A small concern I have about housing

[Bukachu]

Hello gamers.

I recently got into ff14 (like 2 weeks ago), coming from the game we dont mention, and in all honesty Im enjoying the game so far, however I do have a little (a bit bigger than little) concern which I will share below.

Been reading forums past few days, and as I got the game Just now and Im waiting for it to update (which will take a few hours), I thought I'd bring this up, as no one seemed to mention it (or I didnt notice anyone mentioning).

In short, its about housing.

Obtaining house is hard as it is, it involves certain level of RNG, sums, and then it requires you to stay subbed for the rest of your existence (unless auto-demolish is turned off ofc).

Different people have different solutions to the issue, but Im not here to discuss either of those solutions, be it instanced housing, more wards, etc, etc.
And, I somewhat understood why Auto-demolish was introduced in the first place (Limited supply, greedy individuals buying multiple plots and re-selling/monopolizing wards).

Yet there's one thing I genuinely don't understand.
Alright follow me on this one gamers - Lets say, I decided to get a house, I joined lottery, bid all my ancestral savings and got lucky enough to actually get a plot, so far it all makes sense right?

Alright keep following - So I decorate my house, make it look nice, spend months playing and enjoying the game, and after 9 months I decided to take a little break due to any reason really, be it burn out, real life, or just wanting to try a different games.
45 days pass after I quit and my house gets demolished. I hope im still making sense. we're getting to the end~

And after my house is demolished, 80% of amount payed, as well as all "salvageable" items are stored up for up to 30 days, and then, all of that is gone. THIS, this is the part I genuinely do not understand.

House is gone? right. and reasoning for that is that its a limited resource and since you're not using it, other people will. fair enough.
And Yoshi-P said that he doesnt want people to feel pressured to play at all times and not take breaks, right. that's also fair.

With all that in mind I just cant think of a good explanation, to why all your gil and property etc should disappear if you should decide to take a break. it just feels like a punishment for taking a break.

I mean you already lost your house, which is sad on its own but at least there's reasoning behind it, but then losing all your valuables on top of it feels even more depressing, especially when there's no explanation for it.

Please discuss gamers.

[Renalt]

Hello gamers.

I recently got into ff14 (like 2 weeks ago), coming from the game we dont mention, and in all honesty Im enjoying the game so far, however I do have a little (a bit bigger than little) concern which I will share below.

Been reading forums past few days, and as I got the game Just now and Im waiting for it to update (which will take a few hours), I thought I'd bring this up, as no one seemed to mention it (or I didnt notice anyone mentioning).

In short, its about housing.

Obtaining house is hard as it is, it involves certain level of RNG, sums, and then it requires you to stay subbed for the rest of your existence (unless auto-demolish is turned off ofc).

Different people have different solutions to the issue, but Im not here to discuss either of those solutions, be it instanced housing, more wards, etc, etc.
And, I somewhat understood why Auto-demolish was introduced in the first place (Limited supply, greedy individuals buying multiple plots and re-selling/monopolizing wards).

Yet there's one thing I genuinely don't understand.
Alright follow me on this one gamers - Lets say, I decided to get a house, I joined lottery, bid all my ancestral savings and got lucky enough to actually get a plot, so far it all makes sense right?

Alright keep following - So I decorate my house, make it look nice, spend months playing and enjoying the game, and after 9 months I decided to take a little break due to any reason really, be it burn out, real life, or just wanting to try a different games.
45 days pass after I quit and my house gets demolished. I hope im still making sense. we're getting to the end~

And after my house is demolished, 80% of amount payed, as well as all "salvageable" items are stored up for up to 30 days, and then, all of that is gone. THIS, this is the part I genuinely do not understand.

House is gone? right. and reasoning for that is that its a limited resource and since you're not using it, other people will. fair enough.
And Yoshi-P said that he doesnt want people to feel pressured to play at all times and not take breaks, right. that's also fair.

With all that in mind I just cant think of a good explanation, to why all your gil and property etc should disappear if you should decide to take a break. it just feels like a punishment for taking a break.

I mean you already lost your house, which is sad on its own but at least there's reasoning behind it, but then losing all your valuables on top of it feels even more depressing, especially when there's no explanation for it.

Please discuss gamers.

