Getting a New House Feels Impossible

[Driavna]

It is a bad system. It does take way too long, but it's just random to an extent. could be 1 hour, could be 24 or more. I've been blessed tho, with the 9 - 12 hours ones. Currently I wish Square Enix would come out and officially apologize instead of just doing like I do when I say something embarrassing and clam up and hide my face for like 3 years.

Something like a waiting list. Anyone can go and "join the queue" with whatever preferences they want (a player that only wants a mansion at x place will have to wait longer compared to someone ok with whatever is available), can also be used if you want to move. Once is your turn a mail is sent and you have X amount of time to confirm your purchase of the plot.

What we have now is shameful.

[Kenky]

Something like a waiting list. Anyone can go and "join the queue" with whatever preferences they want (a player that only wants a mansion at x place will have to wait longer compared to someone ok with whatever is available), can also be used if you want to move. Once is your turn a mail is sent and you have X amount of time to confirm your purchase of the plot.

What we have now is shameful.

Again, another "recommendation" that sounds even more terrible than how we currently have it.. Do you truly want to give your power of getting a house to a random lottery? You could certainly be picked immediately. But at the same time, you could also NEVER get a house that way, since the system dictates other players have a higher priority.

That's not to say what we have is perfect. Far from.. But as it stands, the whole "housing issue" is less so entirely SE's fault and slowly evening out to both parties being at fault.

If the Players didn't exploit the system, SE wouldnt've implemented the new system.
If SE didn't implement the new system, new players would never see houses, no matter how much effort they poured in.

A cruel cycle. Especially when "apartments" are usually enough to satisfy peoples building needs. (Though the 200 limit certainly does suck. Just look at what people have done with their apartments! Two stories, lots of comfortable space etc, etc. Just requires some extra thinking. Limitation inspires creativity.)

[Driavna]

Again, another "recommendation" that sounds even more terrible than how we currently have it.. Do you truly want to give your power of getting a house to a random lottery? You could certainly be picked immediately. But at the same time, you could also NEVER get a house that way, since the system dictates other players have a higher priority.

That's not to say what we have is perfect. Far from.. But as it stands, the whole "housing issue" is less so entirely SE's fault and slowly evening out to both parties being at fault.

If the Players didn't exploit the system, SE wouldnt've implemented the new system.
If SE didn't implement the new system, new players would never see houses, no matter how much effort they poured in.

A cruel cycle. Especially when "apartments" are usually enough to satisfy peoples building needs. (Though the 200 limit certainly does suck. Just look at what people have done with their apartments! Two stories, lots of comfortable space etc, etc. Just requires some extra thinking. Limitation inspires creativity.)

At what point did I mention a lottery system? Even if I did (and I did not), will be any different from "go to an open house and camp it praying you are the one clicking quick enough"? No matter how much anyone wants to believe they have any control over the current system and "if you work hard enough" you will get one. No, there are zero guarantees you will ever get one with the current system too.

[Drkdays]

I didn't realize what many players go through to get a house in this game. Its really quite unhealthy. The lack of sleep, risking wrist or hand injury from spam clicking for hours on end. People resorting to bots to do the work at the risk of getting their account banned. Players sending threats to other players who get the house instead of them. It is really sad how Square has handled housing in this game and I really am starting to think they dont care about the risk imposed on players well being. This new vid by Zepla HQ is really good and some of the stories are just down right sad and creepy on the housing situation. https://youtu.be/6EbUN3Unskw

This was worth watching, though i feel that at least some of the stories she received and recited were embellished. Lottery system with enhanced returns. The more you play, the better your odds. Make getting a house an inevitable outcome of continuous effort with the rare player also beating the odds. Kinda how maps work with choosing the correct door. SE seems to love that kinda "try your luck, but don't expect a miracle (though they do happen, and more often then you might think)" kinda gambling. Also, more wards, of course, and modified FC house purchasing standards. #provemewrong.

[Jojoya]

Something like a waiting list. Anyone can go and "join the queue" with whatever preferences they want (a player that only wants a mansion at x place will have to wait longer compared to someone ok with whatever is available), can also be used if you want to move. Once is your turn a mail is sent and you have X amount of time to confirm your purchase of the plot.

What we have now is shameful.

Like so many of the other ideas presented, this also will have problems.

Is the maintenance and monitoring of the waiting list against available houses automated through programming or done manually by costly staff? If by staff, will it be someone hired soley to monitor housing availability or will they have other job duties that will prevent them from acting rapidly when a house is relinquished/demolished?

