Suggestions for Future Fan Fests

[Crysten]

A bit of feedback from my perspective - apologies for the rambling nature of this:

1) As has been said to death - the merchandise queue was nothing short of ridiculous and one till (and one single card reader) for an event of 1000+ people was simply not good enough. It really did seem like there was no forward planning with this - never, ever underestimate the demand for stuff at these kind of events! I was able to complete most quests but this was the single reason why I wasn't able to do half of the events I wanted to. I'm sure many others feel the same.

2) While I was able to get all the stuff I wanted, items such as the art book and Delivery Moogle should always have been limited to one per person. Unless you have huge overstock of a particular item, you should not be letting people get more than one of something with queues that long. I cannot imagine the pain of being in the queue for as long as I was (four hours!) and being told that the stuff I was after was sold out after seeing people with doubles, or even triples!

3) I get the feeling the venue was picked due to aesthetics (and no complaints here on that part!). It was in a very nice location and the atmosphere alone (for example the stained glass in the Carline Canopy and the ships outside) was extremely fitting for the game. I would not be adverse to having the event at the Tabacco Dock again but making sure the venue is completely fit for purpose (bigger halls for things like Dev keynotes and merch) and making full use of space is the number one priority!

4) Seating would have been very much appreciated for the events in the Ishgard Theatre considering it was tough to see anything near the back. I appreciate the venue may not have allowed for this but this is definitely something to consider going forward. The concert I wouldn't have had any other way though!

5) More of a personal bit of feedback myself after seeing a previous post - a piece of my work made it into the finals of the fanart contest and after seeing it actually mounted on the wall I was actually hoping I could take it home. I didn't get the thought to ask! Is there any chance the finalists could at least get these, even if they weren't signed by the dev team?

6) The Roulette and Odin challenge booths were the perfect size for what was required and the queue times were extremely fair. The attendees idea of a Party Finder was really good (basically people in the queue would recruit by holding up signs or shouting) so it may be a good idea going forward to create 2-4 queues (one for solo players, one for parties or one for parties, one for healer/tank/DPS soloers).

[Barboron]

I actually have several suggestions for this, while some are not so much suggestions but just rather thoughts/opinions/criticism on some of the organisation:

- Merchandise shop:
Needless to say, the merchandise shop was nothing less of appalling. This seemed totalled unprepared and the shop was run like a mini-Argos (yes, it means people aren't grabbing all the merchandise). For this, it would have been better NOT to have the queue the way it was inside the shop, it was far too congested (surely that would have violated health and safety regulations), getting in, out, and following the queue was quite irritating, having this congestion outside of the shop (queue leading up to the shop) wouldn't have been as much of an issue considering it was a straight line. The congestion inside also caused the queue to somewhat collapse as it came to the counter. Having only one person to whom we could pay cash while three could take card left some people stalled as people with cash had been queued up to pay for cards due to the ratio of customers:staff inside the shop. By having fewer numbers inside of the shop, and have them outside, this would have made it much more manageable. Although, communicating with the queue about stock would prove difficult but sometimes you got to make the compromise. There was a considerable amount of unused floor space down stairs at the opposite end to the Behemoth rodeo.

[P.S. I like how 200 art books and 60 plushies magically turned up near the end.]

[P.S.S. The staff though was very friendly and helpful, the woman at the door to the merchandise shop was quite sociable so it helped although she worked at the venue rather, it seems.]

- Roulette stations:
I queued up with 7 other players in the limsa queue, it was naturally shorter because the queue was hidden behind the merchandise queue so people avoided it. However, the room wasn't specified as being mouse and keyboard only so we had to move to Gridania which only had 4 controllers and 4 M&KB per set of stations.

- Other queues:
My previous two points go into this a bit, the Limsa queue was hidden behind the merchandise queue.
Again, if the merchandise shop was moved to an area away from events, perhaps it wouldn't have been an issue. Perhaps when laying out the events, take the queues into consideration (although this may have been done, the queues must have been under estimated). I am not familiar with London or venues within the UK but perhaps having something ready for a larger festival next year might be good. Tickets sold out quick, which is a sign people want to go, and there was definitely a shortage on space, so space is in demand!

