Square should get its own house in order

[ArgosAvalance]

Why don’t you have to be the same level to buy a house as a free Company leader as you do an individual. If you’re level one you couldn’t even use the lab because you couldn’t put the mats in. There should prerequisites for the player buying he home, even if it’s for a FC.

It doesn't matter. They made the FC with a char level 50 + 3 random signing the paper. Then the randoms abandon the FC, they sign the level 1 in, make him the leader, the level 50 abandon a repeat.

[Elamys]

The creation of a shell FC to own a personal home is pretty clearly against the intention of what the rules were. Moreover, flipping by selling FCs is going to be the main business now, and we know house flipping is against TOS. Again, we know that SE is partly to blame for this mess but there's a certain group of people on these forums who for some reason insist that the players themselves have never ever done anything wrong. Just because you can does not mean you should. These homes owned by level 1 characters are most likely intended to be flipped. Homes owned by higher level characters could be either for real personal use or again for flipping.

I can see why Square doesn't want to cause a house to be lost due to an FC dropping below the minimum member requirements and I would argue against the implementation of any such rule. But let's face it, if you're creating a shell FC of just yourself to get a personal home, you're going against what the rule changes were intended to do.

[k99]

But let's face it, if you're creating a shell FC of just yourself to get a personal home, you're going against what the rule changes were intended to do.

Sadly a grey area in the rules. Very hard to prove intent until an actual transaction with linked evidence exists to show that intent. Otherwise, SE will get in real trouble for taking pre-mature action based on assumption if it turns out to be wrong. I don't think it's players insisting they have done nothing wrong, it's that there is no way to effectively prove they have done anything wrong if both parties involved in the transaction stay hush-hush. What can you do about it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[ArgosAvalance]

Sadly a grey area in the rules. Very hard to prove intent until an actual transaction with linked evidence exists to show that intent. Otherwise, SE will get in real trouble for taking pre-mature action based on assumption if it turns out to be wrong. I don't think it's players insisting they have done nothing wrong, it's that there is no way to effectively prove they have done anything wrong if both parties involved in the transaction stay hush-hush. What can you do about it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Actually, I reported one of these wards using the desktop help and a week later the ward was released. Maybe it was just some kind of coincidence but I want to believe that SE made it, which means it's actually against the rules.

[worldofneil]

A simple look through the ward navigator will show you TONS of "FC"s with only 1 member and a medium/large ward. Sometimes, even that only member is a level 1 character.

It's clearly a violation of the rules and it's really frustrating for real players and real FCs being unable to found a medium ward while we have to see this daily.

The rule is on purchasing, it's not on keeping it (because then any small company that lost members would also lose their house).

You also don't need a specific level to buy a house for an FC, only the rank of the FC it self.

Just because you can does not mean you should.

That's your personal opinion though. It's not a rule.

These homes owned by level 1 characters are most likely intended to be flipped.

And that's a personal assumption. There have been 1 person/low level owner FCs since housing first existed. People have them for multiple reasons, gardens, airships (and now submarines), charging aetherial wheels, roleplay...

Homes owned by higher level characters could be either for real personal use or again for flipping.

So I might be misunderstanding this statement, but are you basically saying ANY FC could therefore be used for flipping? Any FC could also NOT be used for flipping too?

[Elamys]

And that's a personal assumption. There have been 1 person/low level owner FCs since housing first existed. People have them for multiple reasons, gardens, airships (and now submarines), charging aetherial wheels, roleplay...

Level 1 characters cannot contribute materials to the workshop.

So I might be misunderstanding this statement, but are you basically saying ANY FC could therefore be used for flipping? Any FC could also NOT be used for flipping too?

A level 1 character owning a solo FC is probably going to be used for flipping. But one could just as easily make an FC and get a house for the purpose of flipping on a high level character too. But there's also a likelier possibility that they could be using the house as merely a personal home.

[Dustytome]

Level 1 characters cannot contribute materials to the workshop.

They can however use pre-built airship/sub parts. They just can't use the workshop to build anything themselves.

[Rinuko]

Level 1 characters cannot contribute materials to the workshop.

Yes you can. You may not be able to CRAFT the materials but nothing stops you from getting it through other sources. You just need to be a lv1 or higher crafter.

Rest of your points is pretty stupid to me. You have a lot of personal assumptions and no facts.
I agree with what worldofneil already stated.

[AyaAthalia]

Yes you can. You may not be able to CRAFT the materials but nothing stops you from getting it through other sources. You just need to be a lv1 or higher crafter.

Um... No. You need to be the correct lvl so you can provide the materials. So you can do nothing with a lvl 1 character.

Problem here is not a 1 person FC. Problem here is when this person is obviously not a player, starting with the name, ending with the lvl. People want to have as many houses as they can, because, hey, more is better. And f*** the others. Right?

SE should change a bit the rules, including something about keeping a house, not just purchasing it.