NA Fanfest 2018 Debacle

So, while a portion of the community may have gotten their tickets successfully by sheer luck, it's highly suspect how fast the tickets sold out in comparison to previous years.

Oh, it probably has something to do with
this as evidenced by this and further corroborated by posts like this.

• Let's start from the beginning of problems with this ordeal. Some players subscribed during the prerequisite time frame did not receive their access codes to buy tickets automatically and had to contact Square Enix Support in order to get one. But here's an interesting bit: the codes had no relevance. Literally, there's a post on Twitter with a screenshot of someone's access code. You can type that code into the ShowClix website and get right into the section to beginning buying tickets to NA Fanfest 2018 and the website does not recognize if a code has been used already.
• Another interesting bit at this point of the process: you could have multiple tabs open and bypass the 4-ticket per purchase limitation somehow. Seriously? So instead of the process being something sensible like verifying limitations based off of a credit/debit card, as you can see in one of the links above, where one person has $1574 in tickets in their checkout cart. Ball parking tax and being generous, that's at least nine tickets for one purchase right there.
• As if that wasn't bad enough, due to the high volume of requests to access the page, a lot likely contributed by constant refreshing, a Virtual Queue was instilled that restricted purchases. Sounds reasonable, right? However, reports have popped up that once you got through the queue to the purchase site, the URL could be copied and the Virtual Queue bypassed. So while players were legitimately waiting in a process they felt was reasonable, scalpers exploited faults in ShowClix's purchase website.
• "But the Fanfest website says tickets aren't resellable."
  Apparently, the ticket information can be edited to reflect new owners or as others on Twitter have stated, you could just hand your badge to another person at the event and won't be checked once you are inside the event.

I'd like to point out the irony in a company that's so adamant about being against reselling housing in-game that they enable a similar environment in real world terms.
While people won't be keen to the idea, SE should have ShowClix rebuke all Fanfest ticket purchases and resell tickets in a more secure form. The flame of outrage is lighting up reddit and smoldering on Twitter. It's only a matter of time before the gaming media gives Square Enix the bad press and reputation they deserve for such a severe oversight.
The community eagerly awaits a response on this matter.

Seconding this! It's very odd, especially in comparison to prior fan fests, that the tickets sold out so quickly in a legitimate manner. I know myself (and several others) were in queue from the exact second that sales opened (12PM PDT) and patiently waited in queue were met with a "Sold Out" message upon reaching the ticketing page.

It's really heartbreaking for those of us who already booked hotel rooms through the SE Rio partnership that went live weeks ago; now we're left with hotel reservations for an event we can't attend.

I really hope SE does something about this as it is heartbreaking and frustrating.

if this is the case i hope they do get what they deserve or re-do the whole porcess again to make up for it

Anyone who purchased tickets should be asked to provide their unique code sent to them in email to verify the purchase. Legit players who purchased their 4 get to keep their tix up to four max, but bots who didn't get a code, or who used the same code multiple times, would be forcibly refunded and their tickets cancelled, then the tickets go back into the general queue for next time.

If the same CC was used to purchase more than four tickets, cancel all but four.

Anyone offering to sell tickets for more than the price of $149.99 (+whatever the fees were) should have all their tickets cancelled too. I don't mind folks selling their extras, but scalping must be stopped brutally.

There needs to be a proper response to what has happened by SE. Those who were ready at the very top of the hour to buy the tickets weren't able to.

I completely agree with Zohnax that accountability needs to be made for what has happened by ShowClix/SquareEnix, and proper resolution to this problem to where the legit "Fans" are able to actually go to "Fan"fest.

Blows my mind that proper steps weren't taken to prevent some really basic ways to cheat the system.

You can see the angry responses on their twitter
https://twitter.com/FF_XIV_EN/status...71625432125440

Reddit's also revolting
https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...as_to_why_the/

Press is starting to write about it
https://www.runaroundnet.com/2018/07...v-players.html

More of the same confirmations about this debacle
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DhxeOEkUwAAxFH5.jpg:large

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DhxP_DOVAAA2j8H.jpg

https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comme...y_the/e25pyuy/

Quote:

---

Thank you for contacting SQUARE ENIX support, We apologize for the delay in our response. We are aware of the complaints being made in reference to the Fan Fest tickets presale, and we are investigating the matter. At this time, we can only recommend that you visit the official FINAL FANTASY XIV Lodestone web site for any news regarding the FINAL FANTASY XIV Fan Festival 2018 in Las Vegas. We also recommend that you visit the official FINAL FANTASY XIV Twitter page for all the latest announcements related to FINAL FANTASY XIV. - FINAL FANTASY XIV Lodestone: https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodestone/ - FINAL FANTASY XIV Official Twitter: @FF_XIV_EN

---

Long shot I guess

I hope so...

