Need more wards.

[Ayan_Calvesse]

Where are you getting the information that SE plans to open a new housing district in 7.0 and that it will be in Sharlayan?

Well Eulmore/Norv don't really make sense as they are another world entirely. Generally its a capital that gets a distrinct with the exception of SB not adding more zones. The scheme also works for SE's bottom line. How many do you think bought MSQ/Level boosts so they could bid in the empyrean on alts? Its good money for SE to make housing area's that require some effort to access with a $$$ shortcut. Thats just the way things are going and likely I suspect will continue...mind you it will probably be like 7.1 or some such.

So they mark it off their to do list and walk away if they don't have an actual interest in housing. The housing would still be getting enjoyed by those who like having a home for their character and decorating.

That's already happening here. How many players have their house just to mark it off the to do list but never really make use of them? Because they've done that and won't give up the house they aren't using, it's forcing SE to expand wards so those who sincerely want a house can get it. If this was an instanced system, players checking it off their "to do" list and then igoring it wouldn't be a problem.

The reason those other games are "dead or gone" is because the developers failed at the core aspects of their games in some way. None of those games mentioned were housing-focused games, just as FFXIV is not a housing focused game.

Does it make sense to keep a system going where those who don't appreciate what they have get to keep it, while those who would appreciate having it can't get it? It seems like you're talking about players that only see housing as a symbol of prestige. Not everyone views housing in that way. Remove the prestige element created by scarcity and the former would lose interest in housing while the latter would have a more enjoyable game experience.

The housing system is based on resources; those failed games dumped resources into homes that were not important enough to "keep" players in the game. Part of the point of housing in FF is that people stay around because they realize if they leave and their house gets demoed; they will have a hard time getting it again. SE does want longevity and fair weather players checking off "the list" will not provide that - also I would argue FF 14 has a much large importance of housing then other games simply by the virtue of all the markets and social media and sites that the housing system for FF (and largely Only FF) produces.

Again the issue is not people not having a home; its they don't get the "best one". I think many of the players putting hours upon hours to do stuff like what you see on eden is a prime example that they do appreciate their homes and so they invest in them. Those who do not yet have houses cannot appreciate what they do not have however.

[Jojoya]

Well Eulmore/Norv don't really make sense as they are another world entirely. Generally its a capital that gets a distrinct with the exception of SB not adding more zones. The scheme also works for SE's bottom line. How many do you think bought MSQ/Level boosts so they could bid in the empyrean on alts? Its good money for SE to make housing area's that require some effort to access with a $$$ shortcut. Thats just the way things are going and likely I suspect will continue...mind you it will probably be like 7.1 or some such.

That may answer the second part of the question but not the first.

Where are you getting information that a new housing district is coming in 7.0? They don't add a new housing district every expansion. The two districts that they have added also were opened to purchase with the x.1 patches, not x.0. To my knowledge, there has been no hint or tease that a new one is coming.

Your reply to my other point you quoted immediately falls flat because you dragged demolition into it. Demolition was not part of the original housing design. It wasn't added until a couple of years after housing was first introduced and was only added due to a large amount of player feedback about owned plots being unused while there are players who wanted to get a plot. It continues to fall flat considering the number of times SE has suspended demolition for whatever reason.

Housing does not exist to tie players to the game. It exists because it is a popular feature in MMOs and players always request it when it is absent. Happy players with things to do are what keep them tied to a game, not ownership of a house in a game they otherwise have no interest in playing. Only fools pay to retain ownership of virtual pixels in a game they aren't playing instead of spending that money on the game they are playing.

On the resource side of things, you're conflating quality and quantity. Development teams could have had members shifted from housing to dungeon but all that would have done is increased the quantity of dungeons created. It wouldn't have corrected the fundamental flaws in dungeon or combat design that made those systems unenjoyable for the player base. RIFT, as an example, had a reasonable amount of content even without housing. The problem was the content design was mediocre. It wasn't bad but it also wasn't especially good at a time when a large number of MMOs were getting released. Taking resources away from housing wouldn't have fixed that problem and likely would have led to the game dying even faster than it did (even though it's actually still operating).

Same with Wildstar. The fundamental flaw there was they wanted to make a MMO for the "hardcore" players and that's what they did. The skill gap between leveling content and end game content was massive, and housing alone was not enough for the casual players not capable of making that leap. Removing housing from Wildstar would have only seen the game shut down that much sooner because there would have been that much less for the casual players who make up the bulk any MMO's paying customers to do.