An unknown bug in Final Fantasy XIV is causing players to lose their houses without warning. Currently, Square Enix is unable to confirm the cause of the issue, return houses, or offer any solutions. The news comes from multiple Final Fantasy XIV forum and reddit posts from afflicted users. The most recent, from user Luxyn, has over 200 posts and is working to have an offical statement from Square Enix. The bug has been affecting players for days now, with a reddit post from user ReverendSpanky revealing that users were affected as far back as a week ago. So far, Square is acknowledging the issue, but cannot reimburse customers for anymore than the standard 80% of gold that is refunded when demolishing a house.
Housing in Final Fantasy XIV has had many issues that funnily enough mimic real life. Plots of land cost millions, meaning that buying a plot and building a house is reserved for the wealthy. As a result, many wealthier players and guilds bought out multiple plots, monopolising the housing market like in real life. Square Enix combatted the issue by adding more plots and mitigating the damage through regulation. However, simply increasing the supply didn't fix Final Fantasy XIV's housing problems. As this article from Domain.com points out by comparing the game to Australia's housing crisis, the issue is much more delicate than it is being treated.
Now players who are lucky enough to own a home are at risk of spontaneous eviction. Typically, if a player is inactive or doesn't use their house in 45 days, they're house will be deleted and 80% of the cost is refunded. Players are currently reporting that with as little as two days inactive, they're house was deleted. However, another big issue is that when these 45 days are approaching, players are sent warning emails at 30, 35 and 42 days. Except that they aren't, leading players to think this 45 days quietly went down to 30 or that the entire warning email system is broken. Without warning emails, players are losing their houses. Techraptor is speculating that the issue may be caused by the mobile companion app, which allows players to manage inventory and market listings.
Square Enix is yet to officially commented on the bug, so stay tuned to Gamers Classified for the latest information.
