Let Private buyers atleast attempt to roll on FC only plots

[Saraide]

I understand why private house wards lock out buying plots for FCs: an FC can buy more than one ticket afterall. I would however like to request that private buyers can still attempt to buy a plot in an FC only ward.

I know it's going to be at a massive disadvantage but seeing how in OCE many of the FC wards are either empty or bought up by one person with an army of alts doesnt sit right with me.

Personally for me the reason is that the ward my FC has our house in and always had our house is now suddenly an FC only ward. We have a small neighborhood of FC members who have their private houses around our FC house and I was always hoping to join that neighborhood. It being ward number 2 has made that impossible even though a plot right next to our neighborhood freed up because the FC there relocated to ishgard.

Please let me atleast buy a lottery ticket for that plot for a private house. Not even being able to attempt to buy it feels pretty bad.

[Greyhawk]

They have the abilities to change this with each housing lottery cycle. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised that they changed it once the debacle is fixed in housing and if there are any unfilled plots in FC wards that they open it up for all housing.

Everyone gets in an uproar about the ward issue between FC and private purchases, but they explicitly stated that lottery cycles can be changed, and they determine the needs as they go. So, they can open them to first come, first serve or lottery and they can change based on needs. If I remember correctly, opening wards to FC only isn't unique and has been done before in the past, then they open the wards for all later on. The only difference here is the lottery and new housing zone. People want in, they are mad and toxic they can't buy one while FC wards sit empty. Well, that also has something to do with the bug in housing. Even small wards on my server have the bug and FCs did enter lotteries for them - and can't get them until it's fixed. Sure, FCs want medium and large housing. Not every FC can afford them, but the naysayers will use that as their justification for opening wards up even though FCs actually do purchase small houses.

Will they stay just FC wards? No, they won't, but FCs will get the first shot at them, as there are FCs who still don't have a house, want to upgrade or relocate and relocation is a good thing really. Ishgard isn't everyone's cup of tea and opens up more green pastures for the ones that don't like that aesthetic.

[katthekat]

They said it'd be changed by patch. I understand why they limited so many wards to FC-only, and maybe this actually worked on the massive servers, but for servers that are anything less than enormous this is way too much housing for FCs. People are already making FCs and waiting out the month-long waiting period so they can use that FC solely for a house because it'll be easier than ever getting a private one at this rate.
I am really hoping that they evaluate this soon. Lots of numbers are already moving. However, at this point in time, with how this is being handled, I don't expect it to change anytime soon.

[Voidedge_Ragna]

Its a trickle down situation, of course most FC wards are empty except for L and M atm. Because who would go for a Small if they knew they would be available 100% next week while all L and M are gone on the first.

Its just a priority system, we will need at least 3-4 lotteries to see the real requirements.

First all L go, then all M go, then the S in a nice location go and then the rest will go. Depending on demand we will see if it trickles all the way to the bottom or stops in the middle.

If there are leftovers they will let privates fill this eventually

Give them more time, there has only been a single lottery yet.

[Saraide]

Its a trickle down situation, of course most FC wards are empty except for L and M atm. Because who would go for a Small if they knew they would be available 100% next week while all L and M are gone on the first.

Its just a priority system, we will need at least 3-4 lotteries to see the real requirements.

First all L go, then all M go, then the S in a nice location go and then the rest will go. Depending on demand we will see if it trickles all the way to the bottom or stops in the middle.

If there are leftovers they will let privates fill this eventually

Give them more time, there has only been a single lottery yet.

That's a good point for ishgard specifically but the change to fc only wards for the first 18 wards was also applied to other housing districts. Firmament needs some sort of protection of course, goblet doesnt anymore.

[GeminiReed]

That's a good point for ishgard specifically but the change to fc only wards for the first 18 wards was also applied to other housing districts. Firmament needs some sort of protection of course, goblet doesnt anymore.

At this point in my life I'm just done with snow and the FC I'm in with my RL friends are looking at a number of plots in the Mist. Both Shirogane and Ishgard housing are gated by the MSQ. Sure you can teleport to it but that's not cheap especially for new folks.

There are plenty of reasons why FC's might still be interested in areas other than Ishgard. Expect them to be FC-only for the time being.

[Illmaeran]

re are plenty of reasons why FC's might still be interested in areas other than Ishgard. Expect them to be FC-only for the time being.

I made a fresh new character in November and was able to easily afford teleportation to and from our FC house in Shirogane. I didn't give her any money, so the only funds she had available were what she earned going through the game. As long as they're not going back and forth five or six times a day, the reduced rate to port to FC houses makes it a lot easier to swallow.

[GeminiReed]

I made a fresh new character in November and was able to easily afford teleportation to and from our FC house in Shirogane.

You're comparing your seven years of FF:XIV experience against people not only new to this game but also new to MMO's. Even people who should know better struggle with funds. Bully for you if it's not a problem for you. But all that means is that it's not a problem for you.

[GeminiReed]

My expectation is that they'll leave them FC-only for a number of lottery rounds to ensure that as many FC's that want a house gets one.

I believe that they are aware that there are desirable locations and that not every FC can afford to place multiple bids. A loss or two might be enough to convince them that a S is "good enough". Once the volume of bids drops below a certain threshold or enough time has passed I'm reasonably confident the FC-only restriction will be lifted.

They really do need to figure out how to deal with the people who took over entire wards. That might be the real reason for the delay.

[dspguy]

My expectation is that they'll leave them FC-only for a number of lottery rounds to ensure that as many FC's that want a house gets one.

While I do think that IS the intention, I think it will backfire.

The official rules for the housing system were released around March 30th. That includes the "members must be in the FC for 30 days" in order to place a bid.

The first round of the lottery likely helped countless FCs find their first house (assuming the 0 winner bug is addressed and those houses awarded). If the lottery system wasn't halted, we would be in lottery session #2 right now where it would be ending April 25th. However, the 3rd lottery session would see a different sort of FC start buying up plots... the FCs that quickly formed on March 30th after the announcement. Any FC formed after March 30th is not eligible for an FC plot until April 30th. At this point, that is going to be the second lottery session.

On my server, most of the FC Empyreum plots are still vacant. In part, this is due to the 0 winner bug. However, after that is resolved, there will still be plenty of plots available. And those will be snatched up by many less-legit FCs formed after March 30th.

If SE doesn't change the designation of FC wards by April 30th (which I doubt they will), we will wind up seeing many of the remaining plots on the server snatched up under little competition by fake FCs.