How will this work for free companies trying to get a house? Will every member of the free company with rank permission to purchase property be allowed to sign up for the waiting list on behalf of the Free Company or will it be limited to single member?

Does a player ever get removed from the waiting list if their subscription lapses or do they remain on it indefinitely?

Can players get on the waiting list using multiple characters to increase their chances of obtaining a prime plot? If so, do the additional characters get removed from the waiting list once one of the characters purchases a house? What if the point of using multiple characters was to obtain both personal and FC houses?

Do players have to place the purchase price of the most expensive house they are willing to buy into an "escrow account" when they go on the waiting list (so players who don't have the gil aren't clogging up the list to prevent players ready to buy from getting a house), do they only need to have the gil at the time their name reaches the top of the waiting list and a plot becomes available, or do they only need to have the gil once they're ready to buy?

Are you referring to in-game mail or email? Problems with delayed and missing email notifications related to housing have been pretty well documented by this point. In game mail only reaches the player if they're logged into the game and could be pointless if the amount of time allowed to claim the property is very short (so sad too bad you should have been logged into the game while you were at work).

What is a reasonable amount of time for players to have to claim the plot? Some players only play a couple of times a month. Is the plot supposed to sit vacant for most of a month before the game gives up on that player claiming it and moves to the next one on the waiting list? What happens if the next player on the list likewise only plays a couple of times a month and so the house continues to sit vacant for months as whatever handles the waiting list goes slowly through it player by player until someone finally makes a purchase?

If the player doesn't claim the plot when it is made available to them, do they get removed from the waiting list or do they move back to first in line?

I'm sure there are other things that would have to be considered with any sort of waiting list that I don't have listed above.


It really doesn't matter what type of purchase system gets implemented. They all have their issues and none of them address the core problem - not enough houses for the players that want a house. Until that gets solved, everyone is going to complain about what they have to do to get a house.

[Kenky]

At what point did I mention a lottery system? Even if I did (and I did not), will be any different from "go to an open house and camp it praying you are the one clicking quick enough"? No matter how much anyone wants to believe they have any control over the current system and "if you work hard enough" you will get one. No, there are zero guarantees you will ever get one with the current system too.

I gave you the benefit of the doubt as the "waiting list" option can only go two ways. Lottery or First-come, first-served. Both have incredibly terrible drawbacks and I went with the first, since it is the more "friendly" version. If it was the latter, then you would no longer have any ability as the Bots would just flood the waiting list, pushing the odds ever in their favour.

There's only one of you, yet there could be hundreds, if not thousands of them. SE still isn't really at fault for the playerbase camping plots. They aren't the ones saying a virtual house in a virtual world matters more than your own well-being. They certainly haven't tried to stop it recently, but that doesn't make the problem theirs to own.

Again. This entire problem arose because we, as a playerbase, couldn't be trusted with the old system. People exploited it and punished those that came after them with the result. I still stand by my point that people should REALLY give Apartments the good old college try, as even with the very low furniture cap, people have done amazing things with the limitations. Just have to be creative!

Not to mention, with how the current events are, content is probably going to take even longer to come out. While not everyone may be okay with constantly running the same thing to get every possible item the game has to offer, there is a notable group that would find it easier to cancel their sub until new content comes out. To save money. With a Ward house, you don't get that luxury. At least when the timer is back on. 45 days of inactivity (not entering your house) puts it on demo. 14 days after that, it's gone. You can't really unsub for more than maybe a month and a half until you HAVE to re-sub. So you're not really saving much cash, you're just delaying its payments.

[Driavna]

Like so many of the other ideas presented, this also will have problems.

Is the maintenance and monitoring of the waiting list against available houses automated through programming or done manually by costly staff? If by staff, will it be someone hired soley to monitor housing availability or will they have other job duties that will prevent them from acting rapidly when a house is relinquished/demolished?

The system should be automatic, just like DF.


How will this work for free companies trying to get a house? Will every member of the free company with rank permission to purchase property be allowed to sign up for the waiting list on behalf of the Free Company or will it be limited to single member?

Again is simple. FC should be considered an entity by itself. Meaning can only be listed once.


Does a player ever get removed from the waiting list if their subscription lapses or do they remain on it indefinitely?

We can use the current rule that we have now for housing decay: after X amount of time of inactivity you are out of the waiting list.


