Feedback and Thanks!

[Alice_89th]

Here is my list, both the good and the bad:

Venue:

• I found it easy to reach (we walked from the station) and nice and spacious. At no point it felt overcrowded but it also didn't feel empty.
• I had only one negative run in with a staff member and that was only a minor thing (though some of the minigame staff members did seem a bit bored by the end of the day). The rest of the staff was polite, and while they didn't always speak English very well they clearly did their best.
• HUGE props for the staff members that had to cut off lines (for signing etc). They remained polite throughout the whole event, even when they had to turn away multiple people per minute for extended periods of time.
• The food was meh, but not worse than I expected (the Panini I had was quite good, actually). But not much choice so the second day we all either brought lunch or went outside to buy lunch.

Merchandise:

• Being able to pre-order was great, I hope this returns for future events.
• There was a staff member handing out cards with time slots to line up for merchandise. She said we wouldn't be able to buy anything without one...yet one of us was already lined up and was able to buy merchandise just fine. This needs to be fixed. Time slots are fine, but they need to be reinforced. If other people can get in line without one all of the merch will be gone by time your late-afternoon time slot arrives. So either let people queue up at any time, or use time slots and actually reinforce them.

Minigames:

• The Wondrous Tails stamp card was a really cute idea.
• Some of the minigames would have benefited from some explanations. For example, I got two throws at Revenge on Titan and apparently that was it.
• Anyway the Wind Blows went by so fast! You barely had time to see where the floor lit up red and then it was gone again.

In-Game Events:

• Winning the Ultima battle gave us five stamps (3 for participation and 2 for winning). Since it was the first thing we did, all our stamp cards were already halfway full after just one in-game event. I think it would have been fine giving only one stamp for participation and one more for winning. Especially because we had two whole days to fill the stamp card.
• Roulette was OK? I guess? Thordan EX flattened us xD
• We spent an extremely long time waiting for the dungeon speedrun one and eventually got out of the queue because it hardly seemed to be moving.

Stage Events:

• The full trailer was perfection.
• The Development Panel was great, especially because we got to hear some stories behind the designs and also got to see some new things.
• The Art School was really cute, it was also timed perfectly. At 5pm people start to get a bit tired and it was great to just be able to flop down and watch.
• I have mixed feelings about the Question Time the second day. There were so many questions that we've already heard before, and nothing that really made me feel exited.
• Against all expectations, I really loved the PVP Tournament! I find watching others PVP extremely dull most of the time because it is hard to keep track of what is going on, but the commentary was so energetic it was a joy to watch. And judging by the amount of cheers the winning team got, a lot of people felt the same way.
• Seeing Mogi being genuinely happy and moved by the amount of cheering he got from the audience at his artwork reveal was great. I hope there will be other developers at the next event again.
• Primals concert absolutely rocked. But poor Ben when he had to announce the event was over and no one would believe him....

Other:

• Magitek armour was epic
• The cards with QR code/url for both the Magitek and Green Screen pictures were nifty (we had a bit of a panic moment when our Green Screen picture took ages to appear but it all worked out).
• Moghome was nice to chill, especially because you had a good view of the stage from most of it.

[RoadyPie]

1)I found the venue easy enough, others might've struggled as there was no sign posting at all.
2) My gripe has to be that those that got there early on the first day, weren't allowed to sit downstairs in the auditorium.
3)The goodie bags were Lacking.
4)The mini games were meh, you had longer activities in London Fan Fest (gem craft, perfume making), throwing a ball at stacked cans doesn't really cut it. 2nd day, i didn't have much to do.
5)Food was crap. Other fan fests, they got proper food. We got crappy overpriced sandwiches, slop soup, or basic pizza.
6)The chill out area, was anything but, well overcrowded.
7)Q&A session wasn't long enough, if you're going to accept questions before hand instead of asking people in the crowd, make sure they're good.
8)Merchandise done well, pre-order great idea. Then i brought a hoodie and there was no queue.
9)I still had a good time, but i feel like this event was overpriced and you gave us far less than you did in Vegas and Tokyo.

[Tillen]

Greetings!
TLDR; Awesome! Keep the pre-purchase merch, maintain the schedule, refine the event pre-registration; Bring back the challenge T-Shirts, better food, larger relaxation and game login area.
Let’s get it:
Thank you for a wonderful event and taking the time to query our feedback on the event.

What was the intent?
To provide the FFXIV community with a safe forum through which they can socialize, have fun, and take part in Eorzean-themed events while the FFXIV team expresses gratitude to the community for being a fan and customer. The forum will provide merchandising opportunities for fans, a method of obtaining sustenance, and deliver the future plans and past achievements of FFXIV via stage events.

