Just Another Housing Complaint

[dspguy]

The people that want a house will get a house.. I spent countless hours clicking against the bots to win mine, but it's what mattered to me.. Some players spend countless hours in PVP or Savage and then want something given to them in the game because they feel entitled to it.. If you want something in this game, work for it and get it. Period. PVP doesn't just gift rewards to users.. The Best gear doesn't just drop into your inventory while you sleep.. Why is housing different? If you want it get it.

Initially, I sort of felt this response was a bit dismissive. But after reading it a second time... it is actually on the money.

I had a house when they first came out in ARR. I lost it in the first purge when I took a break. But back then, there were still a few plots available. By the time I came back, I was out of luck. I spent a long time trying to find an open plot. I eventually found a medium after many hours of searching. Shortly after that, my wife began her search for a large or medium. She spent many many hours checking the ward list for anything that would pop up. She lucked out and found a large up for sale (during the FCFS days) which was part of a black market deal gone wrong. So she snapped that up.

Some guy I know that came back from the game after a long break... he wanted a house for his small FC (friends/family). This was during the "spam the placard" times. He didn't spend those days leveling jobs or doing savage. He spent his free time looking for houses and spamming placards. Eventually he did get it.

Same story with an FC member. She tried on dozens of houses after the OCE data center came up and introduced abandoned plots. I think it took her about 2 months to finally get a plot. But that's what she spent her time doing.

Now... in today's system, maybe there isn't effort you can put in to increase your odds (other than shopping around for the plot with the least bids). However, players had many years to spend their time seeking out plots when it was FCFS or "spam the placard." Many of those players were rewarded with a plot for their efforts. However, for the players that didn't want to put in that effort and was just hoping SE would make it easier... well, they did. It is better than spamming a placard. But now they have to roll with the entire server on empty plots.

[Drkdays]

It's true that players have had, shall we say, methods of getting a home for years, but it's also true that the number of players have exploded over the last few years when the number of houses was already far lower than the number of players.

And it's not like there have been a massive number of homes added, so getting a home has been far too difficult, and it has been far too rare to see an opportunity to even try, for a long time now.

Not only that, but SE has been making huge efforts to make housing more appealing. People who saw no reason for a home five years ago are finding more and more reasons to want one added every single patch. Players are steadily coming to realize that they are missing out on a large portion of the game that is constantly growing.

Lastly, the financial barriers that held players back from attempting to buy a home early in the game's existence have become easier and easier to pass as inflation has made it's mark on Eorzea.

The hard truth is that they are not keeping up with the demand and they aren't showing players that they are even interested in trying, which is very disheartening.

[Wedger]

Agree with OP, here. The housing issue is wholly correctable by SE. (Read: Provide enough housing) They choose not to put the effort into housing to fix it. However, each patch includes new housing items, many not usable in an Apartment or FC room. This is just plain mean, IMHO.

Any argument that SE should not provide more housing is odd, to me, as well. Why shouldn't they fix it? They have the code. (And why are people so worried about SEs profit margin that they argue more server space should not be made available for housing, but, it is AOK for new Data Centers?)

This is a fun game. It is sad that the developers put up with this one glaring easily correctable black spot on one of the greatest MMORPGs.

[Fybrile]

Initially, I sort of felt this response was a bit dismissive. But after reading it a second time... it is actually on the money.

But, it's not on the money. He's talking about the REWARDS for participating in types of content. We're talking about ACCESS to that content. They're different things.

We're not saying the rewards of housing, say, Thavnarian Onions, should just be dropped into our inventories. We're saying we're locked out of even participating. To make his analogy correct, you'd have to liken it to being locked out from participating in pvp or raiding altogether. If only 5% of players got to participate in pvp, you could be certain there'd be legitimate complaints and no detractors. Which is why it's so frustrating that this particular issue has its apologists. To stand against this complaint can literally only be that some few who have houses just don't want everyone to also have a house - which is a really garbage attitude.

