Housing System & Development Suggestions

[Novirae]

The current difficulties of the current system:

Camping a plot is a choice, yes. Those that wish to do so knowingly enter this arena. Some have more free times than others. Practically, many are unable to spend their free time in game so may have little to no chance of accessing one of the games features, thereby excluding a large chunk of the gameplay population. It seems an gross oversight that any MMO is happy to enable players to spend their free time within the game, one they are paying to play, spam clicking a sign, sometimes up to 80 clicks a minute for 17 hours (which was how my last grind went) with no guarantee of success. Some players who do choose to camp, miss sleep and food just so as to not risk suddenly losing their chance at a plot becoming available. I’ve even witnessed a player (badly) use some form of macro in an attempt to snag a plot ahead of others.

Psychologically, the time invested only encourages you to keep going, as otherwise previous time will be wasted. One big push and you ‘might’ have a shot at gaining a plot.

Any time during that period a player already owning a house may relocate even should a new buyer camp for 15 hours straight.

The RNG timer combined with ‘first click wins’ is mayhaps the worst kind of acquisition SE have implemented, this in turn potentially encourages toxic behaviour and negative feelings, which I know FFXIV strive to avoid, while encouraging positive gameplay, creativity and community engagement in so many other areas.

As it stands, demolition will take place if you do not enter your house for 45 days. Many experience no notifications and on several occasions (but not all) warning emails go to your spam inbox.

Demand of player housing still outweighs supply.

As existing house owners can relocate instantly to any plot, they could potentially buy more desirable plots for a price from another player. Such a trading market still exists, just in a different form to those of earlier years.

Some benefits of having more accessible housing system:

• Creates a social hub for more in-game communities.
• Allows more housing enthusiast communities to grow, create and inspire others.
• Creates additional relevance for crafting classes (as a large margin of available furniture comes from professions).

Obviously, I am aware that there are server limitations so not all these ideas are practical for SE to implement with their current structure, I just have hope that things in regard to this post will improve in the future.

Continued..