Dawntrail Diary: Hitting The Level Cap

Another week of playing Final Fantasy XIV's latest expansion Dawntrail is in the books. When writing about my experiences I really want to go on and on but FFXIV is one of those story driven games. I want to give people a chance to experience the game with as few spoilers as possible. For today's post and next week's I'm going to use my free company's rules as a guide: no story elements, no zone or dungeon names, and no MSQ elements not already published by the developers. The thinking is thirty days after the early access launch is enough time. Hopefully four weeks of spoiler-free posts for those who bought the game at launch is enough time.

I will touch on some things in Dawntrail in the most general ways. Hopefully I've erred on the side of caution and won't spoil the story for anyone.

Real life - Last week's post was delayed by 3 days because I forgot to set the timer correctly. As such, today's post actually covers ten days. And what a ten days!

During the period, someone tried to assassinate former president Donald Trump, the internet melted down over the failed Crowdstrike update, the WNBA held its all-star game, and President Joe Biden declared he was withdrawing from the presidential race. Oh, and I almost forgot. Tornados swept through the area and I briefly lost power and my internet connection one night. All of those events either drew my attention or affected my playtime by delaying when I could begin playing video games.

Hitting the level cap - I reached level 100 on my white mage job after a campfire scene. I didn't really adventure a lot over the past week because during Dawntrail I've discovered I cannot have YouTube or a podcast on in the background when running through MSQ content. With all the events of the last week calling for attention, my MSQ progress has slowed.

Just because I hit the level cap doesn't mean I plan on switching to another job. One, I only have three other jobs at level 90. Two, I want to run through the MSQ completely on my main job, white mage. Is that wasteful of experience points? Perhaps. But I have enough games in which I try to min/max my statistics 100% of the time. Final Fantasy XIV is a more relaxing game for me.

Zone 5 - By not running through the MSQ, I am only halfway through the fifth zone of Dawntrail. And I say halfway through based on two things. The first is that I've competed two of the aerial current quests and found five aerial currents. The second is that I did my first level 98 quest last night.

Zone 5 is definitely an impressive place graphically. Think a less impressive Ultima Thule. In fairness to zone 5, Ultima Thule was the final zone of Endwalker so the art team didn't hold back. Still, I took plenty of screenshots.

Is the game still popular? When running around zone 5 last night I had a choice of three instances with a total of 120+ people. At least I know I'm not the only one who still hadn't reached the final zone yet.

As for the MSQ in the zone so far. I found the content interesting and engaging. So engaging I just turn all other audio off in order to concentrate on the story. Hopefully my vague views on the story aren't a spoiler.

Solution Nine - I entered the second major city introduced in Dawntrail, Solution Nine last week. Exploring around I got flashbacks to Star Wars: The Old Republic, except with much, much better graphics. I don't want to go into greater detail due to not wanting to issue spoilers.

Crafting and gathering - Activities in which I can listen to YouTube and podcasts in the background involve crafting and gathering. I reached level 100 in all three gathering classes (botanist, miner, and fisher) as well as in cooking. My next goal is leveling goldsmith. My neighbor told me he's currently farming the last dungeon before the final raid for accessory slot gear. I figure it that's the case I should try to craft the same type of gear.

I do have a strategy involving leve quests for leveling my crafting classes slowly over time while still making progress in the MSQ. Each crafting class has two possible leve quests, so I just make enough items to fulfill each of those quests three times. Last night I received two levels for goldsmith using the strategy. If I do that every night, I can make some progress while not burning through my leve allowance. I currently have 95 out of a possible 100 available.

The Retainer Army - My little army of retainers is progressing along nicely. My white mages are level 99, fishers level 98, and all but one of my botanists and miners are at level 97. I do have a botanist I started right before the launch of Dawntrail who is now in the mid-50s.

One interesting item I noticed is that my retainers still only bring back 9 silver pieces worth 4500 gill per day when doing expeditions. Which means after I finish the levelling process I can go back and pick expeditions from Endwalker if I need specific lower level crafting ingredients.

