Suggestion: Improvement to random house timer

[MarsAstro]

I don't think the random timer is necessarily a bad idea in itself, I just think the execution needs to change. What I propose is to keep it the same for current owners of houses for relocation purposes, but for first-time buyers the house should not be listed for sale while the random timer is up. It should just show as still being owned by the previous owner, and then show as for sale as soon as the random timer activates.

The reason I think it should be like this is that right now, while the random timer does eliminate the issue of people reselling houses, it also introduces the issue of having new house buyers desperately spam the placard for 10-20 consecutive hours. It's not fun, it's a waste of time, and it's almost necessary at this point if you want to get a house. It's not very healthy either, but this is what the current system forces people to do if they ever want to have a house. And people will keep doing this for as long as this system stays.

So instead, if the house doesn't show as for sale for new house buyers while the land is not yet available for purchase, this problem is completely eliminated. If someone relocates there nobody will have ever wasted their time standing there for 10 hours trying to get it, because they wouldn't know that the house was ever relinquished. And if nobody relocates there, the fight for getting it will just be a thrilling "first come first serve" rush as soon as the RNG timer pops and the house is shown as for sale to new house owners. This way the disappointment of not getting it will also be drastically lower than the one you feel after spending 15 hours waiting only for someone else to snag it.

Personally I believe an entirely different system might be better, but for now I think it's at least necessary to change the current system to avoid having people waste so many hours of their life only to potentially lose all that effort to a relocator or someone who clicks faster.

[Endeleon]

I actually fully believe that the random timer is their stop-gap measure while they re-do the entire thing... it just makes no sense to torture people like that, and I think they only implemented it because they had to do something. Your suggestion is pretty good tho, tho I am unsure if they'd even be able to do that, show it as still being owned I mean. It would have to check whether you own a house and then display the correct information and I just don't know enough about their system to know if that's doable.

[MarsAstro]

I am unsure if they'd even be able to do that, show it as still being owned I mean. It would have to check whether you own a house and then display the correct information and I just don't know enough about their system to know if that's doable.

Yeah, that was my main thought about this as well. Hopefully it's not a difficult thing though, hopefully it's just a check to see if the house is on timer and if the person watching does not own a house. They could keep records of the previous owner for a few hours and the game already knows what the house will look like, so hopefully it'd just be a matter of displaying that information under the right circumstances.

[347SPECTRE]

Interesting idea, but there is the point that people would be able to see the empty plot, unless the old house doesn't get demolished until the timer is up.

An idea I'd like to see is where you put down money for the size plot you want in the housing district of your choice in a queued system, then when it's your turn, depending on the price of the plot (You would put down the maximum value of that plot size; ex. 3.6 mil for a small) That money you put down would be put toward the plot and if there is any gil left you get it back. It wouldn't be a quick solution but it also can somewhat guarantee you getting a house as long as you're still playing the game.

[MarsAstro]

Interesting idea, but there is the point that people would be able to see the empty plot, unless the old house doesn't get demolished until the timer is up.

I was thinking the plot would display a fake house rather than an empty plot for people who can't buy it yet. There shouldn't be an immediately obvious way to tell if a plot is empty.

An idea I'd like to see is where you put down money for the size plot you want in the housing district of your choice in a queued system, then when it's your turn, depending on the price of the plot (You would put down the maximum value of that plot size; ex. 3.6 mil for a small) That money you put down would be put toward the plot and if there is any gil left you get it back. It wouldn't be a quick solution but it also can somewhat guarantee you getting a house as long as you're still playing the game.

That's a pretty good idea, actually! As I said in the original post, I think a system entirely different to the RNG timer would be best, and this idea is an example of a system that would be a lot better than random timers. Designing a new and robust system will take time though, and that's why I suggested this temporary quick fix until they get around to making a better system.