I was really hoping to make it to all of the XIV Fanfests. I don't even really have any friends going that I know of, I just like going. I had a sad when I didn't get tickets even after getting in the queue immediately. Hadn't even made it through before they were listed as sold out.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zohnax

While people won't be keen to the idea, SE should have ShowClix rebuke all Fanfest ticket purchases and resell tickets in a more secure form.

---

That's the worst idea I've ever heard. Punish those who took time off of work / school / whatever and legitimately got their tickets? Nope.

You're thinking too small. Around 4pm Showclix already locked all names on badges (previous fan fest you could edit up until the event). This already will prevent most scalpers from selling badges. To fix the issue, all they need to do is state that IDs will now be required to pick up every badge and they will allow full refunds on any tickets purchased for 48 hours. Scalpers will have no choice but to refund all their tickets or risk having useless badges they can't claim. SE can then resell those badges.

Suggesting you punish the innocent just because you didn't get a badge is lazy.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Noahlimits

allow full refunds on any tickets purchased for 48 hours

---

This is something I really want to see. I got a ticket but can't go now because I'm not spending $1,000+ to go clear across the country totally alone. Had a group lined up, had a room we were splitting, etc.. All that wasted because no one else could get a ticket despite us all being on the purchase page at the same time.

The shitty thing is that I remember when I went you had to register names to your tickets when you purchased (SMART). This year you didn't even have too, stupid af

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SinisterJoints

The shitty thing is that I remember when I went you had to register names to your tickets when you purchased (SMART). This year you didn't even have too, stupid af

---

Uh, you did have to put real names to each badge. It was a mandatory field. It's just that up until they started getting complaints about it, you could edit those names (which allowed for scalpers). Since 4pm names have been locked.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Noahlimits

Uh, you did have to put real names to each badge. It was a mandatory field. It's just that up until they started getting complaints about it, you could edit those names (which allowed for scalpers). Since 4pm names have been locked.

---

Was going to by my reply, didn't know they locked the names. Hope all these scalpers get f'd hard

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Patt

Seconding this! It's very odd, especially in comparison to prior fan fests, that the tickets sold out so quickly in a legitimate manner. I know myself (and several others) were in queue from the exact second that sales opened (12PM PDT) and patiently waited in queue were met with a "Sold Out" message upon reaching the ticketing page.

It's really heartbreaking for those of us who already booked hotel rooms through the SE Rio partnership that went live weeks ago; now we're left with hotel reservations for an event we can't attend.

I really hope SE does something about this as it is heartbreaking and frustrating.

---

Wait the reservation did not come with a guarantee ticket for the event the reservation partnership was intended for?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SinisterJoints

Was going to by my reply, didn't know they locked the names. Hope all these scalpers get f'd hard

---

I'm sure they have been. Like I said, I have a ticket I can't even use now and instead of giving it to someone who wants it I'm being forced to just eat my $150 and keeping someone from going. Yay. :>

Nope! Convention events typically offer "blocks" of hotel rooms at or near the event location, in this case the Rio in Las Vegas. Weirdly though, these went up for reservation way before tickets for the actual event went on sale. If you wanted a chance at reserving your accommodations for the event in this manner, you had to book well in advance of the ticket sales. It makes no sense.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Patt

Nope! Convention events typically offer "blocks" of hotel rooms at or near the event location, in this case the Rio in Las Vegas. Weirdly though, these went up for reservation way before tickets for the actual event went on sale. If you wanted a chance at reserving your accommodations for the event in this manner, you had to book well in advance of the ticket sales. It makes no sense.

---

Yeah I was just shocked since you mentioned you made your reservations weeks in advance so I figured they would at the very least offer some form of guarantee bundle since you are making a reservation at the venue the event is being held. Well I guess that is how I thought the partner ship worked. That is crazy.

