Auto Demolitions Need to be Reactivated

[dspguy]

We can agree on the second part, the first though is a "player-made-up" fact. SE never claimed that demo was off for the war in Ukraine. They said "current world situation", which is a bit nebulous, but players assumed that this meant Ukraine despite them not saying this.

True. They don't explicitly say it but the timing of it clearly lines up with the escalations of war in Ukraine.

What's the point of auto-demolition if it is turned off for 7.5 months?

[chizLemons]

By your logic, then if you take a break for 90 days, remove mounts, levels, gil, etc. You don't need those levels or gil or achievements. No taking breaks in this game! SE should just delete your character after 90 days.

Housing is the only aspect of the game that can be lost to a player. Nothing else goes away when they take a break. Where's the logic in that?

It's different, limited content that's currently meant for active players. I'm sorry but sometimes people should just accept that not ALL content is unlimited and everyone should have it. If you want unlimited housing, get an apartment and an FC room - do you actively decorate yours? Meanwhile lots of wards are ghost towns because there's a lot of houses empty from people that just stopped playing for too long and don't plan on coming back.
The thing is, before your house is auto-demolished, you get warnings via email letting you know, so it really shouldn't be a surprise. Also, 3 months (used to be) the time between major patches, and active players usually wouldn't take breaks longer than that, since most people come back for the new content. If you're taking a longer break than that and is not interested in the new content, why do you need to hoard an empty house?! If you come back, and auto-demolition is on, you can try to get a new one via the lottery, since there will always be empty plots available. If you REALLY care about having a house that much, move to a server with housing available.

I think auto-demolition is a good system and should be reactivated too. Maybe extend the demolition period to 4 months to match the new patch cycle, send a few more warnings via email about auto-demolition, or give an option for the person to extend the timer through lodestone or other means without having to resub once if needed.

[Battler-Ushiromiya]

I used to agree with auto demo, but now that I have my dream house I think it should stay off. We wouldn't want unlucky people to own homes.

[NovelItokuri]

Agreed. There are a LOT of empty houses out there. We need demo back. It feels unfair to the average player - despite owning a house.

We make a habit of exploring houses on various wards and servers, and there are way too many that aren't even being touched. Nevermind wards taken up by an entire shell FC that need to go, outright.

[Yodada]

Agreed. There are a LOT of empty houses out there. We need demo back. It feels unfair to the average player - despite owning a house.

We make a habit of exploring houses on various wards and servers, and there are way too many that aren't even being touched. Nevermind wards taken up by an entire shell FC that need to go, outright.

Show us on the puppet where those people touched you ;P

[Battler-Ushiromiya]

We make a habit of exploring houses on various wards and servers, and there are way too many that aren't even being touched.

That's really creepy my dude, yikers

[rxantos]

A possible solution was to add instanced housing in the instanced Island. Yet they decided not to do it.

I think they do not do instanced housing to keep a carrot on players who do have a house so they continue to pay subscription.

Although, to be honest, the only thing you miss from having a house is having a garden. Everything else you can do in an apartment.

[rxantos]

To be honest. The demolishing system is stealing. As the original owner is not paid back the cost of the house.

[chizLemons]

A possible solution was to add instanced housing in the instanced Island. Yet they decided not to do it.

I think they do not do instanced housing to keep a carrot on players who do have a house so they continue to pay subscription.

For me the reason they don't do instanced housing is because the cool thing about FFXIV housing IS having wards and neighbors and not being instanced. It's what makes housing in this game different! It's actually really fun when house owners in a ward are active and you can see your neighbors changing things around, visiting them, seeing people, active FCs and RP venues. Plus, apartments ARE instanced housing and people just don't use them, you don't see them around, a lot are abandoned...it's simply not as fun in that sense.

Although, to be honest, the only thing you miss from having a house is having a garden. Everything else you can do in an apartment.

EXACTLY. Now please tell this to people that never even tried having an apartment but think they're entitled to a house they're most likely going to abandon in 2 weeks. I've seen many people don't even try to decorate their own apartments, get a house, struggle with decorating, decide they're not that into it and just abandoning and never using it again - but since auto-demolition is not on, they're just...there.

Also, about missing out on gardens - YoshiP already said that he plans on making possible to put outdoor items in your island to decorate it. There you go, instanced garden decoration!
If you're talking about the housing garden plots...they're really not that big of a deal that people make it seem to be. They're not really a good source of gil, you have to log in and actively take care of it (or have a friendly neighbor that waters them for you) everyday or things die which can make them a chore, everything you get from it you can buy cheap on the marketboard or get by other means. If you go walking around random wards you will notice a LOT of people don't plant anything on theirs, or don't even have them.

[dspguy]

It's different, limited content that's currently meant for active players.

That's the whole point. It is the only thing treated differently... by SE's choice.

I've lost a house. When I took a break, there were still houses available on my server. I didn't think it was a big deal. Came back - still had my gil, mounts, achievements, levels, gear, etc. Just not my house. And I lost it in that first purge. A timeframe when auto-demolition wasn't even a topic mentioned by SE. Even better, my email sorted the auto-demolition notice into promotions/spam. I'm not salty about it. It is what it is. I just disagree that it exists at all.

I've played lots of MMOs where the early players got certain gear, items, etc "easy" because there was less competition. And the newer players just had to deal. Housing is like that. And it is only like that since SE decided it will be so.