Why does it have to be so &^$%$ difficult to buy a house?

[Ceoile Stendan]

I've finally been able to scrape up enough gil to think about buying a house! Yay!

 

I've since discovered the joy of trying to buy a house on Mateus.  Ugggggh.

 

At any given time, there might be three to six unoccupied plots across the four housing areas.  And, as I learned last night, unoccupied plots have a hidden timer on them, and can't actually be purchased until that timer winds down.

 

As far as I can tell, on a well-populated world like Mateus, you have to either be bloody lucky in checking a plot when it's just come off of its timer, or you have to camp on a plot for an unknown period of time (hours, at least, it seems) to get one.

 

My understanding is that there are other worlds in which getting a house isn't a problem at all; it's a function of Mateus now being near capacity, as it became the de facto second RP world after Balmung.

 

Not having a house isn't the end of the world, of course; I do have an apartment.  I just feel like I've spent two months grinding on gathering, to raise the gil, and now it doesn't matter.

 

Any advice?  Commiseration?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Let me be the first (or whatever number I end up being if someone beats me to posting) to welcome you to Final Fantasy Housing Struggles 14.

 

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like we're going to be getting a housing system rewrite ever. And there have been quite a few threads here on why the current system is horribly unfriendly to all players. And alternative games that did it better. But one can probably find a MMO that does any one piece of the FFXIV experience better than FFXIV, be it raiding, combat in general, housing, crafting, character creation/customization, etc. Usually, the arguments die on "well FFXIV may not do any one thing the best, but the overall experience is still better than X or Y game when you compare all their features."

 

But FFXIV's housing really is pretty irritating on a lot of features. And certain design decisions have made it worse, and others are things it should have always had. 

 

For me, I really think we should have had the demolition timers, mystery able-to-buy-after-reclaimed/sold timer, 3 active member in FC minimum (at all times), etc at launch. I'm also of the mind we should never have had mixed FC and Player housing in the same wards. Personal rooms was a good addition. Things like the workshop/airship/submarine are nice, but ultimately limited to a player being in a FC, which isn't everyone's cup of tea either. Granted, if we had split wards up, we'd probably have still had similar issues. People can and still do trade houses using Free Companies, which falls under a grey area. It's something that becomes a bit of a "please don't buy/sell plots here on the RPC since it can be against the terms of service, which we do try to abide by" thing.

 

Your best chance will probably be whenever SE decides it's going to increase the number of housing wards. Thankfully, they don't do this immediately on patches anymore, so you have time to enjoy the game without logging out by a city aetheryte, gil in hand, battling a login queue and crossing your fingers that the patcher doesn't get overloaded by a flood of players rushing in at the same time.

 

Given the current focus on cross-world features, I'm sorta wondering if/when we're gonna see a cross-world free company. It's been mentioned in passing that they could consider it. Should that happen, I have to wonder if housing wards will then become cross-world or if there might be cross-world wards down the line. (Server nerd thing: housing wards are already -really- weird network-packet-wise compared to other zones or to instances. This is probably more to do with all the special stuff going on in them though.)

[SQUAWK]

I'll commiserate the hell out of this. A few days ago on Balmung, on my off day, I stood for 10 hours at a plot in Lavender Beds, clicking, clicking, clicking... only to have someone swoop in and do the whole insta-transfer deal. I made a point to not look to closely at or remember their names so I wouldn't have any hard feelings against them later, since man I had (still have) a loooot of salt about it, but I know they technically did nothing wrong. It's SE's system; you can either embrace it or accept being houseless forever, which is where I'm at. As someone who adores housing, it's almost enough to make me unsub, frankly. (Almost.) 

Your best bet on Mateus is to get a house through someone selling... err, I mean, someone just-so-happening to be giving away an FC the same time you just-so-happen to feel charitable with your gil. If your character you're getting the house for is already in one, pick up the FC on an alt, then just change the FC name to "So-and-so's House" and all that.   
 

[Ceoile Stendan]

I came to FFXIV from SWTOR last year.  SWTOR has its own issues (of late, a general lack of love and developer support from Bioware), but at least housing is straightforward.  Strongholds (houses) are their own instances, so, for example, every single player on a server can own a Tatooine stronghold, because each one is a unique instance.

