In Game Housing Crisis

[ElleOwO]

Hello all!
I have a few thoughts on the housing issues that we are all experiencing. One thing that has bothered me about FFXIV is how actually empty housing districts really are. There are some really amazing rp locations in the housing districts that get next to no use. Walking through any given housing district you see a few fc's hanging around their respective fc homes, but other than that there isn't a whole lot going on in these areas.

I'm not going to get into the houses that are still present when the owner clearly hasn't played in a very long time. That is simply a byproduct of the somewhat failed housing system that is currently in place.

Instead, I would rather give suggestions on where we could go from here.
I am not a game developer, and I feel like that is extremely important to make clear. I do not claim to know better/more than any of the awesome devs that have built this game into what it is today. I want to apologize ahead of time if my suggestions/thoughts are not possible or are more serious changes than what my brain is thinking.

Instancing housing.
This could be done with a "Gatekeeper" NPC, as this is an asset already in game. The dialog could read "Ah adventurer! Would you like me to escort you to your home?"
This option could be the very thing that solves the housing crisis we are currently experiencing. When teleported to your private/public plot, my thought would be seeing the housing district in your background with houses and shops that are all of the same decoration for that district. I.e. Lavender Beds backdrop would have the different wooden buildings and flowers that we currently see in the district.
You wouldn't be able to see other player's homes when in your instanced private plot.

Instancing housing wouldn't be the end of being able to visit other player's homes. You would be able to choose, as you can now, allowing other players to enter your home. This would however be the end of having to look at someone else's designs, that might not line up with your own.

Venues could be set up to allow a certain number of people in to keep the memory down. This could even be taken a step further with "invitations" as a "key" to a venue/party, helping with immersion.

Where does this leave the current housing districts? Shopping District! These places could get furnished with minigames and shops. Adding walking NPCs to bring life into the "Shopping District" as well as adding pointed lighting in RP areas.

Changing the housing system to an instanced system would allow for anyone to own a house. This could deter RMTers from creating artificial scarcity.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I look forward to hearing other opinions!

[Ciri-Fiona]

There are a large number of apartments available, whether they are in an FC house or in residential areas, they all work similar to what you say, even small houses are easy to get
Honestly there is no problem with housing, there is only a problem of greed. Everyone wants a palace. This is the real problem.

[Amenara]

There are a large number of apartments available, whether they are in an FC house or in residential areas, they all work similar to what you say, even small houses are easy to get
Honestly there is no problem with housing, there is only a problem of greed. Everyone wants a palace. This is the real problem.

Small houses are easy to get? No problem with housing? I guess I am on the wrong server because all of the personal houses were gone in the initial lottery (except the 0 winners obviously). I also remember tales of Balmung not having any apartments left as well, if you want to know how bad it can get.

[Ciri-Fiona]

Small houses are easy to get? No problem with housing? I guess I am on the wrong server because all of the personal houses were gone in the initial lottery (except the 0 winners obviously). I also remember tales of Balmung not having any apartments left as well, if you want to know how bad it can get.

Not all worlds 1-18 will be exclusive to FC forever. This will be removed soon.
Easy to get, relatively yes. You will enter the experience of getting a house once in the duration of your playing, which is hard and sweet, as if you are finishing a difficult battle.

[Amenara]

Not all worlds 1-18 will be exclusive to FC forever. This will be removed soon.
Easy to get, relatively yes. You will enter the experience of getting a house once in the duration of your playing, which is hard and sweet, as if you are finishing a difficult battle.

"Soon" That is also making an assumption that between now and "soon" that all the FCs that don't have a house now don't purchase the small houses. The problem with this mentality is that the small houses will all be gone after 1 lottery round because demand is so much larger than supply, thus the same issue as before will reoccur.

[Jojoya]

Small houses are not easy to get. They never have been.

Saying never isn't true. There have been plenty of times there were smalls available for the taking (watching wards sit half empty for 4.2 to 4.4, as an example).

It would be fair to say they have not been consistently easy to get. The amount of time players needed to struggle to get a small is definitely greater than the amount of time it was easy to get a small.

"Soon" That is also making an assumption that between now and "soon" that all the FCs that don't have a house now don't purchase the small houses. The problem with this mentality is that the small houses will all be gone after 1 lottery round because demand is so much larger than supply, thus the same issue as before will reoccur.

Most of the FCs looking for a house either got one this lottery, or will have one once the bug is fix so winners can claim the houses they won.

The small percentage of FCs that choose to compete for a plot in the first lottery but lost should be able to pick up a house in the second lottery without trouble (unless they again choose to compete against other FCs instead of looking for a plot without entries).

The problem with "soon" is that it's giving time for the players who failed to get a personal house in the first lottery time to set up shell FCs and complete the 30 day waiting period so they can get a house that way. If the ward adjustment is over a month away, all those empty plots may end up purchased by the players who felt going the FC route was the better way to get a plot for personal use. It's a win-win situation for them - they'll get to bid on a personal house if the wards are switched to personal, they'll get to bid on a FC house if the wards remain FC.

[iiTzSeb]

There are a large number of apartments available, whether they are in an FC house or in residential areas, they all work similar to what you say, even small houses are easy to get
Honestly there is no problem with housing, there is only a problem of greed. Everyone wants a palace. This is the real problem.

This response was so tone-deaf that even MY ears popped for a second, jfc

[Ronin_Symphony]

There are a large number of apartments available, whether they are in an FC house or in residential areas, they all work similar to what you say, even small houses are easy to get
Honestly there is no problem with housing, there is only a problem of greed. Everyone wants a palace. This is the real problem.

