The Real Problem with Housing

[Jojoya]

Uh huh, yeah just so you know last time they added wards to the game my FC tried to get a house. We logged in within 10 mins of the patch being done and every single large in the server was taken. All fucking 60 of them. We had the money, we were there fast, we just didn't get it because of internet ping. Fucking *lag* lost us our chance at a house. I assure you those people are not lying lmao.

Go back and read what I said. Those trying in the past 3 years definitely would be having difficulties. I stated that.

The person I was replying to had claiming there are players who have been trying to get housing from when it was released and have failed. That is BS. If they didn't manage to get a house in all that time, then they were not trying all along.

There have been multiple occasions were houses were available to get, 4.2 being the best one when houses were available for several weeks on all worlds and for several months on most worlds. Another good time was when wards were increased from 8 to 12 back in 2016. The wards did fill up faster on that occasion but there had still be plenty of time for players who were actually trying to get a house then. It's only been a constant struggle in the past 3 years since the player population exploded.

The manipulative lies about how it's been near impossible to get a house ever since housing was released needs to stop. It is simply not true. No one genuinely trying for all of that time would have failed to get a house.

That's not to say that I think they don't deserve a house now. Every player should be able to get at least one house for their account if they want a house. I dislike very much that SE continues to use a system that not only prevents that but intentionally leaves loopholes in the system that allow players to obtain multiple houses, cutting even more players out of the system.

But people need to stop the manipulative lies when the history of housing shows those lies for what they are.

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.

How are you going to react when you can't place furniture in Island Sanctuary like you can in housing?

People keep taking that quote out of context because they're so desperate for Island Sanctuary to be a housing solution. They're going to be so very disappointed once it's finally released even though YoshiP has stressed that we need to lower expectations.

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.

That depends on what you're used to from other games with player housing. My first real experience with MMO housing was RIFT Dimensions. Their introductory housing that every player gets free for completing a quest is the size of a mansion plot in this game (though the starting item limit was only 50 items). That was also a tiny housing instance by that game's standards. They've got some housing instances that rival New Gridania in size.

Improving apartments would actually help the house situation considerably. Bigger interiors with no demolition risk would be a big draw for many. That would free up more ward plots for those who prefer the ward set up or want access to intercross gardening.

Or better yet, create a full instanced housing system that includes exterior features. Nothing says it must replace wards. Wards can be left in place as a prestige system with risk of demolition.

[Brygd]

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

One of the main reasons I tried FFXIV was due to a friend showing me his personal house and highlighting the differences between FFXIV and WoW. Personal housing sure as heck has been used by the developers as an incentive to attract and retain players. The problem isn't the existence of personal housing, the problem is that the developers introduced a highly desirable feature and then failed to sufficiently support it. FFXIV has many design decisions that I applaud and enjoy. To me, their biggest ongoing failure is their inability to provide a sustainable personal housing solution for a player base that desires it.

[Corvus_V]

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

"features are bad"


?

[Masenko]

Housing problems or vacancies in the past have nothing to do with, or are functionally irrelevant to, the current situation.


You can really tell who the I-got-mine-screw-you apologists are for the housing system.


Also, there's a huge difference between "housing has been available because there were houses available that are smalls that are in comparatively low demand" and "housing is unavailable because larges sell out instantly." The problem isn't what has been available when, the problem is the houses people want aren't available NOW.

[TwistedTea]

"features are bad"
?

If we look at the history of housing in XIV, ward housing when first released was only for FCs and the original placard prices were exorbitantly expensive (~50m smalls) on some servers.

Ward housing was something for FCs to collectively grind out.

But players complained about the pricing and about wanting personal houses.

SE had initially stated that personal houses would be separate from FC houses.

However, SE did not deliver on this and instead let both FCs and players, purchase the same ward houses.

What happens when you lower the price of a highly in demand item but not increase supply to match?

Prior to 6.1, ~70% of the houses across servers were owned as personals based on Lodestone data.

Limited ward housing was not designed with increasing server populations in mind or every individual player owning a ward house.

SE was short-sighted in pursuing a housing solution like limited ward housing, which is not scalable.

But what makes it worse is that SE persists on doubling down on limited ward housing, instead of providing a fully instanced solution going forward.

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.

[Colt47]

Housing problems or vacancies in the past have nothing to do with, or are functionally irrelevant to, the current situation.


You can really tell who the I-got-mine-screw-you apologists are for the housing system.


Also, there's a huge difference between "housing has been available because there were houses available that are smalls that are in comparatively low demand" and "housing is unavailable because larges sell out instantly." The problem isn't what has been available when, the problem is the houses people want aren't available NOW.

The entire way this lotto is being handled alone has been enough to turn me away from housing. It's the first time in years I tried stepping back into the housing game and even if I had won a house, the fact that there is a long wait period afterwards to claim the house instead of instantly awarding the winner and moving to the next lotto, as well as a lack of a centralized point that does the assignment like a draft (You don't pick the plot, you just put a lotto ticket in for a specific sized house and then if you win you get a randomly selected plot from the wards), created an unfair situation for those not familiar with the wards themselves.

The developers need to shut down the entire housing system and figure out a new solution. They'd have a very small vocal minority of people protesting the decision compared to the majority that would be happy if they just had instant apartments for a year that could cover all the housing functions.

[EliaStormblade]

One of the main reasons I tried FFXIV was due to a friend showing me his personal house and highlighting the differences between FFXIV and WoW. Personal housing sure as heck has been used by the developers as an incentive to attract and retain players. The problem isn't the existence of personal housing, the problem is that the developers introduced a highly desirable feature and then failed to sufficiently support it. FFXIV has many design decisions that I applaud and enjoy. To me, their biggest ongoing failure is their inability to provide a sustainable personal housing solution for a player base that desires it.

This. Hell, it's even used in advertisements alongside other parts of the game that are freely accessible. So at some point they are going to have to make up their mind. Do they want personal housing to be "prestigious" and "rare" or do they want it to be a facet of the game that anyone who so wishes to do so can hop into and advertise it as a big selling point? The problem is they can't seem to make up their mind on what they want it to be. Why is almost every event still rewarding housing items (including outdoor furnishings) when acquiring a house is such a fickle process?

[Sythex]

Why is almost every event still rewarding housing items (including outdoor furnishings) when acquiring a house is such a fickle process?

Don't forget the way they promote housing items as major features in patch notes and even live letters, they're basically showing off things to the community at large that only a small portion of the player-base can actually look forward to. The rest of us either have to shove furniture and housing items in a retainer to collect dust or sell it.

[Illmaeran]

Well it is.
We're being charged money monthly and don't have access to a basic game function that is gated. There's an argument to be made here (likely poorly) that this is fraud of some sort.

And yeah, I'm bitter.

If you're currently on a Standard sub and are able to downgrade to Entry, why not do that? You'll essentially be choosing to pay less (vote with you wallet) to compensate for the housing content you're not getting with a Standard sub.

[Sythex]

If you're currently on a Standard sub and are able to downgrade to Entry, why not do that? You'll essentially be choosing to pay less (vote with you wallet) to compensate for the housing content you're not getting with a Standard sub.

I personally cancelled my sub for the time being. If my gameplay consists solely of running alliance raids or normal raids (depending on the patch cycle) and the one thing I want besides that is my own space large enough to decorate how I want is gated behind a luck based system, then why should I give them my money on a monthly basis? especially if they incentivize keeping a persistent sub to prevent you from losing said house.