Do you hear that? That rumbling? It’s the faint sound of thousands of adventurers rushing into housing districts throughout Hydaelyn, hoping to win big in this latest opportunity to score an estate. 1,800 new plots have opened in each world, spread across The Goblet, Lavender Beds, Mist, Shirogane, and Empyreum.
If you want a house, now is probably your best shot for the foreseeable future, until new worlds are added to Dynamis at a later date (although that isn’t exactly ideal, as we’ll get to later).
In April, we’ll celebrate the one year anniversary of the housing lottery’s introduction. It arrived with its own hiccups, as anyone who was there at the time will no doubt remember. Even we here at The Babbler were hit with the dreaded “The Winner is…0” back then, and had to wait a full month - one filled with extreme uncertainty - before finally moving into the plot of our dreams.
Leading up to that moment when the winners were revealed, the handful of us in our tiny Free Company guarded that plot as best we could. We were able to afford two bids, two chances on a prime medium estate. Any less, and a larger FC would have undoubtedly placed bids on top of us, swooping in at the last second.
I know this, because that’s exactly what happened to other similar plots at the time. In the final hours, plots with only one entry found themselves suddenly facing 4, 8, even 10 more bids from FCs who had waited until the last moment, and their guaranteed odds suddenly came crashing down.
It was a stressful time, to be sure! And now, facing that prospect again (in trying to relocate), we’ve mostly decided to just place our bets and wait to see what happens. No guarding, no worrying. While six new wards have opened in every district, things aren’t exactly the same as they were when Empyreum arrived, and competition will be fiercer than ever. Que sera, sera!
Still, while the lottery system allows for a more leisurely experience with purchasing housing, I can’t help but feel a little nostalgic for the old system. I say this as someone who actually won a plot using it! In my old Free Company, I managed to win a small Goblet estate, not too far from a market board, and while the experience was a long and tiring one, it was also very, very exciting.
The title of this article is more than a little facetious, by the way - of course being able to simply enter for a chance to win a plot is better than standing at a placard for upwards of 20 hours hoping to click at just the right moment against a horde of other hopefuls. The fight against the ‘invisible timer’ was an extremely unhealthy one, when those at the placard weren’t using special tricks to assist them.
The lottery, at the very least, has evened the playing field for those who want a house but either do not want or simply cannot spend countless hours staring at a wooden signpost.
Even so, there was at least some fun to be had clicking those placards, and maybe even some benefits. Yes, it was miserable and draining, but those who showed up and persevered technically faced better odds than many ever will now with the lottery system.
The stress remains, too - the uncertainty of whether or not your single or double bid will be enough to win the day against richer Free Companies. Entering a lottery only to find yourself competing against hundreds instead of the 10-30 you may have faced before is a stark reality.
We’ve replaced one type of stress with another, though at least now you don’t have to be there to watch yourself lose (though you do still have to walk all the way back to collect your refund!).
Since people were gathered in one spot, the original system also allowed for some community building. Shared suffering! As the lottery system approached last year - and me being generally apprehensive - I tried my best to secure a plot for my current Free Company, Babtopolis, the old fashioned way. I just didn’t know how the lottery would play out! While doing that, I met and talked to so many people. Sometimes, when things got really boring, I barded. People chatted, and made jokes.
During one plot battle in Mist, my friend showed up in the very early morning hours and played an entire set of songs, even calling in fellow bandmates to join the show. It was all so terrible, but also very memorable!
The truth is, both systems have their faults. I like the lottery because it’s easier (when it works!) and allows you to do other things while still participating. I’ve won both an FC and private estate with it! And yet, despite allowing more people to participate, there still aren’t enough houses to go around, competition is far greater, and many remain frustrated.
There’s no easy fix! Outside of something extraordinary happening, housing is and will remain limited until the population decreases, and no one should really hope for that, in my opinion.
About Dynamis
One quote from the official forums sums up Dynamis pretty well: “A lot of people are satisfied with Dynamis. They get to have their house while also going back to their home DC to queue with friends.”
I’ve explored Dynamis briefly, and it even crossed my mind to do what so many others have done, and set up a ‘shell’ Free Company to get another medium estate. I even know of some people who have purchased not one, not two, but at least three large estates on Dynamis, FCs and personals all for themselves, all for the hope of opening multiple grand venues.
Some venue owners even moved to Dynamis from Aether, thinking it would be a bright new world, leaving behind established homes and venues, even large estates!
But Dynamis isn’t the housing paradise everyone might have you believe. Aether, my home, has been inundated with people traveling from Dynamis simply to have a chance to adventure at all, as queues and wait times there verge on the extreme (or did the last time I checked). Yes, housing was and is still available, but is an entire data center filled with shell FCs, empty houses, and alts really the best spot for your upstart venue? Especially now, when DC travel times can take upwards of 10-15 minutes?
Maybe things will change, but for now Dynamis has a very distinct ‘ghost town’ feeling to it. For players desperately looking for a house, just a place to call home, it might have been a good choice, and might still be! But consider everything before making that decision!
