The Balmung Apartment Issue

[lorthera]

Hi! To get straight to the point, as of July 2021 apartment openings on Balmung are nonexistent. What does that mean? That means literally every apartment building in every ward, every main division, and every subdivision is full. It's crazy and something I would of laughed at happening a few years ago.

I am the owner and head admin of a large Discord server dedicated to tracking and relaying housing openings across all of NA. Because of this weird issue, I have had to resort to making a small subsection to our Balmung section so users can track apartment openings. It's heartwarming in a way to see people sweep and relay apartments for others, but also it's kind of depressing seeing people actually celebrate being able to buy an apartment the same way they would react to getting a house.

Needless to say, I'm concerned as to how this is going to pave out in the future. The lottery system only covers house lots, not apartments. Sure, we're getting Ishgard in 6.1, but given the rising demand of apartments ("what? apartments are limited now? i NEED one!!!"), I have a huge concern that we might end up right back at square one after a few months. On a grander scale, I'm concerned this issue might actually spread (placing bets that Mateus is next). Housing demand has been getting worse across the board. And if this spreads, I'm heavily concerned that Squenix will not be doing anything to prepare for this.

As for my ideas on how to fix this? I don't know, nor do I think Squenix planned for the demand to spike this high. I could easily say that maybe adding an auto demolition after 1-3yrs of inactivity would be a good idea, however I know the allure of apartments for some players are the fact that they are permanent. Another solution could be making apartments instanced (similar to ESO).

Squenix, if you're reading this. Hi. Please fix your system.

Fellow Balmung players, if you're reading this, consider releasing your inactive apartments into the wild. Of course, if you're using it for whatever reason? Hold onto it! But if it's sitting empty with little cobwebs collecting in the corner? Maybe think about opening it up to someone else. As it stands right now, manual release is all we got. It's all about small, baby steps in anticipation for a better solution.

[SizhaFashonti]

I recently left an FC which had a house, and as a result was in the market for housing of my own. I was unable to find any houses, which is an issue that Squenix knows well about, but the fact that because of the server I chose to play on, I am unable to even get an apartment is upsetting. I would really like to have a place that I can call my own, where I can stable my chocobo and train him and make him a different color.

[Nepentha]

Back when apartments were implemented, I do remember reading that they could increase the number of them.

Well, SE, it's time to do that. With the influx of new players, you really need to do something about this sooner rather than later.

Also, there's a survey that's gone out. I don't know if it's to every player or just a sampling of them. If you get one, fill it out. There's a section for relaying messages to the devs. Tell them they need to do something to alleviate the housing issues.

[Jojoya]

Back when apartments were implemented, I do remember reading that they could increase the number of them.

Well, SE, it's time to do that. With the influx of new players, you really need to do something about this sooner rather than later.

Also, there's a survey that's gone out. I don't know if it's to every player or just a sampling of them. If you get one, fill it out. There's a section for relaying messages to the devs. Tell them they need to do something to alleviate the housing issues.

As Nepentha says, we were told that the number of wings in apartment buildings could be increased if apartments were to all sell out on a world.

https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post3853951

The current plan is to include 90 apartments available in each complex, but this number can be raised as needed for each ward, so don’t worry about room availability.

Guess what SE? We're having problems with room availability.

This is the second time for Balmung. SE failed to do anything about it the first time it happened. It would be nice if they would follow through this time.

The player base is continuing to expand and it's going to be a shame if a huge part of it gets locked out of housing altogether.

[Flashmann]

My FC is small , but we have plenty of space if someone wants a room or to train/color their chocobo, try out gardening or send out airships/submarines. We are very casual and laidback and we cant offer much in terms of raiding or dungeon delving but if someone is hunting a quiet place where they can sit and craft, live and play around with Housing features get in touch with us at the "Little Hollow Inn" ,Lavender Beds Ward 18 , plot 22 on Balmung.

