Stop complaining. You wanted this.

[Besame]

TLDR: I do not want to hear anything about Balmung because it is an unique problem that only exist in Balumng (get off this over crowded server for your own sake if you want a house)

Unfortunately, I do not agree with you on this as you tend to shift all blames on SE when we as players also contribute to this issue.
For a fact, majority of players do not care about Housing because decoration is not everyone cup of tea.
FF14's original plan for player housing is always FF11's Mog room style of sandbox but with more customize functions; therefore, Private Chamber is introduced at patch 2.3 (before Personal Housing Ward)
Private Chamber is also an attempt from SE to stimulate players to form FC and occupy remaining empty housing plot but it only proves the fact majority of players do not care about personal housing (even it is instanced).
Only small fraction of players cares and actually spend time and effort with Private Chamber.
I have paid visit to pretty much all house wards on Leviathan when I need inspiration to decorate my house/apartment/private chamber.
I can tell you for fact, that only few FC members actually obtained a Private Chamber in these FC occupied House.

Ward Housing only becomes popular after players recognized it as a finite resource, in another word, exclusivity.
Our nature shows no resistance towards the idea of exclusivity and that is the only main reason people feels the urge that they need a house but often left it undecorated after they obtained one.
Apartment as remedy did not work only because it is not "exclusive" and anyone can get one when they want; therefore it is lack of attraction.

Their major mistake is nevertheless that they opened this can of worms same way they did to Viera and Hrothgar (they shouldn't be playable race to begin with)
Only a game in downfall need these pointless attraction such as playable race every expansion.
Although to be honest, I think this game is not dong well at patch 2.2 and it didn't get a boost until Heavensward

I also mainly blame SE for it's feckless and inept housing creation. This company is well aware of what it takes to ensure the playerbase cannot cheat to get what they want. They are on an ongoing purge of cheaters and while bots and sellers still make up about 25% of the sub base, they are pretty good at doing regular sweeps to keep the game playable for all. Cheaters gonna cheat and after 30 years, I have seen in MMOS that there are plenty of them. SE needs to attempt to keep them at bay even if they have to yank the whole housing system and redo it as instanced so every player can have equal chance to purchase a home if they wish rather than the continual, ridiculous band aid fixes that simply do not hold water.

[Divinemights]

Irony is you already said yourself that cheater is going to cheat and SE is already sweep these cheaters on regular base
There is no Housing crisis and everything is about The Psychology Of Exclusivity and how it affect players mind
The fear of missing out is to to describe the fear of missing out on certain events or activities, I this case Ward Housing as finite resource
You are also experience that same fear or disappointment when you’re deliberately left out, without making that decision for yourself
When you feel you have limited access to anything, you’re bound to focus more outward instead of inward.
You’ll be more focused on the exclusivity of the situation, rather than focusing on who you are, what you really want, and why that exclusivity bothers you.
This is probably why people ignored Private Chamber and Apartment because these two instanced house offers no exclusivity
Like I said, if you do not have a decorated Private Chamber and/or apartment prior to this, decoration is not your cup of tea.
You are simply trapped by the fear of missing an exclusive event

[Nepentha]

Irony is you already said yourself that cheater is going to cheat and SE is already sweep these cheaters on regular base
There is no Housing crisis and everything is about The Psychology Of Exclusivity and how it affect players mind
The fear of missing out is to to describe the fear of missing out on certain events or activities, I this case Ward Housing as finite resource
You are also experience that same fear or disappointment when you’re deliberately left out, without making that decision for yourself
When you feel you have limited access to anything, you’re bound to focus more outward instead of inward.
You’ll be more focused on the exclusivity of the situation, rather than focusing on who you are, what you really want, and why that exclusivity bothers you.
This is probably why people ignored Private Chamber and Apartment because these two instanced house offers no exclusivity
Like I said, if you do not have a decorated Private Chamber and/or apartment prior to this, decoration is not your cup of tea.
You are simply trapped by the fear of missing an exclusive event

I find that most people already have an apartment and/or an FC room. (Can't get an FC room if your FC doesn't have a house, mind you.) But you can't use outdoor decor in an apartment/FC room. You can't do gardening except in a few pots that grow one plant at a time. Some people want more than a box of a room to decorate. There are many reasons people desire housing, and I hesitate to drop them all into one opinion box and label it with "Fact" in black sharpie.

[Besame]

I have a FC WITH a decorated sub chamber room, an apartment and a medium house. I enjoy the creativity offered as a housing enthusiast and I hunt, gather, craft, etc. I am not a dungeon runner, abhor dungeon mentality here.

[Kyssa]

(though I do still think a scaling tax to penalise house hoarding is a good idea).

I agree. Currently on my server, we've got one guy with 27 alts and every time a house pops up, at least one of them are there.

There also needs to be a reckoning with the sale of FC's. Word on the pixelated streets is that the plan going forward is to bring the interested buyer into the FC and in order to bypass the 30 day "timer", the seller will just delete the FC leader so the buyer simply "inherits" the FC and it's plot/house.

[EaMett]

The lottery is going to be better gameplay. But it'll make getting a house much harder. If people are cool with that tradeoff then I think that's fine.
I personally think the placard clicking as obnoxious as it was, was still relatively easy to work with. But then again, given how many people don't know how to leverage the current system and camp plots for hours on end, I suspect a lottery is for the best.

[Gofr]

I agree. Currently on my server, we've got one guy with 27 alts and every time a house pops up, at least one of them are there.

There also needs to be a reckoning with the sale of FC's. Word on the pixelated streets is that the plan going forward is to bring the interested buyer into the FC and in order to bypass the 30 day "timer", the seller will just delete the FC leader so the buyer simply "inherits" the FC and it's plot/house.

I know of a guy that did just that. Paid some amount of money for a large house. He joined the seller's FC, the seller made him lead, then the seller quit the FC. Done deal. Not great, but have seen it happen.

[Basteala]

The Lottery System is fine.

The Ward Distribution is not.

[MoonmoonMoonmoon]

The Lottery System is fine.

The Ward Distribution is not.

this is what I came here to complain about. SE segregating the wards is NOT okay. Sure there are FCs vying for a house. There are vastly more individual players doing the same thing.

SE needs to either
* Expand apartments to be something other than a consolation prize for players who couldn't get a house
OR
* Add more wards and remove segregation

[Unkara]

i think many forget that all those mutli boxer will bid with every char they have, at the same and at all open plots, their chance to get the housing plot via lottery are way higher
they will only lose a little more gil if they win multiple plots

the biggest problem is an will be all those mutliboxer player and mutli account/alt users that hoard whole districts with two player FCs ..........
this screens are from Spriggan - Chaos
and district 20 came after the limit with 1 privat and 1 FC house per account ................