The HORRENDOUS State of Housing

[kaynide]

It was always pvp based, even before the timer even existed.

I don’t agree that this was the intent. Originally the price was obscenely expensive and there were huge requirements to purchase a house (minimum number of members or some such). SE originally made this with the intent that only FCs with large groups of players could ever afford a house (larges going for as much as 500,000,000 gil for example).

So it wasn’t that it was pvp, it was that they listened to the player base and reduced the prices, then listened to people whine about personal housing..so they opened it up to individuals.

They built a system intended to be X and tried to make it do Y, which it was never originally intended to do.

Moreover, it’s not a pvp thing so much as dumb luck. I’ve 3 houses (1 large, 2 S) and spent maybe 15 minutes total trying to get them. I just got stupidly lucky.

[Yshtola]

I don’t agree that this was the intent. Originally the price was obscenely expensive and there were huge requirements to purchase a house (minimum number of members or some such). SE originally made this with the intent that only FCs with large groups of players could ever afford a house (larges going for as much as 500,000,000 gil for example).

So it wasn’t that it was pvp, it was that they listened to the player base and reduced the prices, then listened to people whine about personal housing..so they opened it up to individuals.

They built a system intended to be X and tried to make it do Y, which it was never originally intended to do.

Moreover, it’s not a pvp thing so much as dumb luck. I’ve 3 houses (1 large, 2 S) and spent maybe 15 minutes total trying to get them. I just got stupidly lucky.

There were no membership requirements. A single player leading 8 FCs on the same server could have theoretically purchased a mansion on every character. The PvP aspect was there from the start since FCs looking to purchase specific plots would resort to bluff, trash talking, attrition wars and general f***ery on the marketboard in order to prevent other FCs from being the first one to show up to the desired placard with the required funds. They didn't lower the prices because players complained about the prices, they lowered the prices because they said personal housing would be a lot more affordable and different than FC housing. Except it didn't turn out to be a different system and here we are.

[Flay_wind]

Tbh, owning a house is not that exciting. You have sort of a hub, where you can do repairs, retainers, gardening etc, etc. But aside from that? It just exists.

[Eldevern]

...

It has never been PVP intended.

At the release if was FCs only and pretty expensive. Not more, not less. And the number of wards was accurate.

People were complaing it was too expensive and they dropped prices. Even after this drop, a lot of plots were still available. And seeing people who were asking individual housing, they opened it to individuals. At this time I managed to get a mansion rather easily since the prices were dropping and a lot of slots were available. According to Y-P, neither timer nor even the possibility to lose house were planned.

BUT because of a sudden rise of demand and some abuses, they changed the system. The other problem is the gardens that make wards heavy to load.

In this thread, you have a pretty accurate summarize of what happened. https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...YOU-a-Question.

[Yshtola]

It has never been PVP intended.

Yes it was.

At the release if was FCs only and pretty expensive. Not more, not less. And the number of wards was accurate.

The only valid thing in here beyond the very last sentence of your post.

People were complaing it was too expensive and they dropped prices. Even after this drop, a lot of plots were still available. And seeing people who were asking individual housing, they opened it to individuals. At this time I managed to get a mansion rather easily since the prices were dropping and a lot of slots were available. According to Y-P, neither timer nor even the possibility to lose house were planned.

Of course people complained, they always do. FC housing was the pinnacle of teamwork and players did what they had to do regardless of the price displayed on the placard. The prices didn't drop because players complained, they dropped because Yoshi Pizza went on the record and stated that personal housing was coming and it was gonna be different than FC housing along with being cheaper. Saying that there were a lot of plots when the price reduction hit or that buying a mansion was anything but easy is a blatant lie as only 1 ward was added with patch 2.3 and then 2 with patch 2.38 for a grand total of 8 wards (3 areas). Unless of course, you're one of those on barren servers with 20 players in Limsa Lominsa during prime time, but you didn't specify.

Patch 2.4 is when they added subdivisions to address the demand for personal housing. Get your facts straight.

BUT because of a sudden rise of demand and some abuses, they changed the system. The other problem is the gardens that make wards heavy to load.

No, there was no "sudden rise of demand" and you'd have to explain what you mean by abuse, because it's pretty difficult to abuse something that ultimately takes your money. You would also have to explain what you're talking about when it comes to making changes to the system, because nothing in that sentence made any sense. Auto demolition? Temporary restrictions?

In this thread, you have a pretty accurate summarize of what happened. https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...YOU-a-Question.

Yeah, it's pretty accurate, unlike your story.

[EaMett]

If you have a limited resource that players compete for then it's pvp. It doesn't matter whichever way you twist it. If the limited resource isn't available free plots, it's desired locations, desired wards. etc. etc.
Reality is that if you buy a plot, that plot is no longer available to other players > pvp.

The model has changed over the years, from a first come first serve to a more RNG based model. But it was always a pvp system.

[Miminming]

your sub is not enough to maintain the housing server, thats real

[VictorTheed]

Dude u should have been here back in the day, compared to what u guys got now, back in the day was the golden years.

I got a shirogane small for 3 mil cause some chick got bored of being a house owner and we negotiated a deal fair to us both, the days when u drop a house and sell it or drop it and someone could come by and buy right then and there was the good days of ffxiv housing, still had the not enough housing problem and there were times people were dicks and overcharged but from the experienced and I've been through they were way better then what u guys deal with today.

Only good new housing system is were they lock private house to your account, I feel for ya cause I been trying to help some friends get property in this new system but haven't been able to do so.

[Eldevern]

...

1. I've always been of Cerberus with my main since the Beta (the most populated non-legacy EU server).

2. There is some kind of contradiction to admit the number of wards were accurate to pretend it was PVP intended after.
There is also some kind of contradiction to consider it was PVP intended when the prices were dropping regularly because of unsufficient demand (it be because of poorness or not).
You have nobody to fight to get the money, it is only a personal investment of time. Everything else is pure luck. RNG is not PVP, is just some arbitrary. You can blind yourself and call that a reward, it is not. There's nothing to be proud of, nothing that means as work or effort, no merit at all, nothing to be praised for.

3. It was not PVP intended since when it was FCs only the real purpose was : gil sink (since some legacy players were already really rich), team work to get the money (since, it is, you know, a MMO).

Later, it was not PVP, it was just a broken, quick and dirty way to reply to the demand for individual housing.

And I will insist about that fact it was not PVP since the real effort was not to compete with other players but to be able to play as team. Considering how it ended, it's a pure fail for most players and FCs.

PVP, team work. Sorry you failed. RNG is not a reward. You have no merit.

It was not PVP but team work challenge and now, it's a lottery.

[SamSmoot]

This idea was throwing around in my head and I do like it. The only downside is that instanced housing would fell really empty. TBF the housing already feels empty so not much of a loss I suppose.

Actually, instanced housing could feel LESS empty:

1. Eliminate the multiple wards, which separate players between them.
2. Instance the plots themselves, so each one can have hundreds of owners. This would result in many more players running about in the streets.

For visiting, you select which owner's contents to show on the plot via the placard. This could also be used to customize the appearance of your immediate neighborhood. Each player could lock up to 6 plot appearances around their own house if they wish. The rest just show random contents.

Ideally, displayed / selected plots would let you see their owners out in the yards as well.