Are all fan festivals like this?

[IndyPendant]

Yes. They are. From your description? I have seen much, much worse. One I was stationed at as a medical officer, some lunatic had decided to slap a curtain over the fire exit signs in the amphitheatre ( yes yes I know Steve Jobs did it too )

Another Comic Con i was at, the main building had had a plumbing issue that hadnt been fixed, the closest working toilets were 400 metres away.

In another building.

These events are usually, as has been noted, outsourced. They are the ones hosting the event yes, but they DO NOT own or control the venue or its staff.

Your beef is with the venue organisers, not Square Enix.

Yeah, this is what I've been hearing: all fanfests are basically nightmares. But your last statement: no.

The venue organizers were terrible, it's true. But Square Enix is ultimately responsible for the events themselves. Square Enix allocated the freebies for the events. Where was the t-shirt from prior years? Had to be purchased. Where were the minions/mounts provided in prior years? Have to be purchased (presumably, that mount that was just released). The end-game "award" was a poster print and one of three available stickers. I can't stress that enough: they were too cheap even to give attendees all three available stickers! There were six "quests" and six "stations" set up for the convention: a random venue organizer wouldn't have known enough about FFXIV to be able to do that, they were clearly designed and organized by Square Enix, and they were woefully insufficient for a two-day event with 15,000 attendees.

And now that it's a few days later, more reports are showing up about some vile organization and behaviour of the staff--and those reports include both Square Enix staff and venue staff. --It's worth noting though that there are also a great many reports of the hired venue staff doing the best they could with a terrible situation--presumably these were temp workers earning minimum wage because billion dollar companies gotta serve their shareholders. Also note that other than mentioning their absence, I never complained about the behaviour of the staff; that's because the few times I did interact with them, they always seemed professional and respectful. Other attendees apparently did have some negative experiences; I'm only saying I never did.

This fanfest was a complete and total failure on all fronts. Dismissing Square Enix's responsibility only invites them to repeat it in future years.

[Elkanah]

.

Last fanfest was a nightmare. We stood in line from 8am till nearly 7pm at night on the merch line. Almost all the way up till the concert started. That was just the first day. The second day, staff was yelling at everyone in the 24man content for the ultimate weapon raid (it later went into the 24man alliance raid of Dun Scaith). My friend finally snapped back at the staff and showed them how the game works (someone didnt accept duty, so it locked the whole party out for 30min). All the quest events last fanfest took about 2-3 hrs per section to even get through. Finding people with the right cards for triple triad was a pain in the ass too from other players who didnt already have what you had.

The purchase of merch could've been solved by having people look at a menu in line and purchase ahead of time. When it's ready, all you'd have to do is show your receipt and number and they'd hand you your stuff in a bag. Not that difficult (but someone organizing the event didn't seem to know how to run events lol).

As someone who attends half the years worth of cons across the states, fanfest is always a ish-show.

[Archeron]

Sounds like I dodged a bullet missing this con, but I could tell it was not a great idea to have hoards of people cooking outside in 40c temperatures in Vegas anyway. Hopefully people actually showered before attending...

Some few of the Fanfest visitors on Maduin had told us they waited in lines for hours, but I had not believed it to be as bad as described. I'll keep that in mind next time I think of attending. A funny side note, the Fanfest characters they created were able to openly trade with us non Fanfesters on live servers. They were all given millions of gil, and were able to trade it to other, non fanfest players, as well as join FC's. The last person to play Eight'g Fanfest'd is a legend.

[Avenger]

Compared to previous fanfests, it's a bit like there was 2x the support and staff for 5x the attendees.

As a result, there were actually fewer in-game events than in previous fanfests (e.g. no trials roulette, which was really fun.) It was also harder to do the show floor events. The badge redemption table just gave up the second day and handed out posters instead. There seemed to possibly be fewer SE devs as well this time. Great that Ishikawa was there, and it would have been nice to have battle/scenario designers, artists, etc..

Also 2018 Las Vegas fanfest was November I think rather than July so the heat was not nearly as oppressive.

Merch line savage is a recurring thing unfortunately. But the dangerous crowding was new.

Other larger conventions like PAX or SDCC seemed to be managed much better, especially line and entry queue management, security, onsite food/restaurant options and water stations, seating, ADA accommodation/sight lines, concert amplification/volume, conference hotel bookings, transit, etc.. There definitely weren't enough line management staff at fanfest.

[Eraden]

Is maybe good thing Mao nots consider attendings. Seems convention was much crowdeds. Mao has shots but Mao is old and sick and catching Covid could kill Mao.

[Reinha]

I went to a smaller work related conference and it sounds like I had more fun than I would have at fan fest. I saw about 12+ hours of lectures about interesting topics, collected free pens and chocolates, tried a few mini games and got more free vitamin samples my family could use in a year. With a warm buffet lunch included in the price for both days.

