Covid-19 and FFXIV Fan Festival

[Kio]

I was surprised the cancellation wasn't announced in the recent live letter. The venue for ours has been converted into a triage hospital. I doubt they'll be holding the event there anytime soon.

[QT_Melon]

I was surprised the cancellation wasn't announced in the recent live letter. The venue for ours has been converted into a triage hospital. I doubt they'll be holding the event there anytime soon.

It's highly likely they're playing the game of "chicken" to see if the hotels will let them out of the booking with the least or no cancellation charges.

[Katalyn]

Again, I don't think there is this idea to change venues would happen as they would also have to deal with contractual obligations to the first venue. THEN try to book with the new location which is another financial issue.

To be clear, I'm not talking about a proactive change of venue. Instead, I believe a change of venue, if a physical Fan Fest 2020 happens, could possibly occur after the San Diego Convention Center informs SE that they are unable to host the event due to government lockdowns that are in place. In that scenario, it would be the venue that would be in breach of contract, and that should release SE from any obligations financial or otherwise.

Yes, I believe any thought that they would change venues would be an idea due to people having to now book for a new venue, possible broken contract issues, and large rate of unemployment that makes it difficult to procure for new rooms and bookings.

Once again the scenario that would cause a change of venue is the San Diego Convention Center informing SE they are no longer able to host the event which would mean the venue broke the contract, not SE. The economics of the situation are difficult to predict at the moment. I will concede it may be hard to procure a new venue should the San Diego Convention Center fall through. However, it is also quite possible that it will be a buyers market so to speak. If events are canceling due to lingering COVID-19 concerns and there is an abundance of space available then basic economics dictates its better to get something for an unused resource then just sit on it and get nothing.

Tl;dr "Bro, do you understand how booking venues actually work?!"

Tl;dr "Maybe better than you, Sis :P"

[QT_Melon]

Tl;dr "Maybe better than you, Sis :P"

Okay, so we went from speculation to now "maybe" knowing better.

I like how you skipped over a majority of the current economical situation and psychological impact of the attendees/staff. There isn't much that's hard to predict here: People aren't going to magically have jobs once this is over. With the real threat of death on people's minds, mass/social gathering is going to have an impact on them psychologically even if the rules end up relaxing. Someone coughing, sneezing or speaking in a way producing spittle will never be the same again for many people. There's also likely to be new rules for travel that may make it difficult to prevent another spread of various diseases.

Then we have production of goods that are behind, not only game wise - which means a lot of announcements that they have likely would have had ready for presentation is not there. They are behind even on upcoming patches. Production of goods and products we generally see every day or promotional material would have to be made for hotel and con goers.

Example for parts of production now - and especially since production values for cinematics/cutscenes and dialog have been ramped up in this game:

A more prevalent concern across video game productions is voice acting.

“We had one project in the middle of recording,” said John Ricciardi, a co-founder of 8-4 Ltd., a Tokyo-based localization company, which translates scripts. “And two or three lined up to be starting soon. The one that’s in the middle is just on pause. The other ones are delayed.”

Although voice actors can record from their homes, the sound can be inconsistent, Mr. Ricciardi said, especially if part of a game’s dialogue has already been recorded in the studio.


So while current trends with people doing things like gaming is happening while they are at home, production of gaming is having its own setbacks and production that's needed to keep the same quality. Delays means more things that can't be announced at the convention.

Testing kits are STILL in short supply. We still don't have the cure for Covid 19. It's extremely likely not to be anywhere near available by the time of the con even if we did.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/29/asia/...hnk/index.html

What you're also proposing with this "Buyer's market" idea is something that can also have an extremely negative public backlash towards Square Enix as well: "Yeah we'll change venues since it's cheaper over here, because we just want to do a con while there's no cure and the outcome may cause people to still die"

Like I said, it's likely they haven't announced cancellation until they can get out of contract/legal obligations. Then they have to look at financials overall (how their company is doing, and if the shareholders are going to let them have a con when they see the results) along with health and safety concerns.

