Why doesnt NA get a convention??

Please, developers or higher-ups, why do you no longer host FFXI conventions in NA anymore? You are treating us like bastard-stepchildren, and we are a huge player-base and $$ center for you. The last one held here was sold out in minutes, so dont spew any BS about lack of participation. I request an honest response about why we have been ignored year after year, after 2 incredibly successful showings for the NA conventions.

I'll state it as this... we are a hundred times larger than Japan, people flew 3000 miles to get to the one held in California, a considerable sacrifice compared to people traveling from the farthest points in Japan to wherever the convention is held there.

I see the announcement for Vanafest out there, and it only serves as a painful reminder we're being ignored.

Same reason Blizzcon isn't held in Japan or China.

At this point, you should be thankful there's money in the budget for a Vana'fest at all.

I dont think it be worth the money, While alot of people still in NA still play FFXI, I Doubt enough people have the time, money, And/or lets call it motivation to go. It is nice that they are Streaming it for us though.

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Originally Posted by Gukai

I see the announcement for Vanafest out there, and it only serves as a painful reminder we're being ignored.

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It's an old game and we've always been a secondary market... They just don't care anymore. If XIV catches on big we may get some half-assed -fest in LA every once in a while, but don't go holding your breath.

The jaded gamer in me says, "If you want any chance at all of being treated like a 1st Class Customer, play a game based in your own country/region. Otherwise you're just there to help subsidize the game (and fanfests) for the country of origin. But hey, at least if you're in North America you're treated better than the poor blokes in Europe."

It's cheaper and easier for them o just have one event and send some people to cover it. That's about the size of it.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

It's cheaper and easier for them o just have one event and send some people to cover it. That's about the size of it.

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It couldn't have anythign to do with SE's dislike of america.

You think this is being ignored? I still remember playing "Mystic Quest" while all the cool kids were playing FFV.

You want the sequel to Secret of Mana? Try Secret of Evermore instead.

And where's my Terranigma?

/crotchetyoldman

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Originally Posted by Ziyyigo-Tipyigo

/crotchetyoldman

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I remember when Game Boy games cost a nickle!! /shakescane

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Originally Posted by Ziyyigo-Tipyigo

You want the sequel to Secret of Mana? Try Secret of Evermore instead.

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Evermore was the better game. We made out like bandits in that exchange.

The main reason why NA doesn't get a convention is because the fans and playerbase here hasn't organized one yet. All it takes is a committed group of people, probably not even larger than a FFXI alliance, to get the resources and together organize a convention. It would be something to stir up the fandom for something more, most definitely, regardless of the size it initially took.

When there's a need or even merely a strong desire, people step up to fill that need. In the beginning FFXI did not have a wiki, or a podcast, or official forums. We didn't wait for SE to give us those things, we tackled those needs/wants ourselves.

We don't need to wait for SE to hear our whining and complaining about a regional/local convention, we need to wrestle ourselves away from our Magian Trials and Voidwatch for a little bit and make our own.

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Originally Posted by Morari

we need to wrestle ourselves away from our Magian Trials and Voidwatch for a little bit

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Yeah... not much of a struggle, that one.

VanaFest on the east coast {Yes, Please.}

The short answer is SE is running a business. They will get much higher attendance and hype in Tokyo and regardless of where it is, it will be covered by the gaming press and suit their needs for an event driven marketing platform.

This is a business folks.

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Originally Posted by Lokithor

The short answer is SE is running a business. They will get much higher attendance and hype in Tokyo and regardless of where it is, it will be covered by the gaming press and suit their needs for an event driven marketing platform.

This is a business folks.

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The events sell out regardless of region. It will also be covered by the gaming press, regardless of region.

Square Enix is a business yes, but companies that have events like this aren't in it for the money. They don't earn profits on these. They do it for the players.

Oh yeah? We'll have our own Vana'fest! With Mithra! And TetraMaster!

In fact, forget the Vana'fest!

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Originally Posted by Ziyyigo-Tipyigo

Oh yeah? We'll have our own Vana'fest! With Mithra! And TetraMaster!

In fact, forget the Vana'fest!

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And the Tetra-Master!