 

Overall, I really like FFXIV 95% of the time.  Housing is in the other 5%.

[Nebbs]

I hate the housing situation, I already quit once over it. Though through perseverance I now have what I always wanted through sheer luck.

 

There  seem to be only three ways to get a house..

1. Wait the Unknown-Hours for a vacant plot to become free. the risk being gazumped by someone transferring a plot or someone else clicking.

2. In a future housing expansion, should they even make it a straight purchase thing like last time.

3. You acquire an FC that already has a house (as @SQUAWK says). This means there is no queueing, go straight to the house. It also means you can snap up the house of your dreams should it come available by housing transfer. In addition should you decide to quit you can pass it along.

 

So option 3 seems like the best bet, if you can pull it off.

 

There are alternatives, someone who has a house can give you rights to decorate etc.. Maybe some even "rent" out housing via this method, it could even be an IC thing with all the landlord vs tenant drama!

 

Good luck in your hunting!

Edited June 8, 2018 by Nebbs

[Gegenji]

Another option is to see if there is an LS or Discord chat dedicated to tracking what houses are available, coming up on demolition, or people are just looking to give up.

 

I know Lucerna (I'm blanking on her RPC handle at the moment, maybe she'll see this anyone and pop in with more info!) helps with a Housing Discord, but I do not recall if it's just for Balmung or if it extends to Mateus as well. If not, perhaps there is one specifically for Mateus! Having those extra eyes and ears around could help a bunch with getting a house. Lucerna helped me get mine for Chachanji, after all!

 

The biggest advice I can give is to not get discouraged. Getting a house on a high population server like Balmung or Mateus is going to be difficult. If possible, I recommend settling on just using an FC room or an Apartment if you can get one now and then just wait for your opportunity. Keep an eye out, use what resources are available to you, and hopefully you'll end up the proud owner of a house of your own!

[Tregarde]

This is an issue in any game with limited housing. I saw it way back when Ultima Online was young, and in every game that has had limited housing since. Once all the available space is taken, all you can do is wait and hope a plot opens (and you're quick enough to snag it), or hope the developers put in more space for houses. And in FFXIV it didn't help that it was possible for people to have multiple houses. Thankfully that is not so easy anymore, but I do think that SE should crack down and force those people to give up some plots.

 

It's because of situations like this that I prefer instanced housing.

 

My solution here - I'm just not worrying about getting a house. I'm getting along fine without one. Maybe someday, when I have a ton of money to spare I'll try to find a plot, but it's not going to bother me if I don't.

[Ceoile Stendan]

And, now, for the good news. 

 

I camped on a vacant lot in the Goblet all evening last night; when I finally logged off around 2am, it still hadn't unlocked.  I got up around 6am, and logged back on (I hadn't moved from the spot) -- when I logged on, the plot was still unoccupied, and it was unlocked!

 

 

Thank you, all, for your advice and encouragement!

[Valence]

I know this isn't Balmung but... cherish your luck this time though. 

 

Congrats and have fun!

[Aegir]

Yay~ congrats!

[Suko'to]

On 6/8/2018 at 7:02 AM, Tregarde said:

 I do think that SE should crack down and force those people to give up some plots.

 

This, I feel, would only create more discord over the situation if SE actually did do this. Punishing players who have broken no rules, even if it was under the old system of rules, in my opinion, isn't a valid solution. One house per account per server is something SE should have done in the first place, but lacked the insight to do so. However, even SE realizes how much of a problem they'd cause if they actually did take away housing that those people worked to get, even if they do own multiple houses. If you want to blame someone there, blame SE who created the system as it was, not the players who didn't do anything wrong (even if it might've been selfish, especially those who own an unusually excessive number of houses).

 

All that said, I really do sympathize with the OP. This hidden timer on auto-demo'd houses isn't a good solution at all either. Not only is it still based on incredible luck just like the old system was, but now it forces people to waste exorbitant amounts of time. As a member of Balmung who has seen people selling plot relocations, and been on the receiving end of this abuse, I know how frustrating it can be. In my opinion, the only positive step SE has taken is limiting the number of houses a single player can acquire.