[Derio]

Most likely will be digital fan fest this year and the venue will be cancelled.

[Vespar]

I was surprised the cancellation wasn't announced in the recent live letter. The venue for ours has been converted into a triage hospital. I doubt they'll be holding the event there anytime soon.

I was expecting to see some kind of info on this during the PLL as well. I'm actually quite surprised nothing was said yet. I doubt Covid-19 is going to disappear anytime soon.

That said, I'm certain SE is working on it in some form or fashion.

[Shofie]

Most likely will be digital fan fest this year and the venue will be cancelled.

Now this is an exciting idea to me! I hope they do something like this.

[Gula]

Most likely will be digital fan fest this year and the venue will be cancelled.

A lot of anime cons are doing this, however it would be interesting given how there are 3 plus the Korea/China specific fanfests.

Also, what- besides announcements, could make them special?

VR and digital concerts aren't unheard of, see Utada's Laughter in the Dark. But for events, it would basically be the same things minus the cosplay.

[Katalyn]

Okay, so we went from speculation to now "maybe" knowing better.

Your Tl;dr was rude and dismissive so I had a little fun by perfectly and playfully poking back at you. My role hasn't changed as I am just speculating on what is one of many possible outcomes for Fan Fest 2020.

As for the rest of your post, I believe those are concerns that don't speak to if the venue could change but instead if the event will happen at all. There is obviously no point in changing venues if there is no Fan Fest, and I have said numerous times this was all contingent on SE going forward with a physical Fan Fest. If they do decide to go forward with a physical event then I can only assume the valid concerns you mention above would have been sufficiently addressed, at least by whatever assessment SE performs.

Given the above, I'm not going to address most of what you say. There are a couple of thoughts I would like to comment on.

I like how you skipped over a majority of the current economical situation and psychological impact of the attendees/staff. There isn't much that's hard to predict here: People aren't going to magically have jobs once this is over.

First, I want to say I feel for everyone whose livelihood has been impacted by COVID-19. There is no magic, but there are many variables that make it hard to predicts. How soon does a vaccine become available, do those areas pushing forward with reopening experience a spike in cases, is there a second wave in the fall/winter, how much will the government intervene to stimulate the economy and ease unemployment, and etc. All of these and more will determine where people are at with their financials and employment.

With the real threat of death on people's minds, mass/social gathering is going to have an impact on them psychologically even if the rules end up relaxing. Someone coughing, sneezing or speaking in a way producing spittle will never be the same again for many people.

People are varied and diverse. Certainly, there is a group of people that feel the way you describe. However, there is also a group of people who are tired of being confined to home, miss being around people and in-person social interactions, want to feel like the world is going back to a pre-COVID-19 "normal."

What you're also proposing with this "Buyer's market" idea is something that can also have an extremely negative public backlash towards Square Enix as well: "Yeah we'll change venues since it's cheaper over here, because we just want to do a con while there's no cure and the outcome may cause people to still die"

You brought up the idea that financials would prevent a change in venue. I merely pointed out how the financials may not be an issue. I never advocated that SE would change venues because they might be able to get a better deal.

[QT_Melon]

Your Tl;dr was rude and dismissive so I had a little fun by perfectly and playfully poking back at you. My role hasn't changed as I am just speculating on what is one of many possible outcomes for Fan Fest 2020.

People have died to COVID 19, so you want to have fun at the speculation that can cost more lives? Yes, people "die all the time" but this event is currently being impacted by this.

Some of those people were wanting to meet at Fanfest. So you'll excuse me for being utterly real here why this isn't something fun to speculate.

I'm being BLUNT with you, if that's rude and dismissive than so be it. I don't find this "fun" and if your feelings are more important than the sensitivity of people who sadly passed because of this illness - then that says a lot.

https://youtu.be/_pU0MhljzAA - This guy gets it.

So sorry, if you don't like what I'm saying at the expense of your "Fun" speculation where I find your speculation not fun and actually rather tasteless.