Empty FC Wards

[Battler-Ushiromiya]

Image says it all, why are personal houses relegated to second class when all of these weren't even bid on? Am I going to have to make my own FC with dummy members just to get a house?

[EaMett]

Going to go out on a limb and say that sanctuary islands are going to cover personal housing needs. So they made wards mostly FC locked.

[Amenara]

It was pretty disheartening to realize that I can almost count the number of claimed houses in my FC's new ward on one hand after the lottery finished. I am almost positive not a single small house was bid on in the ward.

Going to go out on a limb and say that sanctuary islands are going to cover personal housing needs. So they made wards mostly FC locked.

Pretty sure Yoshi P has said to lower expectations from Island Sanctuary, so I am not gonna bank on it being anything more than just another mini game thing to do for a little bit or when you are bored.

[EaMett]

It was pretty disheartening to realize that I can almost count the number of claimed houses in my FC's new ward on one hand after the lottery finished. I am almost positive not a single small house was bid on in the ward.



Pretty sure Yoshi P has said to lower expectations from Island Sanctuary, so I am not gonna bank on it being anything more than just another mini game thing to do for a little bit or when you are bored.

Fair. It might allow for gardening though. Which would make apartments fine.

[Jojoya]

Image says it all, why are personal houses relegated to second class when all of these weren't even bid on? Am I going to have to make my own FC with dummy members just to get a house?

Answer to first question - SE didn't want to start the lottery with wards being split based on individual world needs so every world was hit with a worst case scenario split. They'll switch those some of the FC wards to personal in a few months if there are any left that haven't been filled by shell FCs.

Answer to second question - shell FCs been the way to get priority housing in the game since 4.2. You don't have to do it, but it's a lot harder to get a house if you don't. FCs will always have advantage due to the FC only content locked behind house ownership.

Going to go out on a limb and say that sanctuary islands are going to cover personal housing needs. So they made wards mostly FC locked.

Island Sanctuary is not housing.

LOL

You guys do know, that hundreds, even thousands of plots got blocked thanks to a game-breaking bug?!

You do know that on many worlds, half the FC plots had no bids at all don't you?

I counted up my ward yesterday as the initial chaos was going on. Out of 60 houses, 27 did not have any bids at all. Only 7 houses had a winning number of 0. My ward is half empty because there weren't enough potential buyers and other wards are in similar shape.

The ward OP displays is probably in a similar state.

Fair. It might allow for gardening though. Which would make apartments fine.

YoshiP stressed that Island Sanctuary is non-competitive. Gardening is competitive content due to the marketboard.

We know it has some form of gathering but it's not going to be anything we currently have available. More likely that gathering will be used to gain resources to upgrade features on the Island or to support other Island specific content.

Far better to stop hoping that Island Sanctuary is some sort of housing feature solution. On the very remote chance if does turn out to be, you'll have a pleasant surprise.

They said once the first round was done they would evaluate the data on a per world basis, based off demand/need and readjust the numbers and wards accordingly. Obviously if they see like 75% of the wards are for FC and only 1-2 wards are claimed or some such non sense they will open up more for personal use. But FC come first as they should.

I don't recall them saying it would happen after the first round, just that they could make changes in the future if they feel there's a need.

It also wouldn't make sense to do it after the first round. A second round would be needed so those who competed against other FCs and lost got another chance.

[EthanXdeath]

Going to go out on a limb and say that sanctuary islands are going to cover personal housing needs. So they made wards mostly FC locked.

Island sanctuary is not and I repeat is not going to be housing in any way shape or form. It's literally a place for your minions to roam and for you to garden, Yoshi P has said he wants everyone to lower their expectations regarding it. So no this is not the reason they are FC locked.

[Big_Bap]

I'll give you an answer that is specifically tailored to Malboro so the point might get across more easily.

Malboro - November 2021

Free Company houses: 1,709
Personal houses: 4,051

Characters that had access to Free Company housing: 46,288
The theoretical maximum amount of characters that had access to personal housing: 16,204


While the number of characters that had access to Free Company housing cannot be disputed due to being taken directly from The Lodestone, the number of characters who had access to personal housing through ownership and tenancy is much lower than what's written above.

[UkcsAlias]

While the number of characters that had access to Free Company housing cannot be disputed due to being taken directly from The Lodestone, the number of characters who had access to personal housing through ownership and tenancy is much lower than what's written above.

At the same time, most of the FC members also do not realy have any access to the house in regards to interaction. Its usualy just a few members that decide the layout, effectively being tenants on that. Of your 46k mebers, i suspect at most 4.6k members could actualy do something. Most members there are just inflating numbers and can use the house at best for a teleport discount.

And i do not consider stable usage as a part of that! Appartments also provide that capability, so its not FC unique.

[Rilifane]

At the same time, most of the FC members also do not realy have any access to the house in regards to interaction. Its usualy just a few members that decide the layout, effectively being tenants on that. Of your 46k mebers, i suspect at most 4.6k members could actualy do something. Most members there are just inflating numbers and can use the house at best for a teleport discount.

And i do not consider stable usage as a part of that! Appartments also provide that capability, so its not FC unique.

This is exactly what bugs me when people say "But if your FC has a house, you have a house! An FC house means 100 people can use a house!".
No, they can't.
They can teleport to it, they have a stable and maybe they're even allowed to water plants. And that's it. FC house design was always up to a selected 1-2 people in every FC I've been in, everyone else could only teleport, clean the stable/ train chocobos and sometimes water/ fertilize the garden. And if your FC had terrible taste, you were stuck with being able to relax in a gaudy house. What a privilege. Company Chest, Sub/ Airhsip, FC projects and maybe Wheelstand management was also either done by the FC leader or a selected officer.

The main reason people ask for their own house is being able to decorate it to their liking and gardening.
FFXIV often appeals to people that have a creative streak so being able to decorate is a huge appeal for them. Apartments are basically Harry Potter cupboards and you can't float furniture through the basement or close it off for more items on the main floor, which greatly limits the design choices. An apartment is not "half of a small house" as some people claim. It's much less than that.
And gardening/ farming has always been a popular minigame for many people even if it's just watering daily. The process of growing resources yourself is quite appealing and it's the reason why Island Sanctuary may offer that without needing a house.

[Big_Bap]

At the same time, most of the FC members also do not realy have any access to the house in regards to interaction. Its usualy just a few members that decide the layout, effectively being tenants on that. Of your 46k mebers, i suspect at most 4.6k members could actualy do something. Most members there are just inflating numbers and can use the house at best for a teleport discount.

And i do not consider stable usage as a part of that! Appartments also provide that capability, so its not FC unique.

Easy solution to what obviously doesn't appear to be a problem on the NA server, because yall are fine staying in large FCs. Don"t like it? Make your own with some friends.

Don't want to? Don't complain.