- Odin:
This went quite well. If there was more space I would have divided people in several queues, not really something as important, a tank, dps, and healer queue. This is just to make it easier for when a group goes in missing X of Y role and having to shout across the entire queue. Again, this would be a low priority QoL but food for though for future events.

- Content:
No frontlines, no speedruns but yet we had 3 rooms for the trial roulette. Again, this would be a reflection of space and time given to us (by time, meaning a 1 day event compared to that of the Las Vegas 2 day event).
No live quest journal either. I know there was mention of all the answers being posted to reddit from the Las Vegas event but after all the effort put into that book, it would have been nice to have one for myself.

Over all, while I very much enjoyed the FanFest, a considerable amount of money was paid, especially in comparison to the Las Vegas event. Although this would be in large due to the costs of running an event in London's inner city. All the same, a lot of the time was spent recapping over previous announcements. Which made it seem like I was paying for a lot more than I was receiving.
I have been to one other convention in Birmingham's NEC and that place was so much bigger, far more accessible from the airport, and cheaper. Perhaps a good spot for next year's FanFest?

I would like to end with saying that I do very much appreciate the efforts gone in to the FanFest. From the Eorzean styled signs, the themed activities, even that Behemoth mount, to the fan contribution from art, CosPlay, Retainers, and the welcoming attitude with how freely people would communicate and assist complete strangers (especially when making PUGs). Any changes would really involve financial costs, but perhaps the area could have been utilized better.

[Maximus]

lol I BEAT THE QUEUE Primal Challenge

It seems like SE was just really surprised by how many fans were willing to spend a bunch of money on merch. I'm sure they'll be more prepared next time.

It surprises me that they were surprised by fans wanting to buy their merc. When I go to any event I always buy stuff. Its just a fan thing.
Otherwise I certainly would go again, take a peek, see how many tills/people serving and keep an eye on the queues length before joining it. Oh and maybe get a stamp for visiting the marketward.

[Mjollnir]

Ok, aside from the crushing despair-by-proxy which was the Merch Queue - which I didn't stand in for a second - loved it!

I was kept entertained from open til close; well worth the £65 - got two ltd t-shirts, a Hildibrand fridge magnet, a jute bag, a phone recharger, a mini-poster, a notebook (from 2104!), a minion neckstrap, and a well-designed map/quest booklet plus of course all of the entertainment and displays, lollies whenever you did the mini-events all in a nice venue with amazing people! I wish I'd been fast enough for VIP, and I'd book right now for next year even if the price goes up.

Ran through Odin four times in total, with ppl we picked up along the way to help out get their t-shirts. There was space for fifteen parties to play the challenge, which was adequate imo.

The battle rooms were insta-queues, easy stuff - silly fun!

I got to do about half the mini-events - queueing for the Behemoth Rodeo and the Elezen Archery both took far too long, but we entertained ourselves in the queues (my friend monologued the entirity of Coil 2 at me at Behe).

Hunting for the Crayolas was cool. We tried to find them all, even though you only needed five, but we were missing one by the end - either the "shiver me timbers" or the "light the way for seamen" (we got the one outside on the lamppost by the ship. Does anyone know where that last one was???

The drinks prices were refreshing - £1 for a coke or water was thoroughly reasonable, and happy to pay 50p for a banana (great idea to have fresh fruit!). The food at the Carline Canopy was nicely advertised with its Eorzean twist - shame the food itself was so bland (cheeseburger wow)! Happy for the alcohol to be so expensive - meant we weren't tempted to drink too much and instead had a bottle each at the closing ceremony.

I hope Soken has learnt to cover Battle on the Big Bridge Reborn for the next Primals show, and maybe gets his pal Nobuo on for a song!



But seriously, merch. I came home with £100 unspent in my pocket (when we did go to queue around 7pm we were turned away) .

[Mjollnir]

but a cheeseburger would have been awesome. because of the food and the fact that the cash machines had run out of cash

The Carline Canopy sold a range of hot food, including cheeseburgers and accepted payment by card.

[Kimikryo]

Most likely lol yes had the t-shirt with the Pheonix on the back and my character on the front. Someone did ask me if my real job was an architect which it is.

That Gilgamesh though, it was hillarious *I thinkIO just qoutet the wrong post of you .. looong day*


Some things I might add for improvement.
One day more would be golden for next time in Europe
More computers for Odin (or anything similar)


The only thing I disliked but I don't think that SE can do a lot for that. The security (not blue or red shirts) were sending us in awkward directions when it was over. I almost got lost :x

[Ilisidi]

Overall I loved the event, especially all the 'side'-quests, although I only got to do some of them due to merch queue and Odin. I also missed out on all Dev panels and the Cosplay contest due to merch and Odin. Otherwise, the venue looked the part, it was really great, all the staff were friendly.

There already have been many ideas to alleviate the merchandising queuing problem, I'd like to add another, that won't help solve the problem, but anyway. Please put the merchandising display stand at the entry of the room or thereabouts. They were rather hidden and difficult to reach if you wanted to take a look beforehand. I think at the very beginning one of the staff tried to have separate queue for buyers and one for display lookers, something that was abandoned very fast.

[CherryEggs]

Perfect!

Odin / Battle Roulette Queues - Absolutely fantastic. Queue times were just right, given the volume of people trying the Odin fight again and again (myself included, after clearing it on try four!), and there was ample space to try the Roulettes at your leisure. Didn't expect to ever fight Leviathan while only being allowed to walk, but it was fun. You guys got this totally right, and I was impressed.

Unexpected and Good Variety of Activities - the Ul'dah Alchemists Guild where I got to make my own perfume? Absolutely delightful. Really enjoyed that activity. But in general, the feel for the day just felt like one big FFXIV themed carnival! Between photo booths, Behemoth rides, green screen silliness, getting my hair done up like a Lalafell, making a (bad) necklace, and meeting so many lovely people when trying to down Odin (paper sign Party Finders anyone?) I loved how it still felt busy and lively, but still somewhat intimate and small. I had fun from the time the gates opened until my friends and I left. We missed the Closing Ceremony and the Cosplay Contest, and also never touched the Merchandise after seeing the infamous queue, but I was not disappointed by my enjoyment for the day.

Needs Improvement

Merchandise Distribution/Planning - Been said a number of times. Glad I didn't waste my day on that queue, personally, but was disappointed to not be able to buy anything at the Festival. Does need serious improvement for the future.

Seating for Opening Ceremonies - I'm part of the slightly older crowd playing XIV, and I was crying for a chair by the time the ceremonies kicked off due to back and knee problems - despite being fortunate enough to be close(ish) to the front! Please try to be mindful of that in the future, as I think we ALL wanted a seat after queuing all morning just to enter.

Knowledge/Helpfulness of Blue-Shirt Staff - The staff were usually very helpful, but they were a very mixed lot - particularly the staff helping on the smaller events who were wearing blue shirts. Although most of them were spectacular (the Ul'dah Alchemists in particular!) on the whole they seemed to have no inkling of what the Festival was about and it was quite obvious that most were hired temps and not necessarily 'fans', which I would've liked much better. Low points were the (lack of) staff instructing or helping in jewellery making, and the staff that photobombed some of our photos for their own amusement.

___

But seriously, overall I really enjoyed myself. Fantastic effort for a first year event, overall. Room to improve, but there always is. Well done!

[Hyzy]

Apologies for further rambling, I am really grateful for SE doing an event in the UK and you could see everyone had worked really hard.

Website - way too late on updating. I can imagine how hard that must've been for people trying to plan a trip to the UK just for the event. Art contest -would have loved to enter, however the info was put up too late.

Travelling across London, waiting in the queue then sent to a standing room only was not fun. I had to find a spot where i could see a screen. When i thought i had a good view, there was suddenly cheering, the screens weren't showing anything so had no idea what was going on. Eventually something appeared on the screen but not one i had a good view of.

[Hyzy]

We rushed out to find the merch stall, found the goody bags instead. Eventually found a queue and had to ask what it was for. There were rumours flying as to what was sold out, a note halfway down the queue might've helped.

At nearly 4pm we were out of the line and went to the cafe, half the food was sold out and the rest wasn't available til later. I am grateful for the stalls selling water bottles and other things.

Odin queue wasn't so bad, nice to see what was going on in the live feed while waiting. The staff were really helpful in setting up parties. The few minutes to set up the controller was the most stressful part!

I went to try out some of the activities, the jewellery making was in a bit of a mess by that time! There wasn't much left so just picked some beads that there was most of and came away with something. It did have a bit of a cheap carnival feel, but i can't say i didn't enjoy the activities.