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FFXIV Fan Fest Las Vegas '14 Info/GuideFollow

#1 Jul 01 2014 at 8:07 PM Rating: Excellent
Just a useful info thread I figured I would set up for the Fan Fest. Will update with more info as I can/it comes available. If you have any questions or ideas to add to this feel free to comment.

Links:
Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival 2014 Teaser Site

TICKETING INFORMATION

Tickets will go on sale for the price of $120.00 (USD) per ticket. Each Fan Festival ticket will grant access to the event for October 17th (registration day), 18th and 19th.

Advance Ticket Sales for Active North American FFXIV Subscribers:

Starting Tuesday, July 1, 2014, we’ll begin sending emails to our active North American subscribers that contain a promotion code that enables you to access the ticket purchase site.

  • The email will be sent to the address registered to "E-Mail Address 1" on your Square Enix account.
  • The email containing the promotion code will be sent to North American users with active subscriptions as of June 26, 2014.
  • As there is a possibility that the email might get caught in your spam/junk mail folders we ask that you add the @square-enix.com and @email-square-enix.com domain to your safe sender list. You should also check all your folders for incoming mail.


On Tuesday, July 8, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. (PDT), advance ticket sales will go live:

  • Visit http://sqex.to/u7S and enter the promotion code found in your email.
  • Until then, this site will display a message saying “This Event is Currently Unavailable.”
  • Advance ticket sales are limited to a total of 1,800 tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis. Users may only purchase a maximum of 4 tickets per order.
  • Promotion codes will be valid until Monday, July 14, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. (PDT)


General Ticket Sales:

Starting Tuesday, July 15, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. (PDT), all remaining tickets will go on sale.

  • You will not need a promotion code to access the site and purchase tickets.
  • Previously provided promotion codes will no longer be valid.
  • Tickets are limited, and will sell out, so have your information ready!
  • Tickets will remain on sale via the website until Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 11:59 p.m. (PDT) or until the event is sold out.


Important Information:

  • All ticket sales are final. There are no refunds or ticket cancellations.
  • You will have a maximum of 15 minutes to complete the ticket purchase before the system removes you from the queue you and requires you to start over.
  • You will only be able to purchase a maximum of four (4) tickets per promotion code/order.
  • The promotion code may only be used one time.
  • The form requires you to list your Character Name and World for every ticket purchased. If an attendee does not have an in-game character, or wishes not to share their character name, please select the “I do not have a character” option. This name will be printed on your badge.
  • Each Fan Festival ticket bearer will receive a select number of goodies at the event, including an in-game item (details to be announced later). Please note however that these items will not be shipped and can only be received at the event itself.
  • The form asks for your preferred T-Shirt size, however this is not a guarantee that the size will be available for all apparel available at the event. It also does not guarantee that T-shirts will be distributed to all attendees.


HOTEL INFORMATION

If you would like some help finding a specific place, feel free to send me a message. I will try to do what I can to help you arrange accommodations.

  • Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino - (3700 W Flamingo Rd Las Vegas, NV) - Currently there are still rooms available here going for approximately $215 a night (for two people). This is the actual location of the Festival so if your wanting to stay here you may want to wait until the full Festival site is launched as they may have some deal with the hotel for attendees.
  • As for other hotel information if your looking for cheap, just head on over to a site like [link=www.hotels.com]Hotels.com[/link], [link=www.kayak.com/hotels]KAYAK[/link], [link=www.expedia.com/hotels]Expedia[/link], or [link=www.orbitz.com/hotels]Orbitz[/link]. I saw quite a few places (assuming you uh, don't care about quality...) for as low as $40 a night.


AIRFARE INFORMATION

I did some checking for airfare from different cities (mostly east coast but some mid-west as well) to get an idea of how much a round trip ticket was going to set you back and the avg price I am seeing at the moment is about $430.00. This is of course probably going to be on an economy airline with little-no amenities.

Edited, Jul 1st 2014 10:30pm by StateAlchemist

Edited, Jul 1st 2014 10:31pm by StateAlchemist

Edited, Jul 7th 2014 3:48pm by StateAlchemist

Edited, Jul 9th 2014 3:38pm by StateAlchemist
#2 Jul 01 2014 at 8:09 PM Rating: Excellent
And yes I am going to be there.

(oops forgot a couple important details in op...all better. :3 )

Edited, Jul 1st 2014 10:12pm by StateAlchemist
#3 Jul 01 2014 at 8:58 PM Rating: Excellent
Going to try to get tickets during the early access sale but I know these things tend to sell out fast and I'll be in Germany when they go live x_x
#4 Jul 01 2014 at 9:05 PM Rating: Excellent
Nice. I really enjoyed Germany. Maybe you can find someone to get your tickets for you.
#5 Jul 01 2014 at 9:25 PM Rating: Default
I'm sorry but what is the purpose of this event?

The game has still been out for less than a year, aren't these kinds of things supposed to be for passionate fans to celebrate a game's legacy? I don't really feel like FFXIV even has a huge legacy worthy of a festival YET.

I mean FFXI didn't have a fan festival until after it had been out for SEVERAL years.

