Longer patch cycles should mean longer housing demolition timers

[KurenXIV]

I loathe that SE holds many players subscription hostage; but if we're going to have a demolition timer isn't it reasonable to tie it to the release schedule of patches?

ie: if the major patch cycle is, on average, releasing every 16 weeks then the demolition timer should be at 16 weeks time.

Housing can be a very large time investment for many players. To have such a short demolition timer is nothing more than an insanely greedy ploy by SE to keep players subscribed when they aren't playing.

If SE believes so heavily in their product and content pipeline they should put their money with their mouth is and extended the standard demolition timer.

(or make instanced housing . . . or make apartments expandable on the inside to be the size of houses . . . or make housing so plentiful that it's not a problem to get a house . . .)

[TheCat]

I just resubbed so that I wouldn't lose my house, so in their book it's a win ;(

[Reimmi]

I would take all houses being instanced to not have the silly timer anymore.
The novelty of it being in the world for others to walk up to and randomly find is not worth being forced to stay subbed to keep a house thats nearly impossible to get when there's no content to do

[Shikiseki]

A simple solution would be to reduce the gil sink on housing --> people won't be that obsessed to keep theirs --> housing would actually change owners more often --> housing would be more accessible to the active playerbase --> people wouldn't feel too pressured to stay subbed --> less money for SE


I think you're seeing the point why they don't want to change their old housing system - in fact they are even doubling up on it so you'll feel extra bad for losing your small plot now as well that you upgraded to a mansion interior... They ain't fools

[TheCat]

A simple solution would be to reduce the gil sink on housing

The issue with the housing is not the gil cost of the house, it's winning the lottery, esp on popular servers. Gil is easy to come by and if you've been playing for a while you usually have more than you even know what to do with it. My sister has a large plot at the beach in Mist that she got before the lottery was even a thing and now essentially SE has been holding her hostage for sub money for YEARS, because getting that house was a once in a lifetime thing that is never gonna happen again. If you ever see a plot like that available it has hundreds of bidders.

[Sotaris]

A simple solution would be to reduce the gil sink on housing --> people won't be that obsessed to keep theirs --> housing would actually change owners more often --> housing would be more accessible to the active playerbase --> people wouldn't feel too pressured to stay subbed --> less money for SE


I think you're seeing the point why they don't want to change their old housing system - in fact they are even doubling up on it so you'll feel extra bad for losing your small plot now as well that you upgraded to a mansion interior... They ain't fools

There isn't really a gilsink with current version of housing. It's more of a premium to get a house now due to lottery and the limited number. The fact you're being kept as a hostage if you need to take a break is a bigger issue.

[PassinLay]

A simple solution would be to reduce the gil sink on housing --> people won't be that obsessed to keep theirs --> housing would actually change owners more often --> housing would be more accessible to the active playerbase --> people wouldn't feel too pressured to stay subbed --> less money for SE


I think you're seeing the point why they don't want to change their old housing system - in fact they are even doubling up on it so you'll feel extra bad for losing your small plot now as well that you upgraded to a mansion interior... They ain't fools

Reducing the gil on housing would make the existing situation even worse and lottery bids would probably be 10x worse, sounds like an absolute disaster

[Allegor]

I do agree the timer should be longer. With the way timers are set up, we can only really skip one month and then "have" to resub by the next if we want to keep the house. So much for a game that encourages us to take breaks.

That said, 16 weeks seems a bit too much. Theoretically you could login to do the patch, and then logout again without any consequences until the next patch, in which case you would be keeping the house hostage. I'd personally settle for, idk, 9 or 10 weeks.

I would take all houses being instanced to not have the silly timer anymore.
The novelty of it being in the world for others to walk up to and randomly find is not worth being forced to stay subbed to keep a house thats nearly impossible to get when there's no content to do

^Or this. Maybe make housing instanced but create a lobby where everyone can hang out, that way everyone gets a house without losing the neighborhoods.

[Korbei]

The thing about insanely greedy ploys is that calling them out isn't going to stop it. They're laughing at you.

You need to bite the bullet and unsub.

I am logged in right now with a free login just to let my FC leader know they have my blessing to let it go.

I encourage you all to do the same. Let it go. Unsub. Your pixel dollhouse is not worth your dignity.

[Sotaris]

I do agree the timer should be longer. With the way timers are set up, we can only really skip one month and then "have" to resub by the next if we want to keep the house. So much for a game that encourages us to take breaks.

That said, 16 weeks seems a bit too much. Theoretically you could login to do the patch, and then logout again without any consequences until the next patch, in which case you would be keeping the house hostage. I'd personally settle for, idk, 9 or 10 weeks.



^Or this. Maybe make housing instanced but create a lobby where everyone can hang out, that way everyone gets a house without losing the neighborhoods.

90 days seems reasonable to me if they intend on keeping a demolition timer. That's 2x of current system.
I'd rather get get rid of it completely and embrace and implement an instanced version.
I was on the train "we need to keep neighborhood feeling" for so many years, but last I owned a house, it was barren, barely anyone is in the housing wards. I remember a time when they were busy, around arr-hw era.

The thing about insanely greedy ploys is that calling them out isn't going to stop it. They're laughing at you.

You need to bite the bullet and unsub.

I am logged in right now with a free login just to let my FC leader know they have my blessing to let it go.

I encourage you all to do the same. Let it go. Unsub. Your pixel dollhouse is not worth your dignity.

I'm not subbed, but I have a 3 month sub which expires in 2-3 weeks then I'm out. I "lost" my house a month or two ago, a medium in a desirable spot.
I won't re-sub for awhile. SE still gets my money for FF11 though, but that game is at least worth my time and entertaining.