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Originally Posted by Fusionx

Square Enix is a business yes, but companies that have events like this aren't in it for the money. They don't earn profits on these. They do it for the players.

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All businesses are in it for the money. Doing something for the players is just a way of coaxing those players into continuing to give them money.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all businesses are evil. But do not mistake a business' practices with morals.

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Originally Posted by Tsukino_Kaji

It couldn't have anythign to do with SE's dislike of america.

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SE doesn't hate America (capitalize it please). any percieved or real ignorance of any customer comment/complaint on this forum doesn't mean that SE "hates America." Sure, it might mean that they don't treat their customers as well as they should, but it has nothing to do with their opinion of the country itself.

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Originally Posted by Fusionx

The events sell out regardless of region. It will also be covered by the gaming press, regardless of region.

Square Enix is a business yes, but companies that have events like this aren't in it for the money. They don't earn profits on these. They do it for the players.

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Make no mistake. Companies don't do these things for their players. It is pure marketing. What better environment to hype your product than within an environment of fan boys all high on the corporate kool-aid. Steve Jobs was a master at this.

The event itself might not be directly profitable, but it certainly does hype people for upcoming stuff and is good publicity.

(That being said, there's also a lot of exclusive merchandise for sale at these kinds of events, so it's not like there's no chance to take in some cash)

I vote we start our own fest here in the U.S. Cosplay contests, epic game room where people can log in and game, drawings, ect. Not sure where most of the player base for the U.S. is located but we should have a really big one there and then some small ones located through out the nation. Example: If a large portion of the player base is on the east coast target it down to one major city there, then one for the midwest, south east coast, north west, and south west coast. I can bet your pretty dollar people would show up if they were interested. Or we could have it linked with the already popular anime/game conventions that do take place until it received enough interest to take off on its own.
Anyways I am glad they are streaming it at the very least we can see whats going on.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

SE doesn't hate America (capitalize it please). any percieved or real ignorance of any customer comment/complaint on this forum doesn't mean that SE "hates America." Sure, it might mean that they don't treat their customers as well as they should, but it has nothing to do with their opinion of the country itself.

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You haven't paid enough attention to Japanese companies then. Also, america doesn't deserve to be capitalized.

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Originally Posted by Tsukino_Kaji

You haven't paid enough attention to Japanese companies then. Also, america doesn't deserve to be capitalized.

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Then if you're in it, you should move out of it, and I mean it in the nicest way possible. If you don't like and respect your country, then do something about it, or find one that you CAN like and respect.

And I do pay attention to Japanese companies that do business here- some of which are more successful at doing it than our own in the same industry. I doubt they decided to do business here and do such a good job of it because they hate us.

Fanfests especially the ones done in the US are done at a loss to SE. They don't make a profit from it and they are obviously on a tight budge for FFXI as it is. Probably why you don't see one.

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Originally Posted by Alhanelem

Then if you're in it, you should move out of it, and I mean it in the nicest way possible. If you don't like and respect your country, then do something about it, or find one that you CAN like and respect.

And I do pay attention to Japanese companies that do business here- some of which are more successful at doing it than our own in the same industry. I doubt they decided to do business here and do such a good job of it because they hate us.

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I thought the name was "United States of America", america itself is the continents of north and south america. :D

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Originally Posted by Behemothx

I thought the name was "United States of America", america itself is the continents of north and south america. :D

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It's usually "the Americas," and that would include the Caribbean (i.e. "West Indies.") "New World" may or may not include Australia/Oceania/etc, depending on who you talk to.

Meanwhile, citizens of the United States adopted the name "America" and "Americans" to distinguish themselves from the "Old World," considering themselves to be a new people, in contrast to the residents of "British North America" and "New Spain."

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Then if you're in it, you should move out of it, and I mean it in the nicest way possible. If you don't like and respect your country, then do something about it, or find one that you CAN like and respect.

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Easy enough to say, very hard to do. I'm sure everyone would love to change the world (goodness knows I'd love to sack most of the British Parliament), but we all live in it and have our own daily struggles to concern ourselves with first. Moving country is a vastly costly endeavour and it's not as if other countries don't have their own issues to deal with either.

There's no such thing as a perfect world.