I Bought A Cottage In FFXIV's Patch 6.3 Land Rush

In patch 6.3, Final Fantasy XIV experienced a land rush as Square Enix added six wards to all residential districts on almost all worlds. I managed to lose my previous small plot of land a couple of years ago by not understanding the rules. But with 92 million gil in my wallet, I decided if I wanted a plot of land, now was a really good time to do so.

Since the last time I bought a plot of land, the process changed. Gone are the days of clicking on an object until you win. In July a much more civilized lottery system was put into place. My free company still has a group that goes around helping people obtain homes. They had a list of plots in which either no one or one person was bidding on the plot during the land rush. So I waited until about 12 hours was left in the bidding window, went to a plot no one was bidding on, and plunked down 3.5 million gil for a small plot in Lavender Beds.

That's right, for all the complaining done about the lack of housing in FFXIV, my bid was uncontested. From the list I saw, The Goblet even had medium plots of land no one or only one person bid on. Of course, that is The Goblet. My first plot was in The Goblet. I much prefer Lavender Beds, the Gridania residential area. 

Of course, for the most part, if players wanted houses (medium plots) or mansions (large plots), they had to compete against other players. If someone wanted, let's say, a beachfront mansion in Mist, they might have to compete against 8 or 10 people. At that point, the odds of winning go down around 10%. Want to know where most of the complaining comes from? Those people who want prime real estate. Those wanting medium, large, or well-located small plots of land will need patience and luck.

How much luck is needed? Most servers are like mine. With 30 wards per residential area, my server has 900 large plots, 2100 medium plots, and 6000 small plots of land. Part of the reason why I chose to buy a plot of land to build a cottage on during the land rush was availability. I knew if I wasn't picky I could get a plot uncontested. From now on, people will roam housing districts waiting for open plots to appear. I expect the competition to increase.

For those wondering, FFXIV does have instanced housing called apartments. My server has 27,000 apartments. I have an apartment also. Yes, players are allowed to own a cottage/house/mansion and an apartment at the same time. Two apartments if a player belongs to a free company. I'll have to explain FFXIV's housing system later. I may create an entire series on the subject. But for now, I'm happy to have a cottage.