Bayohne's made a statement for SE.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bayohne

Greetings,

We would like to follow up on reports that there were Fan Festival tickets sold without users needing an access code. Our ticket vendor explained that they had to temporarily pause the access code requirement while they addressed a technical issue that was slowing down the site. During this brief period, a small number of tickets were purchased without an access code. We investigated those purchases and did not find any evidence of ineligible purchases.

Please rest assured that we have also seen comments on other issues with ticket sales shared by the community, such as claims of users purchasing more than their allotted amount of tickets. We have investigated these concerns, and at this time have not found anything outside of the expected results. Should we discover any abnormalities, we will take the appropriate measures as necessary.

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.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zohnax

I'd like to point out the irony in a company that's so adamant about being against reselling housing in-game that they enable a similar environment in real world terms.
While people won't be keen to the idea, SE should have ShowClix rebuke all Fanfest ticket purchases and resell tickets in a more secure form.

---

This is a horrible idea.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zohnax

I'd like to point out the irony in a company that's so adamant about being against reselling housing in-game that they enable a similar environment in real world terms.
While people won't be keen to the idea, SE should have ShowClix rebuke all Fanfest ticket purchases and resell tickets in a more secure form. The flame of outrage is lighting up reddit and smoldering on Twitter. It's only a matter of time before the gaming media gives Square Enix the bad press and reputation they deserve for such a severe oversight.

---

I got the shaft on a ticket but this is a horrible idea, especially taking the reponse from Bayohne's into account. I have always viewed convention tickets as a luck of the draw kind of thing, I was just unlucky this time around. I will try again next year.

Sadly it's every 2 years, not every year.

I don't get the idea of people getting a hotel room or even buying plane tickets prior to purchasing the fanfest ticket themselves. I waited and even though it would have screwed me over in needing to go to a different hotel, I wouldn't have to deal with cancellation fees (if any). I got lucky, and I'll admit it, in getting 2 tickets for fanfest, and the hotel room at the Rio with the discount. I am baffled at how this sold in 30 minutes. Last year it took 10 hours, luckily this time I was ready just in case, but this sucks for everyone who couldn't get a ticket.

Usually any time I went to conventions, they asked for your ticket confirmation number to reserve for the hotel. This way people with tickets would get priority.

I'm torn and kind of confused on the whole situation. I'm happy because I got my ticket and the whole process was extremely painless. I logged in about 15 minutes before the buying time and refreshed once it came around which took me to the buying page.

I waited on the queue screen for about 20 minutes and was taken to the log-in section. Since I already had my code copied, it took me less than the 12 minute limit to complete the whole transaction. No issues at all.

Like...I'm happy but it does suck for those who weren't able to get in and didn't have the same experience as I did. It's odd how some people are saying they were getting messages saying that they were sold out 10 minutes after they were queued but I waited 20 minutes and got in fine. Also some people are saying that they kept refreshing and also ran into issues but on the page, it literally says, DO NOT REFRESHbecause it's unnecessary and doing so too many times will either get you banned or kicked out from the buying all together.

I've also been told by some that they were told the tickets were sold out but if they refreshed enough, they were able to buy some. It all sounds a little jank.

I had a similar experience to what Renato stated. I was logged into the site right when the tickets went live and had to use my emailed code.

I was in the queue for about thirty minutes when I got the the purchase screen. I got a screen that said "Sold Out". I thought it was a glitch, so I refreshed the page. I was concerned that refreshing would mess thing up but I got the option to select tickets but only gave me the option to buy zero or one ticket. I needed two tickets and took a chance to refresh the page again. This time I got the "Sold Out" message again. I was starting to get angry.

I refreshed the page several more times, about once every thirty seconds. I got the purchase page again and was able to get two tickets.

I really hope that SE is able to recover any scalped tickets and allow actual players to attend. The fanfest would be boring.
It is completely within reason for SE and Showclix to review purchase orders, there will be alot. They can check and see if any orders purchased more than the allotted four ticket max.
If any buyer did purchase more than four tickets. Void the complete transaction, which would refund the purchase and recirculate tickets to the players. With any tickets that become available this way require the use of an unused ticket code as previously sent out.

This my add more work to SE but they can monitor the new sales of the returned tickets to try and minimize problems. There is no way to completely stop all problems that can occur but they can at least try to block as much as possible.