Don't forget to go home - Finally, a reminder for everyone who owns an in-game house. Don't forget to visit. Failure to visit, not just log in, for 45 days will result in losing your plot of land. I am making a visit once a week whether I really need to or not. I still have 190 aetheryte tickets from my efforts prior to Dawntrail's launch. But for those who don't, spending a couple thousand gil to visit your minimum 3 million gil home is a good investment.

Some Complaints About Final Fantasy XIV's Housing System

Furthermore, even though I won a housing plot, I still contend that the housing system in FFXIV is one of the worst in our genre, bar none. The fact that housing space is artificially limited is awful, the lotto system is agonizing (I can’t begin to tell you how many guildmates who have been in the same years-long housing drought as I have been were wailing at their lost bids), and the stopgap solutions of apartments and guild hall rooms is hilariously miserable when compared to the size and sensation of actually having a house.

- Chris Neal, MassivelyOP, 2 February 2023

After participating in the land rush in Final Fantasy XIV a few weeks back, I wrote a couple of posts about the game's housing system. I listed the different types of housing available and the requirements to own a home. But before I make the housing system sound like the greatest invention since Hot Pockets, I really need to bring up some of the shortcomings of the system.

I have a little experience with housing systems in MMORPGs. I loved my place in Everquest 2 back in 2008-2009. The  Elder Scrolls Online, not so much. ZeniMax Online Studios allows players to purchase the really good homes in the cash shop and I took the company up on the offer. I really shouldn't have. I looked at the price of the house I purchased a few years back in ESO. The current price of the furnished house is over $100.

Square Enix doesn't sell plots of land, but has a bunch of other issues. Chris Neal wrote an article back at the beginning of February listing some of the weaknesses after he won a plot of land during January's land rush. I used his article as the basis of this post and added some additional details I don't normally see.

The major design choice that lead to most of the complaints is the limited amount of housing plots in the game. Except for some of the newer servers, each world has the following number of plots:

• 900 large plots for mansions
• 2100 medium plots for houses
• 6000 small plots for cottages

In addition, each world has 300 apartment buildings with 27,000 one-room apartments. The way the developers dealt with the limited amount of housing contributed to most of the remaining complaints.

A major complaint is players cannot own the exact home in the exact place they want. A lot of players would prefer to own a mansion in The Mists, the housing district for Limsa Lominsa, next to a beach. But since only a couple of plots of land meet those requirements in each district or sub-district, only a lucky few can call those places home. And a lot of people who can't obtain the plot will loudly complain about the fact.

A closely associated complaint is the limited amount of homes a player can own. Many players love decorating homes. Others like the idea of living in each of the five housing areas on each world. The limit of three domiciles gets in the way. Worse, only one is on a plot of land. The other two are an apartment and a private room in the free company's house. 

Because of the limited housing, Square Enix instituted a lottery system for the chance to buy a plot. While much better than the old system of clicking on a placard for days, the lottery system does have some aspects that can irritate players.

First, players can only bid on a plot once every nine days. The cycle comprises a five day entry period followed by a four day collection period. Not too bad, but something some players will complain about. 

I've seen complaints about the requirement to post the gil for the bid upfront, with players losing the lottery receiving refunds. But the refunds are not automatic. The losing player has to go to the housing site and click on the plot's placard to receive the refund. If not collected within 90 days, the gil is lost.

Winners don't automatically receive the plot of land. The player must travel to the plot and click on the placard to claim the land. Failure to do so within the four day collection period results in a refund of 50% of the lottery deposit. I believe the requirement was put in place to discourage free companies from bidding on multiple plots of land. Winning more than one plot could get really expensive.

I see a lot of complaints in various comments sections around the internet about how in order to keep a house, players need to stay subscribed. While not exactly true, the complaint is close enough. Players lose their houses if no one enters the instance for 45 days. The restriction affects privately-owned homes a lot more than free company housing. For free companies, the FC loses the home if no FC member enters the home for 45 days, not just the owner. But yes, technically a player will definitely lose their house if unsubbed for 45 days.

One detail I don't see mentioned often, though, is that some items are destroyed once a player moves their home or otherwise demolishes their home instead of being sent to a player's storage. Housing destruction from not entering a home in 45 days does the same thing. Did I mention some of those items that are automatically destroyed are cash shop items? Square Enix flashes up warnings about such items, but a lot of players will purchase them anyway.

