Improvements they could make for Fan Fest 2015

[Vilhem]

My #1 complaint: the merch line!!

As a VIP, I went in there first thing Saturday morning, long line of VIPs, okay. By the time the Keynote began and finished, I was in the same spot just around the corner from being able to buy my merch. But, the line was stagnant for over an hour. Apparently one of their credit card registers broke down. Okay cool. The solution? MAKE A SEPARATE LINE FOR THOSE PAYING WITH CASH AND BRING THEM UP!!!

...so I got to watch as those non-VIP people, who were able to sit down for the Keynote, whip by me, order their merch, and be on their happy way, while I had to wait almost ONE MORE hour to buy my stuff.

The line wasn't initially roped off either, which meant that after the Keynote, there were people who rushed the merch line, and cut in right at the beginning. It took me and another guy complaining to get that section near the display merch roped off. Terrible terrible management. I've been to several conventions where the vendors use a card reader straight off their smartphones/tablets. Why can't SE do the same thing? Would have been a much faster process.

Second beef was about the cosplay contest. I'm a good sport about competitions and all that, but there was no prep for this contest other than "show up at x time". A little heads up about what to expect would have been nice. I sewed/crafted armor pieces for my cosplay on my own, and even saying that, they were done with me in less than 2 minutes. In my head I was like "...that was it?"

[zeehairah]

Please, when you are lining up cosplayers for the finals... let us sit down!

God, yes! I all but collapsed after coming off stage from the pain of standing from 4PM until we were done. I think it also would have been nice to have an area where lighting was good (anyone taking pictures along that wall has a blue photo- it was horrid!) that people could go to take pictures and pose with others would be nice. I know personally the pictures with everyone was the highlight of the event for me.

[Bayohne]

Thank you all for this thread!
We're definitely looking for ways to improve the show experience for all those attending and are anxious to get more feedback like this!

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

Yeah, my only complaints were about the lines really, and not being able to adjust what the side buttons on the mice were mapped to but that's understandable.

[Masheli]

Some kind of convention-wide wifi or voucher for hotel wifi would be lovely. Hell, even if it was just for VIPs that would improve things. I know that I would have had an easier time with a member of my FC and I splitting up if we could IM.

I wouldn't whine if there was a small increase in price to implement this.

[Jeykama]

Things I would have liked:
An area where we could have access to the live game while there. For people with authenticators only (security reasons) and maybe a 10 minute time limit for those of us who want to say hi to our FC or water our plants or something :P
More demo kiosks? I loved the Theatrhythm setup.
Hotel/food discounts for those staying at the venue. The Rio didn't strike me as a very good host.
Access to the premium livestream archive - I missed 2 panels because I was standing in line and walls were in my way of the video feed. I'd like to see them.
The lines - make a line then after a cutoff hand people tickets with time blocs so they can come back at a certain time of day to wait instead of standing hours in line.

[Fiye]

Oh, one thing that hit me. The sign up wall should give a lot more room for NA servers. (At the NA Fan Fest) and do the same for EU (At London) and JP (At Tokyo)

Also, having someone monitor it so someone just doesn't write HYPERION and take up most of the JP space would be another nice thing. I appreciate that they waiting until late day1/day 2 to do it but still.

[KanaNetwork]

I actually don't have a ton of complaints, and I'm very thankful that some crew members were willing to give our win stamps when people got close to completing, but were unable to try again due to the line closing off or a six hour wait time. I do wish for certain events like Primal EX had more computers, now that was a line!

Things like the broken credit card reader or the lines on registration are easy fixes that essentially lent themselves to Murphy's Law. Square made some great adjustments such as an additional signing for VIP members who missed them.

I liked everything in one room, that was fantastic!

In the future though, I'd like a clear policy on cameras. I was filming all weekend, taking pictures on my nice camera, and then my phone just to get in updates. At the concert though this all changed beforehand and I was thrown a few insults when I was setting up.

[KanaNetwork]

Then the concert started and everyone was taller than I was, the only way I could actually see was with the camera and I was in the third row dead center! A lot of people in front of me were three heads taller, and I had my camera on a stick about one head taller than myself. I know SE can't control individual people, but if someone had said it's okay to film at any time I could have easily said it was within my right versus attempting to move myself or make myself smaller.

Otherwise, the people were great. My biggest suggestion for next year is a recharge station! I know SE provided the power charger, which was awesome, but that only worked with my phone and not my camera which needed an actual outlet. I think a lot of people could benefit from something like that, specifically if they use it for ten to thirty minutes at a time. It'd be a nice thought I think.

[KanaNetwork]

My other suggestion is specifically for the raffle. I was really hoping to see some FFXIV type of prizes. While I didn't whine, and I wouldn't whine if I did, as a console player not a lot of those prizes were actually appealing. Signed artwork, books, CDs, anything from the merch booth would have worked wonders for additional prizes I think. Not sure if this one is even in your control since these seemed like sponsor prizes, but just figured I'd throw it out there.

Either way, thanks for the amazing time! I thought the event was extremely well run and despite completing everything I didn't spend too much time in line. I also liked how the event promoted people to find one another and be social. There is no other convention that enables people to need to be together to finish events. So please, keep that as the core, that makes everything better! <3

Also, please, please keep it in Vegas! Don't move to California like everything else... so expensive :< (didn't know there was a character limit...)