Feedback: System completely broken

[RavenLyer]

I am not sure what you all at SE hoped to accomplish with these housing system changes, but you've thoroughly broken it. Rather than making a system that would allow new players a chance to have their own houses, you've made a system that keeps nearly everyone from being able to purchase their own player homes on reasonable terms.

6 wards of personal housing. Per area. That's all. Thank god you didn't make that system retroactive and didn't take my own house away, as it now lies within an "FC only" ward. I would be quitting the game right this instant, along with likely thousands of other players. Does the development staff not understand that many people play the game solely for the "Housing Endgame"? Or that some people continued to play with the hope that they'd eventually be able to get their own home? Now the former can no longer hope to move, and the latter have no more hope!

Worse yet, this new system practically encourages RMT. Even if it requires 4 people in an FC at once to *Purchase*, that won't stop the bots that can make an endless stream of alts. And you've made it so that they can enter into as many lotteries as they have characters in those FC's. That's an easy system to abuse, and they can afford to lose the gil. There will be a significant rise in Single-man FC's in the coming future, as it becomes the only way people can have houses of their own.

To anyone saying that people should be happy with an FC room or apartment: No, they should not. The FC rooms and apartments are too small an area to really embrace the housing system, and you are locked out of exterior decoration. Also let's remember that they're still tied to availability. What happens when every apartment is bought up? Mateus and Balmung have been experiencing an apartment shortage for over a year, with almost none being available to purchase. What happens when players with social anxieties or a simple desire to play alone don't wish to join a Free Company just for a chance at a meager room to give them access to housing? Assuming they can even find an FC with a house, as most houses will be purchased by bot FC's for RMT sale. This system is clearly not the answer.

You have only one way to fix this, now! Make instanced housing! You've completely broken the Neighborhood system! You have the islands in development, so make them the answer to this problem you've made worse!

[Risvertasashi]

5 wards of personal housing. Per area. That's all. Thank god you didn't make that system retroactive and didn't take my own house away, as it now lies within an "FC only" ward.

It's even better than that.

I put in my bid for an ishgard house this morning. In the small chance that I win, my old house - now in an FC-only ward - thus won't be made available for other individuals to buy. The supply of personal houses goes down if I win the lottery for the plot I'm trying for.

And just by sheer probability, if an FC relocates, they're probably relocating out of wards that are now FC only - so, about 75% of the time, that also won't add any supply back to individual houses.

[Eretria]

So there are 24 wards. Wards 1 through 18 are fc. According to you there are then 5 wards for personal. Who gets the other one?

Also, on a more serious note, they said in their live letter they wanted to angle it more toward FC's since housing was initially designed for FC's. On the average server, there are approximately 6500 FC's. Of those, about 4000 don't already have a house and still qualify. Even with 18 wards, that is not enough for even half of those to get a house.

There simply isn't enough housing for everyone to have a house. Not even for most. Not even for half.

[Oizen]

Ishgard Housing has been in the works for over a year now, and they didn't see this coming?
I swear Square Enix must have some sort of Investment with Gold Sellers seeing as they designed this system specifically to reward them.

[Falrage]

I'm a December sprout and I've been scrimping and saving for a house in Ishgard since the moment I learned about it (fresh off the emotional high of HW). Managed to get up enough for a medium plot with no small bit of effort starting with nothing.

It's day one of the lottery and I'm already down to a 33% chance of actually getting my plot after what felt like a herculean effort. I know a lot of people have been waiting MUCH longer.

I understand the benefit of FC housing and support FC-exclusive wards but I just can't fathom why they didn't split the wards 50/50 at least when people have been waiting so long for new housing to open up. The fact that they didn't announce the split until maintenance was underway meant SE knew how unpopular this change would be and doesn't sit well, either.

[Jojoya]

Ishgard Housing has been in the works for over a year now, and they didn't see this coming?
I swear Square Enix must have some sort of Investment with Gold Sellers seeing as they designed this system specifically to reward them.

It's not designed to reward them. It's definitely designed to favor them since SE does nothing about housing resales.

Now if SE is going to start actively pursuing the resellers and their buyers, openly banning all accounts involved, that might accomplish something. Resellers would of course just make new accounts. They aren't really losing anything. But buyers would start taking a big step back to think things over because not only would they lose the house they just bought, they'd lose the money they paid the reseller not to mention all progress on their account.