This is getting silly, just create instanced housing already...

[Ignacius]

Keep the current system for those that value it, make it cost whatever fixed price you want, keep wards and just plop the house down on it, and charge a few extra dollars for the storage if it's hurting you. However, after seeing the 3.3 patch on housing, you're missing the problem. FFXIV's housing is a liability with half a dozen games now having far better and accessible housing systems. It's something most people play FFXIV in spite of or in ignorance of. Not 'because of', and that's a problem.

You need instanced housing. It opens up a LOT more options, and it will not only keep people occupied, but flower a whole other portion of the economy. I don't blame SE for wanting their housing to do something different, but it's definitely not doing it and it's costing them in appeal.

The point is, instanced housing scales with population and pays dividends. The current system is something I have to talk around to recruit new players to the game.

[Rufalus]

3.3 adds more plots, but that's not the end of the planned solutions.

3.4 patch adds apartment complexes to give homes to a larger number of people.

Also planned is the ability to move home, and a new residential district in Ishgard.

[Ignacius]

None of which is going to fix the problems. I'm sorry, but this isn't going to work.

[Rufalus]

I believe apartments have 512 homes each, so it should cover a large amount of demand from people who can afford a home but are seeing no availability yet. If they can do something to prevent rich people from buying many homes with one account (using alt characters and making dummy FCs) that would alleviate a lot of problems too.

[worldofneil]

From what they've said 3.4's apartment don't sound any different to what you get with an FC room, just it's not tied to a Free Company. They said somewhere (live letter?) that apartments wouldn't be able to do gardening which adds more to it just sounding like a room in a house, just SE is your landlord, not your FC owner.

Might not even be able to go in the house... and it'll just ask you which room you want to go into when you click on the main door... but we shall see!

[Ignacius]

The problem is that none of this addresses the root issues. That's why this won't work; this doesn't solve anything. In a vacuum, if this was the only game with housing, or if FFXIV's housing system does something others don't. Neither is the case.

Cost isn't actually the problem, even availability isn't the problem, but cost and availability are directly counteracted by the game population. Which means FFXIV's housing situation gets worse the better the game itself does. Worse, that burden falls directly on new players SE needs to grow the game. To them, all development on housing is wasted. Housing should draw in players, but instead I have to convince players from other games to try FFXIV in SPITE of its housing.

Or SE could implement instanced housing for FCs and personal. It could be level capped, they could charge extra real money to enable it, they could make property and house a huge gil sink, but its presence would actually solve the problem at hand.

[Lexia]

Housing should draw in players, but instead I have to convince players from other games to try FFXIV in SPITE of its housing.

Maybe it just me but I didn't go "oh boy I want to go play that game cause I can get a house in it" think there other games out there if that one of the main reason to play the game.

[RolandDebreton]

Maybe it just me but I didn't go "oh boy I want to go play that game cause I can get a house in it" think there other games out there if that one of the main reason to play the game.

Be that as it may, it may not be a draw to you, but it is definitely part of the wider play for others. I spend more times making glamour outfits for my FC, my family's characters, songs for orchestrions and awesome furnishings and decorating rooms then I really do dungeon running. Some people want the whole package. I want housing in this game and I want it to be appealing and useful. These guys are pointing to some legitimate issues.

In addition to general space for housing there is the continued issue of severe limits on the amount of furnishings that can be put in housing especially with the options growing each patch and holiday. There are whole new sets of issues within the wider issue of housing.

[Solarra]

I agree with everything you said OP except for the option of paying extra money. This is a subscription game and housing is advertised as a feature, therefore the sub should cover it. When you consider what some Free to Play games offer in terms of housing, this seems reasonable to me.

Personally, I'm hoping there will be enough new wards to make a difference and that personal rooms will offer enough features to actually make it an attractive option to players.

[Ignacius]

Maybe it just me but I didn't go "oh boy I want to go play that game cause I can get a house in it" think there other games out there if that one of the main reason to play the game.

I understand that, but it's undeniably drawing people into other games. I mean, Wildstar would be dead and buried if they didn't have their housing system. And, being honest, if SE ever focuses on housing for a moment, they can definitely out-develop companies like NCSoft.

When FFXIV does draw people in because of its housing, rather than try to entice them in by getting a better game with a significant downgrade to housing, it'll be good all around. Not to mention our current housing system wouldn't be made to be unduly burdensome on those new players. Having any system in place that decreases accessibility to new players the more people they have to play with is generally a bad idea.