[lorthera]

This is the second time for Balmung. SE failed to do anything about it the first time it happened. It would be nice if they would follow through this time.

The player base is continuing to expand and it's going to be a shame if a huge part of it gets locked out of housing altogether.

I wasn't actually aware that this was a second time for Balmung. I mean I'm vaguely not surprised given how many times the server has been sealed off over the years lol. Do you know when the first time was?

[Sotaris]

Most things isn't a first time for Balmung.

[worldofneil]

This is the second time for Balmung. SE failed to do anything about it the first time it happened. It would be nice if they would follow through this time.

Since SE updated house pricing (many, many years ago) all the servers now have the same configuration. From a technical viewpoint it's much easier to manage 68 identical servers/worlds that all use the same resources/setup the same way instead of having different configurations on different worlds. Having multiple configurations would mean much more testing is needed before they can roll out any update.

Unfortunately in this case it also means even though Balmung has run out of apartments, SE will be reluctant to increase the total apartments as the other 67 worlds simply don't have this problem. Increasing all their apartments is going to be a huge waste of resources. I don't know how full the apartments are on other worlds, but since I've never seen a non-Balmung complaint about apartments, it stands to reason they still have sufficient amounts left.

I do wonder how many of the Balmung apartments are by characters who don't play any more, but enabling apartment demolition would probably cause a lot of complaints as everyone is expecting the apartment to stay forever and 67 other worlds would be penalised just for Balmung so that's probably not something they want to do either.

Sorry this message isn't particularly helpful, but I just wanted to try and explain why they haven't increased the apartments (and until another world runs out, they probably won't).

[Jojoya]

snip

I understand that they have chosen to mirror worlds instead of allowing dynamic expansion based on population.

Yet they could increase the number of apartment wings on all worlds with minimal server impact. Unpurchased apartments are just a number on the servers. They're not taking up server space the way unpurchased house plots do. Even purchased apartments are a small set of data. The server load occurs when the apartment is actually entered by a player.

SE needs to get proactive here. Keep in mind that Balmung is now a Preferred world, not a Congested world like all the Aether worlds. Balmung's level 61-80 active character population was at 29,000 on Lucky Bancho's last census at the start of July. That didn't include all the level 50-60 character also eligible to own apartments.

If 29,000 is only Preferred world now, what is the population on the Congested Aether worlds - 40,000? 50,000?

17,280 apartments per world to serve all eligible characters, with some of those apartments occupied by characters that haven't been played for a few years. Not every player is going to want an apartment for every character but with the roleplay aspects considered endgame by much of the player base, the majority are going to want an apartment,

Ishgard when it opens (6 months from now?) won't improve things that much. The number of apartments per world will only be 21,600 if the number of wings and/or wards is not increased. That's still well below what Balmung would need with its Preferred, not Congested, status. If it's not meeting the needs of a Preferred world, it's certainly not going to meet the needs of the now Congested worlds as more of their populations level up.

Demolition is not the answer. especially when SE assured the player base when apartments were added that they would not be subject to demolition. Nor is there need when apartments are instanced. The load on the servers is generated when a player enters, not when it is purchased.

[Rin_Sato]

Demolition is not the answer. especially when SE assured the player base when apartments were added that they would not be subject to demolition. Nor is there need when apartments are instanced. The load on the servers is generated when a player enters, not when it is purchased.

I absolutely agree that they must increase the amount of apartments.
There is also the issue there are players who don't even have a level 60+ job who certainly will not be playing again who have had their apartments untouched for literal years. I feel like those players losing their apartment, especially if given forewarning, would be warranted.
I know the 45 day one is awful, but a 1-5 year timer (only starting if the apartments are all occupied) I think makes sense and isn't very harsh. If they don't resub for literal years, chances are they won't be very sad if they get a warning that says they have to play for 1 minute to enter their apartment to stop the demo. Especially if there's free game time during that period and they don't make use of it.

Ultimately it comes down to a failure to expand the available apartments in time as you said though.