Those are the complaints about features directly related to the design decision to have limited housing. But I have two more to add. The first is the decorating system. The really advanced decorations require glitching the items into place. My big complaint on this front is, "Yoshi-P, why can't we put items on wooden lofts?" Incredibly, while the game provides wooden lofts, players cannot just put things like beds, chairs, or dressers on them. Those items need to be glitched into place. A very time-consuming process, especially when just learning how to glitch.

Also, players cannot sell items once the items are placed in a home. The game does provide a preview tool, but when decorating a new place, sometimes ideas don't work out and expensive items are no longer useful. Something for new home owners to think about, especially those without a lot of gil.

The final complaint isn't really a complaint I've heard often, but might go some ways to explaining why Square Enix doesn't just combine the indoor and outdoor housing into one big instance. Character limits exist for how many can go into a housing instance. 

Contrary to what a lot of articles imply, the inside of a house is an instance, which is why apartment buildings can hold 90 apartments and free company houses can hold up to 512 private rooms. And each size instance can hold a limited number of characters, with minions counting as characters. I don't know the limits for apartments, private rooms and cottages, but the limits for houses is 80 and for mansions 100 characters. The limits are a problem for nightclubs and very large free companies. If the event is going to draw more than 100 people, prepare to herd everyone outside where the limit doesn't exist. For nightclubs, sometimes that option doesn't exist.

Now, I rather like the design choice to go with housing limited by physical location. But some of the consequences of that decision rub a lot of people the wrong way, including gaming journalists. I figure I needed to acknowledge some of the complaints before going on to show the good things about the housing system in FFXIV. 

Requirements For Owning A Home In FFXIV

One does not simply walk into Final Fantasy XIV and purchase a house. Or even an apartment. The closest one can come to doing so is by joining a free company which owns a house and obtaining a private chamber. So how do one become qualified to take part in the game's housing system?

To own a personal home (including apartments), players have to reach level 50 in at least one class. Theoretically that includes crafting and gathering, but players must reach at least level 47 in a combat class. Usually players level up a combat class to 50.

Next, a player must become an officer in a Grand Company. The total number of company seals required to advance through the enlisted ranks to earn the title of Second Lieutenant is 54,000. Seals are earned by performing various activities like pre-Shadowbringers FATEs, daily supply and provision missions for crafters and gatherers, and expert delivery missions once reaching the rank of Sergeant Second Class.

Becoming an officer isn't just a matter of turning in seals. Players must also complete the Rank 1 section of the company hunting log, which involves killing 10 types of NPCs, to become a Sergeant Third Class, and then the Rank 2 section to become a Second Lieutenant. Completing each entry in the hunting log awards company seals, so if getting seals is boring, the hunting logs is a change of pace.

But wait, there's more. Besides the quest in the MSQ, players must complete two Grand Company specific quests. The first, Shadows Uncast, is a level 44 quest which requires clearing the dungeon Dzemael Darkhold. The quest is required to become a Chief Sergeant. The final quest, Gilding the Bilious, is required to become a Second Lieutenant. To complete the level 47 quest, one must complete the dungeon The Aurum Vale. Because both dungeons are not part of the MSQ, one cannot use the Duty Support System to run the dungeons. That's right, to become an officer requires grouping up with other players  to do content at least twice.

Oh, and one more proviso. Players can only own one private plot and one free company plot on the same world on one service account. The change was put in place in patch 4.2, which means some players still own multiple plots of land. Grandfathered players can't bid on additional housing until the return down to the current limits.

The game has additional requirement, such as owning the Heavensward expansion to own a home in Empyreum or the Stormblood expansion to own a home in Shirogane. But besides having lots of gil, these are the basic requirements for a player to own their own place in Final Fantasy XIV.

The Types Of Player Housing Available In Final Fantasy XIV

Player housing in Final Fantasy XIV is somewhat controversial given the design choice of limiting the availability of the biggest and best locations. Any discussion of the feature should include an inventory of the types and amounts of housing available to players. Today's post will cover the types of housing along with some of the amenities that make owning a home desirable in the first place.