The purpose of the housing mechanic in this game isn't just getting a house. It's not a real estate simulator. So trying to get one isn't playing the game. It's trying to play the game. And to say you should put more effort into just attempting to be allowed to participate is an exclusivist attitude that I don't agree with.

[Jojoya]

The people that want a house will get a house.. I spent countless hours clicking against the bots to win mine, but it's what mattered to me.. Some players spend countless hours in PVP or Savage and then want something given to them in the game because they feel entitled to it.. If you want something in this game, work for it and get it. Period. PVP doesn't just gift rewards to users.. The Best gear doesn't just drop into your inventory while you sleep.. Why is housing different? If you want it get it.

Players already have worked for it. They've leveled their character, gotten their GC rank and earned the gil.

PvP? Participate and you get Wolf Marks or whatever back to buy something you want once enough are accumulated to buy that something. There's no effective limit on how many PvP matches the game can run at the same time so everyone interested is able to get something and next week you'll be able to get more. Eventually you have the gear you want.

Savage? Participate and upon clearing you at least get tokens that can be saved to buy an item you want even if you don't get a specific item drop from the chest. There's no effective limit on how many Savage instances the game can open so everyone interested is able to get something and next week you'll be able to get more. Eventually you have the gear you want.

Houses? Enter the lottery and get nothing back unless you win. There is a hard limit on how many houses are available. There's no guarantee there will be an available house in the next lottery period. You more than likely will continue to walk away with nothing even if there is. You don't know if you'll ever end up with a house.

For a game that wants to be inclusive and giving players positive experiences, the housing system is exclusive and gives far too many players a negative experience.

[Lazuliann]

This is the result of only giving private buyers 6 wards to get a house in.
I would like the person who said "everyone who wants a house can get a house" explain to me exactly how thats going to happen, now.
After tomorrow there will be no houses left on my world at all.

[Shibi]

This is the result of only giving private buyers 6 wards to get a house in.

To be fair that's a medium.

You can also enter - on Siren - for a Goblet 20/31 (16 entries), Goblet 21/31 (16 entries), Goblet 23/10 (16 Entries), Goblet 19/39 (17 Entries) and so on.

All of those are clearly better odds than FCFS.

After tomorrow there will be no houses left on my world at all.

Goblet 19/50 is there waiting right now for the next lottery. And there will be some more from shuffles, server leaves, and bans.


It's not as bad as you make out.

[Fybrile]

It's not as bad as you make out.

What you are saying is that everyone should be happy with a business model that forces you to accept failing to get the lesser product you didn't want in the first place.

Saying a less than 5% chance to get a basic part of the game "isn't that bad" isn't just being an apologist for SE, it's outright sticking one's head in the sand so they don't have to confront an issue.

Saying "To be fair, it's a medium" also doesn't disprove what we're saying - it proves it. What's wrong with wanting a medium if we can afford it? Are we just supposed to accept Medium and Large plots are an impossibility? That would make them a fallacy - and would make SE's advertising of it false advertising.

As the previous post perfectly put it, we've put in the time, put in the leveling, saved the gil. There's no good reason to not get the plot we want.

Not one detractor here as given a single reasonable explanation why houses are even rare in the first place. Because there isn't one.

[Silverbane]

Perhaps SE shouldn't refund all of the losing bidder's money. Perhaps they should only refund, say, 95% of it. Anyone who can afford to put down 5, 20, or 50 million for a chance at a house can afford to lose 5% of it.

Because right now, people bid on house knowing they have nothing to lose by doing so.
Imposing a small fee on the losing bidders might reduce the number of people bidding to those that really want a house, and discourage people from creating multiple accounts just so they can take more no-risk attempts to get a house.

Plus, removing gil from the game is never a bad thing.

[Shibi]

What you are saying is...

It's always a BAD idea to put words in other people's mouths. Don't do it please.

Thanks