What actually transpired?
A fan festival that was safe, accessible for those with physical disabilities, provided an adequate amount content to fill 1.5 days of the weekend, and where senior members of the FFXIV team demonstrated an appreciation for their fan base. Although, the entire event lacked the engrossing experience that was achieved in London 2014 and did not provide adequate in-house sustenance for the attendees.
What went well?

o Pre-Planning: The merchandise pre-purchase, PvP sign-up, and Mr. Nobou Uematsu signing session emails were an outstanding idea. Recommend sustain and refine. The only recommendation would be to send any special time-limited event emails out prior to the timed event, such as the Mr. Nobou Uematsu signing. Send out the emails on X-DAY that states the sign-up session will take place from Y time to Z time. Some of the emails appeared late for some individuals and they were not afforded the opportunity to sign up.
Merchandising: The pre-purchase made this a breeze. The store area was much larger than in London 2014 and overall the process seemed faster and smoother. Recommend sustain however, can be improved by increasing the number of tellers during the initial Saturday morning push. We know that immediately following the opening keynote speech on Saturday there will be a mad rush to the store.

o Venue: Safe, centrally located, acoustically perfect, and not congested. There was plenty of room to move around, regardless of the queue forming somewhere, plenty of bathrooms, and located adjacent to an external food hall that provided many options to eat at….on Saturday. The size of the venue was great. It seemed overall accessible to those fans that may have a physical disability and require special equipment to move around.

o Schedule: The schedule had a good pace to it, approximately 1.5 hours between each event that afforded attendees the opportunity to use the bathroom, eat, or do some events. I never felt rushed to get to the any event and was able to mill around and socialize with new and old friends at a comfortable tempo. Additionally, having a 2-day ticket is a must. Recommend sustain.
Stage Events: Excellent. This ties into the schedule. The quality of the events and duration of each event was adequate (save for the Primals’ concert). It provided enough entertainment without getting bored or waiting for it to end. Each event was unique and provided something for everyone.

What did not go so well?
o Catering / Sustenance: Lack luster. I understand that this was probably contracted. Such that Frankfurt Messe provides in-house catering or the options to obtain [Package A, B, or C] from [Vendors X, Y, or Z]. I also understand the proximity of local establishments. However, most of us are staying within the event all day, which means we are enjoying breakfast, lunch, and supper at this event. I felt as though London 2014 had better choices for sustenance, which is surprising because Germany does festival food sooooo well. Recommend improve. The catering company selected should provide options that are a bit heartier at least for the evening time: vegetables, noodles, meat. You know what we like! Pizza, Cup Noodles, and Chicken
o Floor Events: Needed some “oompf”. No I beat Proto-Ultima T-shirt!?? Both London 2014 and GamesCom 2016 awarded T-Shirts for their events (at least the battle trial). I was surprised when the Fan Fest didn’t even offer it as purchasable. I felt as though the Mog-Home should have been expanded. If I remember correctly, at the London 2014 there was a Nintendo-DS or similar handheld booth where people could play something. I was able to clear all events on the first day and still take part in the PvP tournament, which left little to do on Sunday (save for the PvP finals). I think one way to improve is to expand the Mog-Home relaxation area. Providing a large place for fans to relax, generally converse regarding the game, and more terminals to login would have been better. You’ve got us hooked on the event, keep us there. Sure we could go back to our hotel rooms and play but why not keep us there in a LAN area?
o Atmosphere: Difficult to gauge. I felt as though the constant pressuring to purchase merchandise was a bit over the top, although this might be a cultural aspect. I was buying articles anyway, so I didn’t need to be reminded to buy them. When we stepped off the train in London, there were staff members and signs guiding us to the event and the Tobacco Dock was decorated in such a way that I also felt as though I was stepping into Eorzea. The sheer size of the Messe made it difficult to provide the level of atmosphere achieved at London. Recommend improve. Selecting a venue for the event is probably the most difficult task for the staff however, I believe that an engrossing atmosphere should be a major selection criteria for the next event.

Assessment
Overall, I believe the event was quite enjoyable and a wonderful experience. If given the opportunity, I would purchase a ticket and attend again. If there is to be another fan fest (let’s pray), some methods of improvement would be expanding the “Mog Home” relaxation area, event rewards, and improving the atmosphere of the event. Although, the latter is contingent upon the venue selection, which requires factors like accessibility, safety, relation to adjacent amenities. As mentioned by Reithomeige, I also found it wonderful that Naoki Yoshida-san and the other senior members were always walking around, signing autographs, and thanking fans. Kudos to the staff, FFXIV community, and FFXIV team, for providing a safe and enjoyable event. See you in Paris 2019!

[LorenzoMoranta]

Here is my list, both the good and the bad:

But not much choice so the second day we all either brought lunch or went outside to buy lunch.

Ah, the Great Chipotle Queue of 2017. :P

[Reithomeige]

Wello again! I forgot something very important!

Artists at the FanFest fell in love with Yusuke Mogi (me included)! He was such an inspiration to watch and we want to be able to have a way to follow him via some public media or blog?

