Housing Solution Proposals

[Greyhawk]

Why do people always suggest instanced housing? There is a reason a lot of us are obsessed with housing in this game. It is very rare for a game to have non-instanced housing and it is the reason I started playing the game in the first place. I don't even participate in combat in the game; I just like the housing. So no, we can't just have instanced housing because it would ruin the whole point of housing for some people. More wards, and unfortunately more SE money spent on servers, is the only way.

We always suggest it, because obviously the current structure of the NOC cannot support housing in its current state. 37 million active accounts, of those let's just take 1 million that are actively playing. Now count houses. Look at the boards at all the pissed off people. There is obviously a disconnect here.

It wouldn't ruin anything, and more wards is not the only way. They can support instanced housing to accommodate both the neighborhood whiners and the instanced housing introverts. I've explained how so many times, I'm tired of doing it again, but they can pull it off with the structure in place.

People keep screaming "MOAR WARDZ!!11" and SE keeps telling us "MOAR HRDWRZ!!!11" that they can't get a hold of. Use what you got, use it wisely. With how much they have thrown at housing already in total, I'm more than sure they can satisfy the player base.

[Ransu]

We always suggest it, because obviously the current structure of the NOC cannot support housing in its current state. 37 million active accounts, of those let's just take 1 million that are actively playing. Now count houses. Look at the boards at all the pissed off people. There is obviously a disconnect here.

It wouldn't ruin anything, and more wards is not the only way. They can support instanced housing to accommodate both the neighborhood whiners and the instanced housing introverts. I've explained how so many times, I'm tired of doing it again, but they can pull it off with the structure in place.

People keep screaming "MOAR WARDZ!!11" and SE keeps telling us "MOAR HRDWRZ!!!11" that they can't get a hold of. Use what you got, use it wisely. With how much they have thrown at housing already in total, I'm more than sure they can satisfy the player base.

This game has 37 million total created accounts. It does not have 37 million active accounts. At best the active sub count is probably a little over 2 million.

Either way, instanced housing isn't going to happen. Yoshi-P has stated that very clearly in the past that its not going to happen.

[Kailani]

This game has 37 million total created accounts. It does not have 37 million active accounts. At best the active sub count is probably a little over 2 million.

Either way, instanced housing isn't going to happen. Yoshi-P has stated that very clearly in the past that its not going to happen.

Well, we either need more wards, at least two new housing zones, or instanced housing. Based on the number of bids I saw on personal placards this cycle, I would estimate that at least 1000 players have entered this lottery already on Balmung, and there are probably more who either did not play this week or have not placed a bid yet who also want a house. It is not quite as severe on other worlds, but all (except maybe oceania ones) have a shortage. I am not a programmer but I would guess that instanced housing would be the least demanding solution in terms of server use. Either way, I am hoping we can get Square Enix to notice this issue and do something about it. Any kind of added housing would be helpful at this point.

[Ransu]

Well, we either need more wards, at least two new housing zones, or instanced housing. Based on the number of bids I saw on personal placards this cycle, I would estimate that at least 1000 players have entered this lottery already on Balmung, and there are probably more who either did not play this week or have not placed a bid yet who also want a house. It is not quite as severe on other worlds, but all (except maybe oceania ones) have a shortage. I am not a programmer but I would guess that instanced housing would be the least demanding solution in terms of server use. Either way, I am hoping we can get Square Enix to notice this issue and do something about it. Any kind of added housing would be helpful at this point.

I would argue they don't see it as an issue because their intent was never for everyone to have a house. They want players to share houses with their FC because they want the housing to be a neighborhood. Everything outside of the MSQ has always focused on some type of social design and housing is no different.

[Basteala]

Look at the boards at all the pissed off people. There is obviously a disconnect here.

To play devil's advocate a little, an official forum of pissed off people is situation normal. The best way to tell the state of your class on these forums is simply to see how few people are talking about that.

There's absolutely a supply and demand problem for housing, but citing a displeased player representation on the forums is like saying "instanced housing because sky is blue".

[Kailani]

Why do people always suggest instanced housing? There is a reason a lot of us are obsessed with housing in this game. It is very rare for a game to have non-instanced housing and it is the reason I started playing the game in the first place. I don't even participate in combat in the game; I just like the housing. So no, we can't just have instanced housing because it would ruin the whole point of housing for some people. More wards, and unfortunately more SE money spent on servers, is the only way.

I am suggesting both for the reason you stated. I also like the existing wards and hope they keep those as-is. But there is also such a shortage of housing that, on some worlds, even more wards would not solve the problem long-term. Balmung has already nearly filled up all plots just two lottery cycles in, and that is after a new housing zone was added.

I think we need an alternative system of housing that is truly unlimited. Unlimited instanced housing would be a good alternative for players who do not care about being social or having neighbors (which would free up space in the wards), and would give the rest of us a place to decorate while we wait for a plot to open up or for a lottery win. While I want a ward house, I would rather have an instanced house on an island than my current zero houses. And instanced housing could easily coexist with existing wards, so I do not think it would cause any issues for current house owners.

[Jojoya]

Why do people always suggest instanced housing? There is a reason a lot of us are obsessed with housing in this game. It is very rare for a game to have non-instanced housing and it is the reason I started playing the game in the first place. I don't even participate in combat in the game; I just like the housing. So no, we can't just have instanced housing because it would ruin the whole point of housing for some people. More wards, and unfortunately more SE money spent on servers, is the only way.

Then why are you playing this game? It's already ruined for you since all apartments and house interiors are instanced.

In other words, nothing says all housing must only be wards or only instanced. They can co-exist.

[Avoidy]

ok ok hear me out
a) double the furniture cap on all forms of housing, including apartments
b) create a second instanced room in apartments called a patio; allow outdoor gardening/outdoor furniture to happen in this area. Bonus: Give players control of the skybox in this room.
c) (DREAM FEATURE INCOMING) create a glamour plate system for housing furniture loadouts, allowing people to decorate their housing area and then save what they have, wipe the slate, and decorate from scratch without losing anything

^This alone would get so many apartment-owners who want a house to just shut up and enjoy their apartment. Myself included. If I could decorate the same apartment, multiple times without losing any of my old work because I could save it as loadouts client-side or something, I would be in heaven. I would never even want a house. Let other people keep their neighborhood. I just want to decorate.

Beyond that, just open more wards but do it on a server by server basis. In other words, some newer DC that isn't having issues might not need any wards, so don't dedicate space to them for that purpose. But Balmung? Mateus? Yeah, they need wards. Give them more.

There you go, you're welcome.

[Naoki34]

Housing Solution Proposals

Here's a great new idea that will change the world...

[not_ya_wify]

Reinventing the already spinning wheel isn't a solution (#2). Instance the existing structure, I've laid it out how it could be done in another post.

#3 - Stop this mindset. Throwing more wards is not a long-term solution. Instancing an existing structure is one. I refer to this as the 'same turd, same smell scenario'.

#1 & #4 - We can't even get enough housing for people. Your proposals aren't solutions to a problem, they are really making more of a mess of an existing one, IMO.

Y'all need to stop saying "instance houses" and ruin the neighborhood experience. WE HAVE INSTANCED HOUSING. It's called apartments. Rather than ruining the experience for people who already have houses in neighborhoods and want the foot traffic by making everything instanced, just take the instanced housing that is ALREADY IN THE GAME and make it better. Give us options to make apartments and FC rooms bigger. Let us share our apartments and rooms with other players. Give us a balcony with a little garden section. Boom problem solved without fucking with the system already in place that a lot of people are enjoying as it is.