Quote Originally Posted by Eldevern View Post
Ishgard? How not to notice they purposely slow down the release of a new housing area? At least I admit it is original but it doesn't change the fact they delay the release purposely.
I honestly don't see them withholding a completed new housing district for arbitrary reasons, and definitely not for spiteful reasons like some players choose to believe. SE has acknowledged how high demand is on many servers, especially in the NA region, and clearly adding just 3 wards in 5.1 didn't come close to meeting the demand on those worlds.

The housing district and related programming may not be completed yet on their end. We know they have additional improvements to the housing system in development (YoshiP mentioned them at the EU FanFest Q&A). it could be the release is delayed so those improvements can be completed and everything released together at the same time.

Certainly the Restoration is a way for the player base to demonstrate just how badly they want the additional house plots through their participation. It would have worked much better if the entire project was one long progression with no interruptions instead of getting a phase then needing to wait for the next patch. There's not much sense of urgency to participating when the final phase, and presumably the opening of the housing district to players, is still months away.

I know many players who were getting excited as Tonberry was nearly completion of the current phase - then lost interest when nothing happened other than a handful of flavor quests. If 5.3 won't be the final phase, I expect participation to be lukewarm because the ultimate reward many players want still won't be available and there are relatively few players going after the Expert achievements.

As much as there's something to be said for spreading out content over time, it doesn't work for all content. Some things need to be released as a whole to keep the hype train going and eyes focused on the final goal. People lose interest when the reward they're really after is still going to be held for another 6-10 months. They'll worry about doing the work when the reward can be received.