How did we get here?

[Raven2014]

This is a long post of a player who has been around since 2.0, recalling what happened in order to understand why things turned out the way it is today. I’ll provide a tl;dr version right now:
The current situation of housing is a result of a series of short-sighted decision that make housing losing its original vision. I will go into the detail below, but I believe the current situation is the result of two greatest mistake regarding housing:
- Make personal housing available.
- The neft to house pricing.

Now here is the long version for those (bored enough to be) interested.

The original vision: housing is a luxurious and privileged achievement that only the most invested groups of player can achieve.

As someone who plays on Gilgamesh, I remember it cost 100mil for a mansion, 50mil for a medium and something like 25mil for a small. Only the most hard working FC would be able to afford housing. Yes, there were complain about how it was so far of reach of the player’s base, but that was ok and was accepted as a fact.

- The first mistake: Private Housing.

The main complain however, was because there were so few people can afford housing; the wards were “empty”. Months go buy and you can still find Mansion and medium lying around in most area. SE started paying attention to a small circle of players who expressed that they can get those lots if they’re allowed to own one. And so the first mistake happens: housing was made available to private, in the hope that the lots would get filled.

Even then, it wasn’t easy. After all the whole reason why the wards were empty was because it was too great of an endeavor for even most FC, so aside from a few mega rich, it was still quite out of reach for a single player. Still, some of us bite. I remember how I bought my first private house – a medium in Lavender Bed. Slaved myself out every weekend Spirit bonding un UF, and have 3 level 50 running Excalt’s daily for the sealant to sell. Note this was toward the end of the 2.0 cycle, and I was on Gilgamesh, the most populated server at the time. Yet, after amassing enough gil (at this point most medium had depreciated down to around 25mil), I had the luxury to “shop” around all the wards for a lot of my choosing. Took a week to do it, and finally settle down to my choice since it’s close to my FC’s house at the time. People in my FC back then thought I was crazy, they congrate me but also told me they will never do that.

It was funny if you think about it, when the subdivision was release, the rush wasn’t to get a medium or large, the real battles were to snatch a small house, because it was all most can afford. A cottage was the hope and dream of many, because a medium or large were simply fantasy.

So I guess because affordability was still an issue, so somewhere in the 3.0 cycle there were another


The second mistake: the neft to the price on housing on all servers.

Now I will spare you another sensational or dramatic retell, and just go straight to the economy factor. They just take the most desirable piece of contents and not only make it accessible to individual; they also drastically reduce the cost. Imagine one day you wake up and find that a Ferrari is now as cheap as a Toyota, do you still want a Toyota? Basically, increase accessibility and affordability ... without a meaningful way to increase supply.

Which I think is the current situation we found ourselves in today. I believe toward the end of the 3.0 cycle SE started realizing that they just did a double-whampy mistake on their original vision of housing. And started to “nudge” the private owners out. It’s something I noticed as a private owner, after the initial “adrenalin” hype of decorating your house die down, there is basically zero functionality adding to Private housing, I felt left out and abandoned through most of 3.0, when FC’s housing keep getting new toys. That is why toward the end of 3.0, I gave up my private house and started building an FC, with the intention of having an FC house.

IMO, if SE didn’t jumped the gun back in 2.0 and made the decision to open the ward to private in order to fill up the lots, and later accelerate it by reducing the price we wouldn’t be in this situation. They should have let time run its course and over time, all of the lots will have some FC moved in. I dare say they wouldn’t even have to add as much ward as they are now to accommodate all the FC on even the largest server. Apartment only received a lukewarm welcome because people are already exposed to housing; it’s like showing people a turkey then tells them they can only have bread. But had Private housing was never a thing, I believe most will have cherish Apartment as the best thing since slice bread.

In fairness, I don't think it was due to bad intention, or lazyness on SE part like how the narratives around here tend to push, and I think most people are only aware of what is now and not knowing the history behind. I think the intention from the developers were well meaning because if they are even half as evil as the people here believe, I doubt they would do something like "increase accessibility and affordibility". But then, there are reasons why the saying such as "the road to hell often paved with good intentions" exists.


So why I made this post? Probably no particular reason, you can say I’m bored during maintenance. But I think part of me has wanted to offer something of a neutral view on the current situation, after seeing so many extreme narratives being pushed back and forth on this forum. And lastly, an advice from someone who used to own a private house: to all of those who are clamoring for a private house: it’s not what it cracks up to be. Like I said, I believe SE started realizing their mistake a while back regarding to it, and the current monetarium is further proof of that. Private housing probably will forever be a black sheep in the system.

