"First Come First Served" Plots

[Jojoya]

With relocation no longer bypassing the purchase timer, there's really no point to first come, first serve other than giving advantage to the bot users and FC flippers.

That's just a new one to me - there's people who LIKE clicking for hours on end with slim chances of success? lol

I wouldn't say they like the clicking but their chances of success are far better when they're only competing against 10-20 players instead of 1000.

[SeiyaSoiya]

When the new wards are released for Ishgard, the servers will go down for maintenance for 24 hours, that is long enough so that when the servers come online all first come first serve plots will have run out of hidden timer, making them purchasable immediately.
As of right now it is speculated that of the 26 wards released, 19 will be FC only, 5 will be lottery only and 2 will be FCFS

[Jojoya]

When the new wards are released for Ishgard, the servers will go down for maintenance for 24 hours, that is long enough so that when the servers come online all first come first serve plots will have run out of hidden timer, making them purchasable immediately.
As of right now it is speculated that of the 26 wards released, 19 will be FC only, 5 will be lottery only and 2 will be FCFS

That's some pretty wild speculation people are spreading considering past housing additions and how many plots remained unsold when personal purchase moratoriums were in effect. As many complaints as there are about how difficult it is for FCs to get a house, the demand just is not there to devote most of a new housing district to FC houses only.

Also, when did SE announce there would be 26 wards instead of the 24 wards announced at the last Live Letter? Google isn't coming up with any new announcements regarding additional wards when I try searching.

[Nepentha]

That's some pretty wild speculation people are spreading considering past housing additions and how many plots remained unsold when personal purchase moratoriums were in effect. As many complaints as there are about how difficult it is for FCs to get a house, the demand just is not there to devote most of a new housing district to FC houses only.

Also, when did SE announce there would be 26 wards instead of the 24 wards announced at the last Live Letter? Google isn't coming up with any new announcements regarding additional wards when I try searching.

I, too, would like to know where this information is coming from.

[Kogekigami]

fcfs would only be there for the initial release of the wards were its literally a race of who gets to the plot firs. there's no board clicking on release of a new housing estate like shirogane it was a race.

that's if they do some fcfs as they said in the live letter there not decided yet. likely we will know more next ll.

there's pros and cons to both on release ideal we have some of the new wards lottery from the start and some fcfs so people waiting for Ishgard who want to go for a specific plot and believe in their load times can race for it where others can chance the lottery. when houses get demo'd due to inactivity then they go onto lotto.

I dislike lotto from the start as you have to put your eggs in one plot and not be garenteed it. then you lost you chance completely on others.

then again this is me speaking as someone who has been saving for Ishgard for over two years now spent unhealthy hours in the firmament race and spent more money then I should upgrading my pc for some insane load times...I want my mansion plot and I'm going to be sour if I loose out due to rng lottery on a completely brand new housing estate and ward.

I guess next live letter will give us answers. I know they said all wards have the ability to toggle lottery on them it just a question of if they toggle all of them at the start or some.

[Kenky]

FCFS is how it was back in Heavensward. We all know just how terrible it was then.

Why wish for it to make a return? So you can guarantee you won't ever get a house? Ever? I mean, if you don't want a house that badly, just don't go to vacant plots. Don't condemn the rest of us for it.

[Jojoya]

FCFS is how it was back in Heavensward. We all know just how terrible it was then.

I suspect when they say First Come First Serve they mean what we have now with the purchase timer. I doubt very much they'll go back to the pre-4.2 system since that would absolutely shift control of any FCFS wards to the flippers.

The main problem is continuing to have any FCFS wards defeats the reason people wanted the lottery in the first place. The complaint was they have to spend hours camping trying to get a house. With wards split between lottery and FCFS they will continue to spend hours camping trying to get a house because the lottery will limit players to one lottery entry during the lottery period (whatever that ends up being - 24 hours? 48? one week?) while there is no such restriction on camping plots. They'll toss their one entry on whatever house in the lottery wards (competing against several hundreds other players) then go back to camping houses in the FCFS wards (competing only against a couple of dozen players so their odds of getting the house will be better). All the lottery does is effectively let them camp 2 houses at the same time.

Nothing changes because in the end the real problem isn't solved. There aren't enough houses for every player and FC that wants a house, and infrequent ward additions won't change that until such time as the player base starts dying out to the point there are fewer players than houses.

But like others, I'm waiting for the live letter where they discuss the housing changes in detail. It's not just Ishgard that will be impacted but all housing districts.

[LaylaTsarra]

I hope the release of Ishgard isn't all Lotto because in my opinion that would suck big time. Hopefully we'll get a clarification at the next live letter if not before.

[ForteNightshade]

I hope the release of Ishgard isn't all Lotto because in my opinion that would suck big time. Hopefully we'll get a clarification at the next live letter if not before.

This my hope as well. If the entirety of Ishgard is lottery only from day one, it drastically decreases your odds of getting a house compared to beating a log in queue. Not only do you have a better chance getting in faster but if your preferred plot is taken, you can immediately try for another. With the lottery system, you're screwed if someone else wins.

[dspguy]

Honestly, they should just make the random timer 5 minutes to 30 minutes.

Let's say the random timer is 5-30 minutes. Those players that dedicate themselves to checking for open plots throughout the day would be awarded with only a few players competing against them for the click war at the placard. Instead of 24 hours of pointless clicking by dozens of players that is likely being botted without any punishment by GMs anyway.

What about the black market? A 5-30 minute random timer is enough to keep away buyers. I've witnessed a black market flip gone bad where someone lost a large house in that deal to someone that just walked by and bought the house.

While more housing would help, I think the underlying mechanics (this long random timer) should be addressed. If SE wants to keep the idea of the random timer, shorten it up to 30 minutes max.