A humble suggestion with housing

[Nymoria]

I love the current housing we have with the neighborhoods and all, I think its really cool. However, I know many people have requested there be some kind of instanced housing and that got me thinking... Is there a way to just make one single ward per housing area that IS instanced? like, then people who care about having the neighborhood feel can really go for it in the non instanced wards so I can have my fancy neighborhood, but I can also know that if anyone wants a house, they can easily get one in the instanced housing ward.

[RitsukoSonoda]

Issue is more logistical from a business standpoint. Instanced housing still needs servers and storage to function which means they have to purchase and install additional hardware then configure it to operate with everything else that is already there. As for ideas to make an instanced housing area the ideas I had in the past were private islands in sea of clouds. house in a bubble underwater in like the ruby sea or something, or a personal airship home that you can anchor to what ever zone you want to call home.

[Juun]

Arent we supposed to get our personal farm in endwalker? Thats sort off your own personal instanced housing.

[Hanayumi]

Arent we supposed to get our personal farm in endwalker? Thats sort off your own personal instanced housing.

Still no details if there is a house involved, let alone one we can decorate or put furniture in. That being said it would be a logical spot for a solo home space if they already have an instance zone set up, only way i could this not happening is if the zone is shared in some way or possibly timed.

[Moonlite]

Arent we supposed to get our personal farm in endwalker? Thats sort off your own personal instanced housing.

Think of it this way. If they had solved the housing problem with farms, they probably would have said. No details probably means it is just another instance with a little bit of interaction, probably closer to squadron room then house.

[Skivvy]

I really hate the wards. :X They're huge, almost always empty and really don't have much of a purpose. Wildstar had a spiffy housing option in place with the 'communities'. Their housing was instanced, but you could share one giant island with 4 of your friends. You could just run right over to your friend's house - no loading screens or anything. And the individual plots you each got were pretty massive in their own right. That would be far more ideal IMO. I don't care about sharing an enormous instance (wards) with random people I never see, but I would LOVE to be able to share a small instance with a handful of my friends.

[Wavaryen]

I'm going to be real. If they removed wards, and let everyone have instance housing with a yard. I will gladly sacrifice the people who enjoy the ward system in exchange for a more fair system.

[Claviusnex]

Issue is more logistical from a business standpoint. Instanced housing still needs servers and storage to function which means they have to purchase and install additional hardware then configure it to operate with everything else that is already there. As for ideas to make an instanced housing area the ideas I had in the past were private islands in sea of clouds. house in a bubble underwater in like the ruby sea or something, or a personal airship home that you can anchor to what ever zone you want to call home.

Actually instanced housing would probably require less server resources than the current system. With wards everything is persistent so they take up server resources whether there are players in the ward or not and in my experience wards are frequently empty. Instanced housing only takes up system resources when the player is in the house. In fact it is how apartments work which SE has admitted that for all practical purposes are unlimited. The real mistake SE made was when they added apartments was they should have at a minimum made them small housing plots with exteriors and interiors. I think this would have satisfied most players since it is similar to what other MMO's do for player housing.

Think of it this way. If they had solved the housing problem with farms, they probably would have said. No details probably means it is just another instance with a little bit of interaction, probably closer to squadron room then house.

I'm wondering if they are going to similar to the farms WoW had in Mists of Pandaria.

[Theodric]

The way in which Elder Scrolls Online handles housing is quite interesting. Not only are they instanced, everybody has the ability to own one - to the point where a house bigger than a large mansion in FFXIV is offered to free to players who happen to purchase a subscription/purchase a specific expansion.

If that wasn't enough, each house is account bound and you can own a copy of every house in the game. All of which are various sizes and aesthetics.

I'd like a similar model embraced in FFXIV. Although I own a house myself, I don't particularly like the ward system as it doesn't have the 'neighbourhood feel' that is repeatedly used as an excuse for a vastly inferior system.

[Skivvy]

The way in which Elder Scrolls Online handles housing is quite interesting. Not only are they instanced, everybody has the ability to own one - to the point where a house bigger than a large mansion in FFXIV is offered to free to players who happen to purchase a subscription/purchase a specific expansion.

If that wasn't enough, each house is account bound and you can own a copy of every house in the game. All of which are various sizes and aesthetics.

I'd like a similar model embraced in FFXIV. Although I own a house myself, I don't particularly like the ward system as it doesn't have the 'neighbourhood feel' that is repeatedly used as an excuse for a vastly inferior system.

I've not played ESO, but that sounds fairly similar to BDO's housing system which uses phased housing. House locations are built into various towns & outskirts, and so you run right past them on your normal travels. They're not in a separate zone or anything which is nice for the immersion factor. So you just click the door, purchase the location want, and then go right on in. And each location is available to every player. They also allow you to purchase multiple locations as well if you feel the need.

I'm not saying BDO's housing is the greatest thing out there, but just providing another example of a game that makes equal housing available to all players. Instanced housing doesn't have to be restrictive like it is in XIV. I would love nothing more than for them to introduce a brand new system that is fair to everyone, but I'm resigned to the fact that most likely no major changes will happen in the game's life. I do hope I'm wrong though! :X