 

Any other steps to discourage flipping has been a bust, from my point of view. FC houses still exist to be used as a direct means of flipping, and, now, instead of personal housing being flipped, people are selling relocations. For those of you who are unfamiliar with how this works, I'll explain. I'll use Mist as an example. Say you have one of those three small plots in Mist that are -right- on the beach. Those small plots are -highly- valuable. A player who owns that plot can say they'll sell a relocation to, say, an unwanted plot in Goblet for an exorbitant amount of money (I've seen amounts in the ballpark of around 30-40mil). Then a player who has a less than diserable plot can relocate to the plot of their dreams once the dream plot becomes available, having paid the flipper's fee for relocating their plot off of it. By now, I hope you get the idea. On any server with all plots filled, this can be a highly lucrative way of making gil. All it takes is waiting for a plot to become auto-demo'd, making it possible for the flipper to strike a bargain with someone who might want their plot.

 

All in all, SE hasn't really eliminated flipping at all, just shifted its focus. Lack of insight once more. The only way they're going to eliminate part of this problem is by placing a new restriction on relocation. However, it still leaves FC estate flipping.

[Drej]

This is why I'm honestly happier with an apartment than I am having a house.

 

Do I wish the apartments had just a bit more space to compensate for the lack of upper floors? Yes. Do I wish that they had the same Free Company amenities as houses do so we don't have to rely on houses? God, yes.

 

I had a house at one point on Balmung that was actually given to me by a player who was leaving the game. I've since given it to another friend who's now using it as their FC house, simply because I wanted to be able to take breaks from the game without worrying about the stupid timer demolishing the house because I felt like I needed to unsub for awhile. Now, having an apartment is almost better for me because the house was honestly too much space for me. I'm not one to really enjoy building out large sprawling mansions. 

 

Honestly, I see what Square is trying to do with housing, and I like it. An interactive neighborhood for everyone to live in. Problem is, that sort of thing is likely incredibly difficult to code. And if I recall, they've mentioned that there's a limit to how many wards they can realistically add.

 

The situation still sucks though, especially on populated servers.

 

 

Edited June 11, 2018 by Drej

[Unnamed Mercenary]

52 minutes ago, Drej said:

Honestly, I see what Square is trying to do with housing, and I like it. An interactive neighborhood for everyone to live in. Problem is, that sort of thing is likely incredibly difficult to code. And if I recall, they've mentioned that there's a limit to how many wards they can realistically add.

 

 

There's an item limit per ward, but I don't think we have a hard-set limit on the number of wards outside of SE wanting things to be balanced between worlds and datacenters. But they also basically hardcode them into the UI, which is why a dynamic system to allocate more was probably never looked into. Otherwise, we'd probably see a lot more wards allocated to higher population servers like Balmung, Gilgamesh, etc. 

 

But given how many -other- things have to run in the background of a housing ward zone's server to make things like gardening and chobobo stables, and other state-ful things work, they probably don't want too much time working on that instead of content or other features. Toss in other global timer stuff like airships, chocobo training, etc, and all the individual room instances and it's probably more of a mess.

[Lydia Lightfoot]

I'd had an interesting idea about how they could deal with the issue of multiple plots per account, and people who are basically inactive but pop on long enough to keep their house secure even though they aren't even actually playing the game anymore - property taxes.

 

Each account generates 1 tax token per subscribed month. If you don't spend a token, you can accumulate them. If you prepay for game time, you won't pre-accumulate, but you'll get your new one at the start of each new prepaid sub month as it turns over from the last month.

 

Tax due on an apartment or small house is 1 token per month. A medium is 3, and a large is 5. This tax is due regardless of whether the house is owned personally or it's owned by an FC. The tax can be paid only by a tenant of an apartment or personal house or by a member of the FC (accordingly, the potential tenants would change from 0 for apartments and 3 for any personal house, to 2 for apartments, and 4/6/8 for personal houses, depending on size), and, to prevent a black market of buying/selling tax tokens, the individual must have been a tenant or FC member for 30 days before they become eligible to pay tax on the property.

You'd be able to prepay tax for up to 3 months.

 

This would make it possible for an individual account to own multiple properties only if they had friends as tenants who would be able to assist with paying the taxes. It would also make it somewhat more challenging for an individual to keep a medium or large house unless, again, they had friends as tenants who wanted to help with the upkeep.