Major changes needed for housing

[Kaurhz]

I don't think it's irrelevant when SE grandfathered people in from the start. If they were going to take houses away they should have done it when they implemented the changes. They didn't and I think it would be bad business if they did it this late in the game. I get people are upset there isn't enough housing and I wholeheartedly agree. But the changes that need to be made is SE fixing crap so they can actually offer unlimited actual houses (again either in wards and/or instanced housing).

And as Awha stated, there are people who would just get more accounts and transfer fc houses to those accounts. Pretty sure that's already a thing for some of the people who own whole wards (one in particular who buys fcs to own the houses could only have 8 on one account on a server and he/she owns pretty much an entire ward - I for the life of me can't remember which sever it is but they post here on the forums from time to time to flaunt it).

Well, it certainly in part defeats the entire purpose of the changes they've made thus far considering to a good degree the damage has already been done long before they even introduced the system- So I feel grandfathering people just in part defeats it. I don't mind the shortage as much as I do mind the simple fact many people are sat on multiple houses with very negligent usage of them. An entire ward whilst far and few; still comes up as greedy and taking away from those that would genuinely use the house. Not sure what the person was thinking when they thought invisible and randomized timers was a good idea, anything that delays the initial purchase window even with a fixed timer.

The last paragraph is precisely why they just need to be more relentless and delve closer into scorched earth. Make it so there's a payment over-time. Be it with Gil or grand company seals for personal housing, or company (FC) credits for houses registered as an FC. At least then there's an upkeep requirement, which wouldn't make it very pragmatic for those that are excessive or negligent to housing in general. I know there's 1 person on Spriggan that has an entire Goblet ward to themselves. Have yet to see them doing anything significant with it in the past 12 months, which is why I'm very annoyed by this topic because there are players and FCs who would genuinely benefit from a medium/large house. Smalls still available on Spriggan but that doesn't preclude the point that it's downright greedy and unnecessary, especially when there's going to be an inevitable upsurge of active players as we delve closer to 6.0. But alas the latter part of this is just my ramblings.

[Arillyn]

Well, it certainly in part defeats the entire purpose of the changes they've made thus far considering to a good degree the damage has already been done long before they even introduced the system- So I feel grandfathering people just in part defeats it. I don't mind the shortage as much as I do mind the simple fact many people are sat on multiple houses with very negligent usage of them. An entire ward whilst far and few; still comes up as greedy and taking away from those that would genuinely use the house. Not sure what the person was thinking when they thought invisible and randomized timers was a good idea, anything that delays the initial purchase window even with a fixed timer.

The last paragraph is precisely why they just need to be more relentless and delve closer into scorched earth. Make it so there's a payment over-time. Be it with Gil or grand company seals for personal housing, or company (FC) credits for houses registered as an FC. At least then there's an upkeep requirement, which wouldn't make it very pragmatic for those that are excessive or negligent to housing in general. I know there's 1 person on Spriggan that has an entire Goblet ward to themselves. Have yet to see them doing anything significant with it in the past 12 months, which is why I'm very annoyed by this topic because there are players and FCs who would genuinely benefit from a medium/large house. Smalls still available on Spriggan but that doesn't preclude the point that it's downright greedy and unnecessary, especially when there's going to be an inevitable upsurge of active players as we delve closer to 6.0. But alas the latter part of this is just my ramblings.

I personally wouldn't be bothered by an upkeep payment in gil or fc credits. For my personal I could totally handle that and I use my house all the time. The FC I'm in is active and credits is no problem to come by. My only concern here would be for the people who don't tend to make much in gil. I have friends who have personal houses and they had to scrape the gil to get it and they use their house a lot. And while I know gil is easy to make in this game now, some people really aren't very good at it still. I can't speak to the fc credit thing really because again, the fc I'm in is active and we are always racking up the fc credits.

[Awha]

Well, it certainly in part defeats the entire purpose of the changes they've made thus far considering to a good degree the damage has already been done long before they even introduced the system- So I feel grandfathering people just in part defeats it. I don't mind the shortage as much as I do mind the simple fact many people are sat on multiple houses with very negligent usage of them. An entire ward whilst far and few; still comes up as greedy and taking away from those that would genuinely use the house. Not sure what the person was thinking when they thought invisible and randomized timers was a good idea, anything that delays the initial purchase window even with a fixed timer.

The last paragraph is precisely why they just need to be more relentless and delve closer into scorched earth. Make it so there's a payment over-time. Be it with Gil or grand company seals for personal housing, or company (FC) credits for houses registered as an FC. At least then there's an upkeep requirement, which wouldn't make it very pragmatic for those that are excessive or negligent to housing in general. I know there's 1 person on Spriggan that has an entire Goblet ward to themselves. Have yet to see them doing anything significant with it in the past 12 months, which is why I'm very annoyed by this topic because there are players and FCs who would genuinely benefit from a medium/large house. Smalls still available on Spriggan but that doesn't preclude the point that it's downright greedy and unnecessary, especially when there's going to be an inevitable upsurge of active players as we delve closer to 6.0. But alas the latter part of this is just my ramblings.

