Final Fantasy XIV’s new housing lottery system, explained

The days of being glued to a computer screen clicking until players get carpal tunnel are soon to be a thing of the past when the new Patch 6.1 is added to Final Fantasy XIV in mid-April. The patch will introduce a new lottery system to buy player and Free Company housing.

The new lottery system isn’t too hard to understand, but for those who are looking to get a house now that they don’t need to nurse their mouse for hours on end, here is a breakdown of exactly how the lottery system works for FCs and for private players.

The lottery system explained for private players

Individuals looking to buy their first house will have the opportunity to enter into a lottery that lasts for nine days total. Five of those nine days are spent choosing a plot and entering the lottery. To put in a ticket for the lottery, players must meet some requirements first.

1. Players must have at least one job leveled to 50 or higher.
2. Players must hold the rank of second lieutenant or higher in their Grand Company.
3. Players must have all the gil required to purchase a house.

That last point is important to note, and there are a few things to know about the deposit system that is now included in the lottery. Players will forfeit all of the funds required to buy the house at the time they enter the lottery. This means that if the plot is three million gil, players will have that amount subtracted from their balance at the time they enter the lottery. Players will be without that money until the results period, which will be explained later, so ensure that you don’t need that money for anything else before entering the lottery because once you put in for a lottery, you can’t withdraw it.

Players can enter a lottery during the entry period, which lasts five days. After that, the lottery enters the results period. At that time, players can head back to the plot they entered into and check to see if they won. If they won, they can finalize their purchase or choose not to buy, which will refund their money and make the plot available again. Whether or not the plot goes to another person who entered the lottery is not clear at time of writing.

If players lost the lottery, they must accept the refund for their deposit, and at that time, all of the money spent to enter the lottery will be returned. It’s important to check back in with the plot’s placard within 90 days or else that gil will become forfeited and players won’t be able to retrieve it.

Here is a step-by-step quick guide on how to buy a housing plot in the new lottery system.

1. Find a plot, ensure it is the one you want, since you may only enter a lottery for one plot per lottery period.
2. Click on the placard and ensure that it is for private player housing. Ensure you have the correct amount of gil. Once you’ve confirmed all of those details, click “Enter Lottery.”
3. The confirmation screen will tell you which plot you’ve entered into for the lottery, what your lottery number is, and when the results will be available. This information can also be found in the Housing tab.
4. Return to the plot’s placard during the results period to check if you won the lottery. If you won, you may finalize the purchase and own the plot. If you did not win, accept the refund and find a new empty plot during the entry period.

If a player fails to return to the plot during the results period and they were the one who won the lottery, a fee of 50 percent of the deposit will be withdrawn from the players’ coffers and the plot will become available for the next entry period.

Players moving from one plot to another will receive around 15 percent of the value of the old plot. The refund may not exceed the value of the new plot.

The lottery for Free Company housing explained

Free Company housing follows a lot of the same steps as purchasing one for a private character but with one significant difference. Multiple FC members can put in a lottery for the same plot. As long as they meet the requirements below, any FC member may put in a lottery for a plot, regardless of whether another FC member already put in a lottery for the same plot.

1. The FC must be rank six or above and have four or more members.
2. The character bidding for the plot must be authorized by the FC to purchase and relinquish land and have been a member of the FC for more than 30 days.

The requirement that players must be a member of the FC for more than 30 days is to combat people joining and leaving FCs to help an FC get a plot. This will deter people looking to make money by putting in a bid for a plot as a service to that FC, thus leading to less abuse.

The fact that any FC member who has been a member for more than 30 days and is authorized to bid in the lottery is causing some contention on social media. Some players are worried that larger FCs will have a much larger shot at a given plot if their FC overloads the lottery, thus giving smaller FCs a hard time. Others still think it is fairer than having to wait at the plot for hours at a time.

Now that the refund for old plots is reduced to about 15 percent instead of the 30 percent it used to be, that could deter FCs from moving around too much. But a lot of times, having the gil to move around isn’t the issue with getting new housing. Rather, it’s the lack of plots.

FFXIV housing will be split into personal and Free Company in Patch 6.1

The only saving grace to having FCs be able to submit multiple bids for the same plot is that they will only be able to do so for plots that are marked for FC use. Plots will be separated by private player use and FC use, meaning that FCs can’t enter a lottery meant for a private player, and vice versa.

At the implementation of 6.1, all housing will fall under the lottery rule, but the developers also noted that there may be some cases where player housing is first-come, first-serve. They did not elaborate on what situations that might come into play for, however.

The new lottery system is coming in mid-April and will likely see a live letter before its implementation, as suggested in the last live letter, which gave more detail as to what is coming to the game post-Endwalker.