FFXIV Fanfest 2023 North America safety/security/disability support issues discussion

[Iscah]

That said, I'm not sure why there were few to no cabs when we got out. The cab companies know we are there, trust me. Maybe this is an issue for LV tourism board or something.

There was a post on Reddit the other day from some people who had caught a cab, and from conversation on the driver's radio it sounded like they collectively had no idea the event was on. They had converged on a different event elsewhere in the city thinking it was the big thing of the night.

[Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeej]

- The tram? Vegas locals in every Discord I am in were really pointing attendees to the tram before FanFest and I felt that was a big mistake. I would try to remind people that there are alternate transportation, but many locals and frequent visitors would insist the tram was very reliable, cheap, and the best thing to take. I don't live there, but the few times I have been to Vegas there has always been some issue with the tram. Plus, >10k people trying to board the same mode of transport at the exact same time every night is going to cause issues. This is common sense. That said, I'm not sure why there were few to no cabs when we got out. The cab companies know we are there, trust me. Maybe this is an issue for LV tourism board or something.

So admittedly I'm learning more and more about the LVCVA by the hour as I dig into this, and it turns out LVCVA is also responsible for the monorail system. I don't know if they interface with the local taxi companies in some way, nor do I know if LVCC gets a copy of the schedule of events or does any sort of coordination with hall lessees to coordinate possible times of high in/out foot traffic. I'll put this on my list of questions to ask my representative who's on the board of directors, as well as whoever I can get a hold of at LVCVA, so thank you for mentioning this.

[Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeej]

There was a post on Reddit the other day from some people who had caught a cab, and from conversation on the driver's radio it sounded like they collectively had no idea the event was on. They had converged on a different event elsewhere in the city thinking it was the big thing of the night.

There happened to be a major boxing fight at the MGM that shut the strip down on Saturday night so that's probably what it was.

[Hanayumi]

Time to look into new venues! Hey SQEX, try for LA convention center im sure they're looking for new expos since E3 got nuked. Or give San Diego's another shot, pretty friendly community and businesses since theyre use to Comic Con's storm, and so much cooler even in the summer. And best thing from either one... the ungodly amount of food trucks that show, expensive yes, but damn good eating.

[Nihility]

My theory from experiencing previous fanfests is they basically had the same amount of stuff as usual but like 5x as many people and literally everything was overwhelmed the whole time.

Then they tried to improvise solutions but they couldn't even communicate with each other.
Like the second day they made an ADA line for merch right at the door and told everyone else to line up at the far wall. When they opened up the far wall there was just security behind it saying "FU, go all the way back around through the front and fight your way through the hallway" The people that showed up the earliest ended up at the end of the line(which didn't even make it in btw). At least I could see the ADA line got escorted in before they opened it so that part went well.

Also on the second day the quest counter was just like "screw it, here's your sticker and poster... don't even care anymore"

was just stuff like that the whole time making doing anything near impossible.

Only other things I could say are the keynote was really really light on exciting info compared to previous years and the speakers were turned way too high. The primals concert is usually my favorite part but a lot of it just sounded like speakers on the brink of completely breaking up

[Avenger]

Only other things I could say are the keynote was really really light on exciting info compared to previous years and the speakers were turned way too high. The primals concert is usually my favorite part but a lot of it just sounded like speakers on the brink of completely breaking up

Yeah, I think previous NA and digital fanfests spoiled us by announcing (not just teasing with trailer, turtles, and Phil Spencer/Spell Fencer) one of the new jobs out of the gate. Xbox and Fall Guys fans might have been very excited though.

All three concerts were literally deafening (and the show floor was really loud as well), but the sound for the Primals was the worst - insanely loud with a distorted/muddy/bass-heavy mix that made it hard to hear the instruments clearly. I had to put in earplugs but they basically melted under the auditory assault and my ears were ringing for hours afterward, so it was definitely in hearing damage territory. It's a shame because they played really well and the singers were excellent - the mix and amplification were issues, and the hard surfaces in the hall didn't help with extra echoes and bad acoustics overall.

[Avenger]

So while I feel LVCC and SE did some things poorly, I also feel some attendees were inexperienced with this type of event (or travel) coupled with locals and frequent visitors giving advice that wasn't good for large events.

I don't really blame the attendees, be they sprouts or otherwise. Putting Friday's hour plus long entry queue outside in 108º heat seemed like a big mistake. Having a sea of 5000 people crammed in like sardines for day 1 merch/battle line and keynote seemed like a potential domino/crush situation. Removing concert seating for a front crowd area/potential mosh pit may have been a bad idea. ADA section having no sight lines was a bummer. Closing the north hall food court and not clearly marking water stations inside wasn't helpful, nor was confiscating water bottles at the Eorzean Symphony concert. Making it easy to go under barriers may have been a bad idea.

