Tickets are all gone for fan fest

[BakaGaijin]

I mean even if they admit they messed up, they can't fix anything since fanfest it too close.

[polyphonica]

I mean even if they admit they messed up, they can't fix anything since fanfest it too close.

Basically the only thing they can do now is do extra inspection of the sales they got to verify that people actually did properly wait in the queue, confirm that they were eligible customers (whether or not they were asked to enter a code), and do a follow-up post to talk more specifically about the points they investigated and the findings. Besides that, as you say, it's going to be too late to switch to a larger venue at this point, and they're not going to take tickets away from people who appear to have a legitimate claim to them. So yeah, it won't change the final result as much as help address people's anger about the circumstances.

[ShadowHunterrX]

Lol, is this still ongoing. But do you guys even understand there will never be a solution for this problem. They can change systems, improve or bigger venue something else. But there will always be people missing out in these events and these threads wil always come back ever 2 year. So stop the blaming game or *fake* solutions.

[Kule]

I don't have a horse in this race but it's baffling that from what I understand, the tickets were just dropped in one go? Most festivals/events stagger tickets over multiple days and time slots.

[Frostbytes]

Lol, is this still ongoing. But do you guys even understand there will never be a solution for this problem. They can change systems, improve or bigger venue something else. But there will always be people missing out in these events and these threads wil always come back ever 2 year. So stop the blaming game or *fake* solutions.

Fans are allowed to be frustrated and ask for answers.

[DeviFoxx]

Lol, is this still ongoing. But do you guys even understand there will never be a solution for this problem. They can change systems, improve or bigger venue something else. But there will always be people missing out in these events and these threads wil always come back ever 2 year. So stop the blaming game or *fake* solutions.

I really think you're undermining how deeply this impacted people (Hotel Booking, Travel Plans, Money invested, emotional bonds with friends, etc.). And laughing about it certainly isn't something I'd consider to be a "solution" either. Just sayin'.

Anyway, I've been to every Fan Fest that's happened in the NA region since 2006, during the FFXI days, and haven't missed one yet (and no, I didn't get a ticket either). To see tickets disappear this quickly BEFORE a sizeable half of the community is able to get theirs is something that's truly unprecedented. Tickets do indeed sell out early for events and conventions, but this was a colossal screw-up on the organizer's part, for reasons that have already been stated. So if the "blame game" is to be played on anyone, it's them.

Anyway, I'm of the mind of waiting for an official word or statement--or the results of the investigation--from someone other than a generic PR response from Bayohne, who was just doing damage control. I think that's the "solution" most of us want at this point.

Because, frankly, the silence is utterly deafening.

[DeviFoxx]

I don't have a horse in this race but it's baffling that from what I understand, the tickets were just dropped in one go? Most festivals/events stagger tickets over multiple days and time slots.

Exactly. And that's how the Fan Fests prior to this one were handled. The ticket sales were staggered and sold in "waves".

But, for some foolish reason or another, the organizers decided to dump their entire ticket pool into the one-day sale period on Tuesday, July 10th... And they were gone within 20min after sales went live, with a large half of the community locked out by the virtual queue while others got in, creating splintered groups of people.

And Square-Enix thus far has been silent on the details mostly, except from a short response from the community manager about them "investigating" matters.

[Alleo]

. Every single mega-popular recording artist or comedian followed that mindset? If SDCC, NYCCC, Blizzcon, etc. all decided to cancel simply because there was more interest than availability? That's not how the world works. Popular events sell out. This isn't a digital world in which they can work to provide space and items for everyone.

There is a difference between something selling out fast, with all the restrictions in place and functioning and something selling out fast with the last part not happening.

First they put the access code out for a reason. Yet for a certain amount of time there was no need for it. Thus the restriction for buying the tickets was gone. Does this mean that most of the cards went to scalpers or people that should not get them? No, probably not. But if you have such a limited amount of tickets, every single one that goes to someone like that is one too much. They already had a less limited restriction with this code then the last one and you could even get one if you subbed as a returner with the free time..so to not have a code at all means that someone has not played the game for at least half a year and honestly should not be able to go to something that is called a Fanfest. Yet those were able to get tickets too thanks to this mess up. (Also there were people that seemingly completely skipped the queue.)

Second, the access code was useable for more than one time and at least on reddit there were posts with them in it. Thus who knows how many people already got a code through such means, even though they rightfully should not even have one. Every single one of them took a ticket away from someone that truly counted. So why not make the code a one time only?

Third, there was a bug that let people buy more than 4 cards (I think the GM also mentioned it in his post?) and there were people in queue that were not able to get more than one ticket, while others after them could. This way some could get all the tickets for their friends, while others could not even get at least two for them and their partner.

Fourth, if you have a queue for people that instantly logged in and tell them that their tickets are reserved then it should not happened that this is a lie..people waited in this queue for 20+ minutes with the hope and believe that at least 4 tickets are reserved for them. And if its written down like that it should be that way..give that message to those in queue that certainly will have them, and everyone else will be in a second queue for the left overs. (Which should then be a first come, first served thing).

Fifth, dont start this with the option to change name and later when the disaster happens you lock it in. This will not hurt scalpers much, because as soon as they have their money, they wont care that those people wont be able to get into this anymore. So it only hurts the rest again. (It also makes this bad for anyone that just wants to give the ticket to someone else, because they decided to not go to it because their friends cant come)

Sixth, if you only have a certain amount of tickets avaiable and also have a huge country..dont allow tickets to be sold to someone from outside NA and dont make a special deal for some japanese players that already got their own fanfest too. These are all lost tickets that could have made NA fans happy. I mean there is a reason why you have three different fanfest and thus everyone has the chance to get to the one that is in their region.

They really also should allow to either refund a ticket in a short period of time (at least for this one, so that people that wont go, can get their money back) and they should sell tickets in more than one go..because if you need to work you are completely out of luck. (Also put back in harsher restrictions for the first round of sales and the rest can then be sold to others)

[Kule]

Exactly. And that's how the Fan Fests prior to this one were handled. The ticket sales were staggered and sold in "waves".

But, for some foolish reason or another, the organizers decided to dump their entire ticket pool into the one-day sale period on Tuesday, July 10th... And they were gone within 20min after sales went live, with a large half of the community locked out by the virtual queue while others got in, creating splintered groups of people.

And Square-Enix thus far has been silent on the details mostly, except from a short response from the community manager about them "investigating" matters.

That's quite embarrassing for a large company such as SE. I wonder now how the atmosphere will be at this event in Las Vegas with usual groups of friends not all being able to grab tickets and also the issue with scalpers now holding void tickets.

[cicatriz313]

The tickets were sold in waves once, for the 2014 fan fest, and that was only because it was the first one. The second one had a "presale" for access code holders and sold out before general access was opened. There just weren't enough tickets to go around because everyone decided to try to go this year. The fact that everyone says there is silence despite the one in charge of the event giving a statement explaining if anything happened, is interesting. Bayohne is like, the top when it comes to this. I get if you don't like the reply, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen.