to be exact). I knew it was over then. I knew I wasn’t going to get a Shirogane plot.
A friend of mine on the same server was also hit instantly with the 5606 error. Another friend avoided the lobby server errors, but was in a 900 player queue at 3:02am PST. Neither managed to get a house.
The forums and reddit have been full of similar complaints—so my friends and I were not alone here. In the end, getting a plot hinged solely on whether or not you were lucky enough to avoid 5606 or 2002 errors, and if you were lucky enough to be one of the first 500 or so people to gain access to the server first.
I see some people suggesting: “Move to a different server”; “Move to a lower population server”; “Get better internet” or “Get a better system”.
None of these would solve the problems people were encountering today with faulty launchers and 2002 errors. Those are all server-side, and not at all a problem of a person’s PC, PS4, or internet. As for the “move to a lower population server”, that would also not solve anything due just to the sheer shortage of houses. Even on preferred worlds, all the Shirogane houses were gone, on average, in 30 minutes, if not less. Very few had houses that remained after the 1 hour mark. Moving servers won’t solve this issue. Getting a better system or better internet won’t solve this issue.
Let’s Talk Some Numbers:
Shirogane added in 12 new wards per world: 60 houses per ward between main division and subdivision. That is 720 new houses per server. There are 66 servers, between 3 JP data centers, 2 NA data centers, and 1 EU data center. So, in total, only 47,520 new plots were added in Patch 4.1. If recent censes are accurate, the estimated playerbase for FFXIV is close to 900,000 active characters. Ideally, that would mean, only 47,520 players would own a Shirogane plot—based off of one house per server, not counting doubles (i.e., owning an FC plot and a personal plot on one character). Out of an estimated 900,000 players, that is 5% of the active playerbase. According to Lucky’s census, the amount of players eligible to buy a house is around 650,000 (since one has to be level 50 to purchase a plot).
In terms of housing altogether, between the 4 housing wards, there is a total of 2,880 plots per server. With 66 servers, that is a grand total of 190,080 plots. Consider the approximately 900,000 active characters number again: that would mean only 21% would ever own a plot. Taking into consideration the amount of players that are currently eligible for plots (approximately 650,000), that is still only 29.24%. Realistically, the percentage is even lower. Because people have alts; people own more than one house on a single character; and some players even own multiple plots or almost an entire ward amongst themselves thanks to making alts and shell FCs.
In terms of Shirogane plots, how many were bought by alts? How many were purchased by people that already own another plot? How many were bought just for the sake of reselling at obscenely inflated prices? There really is no telling; and honestly, you cannot even fault individuals like the ones I hear about owning 16 plots or 28 plots or however many plots. Because the housing system allows such a blatant exploitation, and it seems that the developers won’t do a single thing about it.
A sad fact of the matter is, is that even though housing is a completely optional piece of content, there are still things that are locked behind it that the Average Player cannot access: mainly cross-breeding plants in gardens, and company workshops. Even though housing is completely optional, there are many players that enjoy having houses to decorate. There are many FCs that would like a plot of land for their members, and a company workshop to provide airships and Free Company crafting activities (such as making certain housing exteriors). Optional or not, I feel like it has been proven time and time again that a lot of players in this game enjoy vanity content.
I’ve seen people say: “Your subscription entitles you to be able to log into the game, and that’s it.” And while a subscription gives one login privileges, it also gives one the ability to access all features provided in game, and that includes housing. Sure, theoretically speaking, everyone should have a chance at housing, or everyone does have a chance at housing. But the reality is, is they do not.
People with custom built rigs with the latest and greatest graphics card and the game running on an SSD are going to load in faster than someone who plays on an “average” computer, or someone who plays on a console under far more normal circumstances (barring poor server infrastructure here). People who are able to afford internet with lightning speeds are going to have far more stable connections than someone who is working with “average” internet, or college campus internet. People who live closer to the servers, who pay extra for VPNs, or who have ISPs that do not have convoluted routing are going to have lower pings that individuals who live farther away, or who live overseas from their data center. Theoretically speaking, all of these things are things that can be changed: one can get a better computer, get better internet, pay more for VPNs. But, realistically, not everyone can do that. Some people have to work with what they have, and that’s just life.
It shouldn’t be that one needs to have the best connection and the best rig and the best of luck (because, really, that is ultimately what it boiled down to with Shirogane release) to access a piece of content that they all pay for. Speaking personally, I do not understand why people want housing to remain so “exclusive”. I think everyone should be able to own a house. I’m not saying I think everyone should have a chance at being able to own a house; I’m saying that I think everyone should have one. Or at least make it so that more than half the active playerbase can own one. Right now, that is not the case at all.
Let’s Talk Some Solutions:
I feel like there are a few solutions that could be implemented to fix the housing, but two really stand out to me. I know that they’ve been suggested repeatedly, but I just want to mention them again. I’ll start with the one I feel I agree most with, and the one I personally like the most.
INSTANCED HOUSING
I personally think that Instanced Housing would be the best solution to the FFXIV hosing problem. It was done in FFXI, and I think that it could be done in FFXIV.
