Why is there still no good solution to the housing shortage?

[Rofel]

You lose the wards, but you double up on all of the individual instances

(...)

This is what you're asking for when you ask for instanced housing in FFXIV. Just so you know.

That's not what I'm asking because this is not how it works. Do you get in a queue to enter an FC room or personal apartment? It would be the same principle.

Also, these instances can be shared, the same way they already are on some internal spaces in game. I gotta thank Shougun for answering better than I could, even giving an idea of how it could work if implemented.

[GeminiReed]

You lose the wards, but you double up on all of the individual instances, because instead of just having indoors, you now have indoors and outdoors.
So how would this actually solve anything? just as many instances (if not more), just as much server strain (if not more).

Arguably not unless their instancing code would make Cthulu run in terror.

The existing wards are likely some of the heaviest weight instances out there due to having to load the customizable exteriors of each property. Worse, they're permanently loaded despite being mostly ghost towns. Contrast that with singles that can be loaded and unloaded as needed. I'd argue that model would place far less strain on the server resources per house.

[Elissar]

The only real fix would be going full instanced housing.

And they aren't backing from wards since they wanna insist on the "community" aspect - even if you barelly meet someone on the wards, and when you do, there is no interaction at all.

Perfect World made something closer to your ideal...from a technical perspective, yes, it works fine. However, back in the days when i was on a FC i met our neighbors randomly and had an amazing time of RP.
SE vision is not that bad...but it's a rare event unfortunately.

[LisSquid]

The only real fix would be going full instanced housing.

Add instanced housing like in ESO where they exist in towns and cities. A treetop penthouse suite in Gridannia, a boat house in Limsa, or a luxurious suite in Ul'dah. Make GCs important again by tying residency at these places with earning a certain rank with them, just like you have to be second lieutenant(?) to purchase housing in the first place. Captain and you are awarded a place of honor to reside.

Make the interiors be bigger than cottages or comparable to a medium. There will still be "community" because you exit your house and are surrounded by every person in that city.

[Shougun]

Add instanced housing like in ESO where they exist in towns and cities. A treetop penthouse suite in Gridannia, a boat house in Limsa, or a luxurious suite in Ul'dah. Make GCs important again by tying residency at these places with earning a certain rank with them, just like you have to be second lieutenant(?) to purchase housing in the first place. Captain and you are awarded a place of honor to reside.

Make the interiors be bigger than cottages or comparable to a medium. There will still be "community" because you exit your house and are surrounded by every person in that city.

What I find really cool with ESO besides the awesome variety and scale (both waaaaaay more than FFXIV) is that you can own multiple houses.... And!!!!! They are shared cross your characters on an account.

[Arrius]

And they aren't backing from wards since they wanna insist on the "community" aspect - even if you barelly meet someone on the wards, and when you do, there is no interaction at all.

It's about making the place look active and somehow busy so the players don't feel alone.

Same reason folks make towns or villages in survival games, even when they are alone - It gives a sense of activity and presence.

[Asari5]

to be fair, there would be a lot less people wanting houses if they arent limited anymore. people want to have rare limited things. and they cant show of their houses if housing is instanced.

[ForteNightshade]

to be fair, there would be a lot less people wanting houses if they arent limited anymore. people want to have rare limited things. and they cant show of their houses if housing is instanced.

Sure they could. You can visit people's houses in other MMOs in a similar manner to how we zone into wards. The major difference is the house "instance" closes whenever someone isn't there, which removes the server strain FFXIV has to deal with as our wards are continuously active. Furthermore, limited mechanics are a terrible system because it only breeds jealousy. We have patches where the devs go on and on about new housing additions that will only serve to piss off far more players than they'll intrigue simply due to how few houses are actually available. This is precisely why they've been so reluctant to add things like gardens or public workshops. They know putting those resources into a broken system that gets complained about constantly will net a sizeable backlash.

[Rofel]

Housing already is kinda instanced, tho. Wards are instances, and so are the internal spaces of each building.