Sharlayan housing please?

[Bladehawk]

I don't see SE removing wards altogether, though. Players that have managed to get houses are too invested in them at this point.

Oh I don't know about that Jojoya. If SE were to redo personal/fc housing and make it much better then we currently have and limit players to having to choose between keeping their old ward style housing or new instance housing I could see them eventually getting to the point they could remove the wards.

The trick is in going about things in a way that players don't feel like things were taken away from them but rather they upgraded to something better.

[Jojoya]

The trick is in going about things in a way that players don't feel like things were taken away from them but rather they upgraded to something better.

It's going to be extremely hard to get all players on board with the idea that taking the wards away would give them something better. People have different tastes and different reasons for being interested in housing.

Those who have managed to acquire multiple houses in the same ward are not going to feel like having multiple instanced housing areas is better because they'll have to jump loading screens all the time to move from house to house.

Those who have paid tens of millions of gil to "professional" decorators to get a certain look are not going to feel like they're getting something better when that investment is lost and they have to start from scratch in a new location that may not accommodate the same design.

Those who are into the RP club venues that spill out into the wards are not going to feel like they're getting something better when they can't get into the club at all due to lower player limits within the instance (unless SE is able to increase capacity several times over the current interior limit).

Those who are into gardening are not going to find it an upgrade if SE doesn't manage to solve the cross breeding in an instance problem. Island Sanctuary farming is going to be a completely different system from what has been described so far, with no market element since it is strictly non-competitive in nature and no RNG/risk of loss element because it's supposed to be stress-free.

Finally there are those who thrive on having something others can't get and use ownership of a particular plot to fuel their need for prestige/elitism. They're not going to be happy when everyone else gets to have the same location they have.

I'm not trying to say I feel SE should be continuing to cater to any or all of the above. But it's going to be impossible to convince all players that they're getting something better by removing the ward system and forcing them into an instanced system. Even if a majority is happier, there will be some left unhappy.

Better for SE to leave the wards in place for those who prefer them and wish to compete for the limited space. That development time has already been spent, after all. But shift all future development time and resources devoted to housing to an instanced system that serves the entire player base fairly so every player could have something more than a tiny apartment.

[Illmaeran]

SNIP

But....uh.....er......um.....yeah.....damnit Jojoya, why do you have to be so reasonable?

[Jojoya]

But....uh.....er......um.....yeah.....damnit Jojoya, why do you have to be so reasonable?

I want to be happy with the game.

I also want others to be happy with the game, but what makes them happy may not be what makes me happy.

It helps discussion to try and see things from both sides, even if you don't necessarily agree with the other side. There's usually room for compromise that will at least leave most content (it's not likely you'll ever satisfy everyone).

If it was up to me - convert the wards into portal hubs for instanced housing. That's already happening when it comes to apartment buildings. Walk up to a placard and pick which house you want to visit from the list displayed. You get placed at the entrance to the plot just as you would get placed at the room entrance for apartments. Players still have the wards to meet and greet other players in passing - but they would also have instanced housing that would be able to supply every player with a house of their choosing.

[DamianFatale]

I want to be happy with the game.

I also want others to be happy with the game, but what makes them happy may not be what makes me happy.

It helps discussion to try and see things from both sides, even if you don't necessarily agree with the other side. There's usually room for compromise that will at least leave most content (it's not likely you'll ever satisfy everyone).

If it was up to me - convert the wards into portal hubs for instanced housing. That's already happening when it comes to apartment buildings. Walk up to a placard and pick which house you want to visit from the list displayed. You get placed at the entrance to the plot just as you would get placed at the room entrance for apartments. Players still have the wards to meet and greet other players in passing - but they would also have instanced housing that would be able to supply every player with a house of their choosing.

NO. I don't want to lose the ability to show off my house to others. I get a sense of pride from having a yard. Taking that away would make me very upset.

[Illmaeran]

Better for SE to leave the wards in place for those who prefer them and wish to compete for the limited space. That development time has already been spent, after all. But shift all future development time and resources devoted to housing to an instanced system that serves the entire player base fairly so every player could have something more than a tiny apartment.

