I bought a house for my FC, but housing Savage was a nightmare!

[Arkevorkhat]

SE wouldn't bother adding more wards if it was intended solely as a status symbol. We'd still be back at the original 5 wards (and no subdivisions) per district. Instead they kept adding wards and there are periods in the game's history where many plots were left unsold on the majority of worlds. Many JP worlds almost always have some available houses because their populations are so much lower than the populations on the NA and EU worlds.

Squeenix is trying to toe a fine line here of managing backlash. If they were to add too much housing, people who already have houses would complain loudly about how people are getting houses easier than they did. If they add too little housing, they get different backlash from people who are locked out of the housing system. The issue is that they're only putting bandaids on this problem whenever the backlash goes from minor inconvenience to potential PR disaster.

[Penthea]

If they were to add too much housing, people who already have houses would complain loudly about how people are getting houses easier than they did.

You really think so? A lot of people who advocate for the addition of much more wards and/or a proper instanced housing system are players who already have a house. Some have had their house for years.

Personally I want future players to have a much easier time than I did. I wouldn't wish the hopelessness and frustration I felt on anyone. I want everyone to be able to enjoy housing without any worries.

[Arkevorkhat]

I agree, I've done Housing (Savage) a number of times, both for my Alt's FC and to attempt to get a personal house. The lengths that people are effectively forced to go to in order to compete on a level playing field in housing are absolutely staggering.

I find that oftentimes people who have been playing a long time, especially those who have been playing since 1.0, have this mentality that because they had to struggle, it lessens their acheivements if things are made easier.

[ItMe]

If they were to add too much housing, people who already have houses would complain loudly about how people are getting houses easier than they did.

The argument "I suffered while doing it, so others doing it should suffer too," should be paid no heed.
There is no legitimate argument there, just bitterness couched in spite for others.
If SQEX can make housing less insufferable there will be much rejoicing.

[Vahlnir]

If they were to add too much housing, people who already have houses would complain loudly about how people are getting houses easier than they did.

[Jojoya]

If you search the housing forum you can also seeing other posters saying some random guys got the house when they are camping there (most of people blames on relocation but is that really the case?)

It's very simple to tell if it's relocation when you were someone who had been spamming the placard. The estate hall instantly appears at the time the placard begins displaying an owner name. If the owner had a chocobo stable and/or miniature aetheryte placed at their previous house, they will also instantly appear at specific spots since those cannot be placed into storage (which annoys me when I'm redecorating my yard).

A purchase usually has a short delay while the new owner goes through the process of setting up the estate hall.

If someone says someone relocated to the plot, most of the time they're going to be correct.

To some degree, player behavior is influenced by the way systems are designed because players will generally default to whatever behavior is believed to give them the best advantage. Game developers frequently will make changes if they see systems resulting in unhealthy behavior by a significant portion of the player base. But I don't believe there are so many players doing the camping that the number would be considered significant nor does it absolve those players of their own responsibility for choosing to engage in that behavior when they have options.

People need to get out of the habit of blaming others for what they freely choose to do.

[Jojoya]

I find that oftentimes people who have been playing a long time, especially those who have been playing since 1.0, have this mentality that because they had to struggle, it lessens their acheivements if things are made easier.

Considering there have been several periods in the game's history where it was easy to obtain a house on most worlds, any sense of achievement related to general house ownership should be water long passed under the bridge since clearly SE has not been motivated by trying to make a house feel like a difficult achievement. My first house was easy to get back in the second half of HW. My current house was a bit of a wait (needed the 4.2 ward expansion) but the ward it's in had several empty plots for most of 2018.

Even now, many of the JP worlds and two of the EU worlds have houses available for those who want a house. The lack of available houses is primarily a NA problem since all our worlds are packed. Our world populations exploded after the failure of some other MMOs late 2018/early 2019, which I'm fairly certain SE never anticipated even if they're probably happy the game has become so popular in the western hemisphere.

But it definitely put a spotlight of the pitfalls of having content based on a limited resource system that is static in quantity across all worlds when world populations are not even close to being evenly distributed.

[Saefinn]

The housing system in this game was designed to be a status symbol; the lack of sufficient housing is not a mistake, it is intentional.

The goal was always for people to have something to say "I got this thing, look at me, I'm cool". That's why Relocation exists, so people who already have status as a member of the landed gentry are able to upgrade at will, ignoring the restrictions us serfs and peons must contend with.

Free Company housing contributes to this in a really pernicious way, creating a massive source of extra demand, while there are no plans to increase supply, thus making the status symbol even more sought after.

Not really. I've played the game long enough to remember a time when there wasn't a housing crisis. We were able to plan out where we and other FC's we were associated with in a housing district so we were all neighbours. When we moved servers we were able to rank up and raise money to get a medium. We also remember their optimism of being able to meet demand by allowing players and not just FC's to buy houses and have played catch up ever since. And there ARE plans increase supply, they keep increasing supply...they're opening a whole new house area that will add to that supply.

Relocation exists because it makes good out of a bad situation where people will take what they can get. Relocation brings back some level of control for those who have housing to be able to choose where they stick their house.

It's a technical and not intentional limitation that holds them back.

No?
Click on placard is no even close to the lottery; not even close.
Jumbo Catpot is the true lottery in FF14
The concept is fundamentally different and whatever you said still doesn't support your claim that camping placard is the best option.
If player choose to go that way, it is on them, not on the system

But it is a lottery in a sense. The timer to buy ends at a completely random time, who is victorious is dependent on chance, this is regardless of whether people camp the houses or not.

If people can then they will try to boost their chances and that's ended up with a system where if you want a fair chance you have to play the game everybody else is playing.

If they were to add too much housing, people who already have houses would complain loudly about how people are getting houses easier than they did. If they add too little housing, they get different backlash from people who are locked out of the housing system. The issue is that they're only putting bandaids on this problem whenever the backlash goes from minor inconvenience to potential PR disaster.

Erm, no. As somebody who camped for a personal and succeeded...I'm ALL in favour of this being easier for people. If anybody begrudges people getting it easier, I say ignore them, it's a selfish mentality. This isn't like Ultimate where you're rewarded for your efforts, it's a bad system, we should want to see bad systems fixed and not accommodated, there's no egos to satisfy, if you got a house, you were lucky, that's all it comes down to.

[Zfz]

I agree it is bad design.

I still think a raffle would be better. When a plot becomes vacant, anyone can bid at the plot and put down the money for it. After 48 hours, one random entry is drawn to be the winner of the plot and everyone else's gil are returned. All bids are centrally managed by the server, and anyone bidding on a second plot while another bid is in progress will get a warning that any existing bids will be automatically withdrawn and the money returned, if the player bids on another plot. Players can also withdraw existing bids at any time.

[LaylaTsarra]

No to lotteries please. Lets not let RNG dictate who gets a house. Takes no effort to put your name in a hat. Lets fix the timer. Best time for a house is during new ward additions. The timer needs to be reduced to no more that 2 hours. It'll stop instant demo/sell options and anyone demo'ing a house is risking anyone coming to try and buy it so a buyer would be silly to take the chance.