Will shared housing estates ever be expanded?

[YojimboM]

Housing tends to come up every time there's a big jump in the game's population, but something I don't see discussed very often is why haven't there been more shared estate slots added?

Currently, all housing sizes can share with three additional people. This seems like a bit of an arbitrary number, I'd assume the limit is in place either due to some sort of pre-existing technical limitation or simply to force more people to need their own houses.

My personal opinion is that the number of slots should be increased in some way finally. If it were up to me, small houses would remain at 3, mediums go up to 5, and large up to 7. This gives added function for each step up in price in a reasonable way, with larges having enough room to accommodate a full party at most.

I believe this would also encourage more activity in housing areas since more people could actually use the houses we have available. For example, you could share a large house with your entire static and gather there when you're raiding without having that awkward come-and-go thing going on that happens now. Or players that RP could share their houses with "guests" in and out, as a cafe or inn or other things, and they could actually use the services in it.

Social groups and statics tend to encompass more than just a single FC, also, so that is why I don't believe FC housing on its own is enough to fulfill this purpose. Sometimes you just don't want to have to share a whole house with an FC, either, but a few people you can choose.

It has advantages across a variety of purposes and playstyles and might serve to actually liven up the housing areas and alleviate shortages. Hopefully this can gain some traction and get noticed.

[Caitlinzulu]

I agree we could use more slots, but i woul make it the same number no matter what the size is. No need to limit the majority because they couldnt/didnt want to get a bigger house. All houses have 7 slots could work for statics but would leave no room for anybody else.
Also would love it if alts could share the house as has been suggested many times before.

I am curious as to what technical reason there is to not having more slots.

[YojimboM]

I agree we could use more slots, but i woul make it the same number no matter what the size is. No need to limit the majority because they couldnt/didnt want to get a bigger house. All houses have 7 slots could work for statics but would leave no room for anybody else.
Also would love it if alts could share the house as has been suggested many times before.

I am curious as to what technical reason there is to not having more slots.

I would agree that everyone should have the same sized shared slots, but I felt like fewer for smaller was aligned with SE's current standards for things like retainer slots in the yards or NPCs inside the houses. Although, that is due to trying to alleviate performance issues in housing issues really. It also wouldn't necessarily be a good thing to remove the need to own your own house entirely by making a lot of shared slots, either, since player housing is a big motivator in the game's economy.

I forgot to mention this in the original post, but the current limit is also annoying for people who do share houses with alts too. I have two shared slots with one person and the third one is an alt character of mine, so it's 3 slots for one person and myself that I have to keep rotating others in and out of.

I don't want to have to buy another housing plot for myself just for an alt because I'd rather someone without a house get the chance to have it instead, so I have to deal with shuffling around my alt in my main's house and letting others in with how it is now. More slots would allow people like me to just have everyone in one house.

[EmoriNova]

I would love to allow more people to share an estate with than just three. None of my friends have houses and it sucks only being able to allow three to be here. Also, when we do RP event and have people over, it's annoying when they can't access the bar tap, fridge, FC chest, or retainers but I can. Anyway, generally just posting to say I'd love to be able to add more than 3 people to my shared estate. Let me offer a safe space for all my friends who haven't passed Housing Savage!!!