Housing war
I didn’t know what I signed up for.I only found out the update came out today after a friend told me, and I wasn’t home at the moment so I didn’t even dare hope there’d be any left by then, but I wanted to give it a shot nonetheless; with my very limited budget I already adjusted my expectations to a small plot, possibly in Kugane, despite knowing just how much fiercer the competition would be, even for a small house. Lowered expectations notwithstanding, I wasn’t going to settle for the Goblet. So I rush there and see for the first time in my playing this game a plot up for sale: Plot 9, 1st Ward. And barely (and I mean barely) in my budget at that! Before heading there I remembered one of the basic rules of housing 101: set your status to Busy. Because people will do anything in their power to stop you from getting that house. Or so I was told, but I assumed something that extreme would only happen when medium and upwards plots were involved. Ready to get clicking, I see two more player preceded me and already had their eyes on the nice, slightly elevated little corner plot for sale.Very well, I’m not one to shirk from a challenge, so I join them in the silent battle of endurance that would ensue. Truthfully, I didn’t fully know what I was doing myself; it was only several hours in that I learnt the displayed timer had no real meaning and that the actual timer was concealed, and that it could be anything from a 30 minutes to a 24 hours wait. Surely I didn’t happen to stumble on a 24 hour one, I tell myself but as days, weeks, and eventually seasons pass, and it’s just me and another potential buyer, it starts sounding more and more like a possibility.
It’s now been several hours. I boredly glance and check out my competition; what was initially disdain and animosity slowly grew into a sense of camaraderie. No words were exchanged thus far, but the time we had been there was a testament to our dedication and perserverance to our common goal. Eventually we do talk, I come to know they’ve been trying to get a house for them and their company for years but with no luck, and I respect their not giving up and trying once more now, and am almost tempted to go after a different plot and leave this one to them, but I soon perish the thought, as it would be an insult to them and me both after what we’ve been through.
“I just hope it’s one of us who gets it, I’d hate for a relocation or someone passing by to get it just like that”, they say. I agree, even if I didn’t end up getting this plot, I would be glad to know it went to someone I know at least in some capacity now.
Alas, those very words prophesized what was to happen next: nearing the 10 hours mark, perhaps in a moment of distraction between friendly rivals, a third unknown party swoops in, and in a matter of seconds claims the plot as theirs just to promptly leave. Utterly dumbfounded by what just unfolded before my very eyes, I struggle to make sense of things. How could that be possible?? No one is supposed to know when each plot becomes actually available, was it just a fluke? Dumb luck??
No matter, grieving wouldn’t give me a house so I quickly navigate to the following Ward, where an even cheaper plot was available. As luck would have it, by the time I’m halfway to my destination, I can see from the map it’s already been sold. On to the 3rd Ward. Once again, a single small plot is available, and by the Twelve, it is identical to the first plot I found. I sprint. Again, just one competitor on the scene, a generic hyur this time. Not even 15 minutes in, a third person arrives, and that’s when I realize this time my enemy was far less amicable than the previous one. A window I hadn’t seen in ages pops up before the one I’ve grown so accostumed to seeing today: it’s.... a trade request. It was happening. Apparently I failed to properly set my status which made me the perfect prey for cutthroat housing competition. Not knowing how to actually change my status, that wasn’t an option anymore at that point. I couldn’t spare the time to leave the scene, look that up and come back, I had to adapt And adapt I did. The hyur gentleman summoned a fellow female hyur from his company to his aid: while he would focus on the placard, she would make sure no one else would get to click on it by spamming a barrage of trade requests. A foolproof plan, but it didn’t take into account one thing: I was very well past the sunken cost fallacy line. I wasn’t just doing it for the house anymore: it’s for all the hours spent that could have been used for anything else, and for the will of the rival I think of so fondly. I would make sure at least one of us would get a house today. If all she does is try to spam me with requests, all I need to do is be faster than her in clicking the placard and preventing the trade from triggering. And it worked. She only managed to get a handful of requests in, while I proceeded with checking the placard mostly unbothered. I only needed to keep that up for about half an hour before her hyur companion realized the futility of their plan and gave up, leaving the plot on his mount. She stayed behind for quite a while, though, initially inducing me to think he merely went to round up a small army, but that didn’t end up being the case, and she was most likely just keeping watch in case I gave up, which I didn’t. Eventually she left as well, save for coming shortly after a while in a cowboy attire, just to leave again as she saw me, still standing there. More people pass and come by, either hoping for an easy purchase or for no competition, they found neither and all left. Roughly 12 hours in, as I mindlessly check the placard, suddenly, those gleaming words cross my screen.
“LAND ACQUIRED”
In the heat of the moment, I fail to capture it, but it mattered little. I stand victorious. And upon this plot I will build my house.