Problem with the gil approach once again only negatively impacts those less fortunate. Since personally for me to use it the cost would have to be insane for me to even feel it. Just one of my alts has 400 mil.

Also how do we define negligence? I own multiple large plots I do not decorate any of my plots I just use it for gardening and workshops. I am using them but by the standards of those on my server I do not because my houses are barren.

Scorched earth methods hardly ever truly negatively impact those they are aimed at it. It mostly impacts everyone else.

[SamSmoot]

Just make it so every plot can have hundreds of owners (instanced) You select the house you want to see there (and enter) via the placard, which shows a list with thumbnails.
Less desirable plots would have their prices lowered as needed to get more population in those areas.
Eliminate multiple wards (no need) With everyone in one "ward". the population in the streets would be much greater, making the housing areas seem less deserted.

[LaylaTsarra]

I don't think it's irrelevant when SE grandfathered people in from the start. If they were going to take houses away they should have done it when they implemented the changes. They didn't and I think it would be bad business if they did it this late in the game.

It's not going to happen. They aren't going to take away grandfathered homes from people who did nothing wrong but follow the rules at the time. I seriously doubt they'll limit transfers either other than possibly including a retransfer cool down which seems pretty reasonable. The solution is more housing and addressing the timer issue.

Any new rules that may come as a result of Ishgard in 6.1 will affect new plots only.

[MoonPhaseAlpha]

Lastly, yes people were grandfathered in because they had multiple houses when there wasn't a housing shortage and more importantly, when se's own rules allowed it. Those people broke no rules.

True, they might not have broken any rules but it doesn't excuse the fact that they are greedy and won't give up those plots so others can enjoy the game. Player greed is the real problem in my opinion. No one needs a housing portfolio consisting of full/half wards of houses they own. Why does one player need 15 houses?! Answer: they don't.

[Arillyn]

True, they might not have broken any rules but it doesn't excuse the fact that they are greedy and won't give up those plots so others can enjoy the game. Player greed is the real problem in my opinion. No one needs a housing portfolio consisting of full/half wards of houses they own. Why does one player need 15 houses?! Answer: they don't.

The real problem is SE doesn't have enough housing for everyone who wants one. You can take away all the houses from everyone. Like EVERYONE. All personal and FC houses gone and then SE reopens the wards under the same rules as there are now - and there STILL won't be enough housing for everyone who wants one.

Edit: For example - take the FC I am in. Take our FC house, all our members (minus any alts) and we could easily take over a little more than 2 full wards just for us (that's 1 FC house and the rest all personals). We most certainly are not the only FC who would take that many wards just for us and many more FCs who could take far more wards with just one FC house and the rest personals. Multiply that by all the FCs out there. There just isn't enough housing for everyone under SEs current system. So while yes those people and/or FCs that have a half/full ward to themselves is something else, taking all that away still won't fix the fundamental problem of the current housing system.

[linayar]

The real problem is SE doesn't have enough housing for everyone who wants one. You can take away all the houses from everyone. Like EVERYONE. All personal and FC houses gone and then SE reopens the wards under the same rules as there are now - and there STILL won't be enough housing for everyone who wants one.

Edit: For example - take the FC I am in. Take our FC house, all our members (minus any alts) and we could easily take over a little more than 2 full wards just for us (that's 1 FC house and the rest all personals). We most certainly are not the only FC who would take that many wards just for us and many more FCs who could take far more wards with just one FC house and the rest personals. Multiply that by all the FCs out there. There just isn't enough housing for everyone under SEs current system. So while yes those people and/or FCs that have a half/full ward to themselves is something else, taking all that away still won't fix the fundamental problem of the current housing system.

If they limit the number of characters that can be created per world and make every house personal, eventually they will add enough houses for people who want housing. That's one way of solving the supply problem.

[NanaWiloh]

If they limit the number of characters that can be created per world and make every house personal, eventually they will add enough houses for people who want housing. That's one way of solving the supply problem.

You are already limited to 8 characters per world..

[Awha]

In the grand scheme how many plots would really be freed up if they changed the personal and FC loophole?

I mean if they took away the FC aspect I would personally just buy accounts and just transfer them to characters that way. I mean I had 24 wow accounts what is another 8 FFXIV accounts.

This crusade against FC houses is silly and honestly just like any action meant to impact the privileged it would mostly just negatively impact those who are caught in the middle.

Also calling it a loophole is kinda disingenuous since SE was the one that lifted the restrictions just never updated the rules.