Can players get on the waiting list using multiple characters to increase their chances of obtaining a prime plot? If so, do the additional characters get removed from the waiting list once one of the characters purchases a house? What if the point of using multiple characters was to obtain both personal and FC houses?

This one is also pretty simple: let use the current rules for housing. Meaning that you are registering your account for said server, not each individual character. If you are eligible for a house you can buy it with whatever character on that server you want.


Do players have to place the purchase price of the most expensive house they are willing to buy into an "escrow account" when they go on the waiting list (so players who don't have the gil aren't clogging up the list to prevent players ready to buy from getting a house), do they only need to have the gil at the time their name reaches the top of the waiting list and a plot becomes available, or do they only need to have the gil once they're ready to buy?

You will need the gil in order to purchase the house, not before


Are you referring to in-game mail or email? Problems with delayed and missing email notifications related to housing have been pretty well documented by this point. In game mail only reaches the player if they're logged into the game and could be pointless if the amount of time allowed to claim the property is very short (so sad too bad you should have been logged into the game while you were at work).

Both. But just to be sure let's add a warning for the loadstone and another one for the game app.


What is a reasonable amount of time for players to have to claim the plot? Some players only play a couple of times a month. Is the plot supposed to sit vacant for most of a month before the game gives up on that player claiming it and moves to the next one on the waiting list? What happens if the next player on the list likewise only plays a couple of times a month and so the house continues to sit vacant for months as whatever handles the waiting list goes slowly through it player by player until someone finally makes a purchase?

24 hours seems fair to me but you can up it to 48. Also, a system should not be designed around players that only play once or twice a month. Right now anyone interested in having a house needs to check for plots multiple times per day and on top of that camp the spot (you can be more casual about it, yes, but your chances of getting one drop). With a waiting list worst-case scenario you only need to check once every 24 hours.


If the player doesn't claim the plot when it is made available to them, do they get removed from the waiting list or do they move back to first in line?

Same as DF: removed. (I'm surprised you even ask).


I'm sure there are other things that would have to be considered with any sort of waiting list that I don't have listed above.


Some will have multiple accounts to "abuse it" (not really). But this already happens.


It really doesn't matter what type of purchase system gets implemented. They all have their issues and none of them address the core problem - not enough houses for the players that want a house. Until that gets solved, everyone is going to complain about what they have to do to get a house.

Sure, but that does not mean not improving what we have now.

I put my responses inside your quote.

[Yshtola]

And yeah, I've opened my own ticket now with the GMs to get a response on why the Lodestone shows a rule implemented in 4.2 and still in effect as of February of this year if GMs are telling players the rule doesn't exist. Have no idea if I'll get response with the way COVID has messed up GM support but we'll find out.

*cricket sounds*

Please tell me you actually wasted your time? If you did, you should share your chat logs for the sake of entertainment of course. I mean... justice... yeah that's the word

[Melrot]

Hmm, if only apartments werent those tiny isolation rooms, locked behind 2 loading screens with no view to the outside, maybe we wouldn't reached page 6 in here.

But we do have tiny outhouse as an apartment. Those are still nothing compared to how much space small house gives, both in and ouside, together with housing exclusive mechanics, like gardnering.

So here we are, page 6. Welp, keep on talking about this subject, each post in here is like clicking a plackard once. 'One day' somebody at SE will notice us, and praise us with their acknowlegdement. But that day might come in 1, 20, 20000 more 'clicks'.

[Jojoya]

Hmm, if only apartments werent those tiny isolation rooms, locked behind 2 loading screens with no view to the outside, maybe we wouldn't reached page 6 in here.

House interiors are also locked behind 2 loading screens and have no view to the outside. Someone needs to leave the interior of their house to see the ward, just as they need to leave their apartment to see the ward. Those aren't good comparison points to use.

The main problem when it comes to apartments is size. If SE would implement size options, as they had told us a few years ago were under consideration, the majority of those upset with the current system would be satisfied. There would still be that small percentage that wants access to gardening and crossbreeding seeds, or who want an outdoor area to decorate, but most just want the interior space. On the flip side, I know a few house owners that would gladly give up their current houses if they could get an apartment equivalent in size to their house interiors because they rarely garden and wouldn't need to worry about demolition. They only want the larger space to decorate and the only way they could get it was to buy a house.

What I wish SE would do is open up about what will be coming with Ishgard. If players had some solid information about what to expect, it could settle down the discussion and complaints considerably (not completely, there are always those who are going to find reasons to complain).