Housing Roulette was an absolute trash idea.

[Takamorisan]

Like there is no other better system, you can fix the FC stack bid by only allowing the FC leader to bid per plot.

The other options would be what? Actual gil bid? It would be a glorious circus to watch, see people bidding max gil cap for small plots but it would be a disaster for the community and the game image.
And the other was rolling back to the previous system where everyone already vented their frustrations with.

The actual fix would require SE to stop doing stupid investments in NFTs and flopped Live Service Games and actually assembling a team to update the engine in a state where it isn't a damn nightmare to work with and be able to introduce features where it won't cause a datacenter crash and be able to compete with the current MMOs in the market. But for this one its easier to win the lottery bid instead of waiting their ceo to remove his head from the place where the sun don't shine.

[Atelier-Bagur]

Hard disagree, I would rather go bid on something then go play the game instead of sitting at a placard for hours to have a relocator pop in and take it from me or leave to go to the restroom and have someone else win the plot while I was gone. It was a toxic system that almost incentivized people to bot and should never come back.

People who keep saying the older system was better literally have turned off their brains and lost any form of sanity. Where were they when people kept complaining how bs the placard system was for how stupid and unfair it is.

Face it, lottery system is equal and fair for all parties involved. But it was never going to solve the housing system. If youre going to criticize the housing system, criticize the limited plots, not the method of acquirement for them which is objectively better.

[Deveryn]

Limited lots were an unfortunate decision, but it's clear there's nothing more to be done but try to find space. We're well past half a million houses across the worlds. There's no converting anything to purely instanced because there's no way to guarantee anything wouldn't go wrong, so we're stuck with things as they are.

Nope. You can plan ahead with the lottery, scouting out locations and which houses have the fewest bids. By waiting until near the deadline, you can find the best odds of getting a house. You also don't have to fight against bots.

This ^ We have empty lots in the new wards because people tended to favor a location over trying to scout any old spot.

[Corvus_V]

Limited lots were an unfortunate decision, but it's clear there's nothing more to be done but try to find space. We're well past half a million houses across the worlds. There's no converting anything to purely instanced because there's no way to guarantee anything wouldn't go wrong, so we're stuck with things as they are.

Instanced housing can exist alongside the current ward system. There is no need for a compromise, or for anyone to lose out due to it. Worst case scenario, replace apartments with exterior/interior instanced homesteads, since that's what it is. There doesn't need to be an argument that involves whether it is worth it or not. (Though, I would say it is, in the interest of fairness.)

You aren't owed a house simply for having a subscription.

I'll never understand why people feel like this. No one is asking for a house for free, they're asking for the opportunity to own the kind they want. That's a facet of a game. It is something you pay for. Square Enix has an obligation to make the game suck less when they can; so the critique is constructive and valid. The housing system in its entirety up until this point has sucked huge ass; specifically because it isn't instanced and is finite. Even more so because there's the supply issue varies from place to place, but the "demand" is always for plot sizes people want that they should be able to purchase if they have the gil.

The scarcity means there isn't an opportunity. Getting people to switch DCs is an option but it's not a solution; especially since the spots and sizes in question are occupied or not for sale at all.

Not to mention, playing on a foreign DC? Like after a certain point you have to reasonably just step back and say like: "Maybe I shouldn't have had to do that? Maybe it isn't my fault?"
I can understand if you're trying to be constructive, but you're kind of capitulating a little much to how awful it is to say that it's a normal thing for people to do to transfer to a foreign data center. I wouldn't have called that "unhinged," but I would say it's an observably bad kind of desperate. A little beyond what should be acceptable for a company of this size.

[Renathras]

Hm...

I have no idea how to say this nicely, so I think I'll skirt around and try not to say it other than a parallel:

Imagine being a wealthy person irl who lives in a mansion but is so particular they'd rather move out of it into a smaller mansion, but not into a normal house because they have "too much stuff", because they don't like the location, but are unwilling to move into a smaller house (because they have too much stuff), and instead complain that they can't find either another mansion or a smaller mansion (that is still a mansion) in a location they like. Kind of some "I don't want this 7 course meal because I dislike some of the dishes...but I can't eat at a normal person restaurant, I need at least 5 courses..." thing.

I get everyone's their own person with their own way of thinking about things...but this seems very......I can't think of a not negative sounding word to describe it, so I just will leave it at that.

.

If you really like snow, try a Small in Ishgard.

I guess there's a point in life where you have to ask yourself what is most important to you since you can't have everything you want. Is the setting? Is the size? Is getting out of the home with bad memories? And based on the answer to that question - What is the most important to you? - pick one and don't look back or complain about it.

If you can't stand being in a Small and what you have is the only non-Small you have access to, and not living in a Small is the most important consideration, stay in your Large and be happy/don't complain. If the setting is most important to you, then strip the stuff you can't replace and that matters to you most from the house and grab a Small in Ishgard. If getting out of the home with bad memories is most important, find a Small ANYwhere, or even just let the Large go and go homeless so you don't have to deal with those bad memories.

Pick what's most important to you and embrace that, and once you do, don't look back and don't complain, because you chose what was most important to you and you can't have everything; don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. That's among the best advice I've ever been given in life.

EDIT:

Same here!

I spent a lot of time searching for a plot I liked, and whilst the others did appeal I found a specific plot at the Goblet which I knew I wanted.

<images>

I absolutely love the view from the rear of the house.
And the bonus was that the Goblet not being to everyone's taste worked in my favour - I had no competition for the plot on the Ward I selected.

Oh wow...those pictures almost make me want to go for the Goblet. My Apartment's there...

[Seraphor]

To be honest and not going to be nice about this but I honestly don't give a flying f about your opinion or you're advice.

...how old are you?

[Seraphor]

How about you don't ask ppl ages on the internet?

I mean, I'm wondering if you're even old enough to be playing this game, or if you should try acting your age otherwise.

But of course "asking your age" would be yet another thing you get irrationally offended by.

[Zebraoracle]

Yeah I'm kinda sad that the Goblet is the least popular ward. To me it looks really nice, and is, IMO, much more appealing than Mist, and WAY better than Ishgard (I'm biased against snow areas though LOL). Oh well, less competition lol