FFXIV Free Company Housing In 2.1

Wow. I just read an article on Massively about the pricing for Final Fantasy XIV guild housing. It’s rather high, and it has enraged the FFXIV community. At least according to the article. For myself, I’m not into housing on a good day, but I’m definitely not into housing if it’s going to cost me a bazillion jillion gil for a starter house.

Before we get to the housing, I’ve got to say, Square Enix knows how to put out some friggin’ patch notes. The FFXIV 2.1 patch notes are the most detailed patch notes I’ve ever seen, to the point of obsessive compulsion. It’s a complete encyclopedia of patch information that must have taken an enormous amount of time to put together. Kudos to them.

(My personal favorite new feature: Ability to add people to the blacklist by clicking their name in the chat.)

Is the housing too much? At first glance it sounds outrageous. On the other hand, premium land should be expensive, right? On the other hand, if it’s so expensive that it takes a massive campaign of gil farming to get it, it will absolutely suck the fun out of the game. I know from personal experience that if it costs a bazillion gold to buy a house, once you’ve collected the bazillion gold and bought the house, you pretty much are done with the game. (This happened to me and some friends in Ultima Online after we saved up to buy a mansion or castle or whatever it was. We didn’t play much after we got it.)

I’ll say this: The only way they will lower the prices is if literally nobody buys. But you know guilds are going to buy no matter how much it costs or how much they complain, and that will justify the prices Square Enix set. If they set a ridiculously high price and people buy anyway, they have no reason to lower them.

P.S. Square Enix responds. Spoiler: No changes.