Such devastation... this was NOT my intention...

[forumaccount]

4. They've stated that they're still debating the decision to implement a lottery system, and that they will have the option to assign it individually per ward. If you didn't need any more confirmation that this is a flaccid, un-thought out decision, here it is. They've literally put design decisions, that influence the gating of arguably one of the best systems in the game behind a monumental time investment, on the backburner and have simply made last minute concessions. Completely unacceptable.

5. The final and most egregious decision imho, is that home owners will be unable to bypass the housing timer with relocation as per the launch of 6.0. What. WHY???. Why arbitrarily penalize already existing home owners! The decision to relocate doesn't lower the housing supply... It is used much less for house flipping vs. FC ownership.... Why throw this nonsensical decision in? Not all organized house purchasing is detrimental to the community. What of friends and guildmates who want to be neighbors? No more. Just an absurd limitation, inconsequential to the root problem.

[linayar]

2. The lottery process for individual plots will take DAYS. (WHY???) The window for plot availability was already a lengthy one in the current system. According to the latest devlog, it will take days for a plot to pop in the new lottery system. Why? There's no feasible technical reason. It's just another arbitrary trivialization of player time.

It's likely to allow more people to join in the lottery if they want to and reduce the chance of someone vacating a plot at odd hours for specific people.

3. You're locked in to a plot once you submit your gil. (WHY???) To prevent foul play? What logical foul play does this prevent... I understand the decision to limit a player to one plot lottery per time. But why would they be unable to withdraw their participation at any point before the winner announcement? They're forcing players to commit their real world time investment, that has already consisted of days, into a decision that will take DAYS. Why would players be arbitrarily denied flexibility in such a decision? How sadistically do they want this process to mimic reality?

It's likely to prevent people from artificially increasing the number of participants in order to deter others from joining.

5. The final and most egregious decision imho, is that home owners will be unable to bypass the housing timer with relocation as per the launch of 6.0. What. WHY???. Why arbitrarily penalize already existing home owners! The decision to relocate doesn't lower the housing supply... It is used much less for house flipping vs. FC ownership.... Why throw this nonsensical decision in? Not all organized house purchasing is detrimental to the community. What of friends and guildmates who want to be neighbors? No more. Just an absurd limitation, inconsequential to the root problem.

Being penalized is to be put at a disadvantage, but that's not what's happening here. They're just removing an advantage. And people who already have a house do not need that advantage compared to others who don't have a house.

Also, this might reduce the likelihood of people buying random houses just so they can instantly relocate, which would leave their old house unclaimed again when there might have been others who wanted that specific house.

[forumaccount]

It's likely to allow more people to join in the lottery if they want to and reduce the chance of someone vacating a plot at odd hours for specific people.

It's likely to prevent people from artificially increasing the number of participants in order to deter others from joining.

Being penalized is to be put at a disadvantage, but that's not what's happening here. They're just removing an advantage. And people who already have a house do not need that advantage compared to others who don't have a house.

Also, this might reduce the likelihood of people buying random houses just so they can instantly relocate, which would leave their old house unclaimed again when there might have been others who wanted that specific house.

Responding to the points as they were originally numbered (I appreciate you actually using the quotes as citations):

2. The current lifecycle of a plot is plenty time for people to sign up, as has been demonstrated by the current system. As for the alleged second reason, I wouldn't believe that to be an issue even at the current lifecycle of a ward, and if so it would be negligible and not outway the manufactured inconvenience of a days long lotto process.

3. Again, a negligible issue that would hardly be prevented by this arbitration if the alleged issue were the reason for it. As a tangential thought, a weighted lotto would naturally ease this issue.

5. It's illogical to compare homeowners as being advantaged or disadvantaged when compared to first time buyers. They're in a completely different category, as the homeowner doesn't affect the housing supply save for vacating a plot. Yes, homeowners should have the ability to relocate without engaging in the first time plot purchasing process, because their decision to do so is inconsequential to the housing supply and the first time buyer's experience. Funny you would mention getting a specific house, because no one is getting a specific house under the current system, or at least the chances of them getting their desired house are obviously all but gone due to the removal of relocation.

[linayar]

Responding to the points as they were originally numbered (I appreciate you actually using the quotes as citations):

2. The current lifecycle of a plot is plenty time for people to sign up, as has been demonstrated by the current system. As for the alleged second reason, I wouldn't believe that to be an issue even at the current lifecycle of a ward, and if so it would be negligible and not outway the manufactured inconvenience of a days long lotto process.

3. Again, a negligible issue that would hardly be prevented by this arbitration if the alleged issue were the reason for it. As a tangential thought, a weighted lotto would naturally ease this issue.

Well, those are my guesses. Maybe they have the data that show otherwise. And considering you are not forced to interact with the placard continuously, I think several days is a fine tradeoff of having more people be able to make their decisions on whether to go for a house, regardless of whether the current timeline is sufficient.

5. It's illogical to compare homeowners as being advantaged or disadvantaged when compared to first time buyers. They're in a completely different category, as the homeowner doesn't affect the housing supply save for vacating a plot. Yes, homeowners should have the ability to relocate without engaging in the first time plot purchasing process, because their decision to do so is inconsequential to the housing supply and the first time buyer's experience. Funny you would mention getting a specific house, because no one is getting a specific house under the current system, or at least the chances of them getting their desired house are obviously all but gone due to the removal of relocation.

The advantage is in being able to purchase a house directly. And with a limited supply, current homeowners are already at an advantage of having a house, so they do not need the extra advantage of being able to get a new house without going through the RNG.

With the lottery system, you are still choosing a specific house. You may not get your first choice, but that's never a guarantee where there is competition over limited resources. Even with relocation, it still depends on availability and timing.