Tickets are all gone for fan fest

[Rogatum]

Do some people really want them to cancel the event and reschedule for another time? That will go over well, punishing those that have valid tickets because they underestimated demand for the event. I am all for asking SE to do better for future events, but anyone that makes the suggestion that they should either revoke and redistribute the tickets that did not require the code, or cancel the event and reschedule. I question the motive behind their suggestions.

[Avih]

Here's a suggestion.

SE should take "Pre-orders" rather than "Pre-sales".
I know booking venues gets very difficult once you set dates and try to find somewhere based on those dates. So plan in advance. Conduct "Pre-orders" for events two years ahead. Have the player pay for down payments(like $20-40). Find venues according to the number of pre-orders. Once the venue is set, calculate whatever SE needs to and charge us that amount. I'm sure everyone who's willing to go to the fest badly will pay $150-200 for it.

Big Corporates seems to chicken out when it gets to "Kickstarter" type of fundraising system. But this is the modern business model. SE needs to learn from these successful startup companies.

They have the brand name, the game is doing well, players are willing to attend the fanfest badly. They have nothing to be scared of.
Man up and take our money, use the fund right, and make every single one of us happy.

[Theodric]

lmao imagine if every sold out event canceled because some folks were left out. "Sorry everyone! If everyone who might be interested can't attend no one can!"

Right?

I suppose I shouldn't make light of those who had their plans shattered but Square Enix would get far more backlash from cancelling the event than they will over some people not being able to attend.

[Rokke]

Here's a suggestion.

SE should take "Pre-orders" rather than "Pre-sales".
I know booking venues gets very difficult once you set dates and try to find somewhere based on those dates. So plan in advance. Conduct "Pre-orders" for events two years ahead. Have the player pay for down payments(like $20-40). Find venues according to the number of pre-orders. Once the venue is set, calculate whatever SE needs to and charge us that amount. I'm sure everyone who's willing to go to the fest badly will pay $150-200 for it.

Big Corporates seems to chicken out when it gets to "Kickstarter" type of fundraising system. But this is the modern business model. SE needs to learn from these successful startup companies.

They have the brand name, the game is doing well, players are willing to attend the fanfest badly. They have nothing to be scared of.
Man up and take our money, use the fund right, and make every single one of us happy.

No. Big business should not run kickstarters nor should they take handouts from their customers, they should actually do their homework and properly plan out + budget their own events. SE is not an indie company, they aren't a startup, they are a multimillion dollar world famous video game company. They can & should put some more effort into their events.

pasta

send my regards to the chef

[dekarguy]

We are humbled by the overwhelming response from those who want to attend the Fan Festival. We made more tickets available this year than ever before and we understand the frustration of not being able to procure tickets. We wish we could accommodate everyone, and so we'll do our best to try and host even more of our passionate adventurers in the future.

Any word on if a retainer program will be possible this year? During this interview you stated they may come back for future events: https://youtu.be/esOr08L6QPE?t=2442

[Avih]

No. Big business should not run kickstarters nor should they take handouts from their customers, they should actually do their homework and properly plan out + budget their own events. SE is not an indie company, they aren't a startup, they are a multimillion dollar world famous video game company. They can & should put some more effort into their events.


send my regards to the chef

Why shouldn't they? They are already failing badly to do so. Their reputation fell to the ground long ago when they've decided to follow their own legacy for profits.
They seriously need to get back to the basic. Maybe I shouldn't have used a word "fundraising" but, it's a good time to remind them where all those multimillion budgets are coming from.
We want them to use the budget right.

[Rokke]

Why shouldn't they? They are already failing badly to do so. Their reputation fell to the ground long ago when they've decided to follow their own legacy for profits.
They seriously need to get back to the basic. Maybe I shouldn't have used a word "fundraising" but, it's a good time to remind them where all those multimillion budgets are coming from.
We want them to use the budget right.

With that I totally 100% agree. We don't need a massive venue like someone before suggested, but more legroom, more events, more planning are needed. That Foxclon said its our community leaders that run the show was pretty eye opening. EU and JP both have bigger events and manage to run them smoother. I hope that people demand and continue to demand better. Realistically, we'll never hit a point where everyone is happy, but SE can still do so much better with the money and fanbase they have.

[Avenger]

That Foxclon said its our community leaders that run the show was pretty eye opening. EU and JP both have bigger events and manage to run them smoother.

Wait, seriously? When did he say that??

How much bigger are the EU and JP fan festivals?

It would be really nice to know how many tickets are available for each fanfest, and also how many of those tickets are sold in the general sale vs. reserved/press/presale/etc..

[Avenger]

I am all for asking SE to do better for future events, but anyone that makes the suggestion that they should either revoke and redistribute the tickets that did not require the code, or cancel the event and reschedule. I question the motive behind their suggestions.

It seems that they could reasonably verify eligibility for every order that has been placed by requiring each order to have a unique code. Orders that do not have codes attached to them (because of the Showclix blunder) would have to be validated by providing an eligible code.

In the event that codes were used for multiple orders, the player who received the code would be able to assign it to a single designated order - either their own order or the order of a close friend or family member (hopefully not a ticket broker!)

This might need a bit of refinement, but it seems to match the intention of a single-use code being issued to each eligible player, and being required for every order.

[Rokke]

Wait, seriously? When did he say that??

How much bigger are the EU and JP fan festivals?

It would be really nice to know how many tickets are available for each fanfest, and also how many of those tickets are sold in the general sale vs. reserved/press/presale/etc..

Im on mobile now so it'd take a while to get the quote formatted/translated nicely, but if you check Avih's post history you'll find both their summary & the link to their JP thread that Foxclon posted in.