The important events of fan fest are streamed online so it seems like the only reasons to go would be to meet Yoshi-P and other staff, streamers or cosplayers and to buy exclusive merch.

[Ranaku]

Wish they would just stayed with the digital fanfests. I know it's "not the same" as live fanfests but seriously people were left out cause the tickets sold in minutes out and STILL they had problems with the organisation.

The demand for a inclusive fanfest is there. SE just fails to capitalize on it by including all the players and selling online tickets.

[Gortys]

it seems like the only reasons to go would be to meet Yoshi-P and other staff, streamers or cosplayers and to buy exclusive merch

It was for the concerts, the battle challenge, and to meet people in your FC, static, or other communities you are in. There was pre-order for merch if you had tickets and we were told items may sell out at FanFest so we should pre-order if we want to be sure to get them. People didn't want to pay shipping and didn't realize everyone would have the same idea.

I feel there are some valid complaints for FanFest: convention center food availability, rushing setup before the Primals, ADA seating, and the implementation of the "quests".

I think many of these complaints just show people are not use to traveling or going to big events. I had fun, but I have been to large cons and have no issues leaving the event entirely if I feel overwhelmed, hungry etc. I feel like some people thought they were supposed to be able to stay in this building comfortably for 12 hours and that's not realistic.

[DamianFatale]

This all sounds very dangerous. Where do I start.

1. What kind of convention doesn’t allow outside snacks, and water. This is a HUGE health risk with all of the packed people, and frequent walking around. People need snacks, and to hydrate. No con I’ve ever been to has been this stupid, and Ive been to many as a traveling performer.

2. Lack of staff sometimes happens at cons, but at that level it’s just dangerous. If all those people decided to mob, imagine what would of happened. That can absolutely happen at large events. Shame on the venue for being so cheap. Hire enough staff. It’s for everyone’s safety.

3. I understand safety, but let people carry their own bags. We all have our own needs. It’s so stupid.

Im glad I didn’t go, and now I’m not sure I want to go to any fan fest, even though it is a dream of mine to attend. :/

[Avenger]

I think many of these complaints just show people are not use to traveling or going to big events. I had fun, but I have been to large cons and have no issues leaving the event entirely if I feel overwhelmed, hungry etc. I feel like some people thought they were supposed to be able to stay in this building comfortably for 12 hours and that's not realistic.

As I responded in another thread, I don't really blame the attendees for wanting the kind of better organization that I've observed and experienced at other conventions – especially improved safety, line and end-of-line management, sane amplification, ADA accommodation and sight lines, etc.

But your point about taking care of yourself and leaving/taking a break from the event when necessary is a good one. Some other secret/stupid tricks that have occasionally helped me with other convention boss battles include:

• When possible, arrive after the entry queue has finished so you can just walk in and don't have to stand in line for an hour. (That didn't work at fanfest sadly since I really wanted to see the keynote/PL live and the entry queue took more than an hour to enter. Queueing in the outdoor heat the first day was rough. Also they handed out all the merch line tickets in just a few minutes the second day.)
• Sleep in at least one day if possible (possibly concurrent with above.) Also try not to stay up too late if you have to queue early the next day.
• If you absolutely need an ultimate challenge activity, focus on doing one (1!!) of them. After one victory anything else is gravy. Remember it's a boss battle. Focus it down and ignore FOMO adds.
• Look at the schedule and plan downtime when you can just chill out or recharge for a bit.
• Always bring hearing protection (note this failed at fanfest - the primals' distorted overamplification melted my earplugs and even destroyed my sound-canceling headphones.)
• Enjoy waiting in line by watching cosplayers walk by and chatting with other fans. (For game cons you can also bring games to play in line or a Switch.)
• If you're stuck in a queue when the event starts, watch the stream (if there is one) until you get in. (Had to do this for the PL since I slept in later the second day.)
• If you see anything that looks good and doesn't have a huge line, check it out! (Kind of worked for a couple of show floor activities, and for gleaner quests.)
• Enjoy offsite activities and just hanging out (but not too late if you have to queue early the next day.)
• Celebrate the large and small victories, and ignore the occasional full party wipes.

Since the north hall food court was (inexplicably) closed, and much of the LVCC wasn't in use, you could actually go there and (literally) chill for a bit.

For me I consider myself winning the boss battle as long as I am either a) having fun inside or outside the convention or b) relaxing and not thinking about the work/stress/etc. of everyday life. Having my FC there meant I wouldn't be trying to check off as many activities as possible, and that was really OK.

Unfortunately since fanfest is only two days, every hour is 1/24th of the convention time. I realize that "watch it in the inn" can be unsatisfying, but I figured that any panels that I missed parts of could be watched later on youtube (and more efficiently at double speed, haha) so that helped to defeat the FOMO adds when I was waiting in queues during things I wanted to see (also watching the panels either on phone or on the screens they had.) Also just hanging with FC friends was fun on its own, whatever we happened to be doing.