Instanced Housing

[Palin]

Now there, you are just being salty.
When ESO is actually made by a company showing their greed on trying to gain money on free mods.

Again, I don't doubt ESO has an housing system you want, but it doesn't mean FF14 need to clone it.
Just because you want a large house and can't get it doesn't mean Ward is a failure, it is just not the style you want.
Takes Android vs IOS, each has their weakness and strength and you have freedom to choose, but it doesn't mean both platform need to be same.
Being noisy on a social platform doesn't makes you correct

You asked me for reasons why FFXIV is more popular and i gave you those i heard the most.(also ESO was developed by zenimax online and not bethesda)
While both systems are different they are aiming for the same goal: to provide users with a fun experience decorating houses.
So two games introduce housing systems and some time down the line one gets forum posts, reddit threads and website articles about how people can’t get houses they want, while the other side discusses how to best recreate Todd Howard's face out of fish.
It’s not android vs iphone, it’s android vs windows phone.

[Erinellza]

I want instanced housing because the neighborhood system is depressing. What's the point? The whole thing is empty. I never see my neighbors. My fancy fully decorated house is surrounded by 3 neighbors with completely empty plots. I HATE looking at the boring empty yards and basic houses, they ruin my view and my mood. I just want an instance where I'm alone and surrounded by trees instead of disgusting empty plots.

Why even have a plot if you don't decorate it for years?? People are weird, they always cry for a house but then they get one and don't even touch it. smh

[AlexiaD]

I want instanced housing because the neighborhood system is depressing. What's the point? The whole thing is empty. I never see my neighbors. My fancy fully decorated house is surrounded by 3 neighbors with completely empty plots. I HATE looking at the boring empty yards and basic houses, they ruin my view and my mood. I just want an instance where I'm alone and surrounded by trees instead of disgusting empty plots.

Why even have a plot if you don't decorate it for years?? People are weird, they always cry for a house but then they get one and don't even touch it. smh

I just want an instance where I'm alone

Idk maybe dont play MMO's if you want to be alone

[Erinellza]

Idk maybe dont play MMO's if you want to be alone

That's funny because many MMOs have instanced housing. And I'm already alone because the so-called "neighborhood" in XIV is a ghost town, lol.

[Yuniko]

That's funny because many MMOs have instanced housing. And I'm already alone because the so-called "neighborhood" in XIV is a ghost town, lol.

Careful of poking the hornet's nest btw. *hugs*

[Ravenblade1979]

Idk maybe dont play MMO's if you want to be alone

Maybe I don't know...open your eyes. They wanted the neighborhood feel bit it tanked when they grandfathered in people's extras then allowed the alt loophole to continue.

Not to mention the bot owned houses plus player houses empty only being kept as a status symbol by people who don't even play.

You are hard pressed to find a ward that's got any activity outside the odd live fc or venues. May as well have instanced. Would be no different then what it is now

[Yuniko]

Maybe I don't know...open your eyes. They wanted the neighborhood feel bit it tanked when they grandfathered in people's extras then allowed the alt loophole to continue.

Not to mention the bot owned houses plus player houses empty only being kept as a status symbol by people who don't even play.

You are hard pressed to find a ward that's got any activity outside the odd live fc or venues. May as well have instanced. Would be no different then what it is now

Well said hun.

[Frizze]

Maybe I don't know...open your eyes. They wanted the neighborhood feel bit it tanked when they grandfathered in people's extras then allowed the alt loophole to continue.

Not to mention the bot owned houses plus player houses empty only being kept as a status symbol by people who don't even play.

You are hard pressed to find a ward that's got any activity outside the odd live fc or venues. May as well have instanced. Would be no different then what it is now

You arent wrong that the "neighborhood feel" idea has tanked, but you are miss-attributing the cause. True grandfathered houses never accounted for even 1% of the total number of houses in game(and the number has only gone down in the 5 years since that choice was made), and the last census i saw put "shell FCs"(i believe their definition was less then 4 members) between 3 and 5 percent. And while ive never seen a meaningful effort to quantify "player houses empty only being kept as a status symbol by people who don't even play", im prepared to write that off too. The reason theres no "neighborhood feel" is that youve taken the houses and spread them out too far. Ul Dah, Gridania, Limsa, Kugane and Ishgard each have 30 different wards, and people in the subdivision dont see people in the main division unless they use the aethernet to switch over(and vice versa). Do the math, and that means that the houses we have are currently divided over 300 different locations per server. Thats too spread out for any area to feel busy unless theres a specific reason(venue, etc) to be there.

[Khryseis_Astra]

The reason theres no "neighborhood feel" is that youve taken the houses and spread them out too far. Ul Dah, Gridania, Limsa, Kugane and Ishgard each have 30 different wards, and people in the subdivision dont see people in the main division unless they use the aethernet to switch over(and vice versa). Do the math, and that means that the houses we have are currently divided over 300 different locations per server. Thats too spread out for any area to feel busy unless theres a specific reason(venue, etc) to be there.

This brings up a good point, and one that some of us have addressed in our ideas for instanced housing: have a directory set somewhere in the neighborhoods that are entry points for the instanced plots. Like if you’re thinking of Lavender Beds, as an example, put it in Dappled or Wildflower Stalls, where there’s housing NPCs, a market board and a retainer bell. Even if we could teleport directly to our instanced plot, which isn’t a given, this area would still end up being a place of high activity because it ends up being the closest market board location for anyone with instanced plots. You’d probably see more of your neighbors that way, with the upside that you don’t have to deal with their decorating styles in your own personal space!

In the wards, I’ve maybe seen a neighbor twice since getting my current plot this summer. I don’t really care about that, but it just makes me laugh when I hear people going on about how important “the neighborhood feel” is, when most of the wards are ghost towns, for all the reasons mentioned above and more. Which is why I’d be more than happy to leave the wards to venue creators and those who care about having a special place in a neighborhood, to have an instanced plot all to myself, surrounded by nothing but the beautiful scenery.

[Reinha]

This brings up a good point, and one that some of us have addressed in our ideas for instanced housing: have a directory set somewhere in the neighborhoods that are entry points for the instanced plots. Like if you’re thinking of Lavender Beds, as an example, put it in Dappled or Wildflower Stalls, where there’s housing NPCs, a market board and a retainer bell. Even if we could teleport directly to our instanced plot, which isn’t a given, this area would still end up being a place of high activity because it ends up being the closest market board location for anyone with instanced plots. You’d probably see more of your neighbors that way, with the upside that you don’t have to deal with their decorating styles in your own personal space!

No need to reinvent the wheel. Apartment building entrances can be teleported to and they have a market board, a summoning bell and a stable. Apartments have a directory and you can visit other people in the same apartment building who have their door unlocked. Bigger apartments with a yard would work within the system we already have and require minimal development time compared to another separate system.