House plots via Mogstation?

[Illmaeran]

Hey all,

Out of pure curiosity, how many of you would be willing to pay real money for a *permanent personal (non-FC)* house plot which would persist on your account forever, regardless of subscription status? I ask this because the dev team have repeatedly stated "server issues" being a significant factor in adding new neighborhoods and the money generated from plot sales could easily be dedicated to rectifying said issues.

I'd be willing to pay $20/$30/$40 for a S/M/L plot that I'd never lose.

How about you?

[DBriggs304]

Nope. Would be a disaster.

[Illmaeran]

Why do you think that? I'm sincerely curious.

[Besame]

Not at this stage of the game. I doubt I will be playing long enough to warrant the price. Anyway, that will never happen, housing is part of the game parcel you signed up for originally. That would be a disaster to change it now.

[DBriggs304]

Why do you think that? I'm sincerely curious.

Mounts, glamours, and nik naks are one thing. Plots are another and would open up a pandor'a box to start charging for virtually everything. It also wouldn't solve the problem as people with tons of real life money would buy up entire wards...not solving the housing problem at all.

And if people leave the game or are gone, they need to lose said house as it opens up another opportunity for someone who wants a house to get it.

[MilkieTea]

When you start charging RL cash for something that is already available ingame with restrictions (this doesnt mean a vague notion like “mounts are available ingame”) you start stepping into P2W territory.

If someone could just… buy the house for $20, it 1. removes the incentive to participate in the free version, 2. affects the economy of the game by removing a gil sink of anywhere from 2.8-50(ish) million per prospective player, and 3. fosters community resentment towards the game developers (“if they couldve done this from the beginning…” “why do i have to go into my house all the time while someone can just PAY to lift that restriction?”)

[Almagnus1]

At this point, if that's how SE handles instanced pricing I wouldn't be surprised.

[Sotaris]

No thanks. Imagine the outcry when you pay a premium for getting a house.

If you think store mounts was bad, imagine having to pay twice as much for a digital space. What's next - paying a premium subscription to garden? (There is already suggestions for that sort of thing)

[Illmaeran]

Thank you for your thoughts, I appreciate them.

I've bought and lost a couple of houses over the years when having to take extended breaks from the game but didn't see the significant issues with availability then as I play on what once was a fairly small JP server. Coming back to find it essentially an "NA-lite" server now and experiencing issues getting even a small house got me wondering if a premium service with the intent of that money being used to rectify the lack of servers to host housing wards might be a viable solution.

I can't disagree, the community outcry would probably be more detrimental to the game than the current situation.

Regards,
IQ

[worldofneil]

I'd be willing to pay $20/$30/$40 for a S/M/L plot that I'd never lose.

I don't like like this for reasons others have stated, but there's no way it would be a one off fee. Look at retainers and the premium companion app, these all require a monthly fee so there's no way a house could be a one time purchase.

Server costs aren't a one time thing, they're on-going.