Please implement a lottery for plots instead of spamming placards for hours

[Casra]

Yeah...doesnt matter if youre "proactive" or not.
If you arent there at the right time you arent getting a house. Especially on a high pop server.
And you can put worth on something for someone else. Thats not for you to decide.
People (like myself) have those beliefs because weve seen it happen countless times.

Kenky is very pro=-SE housing, and it's very abrasive IMHO

[Kenky]

Kenky is very pro=-SE housing, and it's very abrasive IMHO

Not so much "Pro-SE" but more so "Anti-idiot".

The suggestions and recommendations offered by the playerbase have consequences and extreme issues with them that people refuse to admit or accept. The system that's currently in place is because people exploited the system. So what do you do? Suggest things that can easily be exploited

Lottery? Buy multiple tickets, since the general assumption is the "Ticket" is per character, not per account. Meaning someone with 8 characters has a much higher % chance.
Auction? Congratulations, you've alienated everyone but the richest folk on the server because they could jack up the price so high that nobody gets it.

Think about your recommendations and suggestions before suggesting them. Maybe then you won't fall into the same pitfalls as other people.

[Casra]

Not so much "Pro-SE" but more so "Anti-idiot".

The suggestions and recommendations offered by the playerbase have consequences and extreme issues with them that people refuse to admit or accept. The system that's currently in place is because people exploited the system. So what do you do? Suggest things that can easily be exploited

Lottery? Buy multiple tickets, since the general assumption is the "Ticket" is per character, not per account. Meaning someone with 8 characters has a much higher % chance.
Auction? Congratulations, you've alienated everyone but the richest folk on the server because they could jack up the price so high that nobody gets it.

Think about your recommendations and suggestions before suggesting them. Maybe then you won't fall into the same pitfalls as other people.

That you presume those that disagree with your position are idiots is very abrasive, and you proved me quite correct. You are toxic.

[Jasmyne]

Not so much "Pro-SE" but more so "Anti-idiot".

The suggestions and recommendations offered by the playerbase have consequences and extreme issues with them that people refuse to admit or accept. The system that's currently in place is because people exploited the system. So what do you do? Suggest things that can easily be exploited

Lottery? Buy multiple tickets, since the general assumption is the "Ticket" is per character, not per account. Meaning someone with 8 characters has a much higher % chance.
Auction? Congratulations, you've alienated everyone but the richest folk on the server because they could jack up the price so high that nobody gets it.

Think about your recommendations and suggestions before suggesting them. Maybe then you won't fall into the same pitfalls as other people.

Anti-idiot? The system we have now can already be exploited with botting and third party macros. These suggestions that people are making may not be perfect by any means, but they are exceedingly better then the system in place right now. I would much rather put my name in a lottery pot than sit in front of a plot for 12 hours clicking, because then I would at least have a chance while still allowing me to play the game the way I would like to play it. The current system is just NOT fun gameplay. If you're not "Pro-SE housing" then where's your suggestion to fix it? You're clearly defending it because you already own a home and it doesn't affect you.

Lets be real, you either like the system or you just like to argue. People don't like this system, it's obvious just by looking at the forums. Go around and ask everyone standing in front of a placard right now in your server if they're having fun. I guarantee that they'll say they hate it, or it's a bot.

[Miminming]

Idk you guys might say lottery lottery but trust me now therea only a number of bots as your enemy(well plenty but stil countable), if you implement a lottery itll be farrrrrrr more than that since all the bots + 272538101 player gonna apply for it... you think youll get lucky to get it? People will only complain for "i apply housing lottery for 100 times but never win"

[Dzian]

A lottery system wouldn't fix anything with housing though. If you're going to make changes to the housing system make changes that either fix or at least improve the system and its problems. A lottery does neither of these things.

Tenancy for example. If you fix the broken tenancy system to allow more tenants and grant equal rights to shared properties plus the ability to reset any demo timers associated with them. You stand to free up a decent number of plots as people will be a lot more willing to invest in and share a house with there friends as they'll all own it. So instead of having 4 or 5 people all owning 4 or 5 houses in 4 or 5 different wards and districts they'd be able to share 1 house between all of them and all have the security that goes with. Hell it might even bring the wards back to life if people are all congregating at the same houses instead of "oh hey I'm in the goblet but your in the lavender beds, Oh wheres Jack. Over there in mist..."

Under the present tenancy system though if the one guy who owns the house doesn't log on for a month everything tenants have invested and done with the house goes up in smoke! Even if they've been actively using the house every day... this is a huge fetterant to anyone that would happily share a house with there friends instead of everyone owning there own...