My access code was useless. I waited in the ticket queue like so many others only for the tickets to sold out in mere minutes and not by legitimate, loyal fans of the game who actually play and subscribe to the game. If you check out the hashtags #RIPFFXIVFanFest#FFXIVFanFest #FFXIVFanFest2018 #mydreamsaredead#ileftworkearlyforthis on twitter, you'll see the many accounts of bots and other individuals having earlier access to the ticket queue website https://sqex.to/LSQ than everyone else had, bypassing of the queue altogether, individuals purchasing more than the 4-ticket limit, individuals purchasing tickets WITHOUT access codes and people bragging about re-selling tickets with supposed proof of it all over twitter. The press is starting to write about it as well https://www.runaroundnet.com/2018/07...v-players.html .

Adding my story. Took time from work to wait through the 30 minute queue. My fiance tried as well. Both of us got the SOLD OUT screen of doom. Time well spent, vacation plans dashed, and the spark of a terribly disappointing day. RIP.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by o0cacoto0o

I don't get the idea of people getting a hotel room or even buying plane tickets prior to purchasing the fanfest ticket themselves. I waited and even though it would have screwed me over in needing to go to a different hotel, I wouldn't have to deal with cancellation fees (if any). I got lucky, and I'll admit it, in getting 2 tickets for fanfest, and the hotel room at the Rio with the discount. I am baffled at how this sold in 30 minutes. Last year it took 10 hours, luckily this time I was ready just in case, but this sucks for everyone who couldn't get a ticket.

Usually any time I went to conventions, they asked for your ticket confirmation number to reserve for the hotel. This way people with tickets would get priority.

---

Simply put, the hotel where the fanfest is at was out of rooms a week after they announced WHEN the ticket sales were going up. That's why people book early, some don't want the inconvenience of travelling back and forth during fanfest when you can just wake up and go downstairs!

It would be nice if they could try to compensate all the disappointed people who queued exactly at 12pm but got nothing.

Here are some things they could consider to help compensate legitimate players who waited in the queue but got absolutely nothing:

• Offering free live streams of the event
• Offering merch purchases
• Offering in-game item purchases
• Offering Mog Station discounts (maybe kind of lame, but better than nothing?)
• Requiring re-verification for all existing ticket sales to make sure they went to legitimate players
• Allowing ticket returns before a certain date, to possibly free up more tickets
• Possibly having a secondary sale of returned or canceled tickets
• Supporting an alternate fan-organized event to supplement FanFest

I realize that some of these ideas (like opening up merch and in-game item purchases) might remove some of the exclusivity and bragging rights for the lucky few who got tickets, but since the ticket sale was such a mess and there were so many disappointed people (who got in the queue at 12 but got nothing) it seems fair to try to do something.

I also think the main advantage of attending FanFest in person is ... actually being there in person to hang out with players and the FFXIV developers!! And hearing Soken's awesome metal band (The Primals!!) in person! :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SinisterJoints

Simply put, the hotel where the fanfest is at was out of rooms a week after they announced WHEN the ticket sales were going up. That's why people book early, some don't want the inconvenience of travelling back and forth during fanfest when you can just wake up and go downstairs!

---

And it looks like the hotels/casinos around are charging an outrageous amount as well. The Gold Coast was asking for $339 for both nights not including taxes and resort fees. Same with The Palms.

I actually work at for Caesars and even with our discounts rooms look to be extremely high for that weekend. I checked the Rio earlier and they're asking for $239 a night plus tax with my employee discount. I ended up booking at Harrahs which is on the strip and out of the way but it's the cheapest option...For anyone expecting to go, just be reason to pay some cash for the rooms.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Avenger

• Offering free live streams of the event
• Offering in-game item purchases

---

Most of the event (minus the concert) is going to be streamed live for free and the in-game goodies will be available on the mogstation. (Source)

I know they were sold out weeks in advance before tickets were sold, but why would one book a room before you know you got a ticket? If you didn't get a ticket now you must cancel and lose the deposit if they charged any, and then cancel the flight as well. That's what I'm asking. Sorry if my wording made it sound weird.

Who's really to blame though? SE for not making enough tickets available, or the ticket vendor site for not having the systems in place to thwart the scalpers/bots ? (I'm not trying to minimize SE's role in this at all, just completely gobsmacked that a ticket vendor would have such a toothpick-like infrastructure to try and manage what they should have realized would be a MASSIVE event).

