Dev Requests Housing Timers

[Vahlnir]

Honestly if they want to keep it a random system, at least make this a lottery. We all pay the plot price up front, get thrown into a pile, and can get on with our lives while praying RNGesus favors us. If it does, hurray - we got a house without wasting our lives and playtime clicking a placard like mindless drones! If it doesn't, we get our money refunded and just try again at the next one.

I hate the randomness of this, but at least make it so we aren't wasting actual playtime trying for a chance at a house because SE refuses to make a better system. I'd be a lot happier with a lotto than this hidden timer BS.

So basically you want to throw one random based system out for another random based system? How about no. What we have now isn't ideal but a lottery system would be worse.

[Flu]

So basically you want to throw one random based system out for another random based system? How about no. What we have now isn't ideal but a lottery system would be worse.

I personally feel it would be better than what we have now because it wouldnt ivolve us camping a plot all day. you place your name in and go actually play the game.

[Kaoru_Nagisa]

So basically you want to throw one random based system out for another random based system? How about no. What we have now isn't ideal but a lottery system would be worse.

How would it be worse? We at least would have time to eat, sleep, play the actual game, go to work - without worrying we'll miss out on a plot. Randomness sucks, but if they're fully intent on keeping it random for the sake of avoiding house flippers - at least make a random system that doesn't require people to possibly choose between their health and lives for the sake of a house.

Ideally I'd like them to create a better solution than this, don't get me wrong. Ideally, I'd like instanced housing - neighborhoods are not all that great and you barely see people around to begin with, we're all inside our houses. Ideally, I'd also like those apartment upgrades they threw around one time as thinking about. I'd prefer to have anything besides this mess we're in right now.

But the likelihood of that vs. them keeping it a random chance is low. So at least make the random chance less harmful to people's health.

[Yllania]

So basically you want to throw one random based system out for another random based system? How about no. What we have now isn't ideal but a lottery system would be worse.

How is a lottery worse than not being able to play a game because if you want a house you better be clicking the sign to buy it for 11 hours

[supergiz]

How is a lottery worse than not being able to play a game because if you want a house you better be clicking the sign to buy it for 11 hours

Yeah and that's just for a chance of maybe getting it b/c there are at least 2-3 other people doing the same thing on that house. The system is incredibly ridiculous and needs a revision. They are basically saying anyone with a shit to do IRL and who doesn't want to make this game their life you to basically give up any hope of getting a house.

Having done this last night, I totally agree with the RNG timer being a PITA.

I was running around the Goblet for about 2-3 hours while doing some duties in between. I was literally running around from plot to plot hoping I'd find one that was allowed me to purchase it but kept getting the dreaded "This plots isn't available for purchase" message over and over again. I ran into another player, who I guess had noticed me running around looking for plots who told me that he'd been waiting for a particular plot for around 6 hours. (as if to shoo me away)

I ended up leaving my character AFK and went to watch TV for about another hour or so. I switched over to the game, clicked on the sign and ended up getting a house in a pretty cool loacation. :-D As satisfying as it was, it was still annoying AF! This was around 9-10pm CDT on Goblin.

I get why SE implemented this...but I feel like there needs to be another safeguard for this opposed to some invisible timer.

You got really lucky being on a low pop server. On excaliber at any given time there are at least 2-3 people sometimes going up to 10 plus on an open plot. Sometimes you get lucky at very odd hours with nobody at a plot, but even when that happens it isn't long until ppl start showing up.

[Shougun]

Honestly if they want to keep it a random system, at least make this a lottery. We all pay the plot price up front, get thrown into a pile, and can get on with our lives while praying RNGesus favors us. If it does, hurray - we got a house without wasting our lives and playtime clicking a placard like mindless drones! If it doesn't, we get our money refunded and just try again at the next one.

I hate the randomness of this, but at least make it so we aren't wasting actual playtime trying for a chance at a house because SE refuses to make a better system. I'd be a lot happier with a lotto than this hidden timer BS.

I think this is a good patch even if it introduces a different type of stress (will you win or not...), since the stress of waiting at the board and losing to a sudden relocation seems to be quite a bit higher (investing hours staring at a placard sounds...... lovely.. lol). Core issue will continue to be housing system itself though, so we've just traded one type of stress for another. I do think a system that helps prevent reselling is helpful though so I don't want to see the placard thing go away at least until the housing system itself is at a point this doesn't need to be (so the lottery style might be a better replacement of the waiting timer placard).

Of course relocation needs to be on the lottery as well otherwise people enter and then later it's like "haha jk, nvm you didn't actually enter" lol.

To be clear this replaces the waiting timer, so if the lot has been open long enough its just an open lot.

[BillyKaplan]

With a lottery they can let people sign up for more than the one plot. If you won one lotteray, then the next roll you participate in will see - oh this person already has a plot, NEVER MIND, REROLLING.

The biggest problem system-wise I see with a lottery is that it is something the server initiates. When you try to click on a plot, the server checks then if the plot is open and tells the client whether or not it is. A lottery will have to be initiated by the server when the time is up.
A solution to that is that anyone who signed up for the lottery would have to come and check if they won or not .The first person who does that actually initiates the lottery. If it's theirs, hurray! If not, they take their money and skeedaddle. There's a short period after that for people to claim their plot or their money back. It's a bit of a hassle but it removes the responsibility for keeping track of time from the server, which would be why they wouldn't want to go there.

[Renato]

Having done this last night, I totally agree with the RNG timer being a PITA.

I was running around the Goblet for about 2-3 hours while doing some duties in between. I was literally running around from plot to plot hoping I'd find one that was allowed me to purchase it but kept getting the dreaded "This plots isn't available for purchase" message over and over again. I ran into another player, who I guess had noticed me running around looking for plots who told me that he'd been waiting for a particular plot for around 6 hours. (as if to shoo me away)

I ended up leaving my character AFK and went to watch TV for about another hour or so. I switched over to the game, clicked on the sign and ended up getting a house in a pretty cool loacation. :-D As satisfying as it was, it was still annoying AF! This was around 9-10pm CDT on Goblin.

I get why SE implemented this...but I feel like there needs to be another safeguard for this opposed to some invisible timer.

[Eriane_Elis]

Or just add more wards based on player population. Permit people to move their houses for free from one ward to another so that people can move into more populated communities (must be same house value so if you try to move your B class house to a A class house, it's a no-go, same with trying to move to a different sized house also it needs to be within the same residential area like you can't go from shirogane to lavender)

But you want to know why they don't implement a better housing system? Because they would lose money on subscription. People don't want to lose their mansion that cost 60mil gil + the furniture in it so they stay inactive but subbed, occasionally going back to their house.

[van_arn]

The issue right now is the price of housing is too low; too many people can afford a small (and that price cannot increase to adjust to the demand) so you get stupid camp battles like this.

We either need an auctioning system to skyrocket the price during periods of extreme scarcity, or we need upkeep costs to prevent anyone sitting on a house for too long without paying enough to maintain it.

Perhaps both. Ultimately, we need to get people out of houses sooner and get them in faster.