Another issue with housing is Gardening and Workshops. These could easily fixed simply by banging some allotments and a workshop in apartment complexes. Again likely to free up a good number of plots for other players given quite a fee people have empty houses they don't really want for no reason other than workshop access or a gardening plot.

Even a decent housing transfer system where players can easily sell trade or purchase houses other players no longer need... help friends move closer to each other. Like hey can I swap my plot 11 for your plot 41. Because my friends house is plot 42 and be cool to be neighbours. it's the exact same plot just ones in the sub division and one isn't. but if people could build neighbourhoods with there friends and stuff that could also breathe life into the emptiness that is the wards.

Or just allow people to sell off properties they no longer want. Instead of vacating it and sitting around for a month for the demo timer to offer you a fraction of its value and thus players think sod it I'll just keep it... especially when vacating it means you physically have to pull everything out of it which is a huge hassle for many people given the limited inventory space available.

Make changes that at least improve the system instead of changes that don't actually change anything.

[Vahlnir]

A lottery system (or an auction system like I've seen suggested as well) would make an already flawed system even worse, because it would still be botted to heck and back...only the numbers would increase exponentially, along with the added competition of thousands of people. This wouldn't result in people getting more houses. This would make it even less likely and make the system even more open to abuse. What we need, in my opinion, is one or both of the following...

A. An instanced housing system

B. A rework of the current system that allows the game to create more wards on demand

[Shougun]

Come get your likes, hear ye hear ye come get your likes- mention instanced housing and I send you 1 like packaged with a bow~! XD. . .

More seriously though:

A lottery system (or an auction system like I've seen suggested as well) would make an already flawed system even worse, because it would still be botted to heck and back...only the numbers would increase exponentially, along with the added competition of thousands of people. This wouldn't result in people getting more houses. This would make it even less likely and make the system even more open to abuse. What we need, in my opinion, is one or both of the following...

A. An instanced housing system

B. A rework of the current system that allows the game to create more wards on demand

I think the stress from having to compete against the unknown timer and bots is not good and I think that perhaps changing the placard system even though is JUST a bandaid of the issue.. might still be well warranted. I appreciate why they made the placard system though. I think the lottery idea isn't too bad. It will introduce it's own new issues and stress as it will not and cannot be issue-less (since the housing system itself is the root issue), but it would go away from sitting at the board endlessly praying and praying and losing out- now you lose out while getting to play other things lol (better? maybe.... xD).

I agree with Vahlnir that it would create way more demand (more people will sign up), but I think that's just even more evidence that we need a new housing system fix / change, and that I also think there is still less stress in going lottery over pounding that placard. I know that last bit is an opinion, clearly Vahlnir thinks that'd be worse (I think it's bad but a lesser of two evils, personally). Although perhaps Vahlnir imagines a bunch of bots enter to inflate their own chance and making it even less likely for the dedicated actual player- I suppose I can see that maybe becoming a new major issue. Not sure, I just feel standing for hours at a placard vs entering a lottery and getting to spend those hours play the actual game is better (and for better health too of course, free to bathroom, eat, live, family, friends, work). Yet I don't say that with confidence of 100% true, and we both very much agree the root is the real issue and not the placards.

Also I want to add onto the root issue because I really want to hope/encourage SE to imagine a different system than staring at their current to meet enough demand (I am not suggesting destruction of the current system, but another option).

That added point is if SE theoretically makes enough houses with their current system such that every single person and FC that wants one can have one (~1:1), they still have the issue that all these players are stuck to whatever slot had opened. New zone opens up? Still the same old problems of limitations. New mansion size added and you want your FC to ge-- nope it's gone too bad, limited. You have a favorite spot you want your--- doesn't matter. Limited. Even if they make the number of houses enough, there are still other limitations inherent in the current system. Location, location theme, size, and neighborhood logistics. That you can't have the theme you want because you didn't log in the day of release and the servers crashed, that you can't have the location of the theme you wanted, that you can't have the size, that you're limited on what you can do because you have to share that data space with other people you almost never see, that these issues can stack too (not the location, size, or theme location you wanted- just a lot of compromise). Now they could make so many wards that it's fluid choices of what you want, but then you take the fairly ghost town experience (if you're lucky you get neighbors you wanted or are quite active at home) and basically make it guaranteed (to have so many extras that allows fluid movement between wards, sizes, and locations) would basically demand tribute from the ghost town god lol. At that point where the system takes away it's own best pro (neighborhood feel) it would be (imo) much better to focus on giving player's their own space for greater power of creativity, control, quantity, and end result satisfaction, while also pleasing those who want friends nearby with what like Wildstar did by allowing players to create a community plot (a large space multiple players can share their houses on). These community plots are awesome because it's basically a highly customize-able personal housing ward (a make your own ward feature), cranking up that neighbor feel with the power of a personal instanced space.

