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FFXIV Housing Showcase: Mind The Gap

Joseph Bradford Posted:
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It’s a new year, and I have remodeled my Final Fantasy XIV home. After sorting through furniture and deciding on a theme, I toggled on the new interior design walls, which removed columns, and started building. The removal of columns was something I was excited about. When I first wrote about it, I couldn’t help but think, “There’s so much room for activities!” While the modern farmhouse vibe fit with the cozy cabin I was going for, there was one thing that was screeching at me every time I tried to arrange my furniture: empty space.

Traditionally, if you were trying to achieve the flat wall look, you would use partitions to cover up the wall, windows, and pillars. The Partitions could fill the gap of space created between the end of the pillar and the wall itself. The issue with the old method is that the number of partitions you need takes up valuable slots in the allotted number of items you can have in your home, which varies based on the plot size. As frustrating as it was to restrict what I could build based on my partition number, I am very close to returning to the partition approach. 

As it stands, the wall choice without pillars feels like nothing more than a glamor. Despite removing prominent columns, it seems as if the walls themselves are just a mask, with the freed-up space usually taken up by pillars as a dead zone for placing items. The space also affects every item type. That weird little gap is a void that I have tried endlessly to disguise, and I am thwarted every time, depending on the object. The gap is inconsistent depending on what part of the wall you’re dressing and, ultimately, if there is a window. 

For my house, I have always had a “living area” on the ground floor and experimented with themed designs on the floor below. In an attempt to make a realistic cottage of my dreams, I spend a lot of time trying to curate furniture and items I’d be more than happy to have in real life. Laying out the furniture, I tend to favor decorating every inch. That means plants should be in corners, rugs should be placed, and everything should be tidy. 

It’s a small gripe but one that bugs the part of my brain that knows what I want everything to look like. The best example is a plant that just won’t go in a corner. With large leaves, I have traditionally turned the plant to one side and aligned it up against the wall (partition) to accent the area without clipping into the partition. 

This one little plant has been the perfect size to take up blank space in the corner that my maximalist self can’t abide. But now, it’s just awkwardly sitting there with a gap I just won’t close. Rugs are also harder to slide beyond viewable space than before, which means I have to rethink the blank space in front of my fireplace that once had half a Oasis rug visible.

Minding that gap got worse when I switched from trying to decorate the sitting area to the kitchen side of the ground floor. While I wasn’t using Marble Partitions for the flat wall effect, the Kitchen Cabinet partition added with Dawntrail has been a staple for the space. It has dishes, knick-knacks, and jars, making it fit right in with the cottage vibe. 

Only now, it can not sit flush against the wall if there is a window. The partitions, when lined against the new design, yield a tiny gap. While I’m sure people who don’t treat housing like their end game won’t notice, it’s an imperfection just the same. And I’m not sure why it’s an issue now. 

In theory, changing up the interior of your home with this new addition to customization is a fantastic idea. But with that annoying gap and perhaps the more frustrating reality that you can’t change your door or windows without changing your entire outside appearance.

On top of that, the interior design options don’t allow you to change your windows or your door. While this isn’t an issue for the basement of houses, the ground floor is a hurdle. After trying to hide the windows with different wall hangings and furniture (which, thanks to the gap, looked ridiculous as hell in a derogatory way), I gave up. Instead I changed my house exterior back to the Country Cottage Walls and found windows and a door that didn’t stick out as badly as the Moogle exterior I had loved. 

You’re probably thinking, “Kate, why are you complaining?” Well, it’s because FFXIV housing is one of the few elements of the game I don’t feel get the attention it deserves when it comes to updating. At this point, it feels like embracing glitching to make custom builds isn’t just about celebrating creativity but rather a way to let players make up for the imperfections of that part of the game. 

From a development standpoint, it makes sense that the design of the walls is just for visual effect, and that changing out windows and doors is a larger task. That said, with more faux door options being added it seems like this is something that Square Enix is aware of. The gap has become something to learn. Where does it appear on the perimeter of the space, is it the window, is it the item’s doing? The gap feels like a slight regression that isn’t compensated for. The columns are now growing on me, if only I can more easily cover up the windows in the house. 

The embracing of a more modern aesthetic in furniture and interior design options can be a new horizon for FFXIV. As I mentioned in my last column, it’s something that designers on HGXIV are doing already. It’s hard to be too excited when even a new customization option feels hamstrung by the past. That said, my cottagecore house is cute, and the wainscoting is growing on me. 

It’s a little gap at the end of the day, but it feels more indicative of how little housing has been able to change over the years. It hasn’t zapped my enthusiasm for housing, but it did make me realize the monkey’s paw game you play when asking for changes in decade-old games. Your requests will always be constricted by what came before. Good, bad, or just how it is, you have to mind the gap.


lotrlore

Joseph Bradford

Joseph has been writing or podcasting about games in some form since about 2012. Having written for multiple major outlets such as IGN, Playboy, and more, Joseph started writing for MMORPG in 2015. When he's not writing or talking about games, you can typically find him hanging out with his 15-year old or playing Magic: The Gathering with his family. Also, don't get him started on why Balrogs *don't* have wings. You can find him on Twitter @LotrLore