The way I imagine it working is that the instanced houses could be any size: small, medium or large, and players can purchase the size of their choice whenever they want upon reaching level 50, just like they can do right now. The developers could even think about lowering the level requirement, since, if housing is instanced, there would be far more of it to go around for the entire playerbase, not just a small percentage.
I see a lot of people talking about how they like the communities and “neighborhood” feel, and I think we can still make a sort of compromise here with the neighborhoods. A way I can see this working would be to have a singular ward in each housing area, and each plot is filled with a house just like it is now. A player can walk up to a placard, whichever plot that they want, and select the option to purchase a house there. The interiors of the houses can be customized just like they can be now, possibly with an even larger item limit, if not just abolishing the limit all together, since the instanced house will close the minute it becomes empty. The wards could continue to house Market Boards and Summoning Bells, maybe even areas with Striking Dummies to promote more interaction.
When people would like to visit, they can browse a list of houses similar to the way the apartment browsing system works. Houses can be set to open or locked, as they can be now, if individuals so wish.
Now, I feel like instanced housing would possibly work best for individual/personal housing, but I think it can be extended to Free Companies as well. If not, then an alternative would be to keep the current wards, but make another ward that would house the Instanced Personal Housing, where as the existing wards could be converted to Free Company only housing. Could be a nice compromise for the system, and it would also allow for the FC wards to keep the neighborhood feel that some individuals really value.
Another thing I see people talking about is how they like decorating their yards. I’m sure there would be a way for the yards to be instanced as well, allowing people to still decorate their yard, and access gardening features. Item limits can also be increased and/or abolished because the area is instanced as opposed to always running, so there would be no strain on the servers.
I know a lot of people say that the Apartments are the instanced housing that people were asking for, but I don’t find them to be an adequate solution or equivalent to a house. Not only are they just one room (smaller than a small plot), they also cannot allow for tenants, for gardening and cross-breeding, and they are not at all a substitute for FCs, as they cannot offer FC rooms or company workshop access. Apartments are, more or less, glorified FC rooms, and the FC rooms are still cheaper and much better, because they would be part of a house, which would have all the things apartments are missing.
ADD MORE WARDS
Obviously another good solution, but then this brings SE’s servers and their stability into question. After what we seen on Patch 4.1 release, with issues downloading the patch from the servers, issues connecting to the data center, and after seeing how wonky the servers have been just throughout Stormblood.
While this would definitely require some server upgrades (if claims that the servers cannot handle more wards are to be believed), it really should be considered if SE is insistent on clinging to the Housing Ward System, and not shift the housing to instanced housing.
How many wards should be added? Even doubling the wards alone would put the total wards to 24 per housing ward would give 1,440 houses per housing area, for a total of 5,760 houses per server. That would be 380,160 houses total. Considering the 650,000 approximate for the eligible active playerbase, that would bring the percentage of players that own a house up to 58.49%, which is slightly better than it is currently. Not ideal, but better. Tripling would put the numbers at this: 2,160 house per housing area, 8,640 houses per server, and 570,240 houses total. The percentage of players that would own a house would be 87.73%.
Other things should be considered as well, however, mainly:
— Separating Personal Housing from Free Company Housing: so that FCs can also have a chance to establish a house for themselves. One way to do this would be an even split, maybe allowing FCs to purchase plots in the main divisions of wards and individuals to purchase plots in the subdivisions, or have wards for Free Companies only and wards for individual plots only.
— Limit housing to one house per account: this would solve the problem of people purchasing plots on alt characters. Limit the houses to one house per account (and perhaps, per server), and make that house accessible by all characters on that account on that server. Honestly, this really should be implemented, and should have been implemented right off the bat when Housing first came out. A lot of people are aware of the individuals on other servers that own 20 or more houses. The only way they can do that is by exploiting the system.
— Potential Free Company restrictions?: something to consider, since there have been instances where people are upset about people owning houses and they are part of a shell FC. SE could try to enforce certain restrictions on the FCs, such as a member requirement. Make it 10 or more members. Something not too extreme, but something that would make things “more difficult” for people in solo FCs to own houses. However, if housing wards were doubled, or even tripled, this would probably not even be something to consider.
Residual Feelings About the Whole Thing:
Really, I’m not even that mad that I didn’t get a house, or get to upgrade my Free Company house. A little disappointed, maybe, but that’s to be expected.
I am mad that I was essentially prevented from even having a chance at getting a house because I was hit by a Lobby Server error; twice. I am mad because the game launcher failed to respond. Things would be completely different if I had lost out on a plot because I just wasn’t fast enough—couldn’t Sprint and hit the Placard fast enough, zone into the Ward fast enough, etc.. But no. Myself and so many other did not even get a chance because the servers could not handle the congestion.
I understand the effects heavy traffic have on servers. I may not be an expert on IT and Networking, but I know a lot of traffic and congestion can cause bottlenecking. However. This is also 2017, and I feel like, with the technology that is available today, there is very little excuse for such poor server performance. The groups of people logging in weren’t even the entire playerbase—I would wager maybe half of it. Why can the servers not handle that? Especially since the North American data centers were, supposedly, recently moved and upgraded.