Frankly housing is the only thing to burn gil on. Losing the house and items are hardly upsetting when you have over 100 million because gil is easy to get. So you can just buy a new plot and all the stuff again easy...

However getting lucky enough to find another house is the problem.

[GeminiReed]

Somebody close to me at one time had RL happen to them and had to drop the game for several months. Their house along with several irreplaceable decorations we gone. Losing the house was painful but losing those decorations was enough of a middle finger for them to never return.

Good job Square!

[Bukachu]

Losing the house was painful but losing those decorations was enough of a middle finger for them to never return.

Good job Square!

Yup this is Exactly my point. It just looks like a way to keep people subbed.

Which is Odd considering Yoshi-P said he doesnt want to make people feel like they need to play the game/stay subbed 365 days a year.

and I mean on top of that they do Halt auto-demolition at troubled times to help community out, hence why its so puzzling.

In all honesty, I did hear a lot of good about this game and community, and even tho after starting to play I disliked few very minor things, nothing beats the disappointment I felt with this little detail.

I mean yeah, housing system has its issues, but like I mentioned it has ups and downs and certain reasoning behind it, but this particular detail I simply cant explain, other than a scheme to keep people subbed. Which would be sad if true

[Jojoya]

Yup this is Exactly my point. It just looks like a way to keep people subbed.

If it was just a way to keep people subbed, auto-demolition would never be suspended and the reset period would be 14 days instead of 45.

Demolition exists because players asked for a way for houses owned by players who have quit the game to be made available to active players, and SE recognized the necessity was created by going with a ward system over instanced housing.

As it stands now, you only need to be subscribed for about 5 months a year to keep a house (one month subbed, 6 weeks unsubbed, repeat). Or you can choose to own an apartment instead.

I will never understand players who keep paying a sub for a game they aren't playing for the sake of a house they aren't using. Wouldn't it make more sense to spend that money on the games they are playing instead?

The reason for having this sort of time limit is either technical or punitive. When a house is demolished, the system has to store hundreds or items per demolished house. Having a limit makes sense, although a month seems short. I hope it isn't because they hope to discourage players from taking breaks or from wanting to try out housing.

The data has to be stored regardless not to mention it's a trivial amount (even when added up over hundreds of thousands of players) compared to the total data a game stores. More likely it's related to the awkward way inventory data is handled in the game as opposed to memory limits.

If it were a memory limitation, deleting characters that hadn't been used after X period of time would be a more efficient way to create more room than deleting a few housing items.

Players who want to try out housing have access to apartments.

[Oizen]

Its almost like Yoshi P is a buisness man or something and keeps housing the way it is to keep you subbed

[Nanne]

Its almost like Yoshi P is a buisness man or something and keeps housing the way it is to keep you subbed

Yes make 0,01% of the players who own a house stay subbed instead making it so that 99% of the players stay subbed 12 months a year! Business indeed

[Renalt]

Speaking of housing...if anyone sees an apartment open in Balmung give me a hollar. I gotta find a home for all those stuffed Bokos I have.

[Issaella]

Speaking of housing...if anyone sees an apartment open in Balmung give me a hollar. I gotta find a home for all those stuffed Bokos I have.

There is a Crystal DC Housing Discord if you look it up or ask someone (I don't have the link anymore, unfortunately). People post the available private plots on all servers in the DC and Apartments on Balmung when they become available, because they are in such high demand. That's how I got mine on my alt a couple months ago.

[Jojoya]

My best guess on why there's a 35 day reclaim period has to do with how the data seems to be stored. Housing items are associated with the plot number then the player associated with the plot (why other players can take furnishings you placed in a house if they are a tenant with furnishing removal privileges). If the plot were to be demolished a second time before the first owner claimed their items and items placed into caretaker storage, the game may not be able to separate what belongs to who. Again, a guess on my part. That could be totally wrong and there could be other reasons.

If taking a long break from the game is something you expect to do on occasion, you're probably better off with an apartment since those don't demolish. If you're looking for garden access, you can always ask to be added as a tenant to a friend's house if they aren't doing their own gardening.

Speaking of housing...if anyone sees an apartment open in Balmung give me a hollar. I gotta find a home for all those stuffed Bokos I have.

Try actually looking. Every time someone brings this up, I use world visit, go to Balmung's Empyrean and quickly find available apartments in the subdivisions. There are still some for now though I can't guarantee how much longer they'll last.