Alleo's Signature

[SigmaOZ]

I wish there was an alternate form to stop the auto-demolition counter without having to log-in into the game, I'm subbed in 180-days cycles so I never worry about running out of subscription time but there might be times when I can't play for more than 45 days and I don't want a system to destroy my mansions and leave me homeless!...


I'd suggest the Producer and the dev team to develop another way to stop the counter without having to play the game, maybe it could be done through the Companion app!...

[alimdia]

That auto demolition isn't tied to your sub is just baffling, you're literally paying a sub and the only thing of yours actively using server resources can be removed if you don't access it, even though you're paying for it with real money. An auto demolition system was very much needed due to people who left the game never to return, but a paying customer should never lose their house.

[Rymm]

the only thing of yours actively using server resources can be removed if you don't access it, even though you're paying for it with real money.

Eh, it's a small but important difference, but you are not paying real money for the house. You are paying real money for access to the game servers. Nothing else. The house may be why you choose to pay to access the server, but that is not what SE is actually charging you for. It all circles back to that part of the ToS that explicitly states we own absolutely nothing (not our characters, gear, items, etc.) and merely pay SE to access content.

I understand SE's reasoning for the the way the auto-demo timer works. If it were tied to sub, then houses could sit just as empty for just as long as if the owner had quit the game. Yeah, you can pop over to it once every month and half, enter, leave, and ignore it again for another month and a half, but requiring you to actually go there at least encourages you to spend time there and use it.

[Solarra]

That auto demolition isn't tied to your sub is just baffling, you're literally paying a sub and the only thing of yours actively using server resources can be removed if you don't access it, even though you're paying for it with real money. An auto demolition system was very much needed due to people who left the game never to return, but a paying customer should never lose their house.

This!
I really cannot understand how anyone can defend a policy that permanently removes your virtual assets even when you are paying a sub. If this applied to minions, mounts or anything else we could get in-game or buy from the cash-shop there would be war.

Square have gone back on their word and while I can understand why that was necessary, I feel the present system is unnecessarily punitive. I think the very least we should expect is permanent storage of all furniture.

[alimdia]

If you need to pay to access the game to be able to buy a house and your sub money is partially going towards the upkeep of said servers, you are paying real money for that house. If we don't pay then there are no servers to host the houses.

I'm not arguing about ownership so I don't know why you're mentioning that, and entering a house once every 44 days is hardly using it. If the point of houses is to have more things to keep you subbed then you shouldn't lose your house if you're subbed.

[Rymm]

If the point of houses is to have more things to keep you subbed

The "point" of houses is... to access housing features. Decorating, gardening, workshops, etc.

The auto-demo timer isn't some sort of conspiracy to make people stay subbed to the game, no matter what the tinfoil hat-wearing posters would have you think. The auto-demo timer is to make sure houses aren't sitting unused indefinitely. Forcing you to actually go inside your house a bare minimum of once every month and a half is probably the least tyrannical way that SE can "nudge" you toward using it. But as they say, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

And I'll say it again, since my point seemed to go over your head. SE does not charge for specific features (raiding, housing, pvp, etc.) they charge you access to the game servers. What you choose to do after that point is moot. You don't pay for a house, you pay to play, just like everyone else (homeless and homeowners alike.)

[alimdia]

But my point also goes over your head, if your money is being used to develop those features then you're paying for them, they aren't offering them for free, they are offering them as part of your sub. When you pay for something you're paying for everything included in that something.

It's not a tin-foil hat conspiracy when as a matter of fact we have had content droughts longer than 45 days, someone not playing for 45 days doesn't mean they have abandoned the game.

[Rymm]

But my point also goes over your head, if your money is being used to develop those features then you're paying for them, they aren't offering them for free, they are offering them as part of your sub. When you pay for something you're paying for everything included in that something.

You are also paying to develop ilvl 375 weapons. But SE isn't obliged to give them to you just because of that. You still have to Savage Sigmascape for them. You paid for the development of the Centurio Tiger but you still need to do 2000 hunts for it. You paid for the Magitek Conveyor to be created and yet you still need to rank in the top 100 for Feast.

The game is a package deal. You pay for everything, not just the content you choose to opt into. And you know what? Plenty of people without houses paid to develop and host your house, too.

And yes, the wild claims about demo-timer being there to force subs is a conspiracy theory thrown around by crackpots. The length of "content droughts" has no bearing on the topic of housing. The term itself is questionable as there is plenty of content in the game to keep people busy between content patches... if they choose to opt into it. Just because there is nothing you want to do, doesn't mean there is nothing to do.

Someone not playing for 45 days might not have abandoned the game. Someone not playing for 6 months might not have abandoned the game either. Or a year even. Where do you draw an arbitrary line like that? What's the hard cutoff for when people will never come back? To me, 45 days seems reasonable. Others disagree, as is their right. But it doesn't mean it's a conspiracy on SE's part. The demo timer is there to try to keep houses in the hands of people who will use them. Nothing more.

[alimdia]

You are also paying to develop ilvl 375 weapons. But SE isn't obliged to give them to you just because of that. You still have to Savage Sigmascape for them. You paid for the development of the Centurio Tiger but you still need to do 2000 hunts for it. You paid for the Magitek Conveyor to be created and yet you still need to rank in the top 100 for Feast.

The game is a package deal. You pay for everything, not just the content you choose to opt into. And you know what? Plenty of people without houses paid to develop and host your house, too.

And yes, the wild claims about demo-timer being there to force subs is a conspiracy theory thrown around by crackpots. The length of "content droughts" has no bearing on the topic of housing. The term itself is questionable as there is plenty of content in the game to keep people busy between content patches... if they choose to opt into it. Just because there is nothing you want to do, doesn't mean there is nothing to do.

Someone not playing for 45 days might not have abandoned the game. Someone not playing for 6 months might not have abandoned the game either. Or a year even. Where do you draw an arbitrary line like that? What's the hard cutoff for when people will never come back? To me, 45 days seems reasonable. Others disagree, as is their right. But it doesn't mean it's a conspiracy on SE's part. The demo timer is there to try to keep houses in the hands of people who will use them. Nothing more.

But where am I asking for them to just give me a house? This is about keeping a house you already have, not about obtaining a new one, that's a whole different topic. Yeah to get a house you have to play the game and pay gil for it, just like you have to play the game and clear a raid to get gear, but your argument is that if you loot dragoon pants from sigma and you don't use them for 45 days it's okay for SE to delete them. Imagine if you started losing experience on any job you don't play for more than 45 days.

Yes everybody, even those without a house paid for the housing system, what does that have to do with anything? If they are unable to get a house then the solution is more wards (well, the real solution is instanced housing, but that's not gonna happen), not removing houses from other paying customers.

It's fine that new patches are providing you with enough content for almost 4 months, but your situation is not the same as everyone else's, otherwise Yoshida himself wouldn't have told people to take a break and come back for a new patch, if he went on to give that a special mention it means this sentiment is more widespread than you think.

On the line, the line I'm proposing to be drawn is at the point where you're actively paying for the game, big difference between someone gone for 2-3 months without paying and someone gone for 2-3 months still supporting the servers that keep the houses up.

[Iscah]

If you need to pay to access the game to be able to buy a house and your sub money is partially going towards the upkeep of said servers, you are paying real money for that house. If we don't pay then there are no servers to host the houses.

Your money is paying for the servers, but so is the money of other people who want a house and can’t get one.

It might be different if you had to pay real money to keep your house if you’re not actively using it - but that’s a different can of worms.