Please SE, do something about housing

[Tsaranoga]

If the point was to keep people paying for the game, the demolition timer would never be suspended.

Considering how often they suspend it, I don't think that's the point.

Can't be too obvious with it, of course. Need to keep the "goodwill" for the next failure they push out. Cynical? Indeed it is.

[Vidu]

I'm doubting that it's working as intended. Well sure somebody thought open world housing was "da bomb" but I'm having a very hard time understanding why locking game features like gardening, workshops, and subs and airships behind a sereverly limited commodity was also intended.

Regardless this experiment has backfired so bad they had to break their word that demolition would not be a thing. Ward expansions do little to mitigate the problem and the laughably small apartments fail on so many counts.

It is not acceptable in its current state. The point of the multitude of threads regarding how bad housing feels is encouragement for Square to make it right.

Well, the problem is that when they first set up the system it was intended to be for FCs only - something FCs could work towards as a group, that would require lots and lots of gil (back when housing was first released, the 5 million you needed for a small house was a lot for most players. I remember it took me and my then-FC-leader about 3 months of constant crafting to finally get the 18 million we needed for the medium house we wanted - and that included adjusting prices every hour, constantly crafting, aswell as some donations from other FC-members, who gave like 500k, which translated to basically being half their money). My guess would be that those functions ended up being tied to housing to make it worth the hassle - it was supposed to be a real achievement for the FC to get a house and with it all those functions.

...as you said, though... that didnt work out - but at the point that became apparent, we already had the system with the housing-wards and everything and just changing it didnt seem to be an option. They did mention that they were looking into offering bigger apartments eventually, so please look forward to that (...one day)!

At the heart of the problem lies this missunderstanding between what the devs wanted with housing (an endgame-goal for people to achieve together, rare and limited, with special perks tied to it) and what the community wanted (housing for everyone). With the inflation happening, housing prices also started to look affordable to the average person and I've got the feeling that a lot of new people missunderstood that the system was never meant for them to have their own house, despite them having the money for it.

So... yeah, you're right - this has backfired, but its apparently not that easy to fix. They cant just delete the current housing system and put in a new one at somepoint, so they're working with bandaids (like the demolition timer, apartments and adding new wards once in a while) until they can actually solve the problem. They adressed several times that they are aware that this problem exists - but so do a lot pf other "problems", like people wanting new dungeons, relics, raids, glamour, mounts, not going through 500 fetch quests in ARR (excuse the hyperbole).

[Shougun]

Can't be too obvious with it, of course. Need to keep the "goodwill" for the next failure they push out. Cynical? Indeed it is.

The demolition concept, just like the timers, came from the community - because of the scarcity issue. People wanted a house and didn't want others clogging and claiming up all the houses forever when they stopped playing/gave the content no mind.

Does it have the effect of being held hostage? Yes.... Unfortunately.. but they're largely community driven band-aid solutions to the problem that is scarcity based housing.

I agree with Jojoya, they didn't intend for this. If they did then I'm both impressed and scared, but I think it's a good life rule to assume premeditated malice as the last possible resort and work through other alternative reasons first. Like they made this system long ago after a crazy crunch, intending it for FC, that they were probably not prepared to financially invest so much when they weren't even sure the game would be that successful, and now they can choose to revamp it at massive cost due to it having to do with many complex systems or they can spend that for new content, and it appears they think new content would be better. Can argue what they should and shouldn't do but I just imagine purposefully locking people up into the sub via a negative experience was not on their intentions list.

[ItMe]

Maybe the demolition timer is suspended because of the global pandemic???

[Awha]

Quick preface to explain my point of view on XIV's housing: I think the system is crap and needs a massive reworking (and should be available to everyone). My thoughts have been hashed out in more detail in all the various threads, but that's at the base of it.

So now, you are correct that lowering the timer on houses won't change the actual process itself, but it will allow people to move onto other activities far sooner. It's a bad process as a whole, and it can also be quite unhealthy for the player themselves. In theory, having the potential for 24+ hours on a house would allow more people to take a stab at it, but plenty of houses open-up well under that time frame and so any perceived fairness that a longer timer may provide doesn't really hold that much weight in my opinion.

While being as it is RNG houses can open up before the 24 hour timer. The reality is that some still do not, and for those for whatever did not notice the plot during that 5 hour window the 24 hour rng chance still provides more people a chance at the plot.

Also might just be me but if a person wishes to take unhealthy risks at getting a plot that is on them and if seems unfair to put the burden on SE for a personal choice made by a person. I get within the currenr climate that this is not an appropriate viewpoint, but that is my personal take.

I just do not see why people care so much that others are doing silly shit like staying up for 24 hours straight clicking to get a plot and if they complain about the health conqueunces that is on them imo.

[ItMe]

I just do not see why people care so much that others are doing silly shit like staying up for 24 hours straight clicking to get a plot and if they complain about the health conqueunces that is on them imo.

I think the problem is that in order to get a house you have to compete with these people for one, and that pressures you to do it too.
Especially since there's not a surplus of empty houses...

[Awha]

I think the problem is that in order to get a house you have to compete with these people for one, and that pressures you to do it too.
Especially since there's not a surplus of empty houses...

I that if you want to compete with them you cannot take a break, but that is still a choice one has to make and if something negative comes about it one has to live with those consequences. I get that overall one feels that they should not have to put in such a situation in the first place. I agree instances housing would best, but if players wish to compete with bots are those willing to stay up for 24 hours for a plot then that is on them and no one else. I do not understand why people want to save people from themselves all the time. If they are old enough to log into the game, I do feel they are old enough to make their own choices as to what they wish to do with their time ingame and whatever may result because of that choice.

[Mavrias]

I think the problem is that in order to get a house you have to compete with these people for one, and that pressures you to do it too.
Especially since there's not a surplus of empty houses...

Its a video game. If you are sacrificing your health for it, that's on you, not anybody else. Least of all other players.

[Skivvy]

In regards to the health concern, I was actually thinking more for everyone's hand/wrists and not so much the fact they may be planted in a chair for numerous hours (which is also not all that great, but that's a different concern).

If you're just randomly clicking the placard once or twice a minute, I'm sure you'd be fine - but you're also incredibly unlikely to win that plot. To have a decent chance, you have to spam a single mouse button or a key for an extended chunk of time and any repetitive motion like that can do some bad things. Carpal tunnel is no joke.

The overall process does also lend itself to people getting creative in using scripts or keyboard/mouse macros in order to automate the clicking. So that takes another bit of that fairness and tosses it right out the window. I don't think any of us can tell exactly who may be cheating, and I'm not trying to say that it's even the majority of people, but it's definitely a thing.

[Awha]

Regards to the health concerns, I think people were referring to any possible health concerns one may have regarding what people compete with when it comes to plots. Might just be me but if someone wants to endlessly click for hours at a time that is on them what happens because of it is on them. Since we cannot know for certain how many people cheat it does seem unfair to limit the window as to when people can try for a plot due health issues or injuries or cheating. Keeping the timer an rng within 24 hour window is not horrible as people try to make it out to be.