Why is there a timer on recently relocated plots?

[Olivia0x25]

If we are moving over to a new lottery based system, and someone relocated... then why am I sitting at a plot that is freshly re-opened due to the relocation to ishgard, yet not able to place a bid for the lottery to relocate myself?

Seems pointless to have to CONTINUE waiting, to wait to bid, to wait for the bid to close, and to wait to see that I lost so i can wait some more to try to relocate once again.

[Miracle_Diva]

My guess is that all plots now will be working by one schedule.

[RicaRuin]

Because we're currently in the claiming phase. The next bidding phase for all open plots starts Wednesday.

[Olivia0x25]

Because we're currently in the claiming phase. The next bidding phase for all open plots starts Wednesday.

There shouldn't be a wait timer to wait. That's horrible.

The house is already confirmed to be relocated to ishgard, so the land should IMMEDIATELY become available for bidding. It seems idiotic to design a system that requires a player to wait 4 days to even start bidding, then wait an X amount of days for that bid to end.

Almost like going to a theme park to ride your favorite roller coaster, but in order to ride, you need to wait in line, but before you can wait in line, you need to wait in another line to get to the waiting line. Like what?

[Packetdancer]

It seems idiotic to design a system that requires a player to wait 4 days to even start bidding, then wait an X amount of days for that bid to end.

This game loves regular schedules/patterns. Maintenance is targeted to end at the same time every week (by 3am Pacific time Tuesday morning). Weekly limits et al reset at the same time every week. We know exactly what levels of gear are likely to release with any given major patch. We know how many endgame dungeons there are likely to be when an expansion first launches (3, one MSQ one and two optional, all of which drop accessories of an ilevel identical to the job artifact gear). Etc.

The idea behind the auction, so far as I can tell, is that people all have the same amount of time to bid on things. If the houses opened for bidding and then ran for X days and then closed, people would still need to be running around trying to figure out which houses were open when. (This one opened on a Monday, so the winner would be drawn on Friday, while this one opened on Wednesday so would have the drawing on Sunday, etc.)

This way, folks know when they can start bidding and when the drawings will happen.

It also has the benefit that you can scout out which plots are available ahead of time, then figure out which one you want to bid on when it opens up and go straight there, rather than always running around to figure out if a plot you liked better opened up and if you should pull your bid from one and put it onto another... which, I suspect, might even be a factor in why it's got a set, cyclical window for bidding.

Almost like going to a theme park to ride your favorite roller coaster, but in order to ride, you need to wait in line, but before you can wait in line, you need to wait in another line to get to the waiting line. Like what?

No, it's more like saying "the theme park is open Wednesday through Sunday", and then showing up on Monday and going "But I want to ride my favorite roller coaster now, why should I have to wait until Wednesday? I'm already going to have to wait in line for the coaster, I shouldn't have to wait until a specific day to get in line!"

Whether or not you like that the theme park is closed for two days of a week, the fact is that it is closed on those days.

[LaylaTsarra]

Because we're currently in the claiming phase. The next bidding phase for all open plots starts Wednesday.

I doubt that is going to happen until they come up with a fix for the 0 bug.

[DrWho2010]

you have to wait the 4 days and then the next lottery will begin. it's not immediate.

[RicaRuin]

The phases are set in stone and the same now for everyone, so that players don't have to keep track of dozens different timers for different plots.

[Olivia0x25]

Yeah but artificially putting a timer on the plots that cant be bid for even though they are available is terrible. that's 4 extra days of needless waiting on a issue where time is still sensitive because everyone wants housing. The artificial waiting time due to being locked behind a calendar date arguably adds to MORE of the issues of housing because it's extending the waiting period by an extra 4 days within cycling, on top of the long biding period, which is also a multiple day wait time. That's terrible design, and pointless for that matter. Nothing needs to be confirmed if they are already relocated and setting up their house. Waiting for zero reasons what so ever besides a calendar day(s) tick is actually really bad design.

[Dustytome]

Yeah but artificially putting a timer on the plots that cant be bid for even though they are available is terrible. that's 4 extra days of needless waiting on a issue where time is still sensitive because everyone wants housing. The artificial waiting time due to being locked behind a calendar date arguably adds to MORE of the issues of housing because it's extending the waiting period by an extra 4 days within cycling, on top of the long biding period, which is also a multiple day wait time. That's terrible design, and pointless for that matter. Nothing needs to be confirmed if they are already relocated and setting up their house. Waiting for zero reasons what so ever besides a calendar day(s) tick is actually really bad design.

The point is to have all the plots that opened up available for bidding at one time. People only get a single bid to use per bid period, so they want to make sure they have the chance to peruse the full set of options available, especially since you can't undo a placed bid.