"Updates to the Prohibited Activities documentation" : Flipping houses

[TwistedTea]

Update

Prohibited activities that were previously announced, such as purchasing a housing plot with the intention of resale, have been added to the list.

https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/topics/detail/c4aeca0b14ab2c96fe48fcf83cca93e6cb552c29

◆Obstruction of play
"Obstruction of play" refers to all behavior in general that obstructs another person's gameplay. Below is a non-exhaustive list of examples of obstruction of play: ...

・Purchasing a plot of land with the intent to resell it
Key Points
Please note that Square Enix may conduct investigations and issue a penalty in its discretion even if a report has not been filed.

https://support.na.square-enix.com/f...la=1&kid=68216

[Sotaris]

It's a good change imo, problem is proving intent I think unless you're being overly obvious about it.

[Drkdays]

Maybe that 3-man team of Lalas constantly buying houses on my server will finally be halted.

[Illmaeran]

Does this mean they're going to start tracking quantity and frequency of plot purchases and sales on a given server for all accounts? This seems to be the only way they'll be able to assess prohibited activity "even if a report has not been filed". Could this also include tracking relinquishment of FC leadership followed by a large acquisition of Gil?

If so, I give this a big old "Hell yes!".

[Jojoya]

Note that the language used implies that the restriction is only for those who buy intending to resell. Players who purchased and used a house "normally" may still be able to later sell to another player (perhaps they're relocating to another server and want to recover some of what they spent, as an example). It's difficult to say what criteria SE would use to decide the player purchased only to resell (length of ownership, use of house after purchase?).

I do wish they had been a bit more specific about the sale of FCs in the policy. Some players will start a FC, get members to build it up thru game play generating company credits or making direct donations to the FC chest, then sell the FC out from under the members with the new FC leader kicking everyone. Frequently there's a house involved but not always. How would SE handle those situations?

[Nepentha]

Well well. It seems the spreadsheets I've been keeping of the worst reseller offenders is about to come in very handy.

[Kyssa]

It's about time.

[Arielen]

Great change - but how are they going to moderate it? Based on when the house was acquired by player A before being transferred to player B? And what happens if player B paid and received the house? Does player B get banned too, even if they didn't know that the house was sold to them with the express intent of flipping it shortly after it was acquired?

[Sotaris]

Great change - but how are they going to moderate it? Based on when the house was acquired by player A before being transferred to player B? And what happens if player B paid and received the house? Does player B get banned too, even if they didn't know that the house was sold to them with the express intent of flipping it shortly after it was acquired?

This. I really hope these new changes in ToS get enforced or is it just for show?

[Arielen]

This. I really hope these new changes in ToS get enforced or is it just for show?

Even if it's just for show I'd hope that it does deter a certain % of deliberate housing flippers. Even the housing sale community doesn't allow flippers.