The Real Problem with Housing

[Norwynn]

SE Logic: We can't add more wards because technical complexity
Also SE: Literally adds an entirely new district

Okay.

[KikiTia]

Exactly, housing won't ever be fixed until it's accessible. It's such a shame too because the devs have proven themselves capable of so much better. A game that has become famous for it's respectful, quality design choices that never force you to spend extra time on the game. Then there's this singular FOBO system that straight up tells you, even after the patch, "Oh, you didn't get a house? Well tough luck but you can still buy a singular room to decorate" It's frankly shameful that this system is still accepted years and years later. It was already shameful in the beginning when people had to lose sleep and go without food, water, or bathroom to maximize their chances. That they've only now made a patch up system that alleviates that is only barely solving the fucking shitstorm of problems housing has. People are not gonna be in any more of an uproar if we sacrifice neighborhoods for instanced housing. In fact I think there will be a collective cry of joy/relief because housing is finally accessible to normal people.

[saxman09]

Exactly because at the end of the day people just want a place to call thier own AND have substantial space to decorate. Not some tiny room FC's use as storage

[Colt47]

Exactly because at the end of the day people just want a place to call thier own AND have substantial space to decorate. Not some tiny room FC's use as storage

To be fair, the rooms are not really tiny, just the systems they have for decoration were never sophisticated enough to enable the full use of the space. It was built with the idea of throwing down useful items in a fairly standardized area rather than someone trying to divide it into two floors or add a loft that also has items on it. It probably wouldn't hurt if they improved that aspect since it would make things a lot nicer for the apartments and FC rooms. Not that it does much to resolve the housing issues but still.

[saxman09]

SE Logic: We can't add more wards because technical complexity
Also SE: Literally adds an entirely new district

Okay.

Also SE: Makes an instanced island space that is FARMVILLE with minions and the ability to place furniture like housing.....
So yes they just proved to us they can do instanced housing just by having the feature to place furniture on island sanctuary AND keeps it separate and individual to each player.

[IckeDerTyp]

As an addition, yeah.

Instanced housing (with size equivalents to the proper houses) would be amazing but I enjoy strolling around the wards alot too.

So removing that wouldn't be an option!

They're currently doing more for housing than ever before, so it's just a matter of time. But be careful what you wish for e.g. Lottery.

Also, just removing a feature for a different one entirely rarely is a good thing.

[TwistedTea]

As an addition, yeah.

Instanced housing (with size equivalents to the proper houses) would be amazing but I enjoy strolling around the wards alot too.

So removing that wouldn't be an option!

They're currently doing more for housing than ever before, so it's just a matter of time. But be careful what you wish for e.g. Lottery.

Also, just removing a feature for a different one entirely rarely is a good thing.

Yes, fully instanced housing as an addition to existing ward housing.

SE, it's long past time to recognize that limited ward housing is a failure in terms of access.

As server populations increase, limited ward housing is not a scalable solution. We see this on NA servers especially. No matter how many new wards SE adds, there's constantly a severe supply shortage.

Limited ward housing also consumes more server resources than fully instanced housing. There's a reason other major MMOs with player housing go down the fully instanced route.

The neighborhood feel is also a poor justification. Having owned houses in all residential areas on Balmung, I barely saw my neighbors. Maybe twice a year.

Every solution that SE has implemented to fix this broken mess of a system has resulted in it becoming even harder for players to obtain a ward house.

SE, why do you persist in doubling down on this failure, that has now gone on for nearly 10 years?

SE, please improve on existing solutions like apartments. Let us upgrade apartments for gil into penthouses.

Also, perhaps make Island Sanctuaries into viable alternatives for ward housing.

Improved apartments/Island Sanctuaries might reduce the demand on ward housing.

Yes, by all means keep the existing ward housing for players who want to fight it out for 'exclusive/flex' houses.

But for everyone else who just wants a house their friends can visit etc, please SE, fully instanced housing is long past due.

[Big_Bap]

It's simply this:

/thread

[Masenko]

/thread

This thread is about the current housing problem and how it's messed up, not how things were on September 16, 2014. Jesus lol

[Big_Bap]

This thread is about the current housing problem and how it's messed up, not how things were on September 16, 2014. Jesus lol

The reason it is still messed up is because of that update though.