[Nefiiria]

A possible solution, or compromise, so that both FC's and individuals have the opportunity to purchase and own housing in FFXIV is that FC's can only get Medium-Large housing(and add at least 10 more of these per ward per division), and individuals are only allowed to own small housing. Or, rather make Medium and Large houses even more expensive to individuals, and discount FC housing purchases, so that those with the coin may buy an individual house no matter the size.

I also think the 4-person FC requirement is a bit too small, but then you just have to have even more dead accounts in an "FC" to purchase land, so increasing the numbers won't really stop those who want to rig the system, and instead harm smaller FC's who really are just 4 people hanging out and playing the game. I believe the argument there is "you don't pay my sub, don't get to tell me how to enjoy the game," or something along those lines.

Then allow upgrades for individuals and FC's alike so that they are allowed to add floors, expand room inside their house(to a certain extent), all in the name of throwing gil into the black hole that is the housing system in hopes that it will one day be satiated(it never will).

[Kittypryde]

Very good post. Thank you
I wasn't around , playing this game until 13months ago. I do agree that the prices on houses are WAY too low. Housing should be something that takes a long time to get (6-12months). Not a day or two of crafting (cottage prices). SE needs to creat more Gil sinks. Possibly even a super mansion/castle for huge FCs or omnicrafter. Make it 500-800m and see how many sell.

[Nefiiria]

Make it 500-800m and see how many sell.

Damn that's a huge amount! I think by the time the new housing came out, my FC just hit 100m in funding, built up from raffles and events. It would have taken us another few months to save up the dough for a large house, but it's not like everyone would have built up the money any faster.

[Canadane]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who considers personal housing a mistake.

[Ruf]

I consider "fc only" for housing & appartments a mistake, that is making the technology so pathethic to put restrictions like that to a game that in theory should be ahead of its time, its a failure to not allow more imo.You can not build your square where you want on the plot,you cant choose a direction as for where your house is facing, heck i even look at the restrictions "house owners" have by not being able to do things with furnitures without having to try to tweak everything up.

[Kittypryde]

Yeah, there are quite a few omnicrafters on my server who would drop 500m on a personal mega mansion, and quit a few FCs that could pull it off also. I'd be a really fun goal to have for alot of players, myself included.

I do personally think that apartments should have been available with 1-3 floor upgrade options, to be used for personal housing. Maayyyybeee small cottages also. But, definitely SE dropped the ball by mixing personal houses in the same ward as FC houses.

[Scarlowe]

I do personally think that apartments should have been available with 1-3 floor upgrade options, to be used for personal housing.

^ This, a million times this. I for one would be perfectly happy with an apartment if they weren't limited to one tiny square room. Being able to add an extra floor would help a lot, and adding some kind of terrace or garden where you could have a bit of an exterior and a view would make the whole thing feel a bit less like a "band-aid until you can manage to swing a house". I get why people would prefer the wards with neighbors you can actually physically see and interact with in a more "realistic" way, but apartment-type stuff does work and that's how most MMOs do it these days (sandboxes are a different beast altogether), either through instancing or phasing. And how hard can it be to have options to "upgrade" your apartment to a cottage, house or mansion interior, at the very least?

[Zojha]

Being able to add an extra floor would help a lot, and adding some kind of terrace or garden where you could have a bit of an exterior and a view would make the whole thing feel a bit less like a "band-aid until you can manage to swing a house.

Alas...

Regarding apartments, processes involving plots of land are executed within the zone in which they reside, while the interior of a house on a plot of land has its home within a separate housing server. Due to this, we cannot apply land management (i.e. a terrace) to an apartment, as its processing is the same as a house interior.

https://www.dualshockers.com/final-f...naoki-yoshida/

Watch them be unable to allow for "upgrading" apartments as well for some reason. They'd probably just create a separate apartment house to buy bigger apartments in and of course those would then end up having a far more limited number. And the attached greenhouse would be public, including the rights to just take all the crops, because surely people will behave. Or something >_>

[Scarlowe]

Alas...
https://www.dualshockers.com/final-f...naoki-yoshida/
Watch them be unable to allow for "upgrading" apartments as well for some reason.

I'm not saying add an actual view of the physical ward your apartment is in, more a mock-view backdrop of sorts, and lift the exterior furnishing restriction in that area. It'd just be an "instanced dummy ward". Plenty of other games do that kind of thing, and there is plenty of phasing in the game already, like beast tribe camps and stuff.

Alas, you're probably right that they'd implement it in some toxic way like rework the buildings to have 50 small apartments, 10 medium ones and 3 penthouses or something and get apartment Hunger Games going while they're at it.