Why not instanced plots?

[Claviusnex]

So great the overwhelming majority of players will never have houses because the hamster wheel servers can't handle it. Not to mention, the wards are dead. I have now been on two large servers (Balmung and Cactuar) and I saw my neighhours only a handful times. You may like the wards aesthetic, but I'd much prefer a server that doesn't screw over 90% of players.

Yep the wards are largely dead. So are the FC houses I've visited on my server. I finally saw a second player in my ward after being there a year. I was at the MB, waved to them and didn't get any type of response even though they showed online.

[Keridwyn]

I see my neighbors maybe once every three or four months. My ward is deader than a doornail and has been since everyone finished moving in.

Also, on Coeurl at least, it used to be really rare to see someone without at least some vendor items in the yard. Now you go through Shiro and you see it a lot. It's a bit jarring. The house flippers have arrived and it isn't a welcome change for us. What would be a welcome change is enough housing to make house flipping obsolete.

[Okamimaru]

So what exactly would instanced housing look like? I mean aesthetically how would it look? We still get a yard? Which layout? What do we see beyond our fence? No MB? Can we easily visit other people's houses? Will swimming be gone? Will we still have the 4 housing types? Will housing even be desirable once nobody can casually see it? What about RP cafes?.... most people who want instanced housing haven't put much actual thought into what it would be...

[Naunet]

So what exactly would instanced housing look like? I mean aesthetically how would it look?

Identical to how it does now, likely.

We still get a yard?

Yes.

Which layout?

You could easily allow people to choose which layout to purchase - small, medium, or large.

What do we see beyond our fence?

Think Rift dimensions. Visually, things continue, but there is a boundary that you cannot pass.

No MB?

They could maintain a shared space lobby for MB.

Can we easily visit other people's houses?

Simple. Just like WildStar. Type /visit [character name]. There can also be a list of people's houses to browse - even better if it includes a line for description, to benefit RPers.

Will swimming be gone?

Don't see why it would be. The physical space of the instanced home could include the swimmable pool area.

Will we still have the 4 housing types?

I don't see why not.

Will housing even be desirable once nobody can casually see it?

Yes. This does not hinder people in other MMOs with instanced housing. If anything, it improves the situation, as more people have access to it and thus more people are able to create with it. Instanced housing also allows for greater item limits and more advanced placement tools. (E.g. in WildStar, item limit is 2500 exterior, 2500 interior, and placement is on XYZ axis, fully rotational, and resizeable.)

What about RP cafes?

Would function the same as they do now. Except there would probably be more of them.

.... most people who want instanced housing haven't put much actual thought into what it would be...

No, I think that's just you.

[HyoMinPark]

So what exactly would instanced housing look like? I mean aesthetically how would it look? We still get a yard? Which layout? What do we see beyond our fence? No MB? Can we easily visit other people's houses? Will swimming be gone? Will we still have the 4 housing types? Will housing even be desirable once nobody can casually see it? What about RP cafes?.... most people who want instanced housing haven't put much actual thought into what it would be...

The idea I had for instanced housing would look something like this:

This is going off of the 12 current Wards we have: make them FC only, and create a 13th Ward that is identical in appearance to the other wards—the plots are decorated with houses, yards decorated with reasonable and tasteful decorations to give it the neighborhood feeling that people who enjoy the wards want. Included still will be the Market Boards and the Summoning Bells you see in the first 12 Wards. Maybe even some “gathering” areas featuring striking dummies or the like to try and promote interaction between individuals, if people would like to see such things.

When you approach a placard, you are given a list similar to the ones you see for browsing apartments or FC rooms. Upon zoning into the plot you choose, you will be greeted with an instanced exterior (yard) that can be decorated in any way a person desires with potentially increased limits, since the yard is instanced, and is only loaded into server memory so long as someone occupies it. You can then enter the house, which would look like and function exactly like the houses do currently, except, again, it’s part of the instanced plot.

The design I had in mind really isn’t any different from the way the houses and wards currently look now, just that the 13th ward is for instanced personal housing, and instanced FC housing once the first 12 Wards fill up with non-instanced FC houses.

[Mikki]

I really like that idea, Hyomin. It would be a great alternative for people who want the community feeling but don't really care about the exclusivity factor. Doubtless, this would also make the ward much more lively since there would be a ton of people sharing it due to the fact that more than one person can live at each plot. The only downside would be the fact that your yard decorations aren't readily shown off, but other than that it's a great solution. Though surely some plots would have way more people in it than others but I suppose that doesn't matter.

In addition, I still think they should work on apartments though. For all intents and purposes, it IS instanced housing. It's just that the limitations placed on them are ridiculous and need to be adjusted. If they did just one or two instanced wards like you suggested and improved upon apartments then I think that the housing issues would basically disappear.

As an aside though, I can't believe people are harassing those who own multiple houses who have owned them on low pop servers since before the great "migrations" happened. I only own one house (if you don't include house sharing with friends!), but I can't fault those people for having more houses. If they made the sacrifice to move to a low population server back when doing so meant your choices were severely limited (thanks to less cross-server things being offered) and of course it meant that likely they had to leave behind friends who wouldn't have moved to a low pop server at the time, then I say they deserve those houses. Clearly for them housing was their priority and if it had been yours, you could have done the same. Housing sat vacant on those servers for years. While I do think, clearly, housing needs some help... I can't fault those people who made the choice to move for the sake of housing. To make a hilarious, yet perhaps crude analogy, I can't be mad if I've seen Manqote and his brother were single for years yet I chose not to date them. Then suddenly I see these other girls flock to them and they're taken but now I'm having second thoughts. Damn! They were cute! Nope, I have no right to be angry. Okay, okay. That was dumb but you get my point.

[Claviusnex]

So what exactly would instanced housing look like? I mean aesthetically how would it look? We still get a yard? Which layout? What do we see beyond our fence? No MB? Can we easily visit other people's houses? Will swimming be gone? Will we still have the 4 housing types? Will housing even be desirable once nobody can casually see it? What about RP cafes?.... most people who want instanced housing haven't put much actual thought into what it would be...

My thoughts is there would be a central common entrance area that has all of the vendors, MB, swimming and other stuff spread around the wards today. As far as plots I like the idea of a common size where you can build whatever size house you can afford and to allow up or down sizing. Along with that the dwelling size would have an effect on what amenities you could have. A small house might have more garden space and a small workshop where as a large would have a smaller garden but bigger workshop. The medium would be in between. Being instanced would allow for all houses to have more outdoor items and the ability to select/purchase/craft your view. I picture the visitation more like Wildstar (preferred) or Rift and would like to see a housing chat channel.

[mikanana]

I don't like the idea of instanced housing, because imo I like a place where you could move freely around the houses of other players, not to mention other places you could go to (beach, pool etc.)

[Siniztor]

This is going off of the 12 current Wards we have: make them FC only, and create a 13th Ward that is identical in appearance to the other wards.

wait you wanna take away every personal house that people have now....and lock them in a instance ....for FCs that come and go ...you think my little posts get alot of hate..wait till you take away the people who just got there shiro houses in wards or legacy players who own plots from the day they were released lol. i can pretty much tell you if they touch the 12 wards as they are now the backlash is gonna be a tidal wave

[Enla]

I don't like the idea of instanced housing, because imo I like a place where you could move freely around the houses of other players, not to mention other places you could go to (beach, pool etc.)

You don't need to get rid of that though. Hell you can still have multiple wards but make each house hold 20 or so 'instances' that you load into once you enter their yards. You legit don't need to get rid of the wards and I'd actively discourage doing so because actually having a tiered set up might make them viable again.