This is the best option, no question. I personally love ward housing and wouldn't want to give up my house or a chance to get a house in a ward. That being said, there's a great deal to be said for giving the whole player base the option to have an instanced house; especially if they can figure out how to give individuals access to cross-breeding and workshops. I see Crystarium, the moon, and Ala Mhigo being particularly suited to instanced housing along the lines of a townhome style with a small front yard for gardens etc. Hell, reducing the size of the yard might even mitigate some of the angst around not having enough outdoor item slots provided they're not reduced. Less space = greater density. Another benefit of this sort of arrangement would be having standardized exteriors based on the location for those of us who appreciate location-based aesthetics from their neighbors.

When I was young my grandfather had a space in a community garden that he used to grow vegetables. The land wasn't suitable for building houses on, but was perfect for terraced garden strips. This is also a thing in Japan and Europe so the concept shouldn't be so foreign as to give the team pause due to cultural differences. Other than technical limitations I'm ignorant of, I don't see how making small instanced community-style (seeming) garden plots for each player would be an issue if they can't or won't do gardens in a house instance. Crystarium and Bestways Burrows already have gardening areas built in. With the technology to generate zone instances already in place; I could see an adaptation of that being used for instanced gardens in both locations.

I'd be willing to bet a fair amount of players with ward houses would be amenable to the idea of relocating to an instanced situation if community-access gardens and workshops were available. I'm into the RP scene, am not willing to give up on ward housing myself, and am fine with the limitations they have as the price to pay for being in a ward. If giving the general player base a single house, ward or instanced, per account encourages people to relocate and open up ward plots for those like me, I'm all for it. Getting RPers out of apartments and into ward houses may actually improve the community feel the devs are going for. If not, then at least everyone's got access to a house.

[GeminiReed]

If giving the general player base a single house, ward or instanced, per account encourages people to relocate and open up ward plots for those like me, I'm all for it.

Until and unless they provide a means for alts to share houses that's still going to cause problems. I need another personal house like a hole in the head but I really do need access the features that it gates.

Getting RPers out of apartments and into ward houses may actually improve the community feel the devs are going for. If not, then at least everyone's got access to a house.

I'd argue that feature gating (crossbreeding, workshops, etc.) is the bigger barrier. How many occupied houses do you see with no or haphazard decoration? Yeah, some of those are flippers but I'd argue the larger portion have them for the features and couldn't care less about decorating.

But that's not the only issue. It's always been a crap-shoot who will be your neighbors. Great if everybody's compatible in personality and schedule but there's no guarantee of either or both.

All of that ignores the convenience of the Limsa Aetheryte. A single known hangout spot vs. 300 wards. Inn Room, Vendors, Marketboard, Moogle vendor, Poetics vendor, and World Visit are all within easy running distance and it's accessible by fresh characters as soon as they're able to visit.

To circle back to the topic: The last thing we need is yet another MSQ gated ward housing district. IMO a better solution would be an instancing scheme that allows us to pick a location theme.

[DamianFatale]

I really think we should get Sharlayan housing next. >o< I would prefer it to the Crystarium, because the Crystarium isn't even in the main world.

[hotakako]

I am a programmer myself, but I won't call myself a professional.
But instanced housing do take up space in the servers too.
Maybe, and really a big MAYBE, the developers can fine-tune the way the current wards are saved in their databases.
I am still "supporting" the idea that they are not able to do a major revamp because of old/legacy code.

Which is also a possibilty, that they actually have a server does "performs the housing lottery" instead of having the housing server to do the lottery.
The lottery was conducted successfully, but the winning number was not communicated to the housing server
I am with the hopes that the recent lottery problems for housing will push the management to revamp the system on how housing works in the game, and get it right once and for all.

Maybe, with a newer code logic, they could implement more wards, or expand current wards.

In fact, I really love FFXIV's implementation of the neighbourhoods as wards.
Each house has a yard to put their outdoor furnishings, to make it unique.
This makes it such as all wards are unique, and it's really an enjoyable experience.
Hopefully FFXIV and team can do their best to make it happen for everyone who enjoy housing.

[Arohk]

Crystarium Apartments would be interesting , The Quadrivium is aleady perfect for that.