First, the list of amenities available in player housing. Some of the features are available in inn rooms available in many of the major towns in FFXIV. An incomplete listing includes:

The summoning bell. The summoning bell allows players to call their retainers to their homes. Retainers are sent out on expeditions to bring back resources as well as sell items on the market. Yes, people can sell things from their homes.

Orchestrion: Basically a box for playing music.

The Unending Journey: A book that allows the player to play back cutscenes from completed content.

The Armoire: A container that holds special gear, including from in-game events.

Features not found in inn rooms include:

Chocobo Stables: A place to store your chocobo. With the proper care and feeding, chocobos can not only train to higher levels, but change color as well.

Miniature Aetheryte: Acts like a regular aetheryte, but received a 75% reduction in cost for use.

Gardens: Players can grow crops in their gardens.

Flower pots: Players can grow some plants indoors.

Vendors: Homes can hold NPCs that can sell items like those in the main towns. Some vendors can also repair and meld materia to gear.

Mannequins: Interior furnishings players can equip with clothing items. Items can be sold off of mannequins directly, bypassing market board taxes.

Crafting Facilities: Items which help players level up their crafting skills by providing an increase to maximum crafting points. Currently, the bonus ends once the crafting level reaches 81.

In addition, free companies receive three perks when they purchase an estate.

Private Chambers: Each member of a free company can have a private chamber inside the free company building. The maximum number of members in a free company is 512.

Free Company Chocobo Stables: The chocobo stables for a free company can house up to 512 chocobos.

Free Company Workshop: A place a free company can craft major items for free company use. FC airships and submersibles can embark on exploratory voyages, which can provide a free company with revenue to fund FC activities.

When discussing player housing in FFXIV, the properties are divided into two types, estates and apartments. When discussing housing, most people think of estates. Three types exist:

Small: Cottage (6000 plots per server): As of Endwalker, a small plot of land cost between 3,000,000 to 3,750,000 gil. Building a cottage on the plot costs an additional 450,000 gil. The cottage consists of two floors and is approximately 3 times the size of an apartment. Cottages have the following caps:

• 200 items inside/20 outside
• 1 garden patch (8 beds)
• 2 flower pots
• 4 crafting facilities
• 6 vendors
• 6 mannequins

Medium: House (2100 plots per server): A medium plot of land costs between 16,000,000 to 20,000,000 gil. Once purchased, building a house on the land costs an additional 1 million gil. Houses have three floors and are approximately twice the size of a cottage. Houses have the following caps:

• 300 items inside/30 outside
• 2 garden patches (16 beds)
• 3 flower plots
• 6 crafting facilities
• 8 vendors
• 8 mannequins

Large: Mansion (900 plots per server): When thinking of free company housing or nightclubs, the large estate comes to almost everyone's mind. A large plot of land costs between 40,000,000 to 50,000,000 gil. Building a mansion costs and additional 3 million gil. The mansion is also three floors, but in area is significantly bigger than a house. The caps for mansions are:

• 400 items inside/40 outside
• 3 garden patches (24 beds)
• 4 flower pots
• 8 crafting facilities
• 10 vendors
• 10 mannequins

When most people think player housing in FFXIV, they think of estates. But there are also apartments. The private chamber mentioned above is a type of apartment. The private chamber is cheaper than a regular apartment at 300,000 gil, and players lose their room when they leave the free company. But in all other cases the private chamber is the equivalent of an apartment. So let's look at the apartment.

Apartment: 27,000 per server: Each apartment building can hold up to 90 players. External amenities like chocobo stables are provided free of charge. The apartment itself costs 500,000 gil. A market board along with a summoning bell are located just outside the apartment building door, along with a miniture aetheryte. Residents of apartments do not have access to gardens (unless their free company lets them use one).

While owners of apartments cannot share their abode with others, they also do not have to worry about the auto-demolition feature which exists for not visiting an estate within a 45-day period. Once an apartment is purchased, the apartment belongs to the player. The limits of apartments are:

• 100 items inside/no yard (or storage of outdoor furnishings)
• No garden patches
• 2 flower pots
• 2 crafting facilities
• 4 vendors
• 4 mannequins

This post is not intended as a comprehensive guide to all things player housing in FFXIV. The purpose today was just to provide a brief overview of what the game has to offer a player interested owning their own place in the game. Getting into more details will come with time.

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.