I really liked the content of fanfest (and Yoshi-p and co. as well as the FFXIV players I met), but I've been to a number of larger conventions and the event management was much, much better. For example, having line staff to manage the end of each line really helps. For SDCC, SDMTS added extra cars to the trolleys/light rail to make it easier for thousands of attendees to get to the convention center and back. Etc.

IIRC Yoshi-p said he was surprised by the heat. It definitely made things harder than it would have been in a cooler location like San Diego or even Reno.

[Batbrat]

Square needs to make sure things are way better prepared when it comes to stuff like this. It's highly illegal-HIGHLY illegal!! to not have proper accommodations for ADA individuals. I don't think some of you understand the gravity of it. People get sued into the ground over stuff like this-here in California, there was actually a guy who was going around constantly suing anywhere that didnt have a wheelchair ramp. And as annoying as shop owners found him to be, he was right. Too many people just dont take that kind of stuff into consideration.

I also think that a lot of people need a wakeup call about how some of you actually behave irl. None of your mental conditions excuse it, before anyone tries it. "oh I have time blindness and-" unless you have eye blindness, there's no excuse for what a lot of you were doing in there. You shouldnt be half trampling people with disabilities. And yet in a lot of these stories, that is exactly what I heard-constantly.

"WoL"s were getting disregardingly close to them, shoving their dirty sweaty butts in these peoples faces with no remorse as they danced to songs blocking their entire views for a long duration of the show that mind you, these people paid for too, darting around them when its time to leave locking these people into place-what is wrong with some of you?? I can easily tell a large portion of the community is socially inept, but I never thought they'd be outright cruel. For all the virtue signaling and sjw'ing I see around here, all of that sure went out the window when it came time for FanFest, now didnt it. Most embarrassing behavior.

[DamianFatale]

Square needs to make sure things are way better prepared when it comes to stuff like this. It's highly illegal-HIGHLY illegal!! to not have proper accommodations for ADA individuals. I don't think some of you understand the gravity of it. People get sued into the ground over stuff like this-here in California, there was actually a guy who was going around constantly suing anywhere that didnt have a wheelchair ramp. And as annoying as shop owners found him to be, he was right. Too many people just dont take that kind of stuff into consideration.

I also think that a lot of people need a wakeup call about how some of you actually behave irl. None of your mental conditions excuse it, before anyone tries it. "oh I have time blindness and-" unless you have eye blindness, there's no excuse for what a lot of you were doing in there. You shouldnt be half trampling people with disabilities. And yet in a lot of these stories, that is exactly what I heard-constantly.

"WoL"s were getting disregardingly close to them, shoving their dirty sweaty butts in these peoples faces with no remorse as they danced to songs blocking their entire views for a long duration of the show that mind you, these people paid for too, darting around them when its time to leave locking these people into place-what is wrong with some of you?? I can easily tell a large portion of the community is socially inept, but I never thought they'd be outright cruel. For all the virtue signaling and sjw'ing I see around here, all of that sure went out the window when it came time for FanFest, now didnt it. Most embarrassing behavior.

I do hope the English side of the company has a lot more involvement with future English fanfests. Its quite clear there is a barrier preventing as much oversight to the fanfests. I wouldn't be surprised if Japans fanfest is much smoother, and doesn't have as many problems.

[Gortys]

I don't really blame the attendees, be they sprouts or otherwise.

Yet you ignored what I specifically said I blame the attendees for - like not realizing 10k other people might have the same idea for transportation or choosing to not pre-order merch when they were warned that supplies were limited. That is what I blame attendees for and I'm pretty sure I made that apparent if you read my post and didn't nitpick just to be contrarian. I also stated that I partially blame Las Vegas cab companies since there were none around (and they are typically everywhere waiting around).

I have also been to a number of large conventions. Even if this were held in San Diego I would not rely on any one mode of transportation and especially not a mode that is on rails. I live in a city with multiple light rail lines and even here I have a contingency plan. Extra cars are not going to help if one of those malfunctions or some idiot drives into a train (it's happened). There is nothing wrong with telling people to think when traveling of what could go wrong and plan ahead, especially if it's something as simple as just downloading an Uber or Lyft app. There is nothing wrong with telling people that they should have heeded the advice in the merch emails that they pre-order. These things are each person's responsibility.

We obviously have a lot of people on all sides who were not taught about Murphy's Law.