Major changes needed for housing

[Jojoya]

You'll get island sanctuaries which if understood correctly will allow most of the functions of housing i.e. growing plants etc. You course will be able to raise animals as well however to what extent in stuff we have not yet been told.

Growing plants and raising animals are not housing so Island Sanctuary doesn't satisfy the request for SE to fix the housing system.

Most house owners don't even garden as it is. You might see garden patches in yards but you rarely find anything planted in them. At best Island Sanctuary will satisfy that small percentage of players that only want a house for gardening (and may not even do that depending on what can be grown). It doesn't address the concerns of the remaining players and FCs who want a house for a variety of reasons but can't get one.

[Tommara]

Growing plants and raising animals are not housing so Island Sanctuary doesn't satisfy the request for SE to fix the housing system.

Most house owners don't even garden as it is. You might see garden patches in yards but you rarely find anything planted in them. At best Island Sanctuary will satisfy that small percentage of players that only want a house for gardening (and may not even do that depending on what can be grown). It doesn't address the concerns of the remaining players and FCs who want a house for a variety of reasons but can't get one.

The only reason I would ever buy a house in FF14 is to grow Thavnairian onions, but of course, it's a better use of my time to buy them from the market.

I hate to say it, given the recent Asian hate in the US (I have never been given to reason fear because of my race before until now), but I think there's a cultural disconnect.

I was born in Japan, but raised in the US. My Japanese relatives live in what I consider efficiency apartments, despite the fact they are relatively wealthy (by US standards for people living in efficiency apartments). When my aunt came to visit (before Covid), it made her cry to see our houses.

i.e., having a house is much more special in Japan than the US, and so I think the devs are trying to model housing as something really uber and hard to get, as it is in Japan.

Yes, I know, owning a home is hard to get anywhere in the world.

And so I think they should use this opportunity to fulfill people's dreams of owning a home, regardless of how uber they are in this game, and their tolerance for staying up all night clicking on a sign post.

Because that's what video games are for.

Fulfilling fantasies.

[kaynide]

having a house is much more special in Japan than the US, and so I think the devs are trying to model housing as something really uber and hard to get, as it is in Japan.

The reason housing is limited is literally down to cash. It is a zero-gain for Sqenix to add more housing wards with much of the housing expansions being funded by the Mogstation. I can’t speak for the ishgard housing as I haven’t really been following the live letters as closely as I used to so can’t comment there. Good on them for adding, but they know it’s a money black hole.

Originally housing was meant to be FC only with some requirements in place and an alternative system for personal..even talk of cheaper pricing for personal housing when it came to be... but it never did come to be and the devs decided to open up houses to the masses without adequate supply.

Instanced housing is probably the most elegant band-aid solunion they have at this point.

[Tommara]

The reason housing is limited is literally down to cash. It is a zero-gain for Sqenix to add more housing wards with much of the housing expansions being funded by the Mogstation. I can’t speak for the ishgard housing as I haven’t really been following the live letters as closely as I used to so can’t comment there. Good on them for adding, but they know it’s a money black hole.

Originally housing was meant to be FC only with some requirements in place and an alternative system for personal..even talk of cheaper pricing for personal housing when it came to be... but it never did come to be and the devs decided to open up houses to the masses without adequate supply.

Instanced housing is probably the most elegant band-aid solunion they have at this point.

Yes, instanced housing is what I'm suggesting. Instanced neighborhoods even for those who prefer the social interactions in neighborhoods, such as in Everquest and Lord of the Rings Online.

While EQ2 had no instanced neighborhood housing districts last time I played it, oddly enough, because EQ2 is the gold standard for MMO housing in my book, where everyone is given a two room apartment for free, and island castles (max level guildhalls) are trivial to purchase with in-game money for high level toons. And has no requirement that you subscribe to keep them - just pay the next month's rent, which is trivial, when you decide to access your housing.

And while I cast a dim eye on Real Money Transactions in games, I don't have a problem with RMT "prestige housing" in EQ2 because they make it so it easy to purchase really nice housing with in-game money (as well as give it away as subscription rewards).

And so I think it would suck if FF14 implemented RMT housing, unless they improved housing availability generally with in game money.

The ability to have non-instanced housing isn't even on my radar as a reasonable thing to do. The fact that SE chose to do it that way is perplexing, and I suspect is rooted in cultural differences about protecting limited resources for future generations. Which they are absolutely right about, but not something that is considered much in the US (which we have good reason for, but way off topic).

I don't play games because I like the real world much.