Greed? LOL no - FFXIV Economy is basically capitalist. Housing economy is regulated specifically so that all players who want a house have an "equal" economic chance. (this is not a measure to stifle the capitalist economy but one of the many protocols in place to limit RMT, cheats and exploitation).

When everyone wants a thing that's called demand. The amount available of a thing is called supply. It's not greedy to want a medium house. When demand exceeds supply - that is not called greed - -- that is a shortage. In this case - a housing shortage. This can also be accurately referred to as a housing crises.

Wanting MULTIPLE of a thing or more than anyone else - that could be referred to as greed.

In the old system of house purchase, I spent 10 months clicking on placards to win a small house. 10 MONTHS. I did not feel I was being "greedy" wanting just a small house.

THAT is a crises.

Now in the single regulated auction bid anywhere from 4 - 20 people were bidding on a house when I finally placed my bid - and I checked every. single. medium. house. available.

Housing shrortage/crises - - - Demand exceeds Supply.

Greed is a moral judgement as you apply a defect to a player for wanting a house - "They must be greedy". That is not capitalism - that would be more of a communist economy.

[HyoMinPark]

Apartments are a laughable substitute for an actual house. Limited space to decorate, limited item slots for your ideas. They’re no different or better than an FC room, and they cost more gil (500,000 versus 300,000) for no real additional benefit. They don’t have any access to outdoor furnishing features—not even for storage purposes—nor do they allow access to things like gardening, so for anyone wanting to grow things or crossbreed seeds, they are objectively worse than a house. To say they’re a favorable alternative to an actual house is laughable at best. Especially since the developers seem keen to not actively expand on them, or at least give them different “sizes” to purchase that have more decorating space, more item slots, and have features such as balconies for outdoor furnishings and gardening opportunities. People have expressed wanting this since apartments came out in 3.4, and it’s fallen on deaf ears each time.

Small houses are not easy to get. They never have been. They might be the last choice for many, but any time housing has released—with the exception of Ishgard—most houses are gone within minutes. The only time some were left over—again, barring Ishgard—was the first time they did FCs Only for purchasing, and that’s because many FCs don’t want smalls. But anytime housing has been FFA? They are gone, and they are gone quickly. When Shirogane released in 4.1, all of the houses on my server (including those where people had relocated from) were gone in less than 15 minutes.

Housing in this game is not fine, and hasn’t been fine for a long time. If it was so “fine”, why are the developers placing bandaid after bandaid on the system? Why are there constant complaints about it? I don’t think players wanting a house constitutes as greed. Greed would be those wanting more than one house, or an entire ward. But one player wanting one house? I disagree that that is greedy.

I don’t believe that housing should be a limited resource or something only X amount of players can have. If anyone wants a house, they should be able to own one.

Based on the actual number of plots in-game, and estimated active player numbers, less than a third of players can ideally own a house. And this isn’t accounting for things like shell FCs buying entire wards or those who owned multiple plots being grandfathered into the system that is supposed to limit housing per service account. I say “supposed to” since that could also be circumvented after they added these “restrictions” back in Stormblood. The reality is that not even a third will have one, and that’s not something I personally agree with. Coming from someone who has owned a house since Heavensward.

[Ciri-Fiona]

Apartments are a laughable substitute for an actual house. Limited space to decorate, limited item slots for your ideas. They’re no different or better than an FC room, and they cost more gil (500,000 versus 300,000) for no real additional benefit. They don’t have any access to outdoor furnishing features—not even for storage purposes—nor do they allow access to things like gardening, so for anyone wanting to grow things or crossbreed seeds, they are objectively worse than a house. To say they’re a favorable alternative to an actual house is laughable at best. Especially since the developers seem keen to not actively expand on them, or at least give them different “sizes” to purchase that have more decorating space, more item slots, and have features such as balconies for outdoor furnishings and gardening opportunities. People have expressed wanting this since apartments came out in 3.4, and it’s fallen on deaf ears each time.

Small houses are not easy to get. They never have been. They might be the last choice for many, but any time housing has released—with the exception of Ishgard—most houses are gone within minutes. The only time some were left over—again, barring Ishgard—was the first time they did FCs Only for purchasing, and that’s because many FCs don’t want smalls. But anytime housing has been FFA? They are gone, and they are gone quickly. When Shirogane released in 4.1, all of the houses on my server (including those where people had relocated from) were gone in less than 15 minutes.

Housing in this game is not fine, and hasn’t been fine for a long time. If it was so “fine”, why are the developers placing bandaid after bandaid on the system? Why are there constant complaints about it? I don’t think players wanting a house constitutes as greed. Greed would be those wanting more than one house, or an entire ward. But one player wanting one house? I disagree that that is greedy.

I don’t believe that housing should be a limited resource or something only X amount of players can have. If anyone wants a house, they should be able to own one.

Based on the actual number of plots in-game, and estimated active player numbers, less than a third of players can ideally own a house. And this isn’t accounting for things like shell FCs buying entire wards or those who owned multiple plots being grandfathered into the system that is supposed to limit housing per service account. I say “supposed to” since that could also be circumvented after they added these “restrictions” back in Stormblood. The reality is that not even a third will have one, and that’s not something I personally agree with. Coming from someone who has owned a house since Heavensward.

Your talk makes sense to most people. I don't want to get into an argument with you. I respect your opinion +1