In Final Fantasy XIV, worldviews collide. It’s about houses and ownership. A values debate in an MMORPG, far from the “ideal world” that publishers like to portray.
These are amazing themes for an MMORPG:
- Should every player have a house?
- Or are houses only for the super-rich?
- Whom do I want in my neighborhood: other super-rich or normal folks?
Final Fantasy XIV: Status Symbol House
Houses in Final Fantasy XIV are not necessary, but nice. They are status symbols. One can decorate them, invite people over, and show off what one has, playing a bit of “The Sims in Eorzea“. Especially for role players, houses are important and for those who value that their characters are doing well in an MMORPG.
But these houses don’t come for free; they’re relatively expensive. One has to work hard to afford one.
Additionally: The housing situation in Final Fantasy XIV is as complicated as in Munich or Cologne. The demand for housing is higher than the supply – especially on popular servers.
With Stormblood, the housing crisis intensifies
This has been the case for a long time; due to a series of coincidences, the conflict has now escalated. Because of the Stormblood expansion, the popular servers became so overcrowded that Square Enix offered free transfers to smaller servers.
Some took that up – also with the idea, “Hey, there are still houses available on these unpopular servers!” But even there, the houses were quickly gone, and newcomers found themselves homeless. Then they noticed two players who together own 28 houses.
They had previously bought their own district, their neighborhood, on the Mateus server to pursue their hobby: owning and decorating houses. They enjoy doing that.
A conflict has erupted over this situation, which clearly has a political aspect.
Snobs vs. Slackers?
Some say: That’s totally selfish of you; you’re taking away the opportunity for others to have a house. They pay the same €12 a month as you. You don’t need 28; give houses to those who don’t have one.
They, however, say: We worked for the 28 houses. They belong to us. You must accept that you can’t have everything you want. We came to this server specifically because it was empty and we wouldn’t disturb anyone. You must accept that others wanted it more than you and therefore worked harder for it and deserve it more.
Opponents consider this a very elitist and snobbish attitude: “So you don’t want any poor people in your neighborhood!”
The homeowners say: We haven’t taken anything away from anyone; these plots were empty for years. Plus: Not everyone can have everything. If I don’t raid, I don’t get raid mounts either. The homeowner couple is not willing to part with their houses. They hold memories of the valuable time they spent together there.
Interests collide in MMORPGs too
A political debate like from a textbook. Different interests collide.
The US site Kotaku reports on the conflict and also asked Square Enix about it. They have retreated to a rather comfortable position: “Actually, it’s only possible to own one house per character” – but this limitation seems to be easily circumvented.
In the long term, Square Enix wants to add more housing space to the game, but currently, the situation is critical.
Far away from the ideal world
Mein MMO says: This is far from the “ideal world” and “experiencing adventures together”, the image that Square Enix would like to portray of Final Fantasy XIV.
It’s interesting what effects such design decisions have in the long term. They shape the interactions within a community.
The people who play MMOs bring the same conflicts and problems with them that they would have in the “real world”. If there were still doubts about that, they should be settled after this housing debate. Bitter realization: The social gap between those who have and those who do not continues to widen.
Why should it be different in MMORPGs than in the real world? After all, they are the same people.
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