Also, as if this wasn't a brilliant indicator of just how passionate fans of the series are, maybe SE should consider having a fanfest on the west coast, and one on the east coast. I hear New York and Boston are pretty well set up to handle these types of things.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by o0cacoto0o

I know they were sold out weeks in advance before tickets were sold, but why would one book a room before you know you got a ticket? If you didn't get a ticket now you must cancel and lose the deposit if they charged any, and then cancel the flight as well. That's what I'm asking. Sorry if my wording made it sound weird.

---

? In my experience booking rooms I've never lost a deposit if I had to make a cancellation early enough (and this would definitely qualify as early enough).

I agree with you about airfare, but airline tickets aren't nearly at the same risk of selling out as hotel rooms are.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Emstidor

? In my experience booking rooms I've never lost a deposit if I had to make a cancellation early enough (and this would definitely qualify as early enough).

I agree with you about airfare, but airline tickets aren't nearly at the same risk of selling out as hotel rooms are.

---

Then you must not have booked many rooms in your lifetime. There are absolutely hotels that will penalize you for cancellation. Not every business is actually customer-friendly, especially in the USA.

The problem is that there were some who legitimately got their tickets. So to take theirs away would be as bad as whats already happened. The ID for badge would work except that if scalpers have already sold their passes all they'd need to do is provide the names of their "companions". If a credit card was used for multiple purchases more than 4...so in that case a boyfriend and girlfriend live together both have valid accounts miraculously got thru the queue, use the same card...you gonna tell them they cant do that? When we got into the virtual queue, we were all assigned a "unique identifying number". I assume they also have a timestamp for when that id number/cookie was assigned. Also, I would assume people who circumvented the system never got one of those identifiers. It would be nice if they could go back and match purchases to the cookie id tags and see who was legit and who was cheating. If one id number has more than 4 they forfeit their tickets, if an id number got tickets out of sequence bc they skipped the queue with a url link ...they forfeit. If someone doesnt have an id they forfeit. The tickets recovered go into a second chance pre-sale and god help them they need to get it right this time. :mad:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by o0cacoto0o

I know they were sold out weeks in advance before tickets were sold, but why would one book a room before you know you got a ticket? If you didn't get a ticket now you must cancel and lose the deposit if they charged any, and then cancel the flight as well. That's what I'm asking. Sorry if my wording made it sound weird.

---

Hotel reservations can be cancelled up to 72 hours prior to your check in date and you will get the deposit back. It's in the terms of the reservation so it's not like people are out that cost, it just may take a few days for the refund to hit the bank.

Flight tickets are another matter.
-If the tickets are refundable, then yes, they can get a refund or use the tickets for another flight, typically without a fee but that is dependent upon the policies of the airline. With a change though you are likely to have any additional costs in fare. (i.e. you paid $200 for the ticket and the cost of the new ticket is $300. You have to pay the $100 difference. If it's less then you get a refund on that, typically. Again up to the airline's policies.)
-If the tickets are NON-refundable then the airline will only refund under certain circumstances that their policies allow. If you cannot obtain a refund, then you can usually change the ticket with a fee plus any difference in fair (see example above).

That makes sense, thank you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Souljacker

Then you must not have booked many rooms in your lifetime. There are absolutely hotels that will penalize you for cancellation. Not every business is actually customer-friendly, especially in the USA.

---

I have ran into this issue only a handful of times, and I end up having to cancel many reservations a lot due to changes with my schedule. More often then not from my experience most business are extremely accommodating to the needs of their customers. Though I rarely use package deals so I cannot speak on that aspect.

This is a big learning experience for them. Next NA fanfest I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't choose a different venue or even if they did 2 fanfest with the other on the east coast

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by o0cacoto0o

I don't get the idea of people getting a hotel room or even buying plane tickets prior to purchasing the fanfest ticket themselves. I waited and even though it would have screwed me over in needing to go to a different hotel, I wouldn't have to deal with cancellation fees (if any). I got lucky, and I'll admit it, in getting 2 tickets for fanfest, and the hotel room at the Rio with the discount. I am baffled at how this sold in 30 minutes. Last year it took 10 hours, luckily this time I was ready just in case, but this sucks for everyone who couldn't get a ticket.

Usually any time I went to conventions, they asked for your ticket confirmation number to reserve for the hotel. This way people with tickets would get priority.

---

Here was the thing though. Back around dec i think square was like hey guys we got a speciak discount on the rooms for fanfest for a limited time but u need to book now! So a lot of ppl booked them. Needless to say bad move yes but it was a promo offered