If the talk about server stability issues is true, then why would the developers continue to cling to this housing system where getting a plot wagers solely on who can log in the fastest? And beyond that: who is lucky enough to not get slammed with lobby server errors? Why not shift to something like instanced housing, which would take a huge load off of the servers because all the wards would not be constantly running and stored in server memory? With instanced housing, housing could be virtually unlimited (developers have stated before that, with regards to the instanced Apartments, more can always be added at a later time if demand exceeds supply—the same logic can be applied to instanced housing; full-blown instanced housing). With virtually unlimited housing, there would be no need for the mad rush at Zero Hour to spam the login button. It is upsetting that the current housing system revolves entirely around luck. It’s not even about dedication or having the right amount of Gil. It’s all luck.
With regards to this system, and the apparent lack of effort to even try to fix it (again, I do not consider Apartments a “fix”), I am extremely disappointed. I am disappointed, and my disappointment is only going to grow if the developers continue to cling to this system of 12 Wards Only. I was really hoping that with Shirogane’s release, maybe the developers would consider adding more wards to it, especially because I’m sure they were completely aware of the widespread interest in owning plots there. Then going back later and adding the same number of wards to the other housing areas. Even if expansion of the wards has to be slow, that would be much better than what is being done now, which is nothing...
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for this post to get this long. I’m going to end it here. I don’t expect people to sit and read through the entire post, but, if you did, then I appreciate the time you spent doing so, and I thank you for just hearing me out. Even if we disagree on things, sometimes it’s better to just get your feelings out there and off your chest. Definitely helps with the sense of relief.
Thank you.
Hyomin Park, Cactuar Server
UPDATE: Response to Yoshi-P’s post regarding the Shirogane Housing Release:
http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post4438928
Originally Posted by
Vahlnir
Going to add my response to this in the OP as well, but:
Originally Posted by
Naoki_Yoshida
Hello, everyone. This is FFXIV Producer and Director, Naoki Yoshida.
Patch 4.1 saw the introduction of the residential area, Shirogane, and though we are pleased to see so many players enjoying this area, we also received a great deal of feedback regarding this newest addition to housing.
While a great number of you were interested in either purchasing or relocating to a plot in Shirogane, we failed to prepare sufficient plots for players, and for that I deeply apologize.
This problem was only made worse by the increased stress on the servers from players rushing to log in after the end of maintenance. As a result, the system implemented to prevent players from abusing the relocation feature failed to function properly, preventing some players from relocating altogether.
Although this issue will be addressed in today’s hotfix, we understand this does not address the underlying issue. In light of the feedback we have received, we will be working to bolster our servers in preparation for additional wards in the Lavender Beds, the Goblet, Mist, and Shirogane by patch 4.2.
We’ve also received considerable feedback as to how they should be added, and we will be making an announcement outlining the number of new wards and how they will be sold after reviewing said feedback. To prevent speculation, we will refrain from releasing information until absolutely necessary. We ask for your patience and understanding until we can provide you with these details.
I hope we can count on your continued support, and that you all will continue to enjoy the various new content added in patch 4.1.
Thank you, Yoshi-P, for hearing our concerns, and giving us a response. I am glad that our voices were heard, even if some where on the more “rage-y” side.
While I am going to not get overly hopeful, I do hope that you and the rest of the Dev Team consider just how many wards need to be added, and look further into the portion of the active playerbase that value and want to purchase housing. I fear that only a couple wards per housing area are going to be added, and that is just not enough to meet with the demand of the playerbase.
Number talk beneath the spoiler tag:
Adding only 4 wards will net 240 new houses—with 4 housing districts, that is only 960 new houses per server, bringing the total up from 2,880 to 3,840. While better, if you took a server with a population of 10,000 characters eligible to purchase a house, that would still only give 38.4% of those characters a house. I strongly feel that the Dev Team should aim for a minimum of 50%, something that can be obtained by doubling the current number of wards from 12 to 24. See the opening post for the numbers on this.
Again, though, those numbers and percentages don’t account for Free Companies.
I also hope that you all consider implementing limitations to prevent individuals from purchasing multiple plots on the same account, so that people that do not already have a home can have a shot at obtaining one. I also hope that you all will consider the idea of adding a ward that provides only instanced personal housing with the “neighborhood-y” feel of a regular ward, but with instanced yards and interiors to, not only lighten the load of having too many continuously active wards in server memory, but to also give even more people a chance at obtaining a house of their own. I firmly believe that housing is something that every player in this game should have access to, and not something that only the most lucky of us should have.
Again, I thank you for taking the time to hear us all out, and to consider just how important housing is to a portion of the playerbase. I am going to remain cautiously optimistic in terms of the housing situation in this game, and, even though I told myself I wasn’t going to be too hopeful, I still want to believe that you and the Dev Team will do all that you can do to make us happy.
Thank you.
Hyomin Park, Cactuar Server
Thank you for hearing us out, Yoshi-P. Again, I am going to remain cautiously optimistic, and see what Patch 4.2 brings us in terms of Housing.
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