Final Fantasy XIV is an online sandbox for escapism, where you can become a master crafter, save the world with your pals, and… struggle to find housing. While the popular MMORPG is known as a positive and friendly environment overall, the game’s housing system can be a stressful, overly restrictive nightmare.

With the release of Endwalker Patch 6.1, big changes are coming to the way FFXIV handles its player housing market. While the problems with in-game housing’s artificial scarcity aren’t going away, the patch offers another path to virtual homeownership for the people of Hydaelyn and opens up the Empyreum housing district in the city of Ishgard. Here’s how the gargantuan Endwalker Patch 6.1 will shake up FFXIV’s player housing market.

How do you buy a house in FFXIV?

Up until Patch 6.1, buying a house in FFXIV worked on a first-come first-served basis. Each of the game’s three housing districts (one for each starting city) had a limited number of land plots that players could purchase and build a house on. When someone moved out, their land would become available to purchase after a random amount of time, which could be up to a full day.

The strange time restriction was meant to keep players from flipping houses to their friends, but in practice meant that prospective homeowners would spend hours camped in front of a vacant plot, repeatedly clicking a placard to see if the house was available yet.

How does the new housing lottery system work?

Patch 6.1 adds a second method of buying a house: a lottery system. Under this new system, any interested players can submit an entry to buy an available housing plot during a five-day lottery window, the first of which starts April 12 with the launch of the patch. At the end of the five-day lottery window, the winner will be announced and have four days to confirm that they still want the plot.

Once the four-day results period ends, a new lottery will begin for new vacant plots. You can only apply for a single plot during each lottery period, so you’ll want to choose which plot to try for carefully.

How do you enter the FFXIV housing lottery?

As with the first-come first-served system, players who want to enter the FFXIV housing lottery can do so by interacting with the placard outside of an available plot. To get a lottery ticket, you’ll need to put down the full value of the plot, which varies with size but starts at a few million gil. If you lose the lottery, you’ll get your full deposit back, but if you win and fail to claim your plot, only 50 percent will be returned.

Housing wards will be designated for either private or Free Company housing, each of which comes with its own requirements.

To purchase a private home, you need to be at second lieutenant rank or higher in a Grand Company and have at least one Job at level 50.

The requirements to buy a Free Company house are a bit stricter, which should help prevent people from making fake FCs to buy an additional house. To buy a plot, you need to have been a member of your Free Company for at least 30 days and have privileges to buy land set by the FC. The FC you belong to must also be at least rank six and have at least four members. Multiple FC members can enter the lottery at the same time, making it easier for larger groups to win a plot.

Is the lottery system the only way to buy a house in FFXIV now?

According to Square Enix, the lottery system isn’t completely replacing the old first-come first-served system. The patch notes for Patch 6.1 state that individual wards may be designated as first-come first-served or lottery wards in the future, and purchase options could vary by server as well.

However, as of the launch of Patch 6.1, all housing plots will be sold on the lottery system. That applies to plots in the newly created Empyreum district as well as the game’s older housing districts.