In this I want to say I desperately want "instanced housing", as in a space SE has created just for your house- a space SE can allow you to upgrade in housing size, in land size, and much much more because it's loaded and exists just for you. Ideally to the point of Wildstar housing, some of the best housing (system) I've ever seen; although, there are other MMORPGs that have other systems that work similarly instanced but just with a lot less power. As of course there are other MMOs you can get the space and size of whatever you wanted when you wanted, just that I think Wildstar's is a fantastic example that people should build upon and evolve more than it was already so far ahead... honestly probably the one thing that kept the game from falling apart faster than it did lol, the housing community in that game was very strong (and proof that just because it's instanced doesn't mean there can't be a community/stores/shops/inns/bath houses, etc).

Also through this route you could more easily get people involved in the system (as does Wildstar), and it would mean more people using the system, getting their feet wet more easily (encourage people to try it because it upgrades smoother and isn't removed when you take a break), use the cash shop more, and ultimately allow SE to upgrade the system more (as more would be using it, it justifies it's own improvement then).

Might even be able to monetize side concepts like Rift does by allowing players to buy additional spaces (I imagine the RP community might really take advantage of this), just please be sure this purchase is more like buying more retainers than buying a superior rift.

So.. the placards seem very stressful to me when I read what people have to go through, but any change to it will not fix the root issues.. just sort of muddy and spread them around. And that any change to the current system will do the same, the current system even if greatly expanded causes it's own issues (new areas still will get swamped out, specific sizes taken, system limitations for design, if you do actually make enough spaces for fluid movement then you're guaranteed ghosts towns- the system will always shoot it's own foot). Band aid fixes may definitely be worth it for the short respite, but the issues will still remain and manifest differently. The issue has been generated and consistently spawned from the system itself since the beginning.

We can be fair and mention they were coming out at unexpected popularity, developing as fast as they possibly could (very commendably fast, turning around a huge game- this game is an amazing journey to watch grow), trying to meet player's demands by sharing the system for players when it was just for FC.. all of that and it's true.. but at this point... it's such a long standing issue and on a system that actually is quite popular in mmos (housing), especially when it's more friendly to players (SE's system is not very friendly, objects and visuals are quite nice though), I really hope this can be changed, I really really do.

And if not - if it can't be fixed in the life time of this game, that's a real bummer because FFXIV's visual design, it's legendary journey from 1.0 collapse to mass hit, I feel a bummer that the housing could be equally legendary and sad to miss it, but if not that.. at least not to repeat these issues for their next MMO. Perhaps then they'll make the best system we've ever seen and we'll look at these threads and laugh at the issues we once had. So in like big bold red letters for their next design document it enshrines the idea and the importance of allowing players to develop and claim space in the vast world to call their own home, and allowing players into that system without having to fight the system itself (fighting the placards, the limitations like size, location, location theme, quantity, and fight other issues, and to be clear on that I'm not talking about players deserving a free large or that there can't be in game progression to it as I'd love that, there should be progression like a very special personal "alt character" you get to visit).

[TheForce]

Yeah...doesnt matter if youre "proactive" or not.
If you arent there at the right time you arent getting a house. Especially on a high pop server.
And you can put worth on something for someone else. Thats not for you to decide.
People (like myself) have those beliefs because weve seen it happen countless times.

Yeaaa...sorry but I need to chime in, if one really thinks that it's worth injuring themselves to get a house on FFXIV (and houses really aren't all that honestly, they're overhyped) then that's a huge problem. Sure we shouldn't tell people how to feel about things, but it gets to a point where you just need to apply common sense and weigh the pros and cons.

[Vahlnir]

Yeaaa...sorry but I need to chime in, if one really thinks that it's worth injuring themselves to get a house on FFXIV (and houses really aren't all that honestly, they're overhyped) then that's a huge problem. Sure we shouldn't tell people how to feel about things, but it gets to a point where you just need to apply common sense and weigh the pros and cons.

It's certainly not worth causing any significant personal harm, that I agree with. However, at least some people who are camping placards are likely grown adults. They can make their own decisions, for better or worse. If someone wants to lose sleep, exacerbate their own conditions, etc...that's their prerogative.