Observations and suggestion for impeding bots grabbing FC plots

[Shibi]

I'll stay subbed. Too many hours and I've not reached my personal goal yet.

...I redecorate frequently, effectively destroying those "countless hours" previously spent...

I like that way to look at it. I'd actually not considered it like that, but yeah, a sub farm even.. is just a standard redo.

Still too many hours to do my goal though, to do it unless it was a last resort.

[Jojoya]

If a player feels retaining the house is worth paying the subscription without complaint, that's fine. You're making the choice to pay for that access and retention.

The ones that annoy me are the ones who complain their house is tying them to the game and subscription.

If you don't want to be tied to the game, let go of the house. Not letting go of it makes it sound like you're choosing to stay in an abusive relationship when there's nothing blocking your way from leaving it.

[Solowing]

For what it's worth, I think that instanced housing would work and I also think that the neighborhood setting of a ward is preferable to it not existing and I definitely believe both is possible and I absolutely don't think one should just replace the other; but I think the 'exclusivity' of it is something that has no actual value. What I'm arguing for is that the value of housing being accessible and that people should be able to participate in the way they want, i.e) owning larges and mediums if that's what they want being weighed against what is effectively the sole functionality of the company workshop being exclusive to housing. I don't think that workshops being exclusive to housing, when already circumvented by the same means people buy up houses, is worth keeping everyone else out given that its simply not even the only advantage they have.

In the current system, without what we know as "housing mirage" and without instanced housing, I don't think there will ever really be enough mediums and larges for people without a restructuring of the landscape around wards to make any house work on any plot; and after that, there probably just might not even be enough plots for people. I also just flat out believe that wards would be a bit more populous if people who wanted it for things like hanging out, RPing, etc had houses; where other people might stick to an instance for the security; since wards are already pretty desolate. They're probably occupied mostly by people who simply don't play and are just worried about losing what they have and not being able to get any semblance of it back, and its obviously a pretty valid fear

Like, in theory, the demo system is a way to keep "active people" owning houses, but that's really just not what happens; and it's probably a large reason the neigbhorhood feeling we both actually want just doesn't happen.

It does keep players "active" Either you have a subscription and you login to check in the house within 45 days. Or you don't and lose it.

But it doesn't have a neighbourhood feel is because players tend to congregate in major city hubs. No reason to stay in the Mist, its shared but abit more isolated because 95% of the games content is not in the housing ward. So unless players are there by choice for their own reason. Its better just check out a major city if you're looking for social interaction or content.

[Ayan_Calvesse]

"I have too much gil and nothing else to spend it on".

x1000 times this....I even recently took to buying those "Sorry" posters and often will look on PF for players offering stuff for money to buy their first house; usually I give them a quest like to go get me take-out from a open venue or something and fund the small; to which they then say "Oh I am waiting for a medium."; as someone who bought a small first myself; I have no sympathy for people that are complaining about housing but refuse to accept a small.
/p