The new Housing Lottery System in Final Fantasy 14 allows players or Free Companies to place bids on a plot of land over the course of a few days, after which one of the bids is pulled to claim the land. Individuals who lose the lottery receive a full refund of their bid, and unclaimed or abandoned plots are re-added to the lottery pull on the following week.
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However, when Final Fantasy 14 pulled its first set of lottery winners, some lots pulled up with the number 0. This glitch seems to affect all lots–even those with a single bidder–meaning some players and Free Companies lost plot lotteries with no competition. This error seems to have occurred on all servers in all Data Centers across the globe.
Unfortunately, more glitches seem to have appeared in the Housing Lottery system as well. Some players have reported their plot’s lotteries wiped their bids clear, causing them to lose the large sums of gil they bid on the plot. Many believe the recent emergency maintenance for Final Fantasy 14’s Patch 6.1 bugs caused these issues, especially since players reported that bids placed before or after the maintenance seemed to be excluded from the lottery pull on some lots.
Needless to say, Final Fantasy 14 fans are furious about the Housing Lottery System snafu. Housing in FF14 has always been a stressful experience, and it seems the new Lottery System has not done much to alleviate that. The hashtag “Winning Number 0” is trending on Twitter in Japan because of these glitches, causing even more players to call for Final Fantasy 14 to move to fully-instanced housing despite the community housing wards can provide.
Square Enix is already working to fix the glitch. Producer and director Naoki Yoshida just announced that the situation was being investigated, asking for patience as a fix is being worked on. Consequently, FF14 is extending the result announcement period for the current lottery to April 20th to account for the fix, and the next lottery will not be held until it is resolved. Though there has not yet been an announcement when it comes to how the situation will be resolved, it will likely involve refunds, rollbacks, or entry re-pulls for the troublesome lots. Regardless of how Square Enix resolves the issue, it seems Final Fantasy 14’s ongoing struggles with personal housing are far from over.
Final Fantasy 14 is available now on PC, PS4, and PS5.
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Source: Final Fantasy XIV
