How much dev time is spent on housing?

[Fyrebrand]

I mean the same could be said about Savage or Ultimates.
I think it's fine to have content that a minority will engage with, it offers variety.

When you start trying to '' appeal to everyone '' things often tend to get fairly bland.

There is a world of difference between niche content that doesn't appeal to everyone, and the housing system where a ton of players literally can't have a house because there are none available.

[ameliaw]

probably very little time, honestly.
Making a new housing zone and wards might be harder and timer consuming. But making furniture?

[Nizzi]

The devs adding new furniture and such doesn't bug me because people make some incredible stuff with housing and I always think it's cool. What does bug me is when they give away outdoor furniture for event rewards and I have no way to use it so it ends up wasting slots in a retainer's inventory. :P

[Batbrat]

Every patch, they add in a little bit of everything. and I'll be honest. The housing items are ALWAYS what im the most excited for. Who are they making it all for? Me. That's right!!!!!!! Me. I'm the one in the crowd going 'omgomgomgomg!!' at the furniture lmao. I always link the image of whatever it is first and foremost to friends.

Believe it or not, there is a strong housing community in this game. Google HGXIV. HousingSnap. (ffxiv) HousingEden.
There are many many many players just like me. Also, most of those furniture were created during a housing furniture design contest. So its not all 100% the team having to rake their brains for things, some of it is player submitted ideas. and Luckily for us, Yoshi himself has said that he likes RP and has partken in it a few times himself. So he knows the importance of being able to build intricate immersive fantastic looking places.

[sagacious]

Believe it or not, there is a strong housing community in this game. Google HGXIV. HousingSnap. (ffxiv) HousingEden.

Exactly, housing is strong here and is getting stronger. People pay a sub just to keep the house when people finish a savage they quit playing the game and play other games till a new savage arrives. Just put a double moon effect on the central staircase landing come visit and leave a message.

[Deveryn]

Gotta love when stuff related to a specific dept. (art) gets lumped into "dev time".

[Raven2014]

Who is this all for? What percentage of players own houses?

I don't think this is really relevant. Look at Savage and the % of people clearing it. Look at Ultimate and the % of players even just setting foot in there. And those contents take far more resources than furnitures while cater to probably even a smaller of player base. It's not really a 1 to 1 comparison, they do it for the shake of the overall health economy of the game.

[Rolder50]

I don't think this is really relevant. Look at Savage and the % of people clearing it. Look at Ultimate and the % of players even just setting foot in there. And those contents take far more resources than furnitures while cater to probably even a smaller of player base. It's not really a 1 to 1 comparison, they do it for the shake of the overall health economy of the game.

I'd wager more people participate in Savage then actively decorate housing (That is, decorate for more then an afternoon, doing more then just putting up some Maui Island heads in their yards)

[Limecat]

However long it takes them to clone the drives for a new ward server.