Is there a way to ask for Yusuke Mogi's information? We want to keep cheering him on

Among all the special guests, thank you for bringing Yusuke Mogi along to FanFest Frankfurt <3

[PatrolKim]

As the forum gives me the error that I can't put in more than 1k characters I'll have to post my feedback as a picture. >.<

10,6k characters incoming~

Thanks again for making the FanFest come to Europe again! =)
I wouldn't have taken the time to write so much if it wouldn't mean so much to me. Thanks in advance for reading.^^'


https://www.dropbox.com/s/pkgcz853q3...k2017.png?dl=0

[CrystalRanger]

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who worked hard to make the event happen. My FC and I had a lot of fun and we are looking forward to the next European Fan Festival.


The venue

Generally good. There was a reasonable amount of space, although some areas became very congested at times. I would have liked more seating around the stage, but the two balcony tiers meant that everyone could find a seat somewhere.

The balcony seating also provided an opportunity to temporarily escape the commotion below while still offering a view of the stage and the rest of the hall; definitely appreciated by those of us who enjoy personal space. Good screen placement allowed attendees to keep an eye on stage events even from the other end of the hall.

I didn't find the audio to be too bad during most of the stage events, but I couldn't hear a thing during the Primals concert from the balcony. Everything just came across as muffled noise.

I didn't attend the previous European Fan Festival in London, so I can't really compare Frankfurt and London as others have. I can understand the appeal of a smaller, more intimate and more highly themed event, but at the same time, larger venues mean fewer fans missing out after the event sells out. It sounds as though there are aspects of the London Fan Festival that the organisers could try to bring back for the next European Fan Festival though.


Stage events

I think the Fan Festivals could benefit enormously from more panels. The intervals between many of the stage events were excessively long. I'm sure the intention was for attendees to participate in some of the floor events during these periods, but some people weren't interested in the floor events and those in queues would still have been an engaged audience.

I would have liked to have heard more from the team behind the game; for example, Soken on the challenge of arranging a piece for a particular event. Or battle planners on the mechanics of a fight or the flow of a dungeon. Or developers on technical issues that they had to overcome. Or Koji Fox on lore and localisation. Or artists on turning Yoshi-P's vision into a design; Yusuke Mogi was an especially great addition to the guest line-up! That's precisely the sort of thing there should have been more of.


Mini-games

These were a nice idea, but some definitely worked better than others. Several were quite poorly explained; did the Titan mini-game even have rules? The stamp card worked well though and was one of the more effective real-world implementations of an in-game feature, both in terms of execution and in feeling like a little piece of Eorzea brought to life.


In-game events

More time to configure hotbars, etc. before entering a duty would be very welcome. A couple of minutes is barely long enough. When my FC settled down to take on Proto Ultima on the second day, technical issues meant that we ended up with a good 10 minutes to customise our interfaces. Everyone managed to get a setup they were happy with, familiarise themselves with the hardware, and the fight against Proto Ultima was much more enjoyable than the fight with the interface we had experienced the previous day. Obviously 10 minutes is excessive, but I would like to see a better balance between moving people through the events and giving them enough time to prepare. Perhaps it would be possible to find a way for players to pre-configure their interfaces elsewhere or copy the interface setup they are using at home?


Merchandise

Not much to say other than thank you for putting a pre-order system in place and helping everyone to avoid the nightmare of a queue reported at previous Fan Festivals.


Catering

The queues were long, the staff were grumpy and the food was mediocre at best. This wasn't too much of an issue as there were plenty of other options just outside the venue, but it could have been a problem in another location; something to bear in mind when choosing a venue for the next Fan Festival. I'm sure it would be prohibitively expensive and require too much work to recreate something like the Pasela Eorzea Cafe, but a greater variety of themed food would have been a nice touch.

Also, a little feedback for attendees rather than the organisers: I've been surprised by the number of people I have seen writing/vlogging trip reports over the past week or so who were shocked to discover that the Skyline Plaza was closed on Sunday and ended up going hungry, especially when the station a few minutes down the road had delis galore. My FC took the time to check out which supermarkets, sandwich shops, etc. would be open on Sunday before we went, so we had no trouble finding food. Plan before you go and you'll have a much more comfortable trip.


Other matters

"Security" was chaotic. We weren't allowed to bring any drinks in when queueing to enter Festhalle on the morning of the first day, so we ended up throwing away lots of unopened bottles that we had only just bought. Then for the rest of the first day and for the entire second day, bringing drinks in seemingly wasn't an issue. These rules weren't really explained or communicated ahead of time.

I think the event could benefit from an area dedicated to supporting fan-driven activities. I saw a couple of large free companies on recruitment drives and The Moogle Post had a large presence over in Moghome. It would be nice to see an area where individuals and groups seeking to engage with other fans could rent booths or tables and have a more official presence at the Fan Festival.