Tickets are on sale NOW and there's still no information about what they're showing. so I guess the FFXIV team expects people to book a flight to Las Vegas and get an expensive hotel room in Las Vegas plus the ticket price, etc. while being totally blind as to what the actual event is about?

back to when FFXI had its first fan festival in 2006, when the tickets went on sale, you already knew what you were in for, which was be able to play Aht Urhgan, a live concert with Mizuta and THE STAR ONIONS (AWESOME), a tournament, and more.

So presumably they'll be showing off the expansion at the FFXIV Fanfestival and I'm sure there will be some events. But why are they outlining them AFTER selling the tickets? It makes no sense. the Fanfestival site has no information.

Sorry but this whole thing, the execution, the location, it seems really dumb overall. and not everyone wants to go to Las Vegas even if they do have plenty of money to do so. It doesn't even make sense as a location for a MMORPG festival

Edited, Jul 1st 2014 11:37pm by lass5
#6 Jul 01 2014 at 10:51 PM Rating: Excellent
You obviously haven't been to anything like this before.

Hell, one year I had 300 people at my FFXI panel at Anime Central. And that's not even a gaming con!

The point isn't what SE is going to show us. The point is to meet other fans of the game and to party for the weekend.
#7REDACTED, Posted: Jul 01 2014 at 11:16 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) you don't think anything I'm saying is legitimate criticism? How have I "obviously not been to something like this" (that sounded so snotty) based on what I said? Why do you get to decide what "the point" is? is it unfathomable to you that some people might go to cons for the attractions?
#8 Jul 01 2014 at 11:23 PM Rating: Excellent
lass5 wrote:
I'm sorry but what is the purpose of this event?

The game has still been out for less than a year, aren't these kinds of things supposed to be for passionate fans to celebrate a game's legacy? I don't really feel like FFXIV even has a huge legacy worthy of a festival YET.

I mean FFXI didn't have a fan festival until after it had been out for SEVERAL years.

Tickets are on sale NOW and there's still no information about what they're showing. so I guess the FFXIV team expects people to book a flight to Las Vegas and get an expensive hotel room in Las Vegas plus the ticket price, etc. while being totally blind as to what the actual event is about?

back to when FFXI had its first fan festival in 2006, when the tickets went on sale, you already knew what you were in for, which was be able to play Aht Urhgan, a live concert with Mizuta and THE STAR ONIONS (AWESOME), a tournament, and more.

So presumably they'll be showing off the expansion at the FFXIV Fanfestival and I'm sure there will be some events. But why are they outlining them AFTER selling the tickets? It makes no sense. the Fanfestival site has no information.

Sorry but this whole thing, the execution, the location, it seems really dumb overall. and not everyone wants to go to Las Vegas even if they do have plenty of money to do so. It doesn't even make sense as a location for a MMORPG festival

Edited, Jul 1st 2014 11:37pm by lass5


By the time the festival rolls around the game will have been out for 4 years. It originally launched in Sept. 2010. And there are plenty who played the whole time the servers were up, despite all the setbacks.

Edited, Jul 2nd 2014 1:24am by StateAlchemist
#9REDACTED, Posted: Jul 01 2014 at 11:32 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) Well, yes. I think the community needs to pick one or the other though. When did FFXIV come out? If we complain about endgame content or lack of jobs, the game has been out for <1 year. Then when discussing other subjects, it's been out for 4 years. So I was referring to ARR. I somehow doubt it will be 1.0's legacy that will be celebrated during this festival though as most of the game was scrapped. Even the music.
#10 Jul 02 2014 at 12:03 AM Rating: Excellent
What Catwho said, exactly.

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#11 Jul 02 2014 at 1:47 AM Rating: Excellent
Keeper of the Shroud
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If you're not interested in going, don't go. It's a very simple solution that doesn't involve any crying, ********* and moaning on chat sites.
#12 Jul 02 2014 at 4:27 AM Rating: Decent
Thayos wrote:
What Catwho said, exactly.



But nothing I said conflicts with the idea that hanging out with other fans is going to be a fun experience... I'm SURE it will be.

I still think the details of the event should be outlined by the time tickets go on sale... and I still disagree with the venue

Edited, Jul 2nd 2014 6:28am by lass5
#13 Jul 02 2014 at 5:42 AM Rating: Excellent
Vegas is actually a pretty traditional place for this sort of thing. I went to one of the old Dreamscape "Gatherings" there. Kind of sucked because at the time I was only 20 and couldn't actually do anything.... but I did go to the Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton, which is now shut down, so that alone was worth it.

Vegas has the hotel infrastructure and convention centers to handle a crowd of this size, most airports in the country have direct flights to it making it a relatively cheap place to fly to, and it's more centrally located than, say, New York or San Diego.

As for the lack of schedule or many details: most conventions won't have a schedule finalized or all the details formally pinned down until the last month before the event. I've seen the sausage making of a big anime con and it isn't pretty. Square Enix will have a bit of an easier time since there will not be a fan panel component to this, of course, but they still need to coordinate bringing dozens of people over from Japan, which can be a logistical nightmare if people can't all go on the same schedule. They're probably arranging for one of the half dozen FF inspired bands in Japan to come or for a tour of Distant Worlds, or something. They will have to see who the Tokyo offices can spare for technical panels. They will have to coordinate with the game dev team for any special events or prizes.

As for my comment being "snotty" - yeah, that did come off a bit snotty. I'm a convention veteran though and I honestly don't think this early bird special warrants the criticism you gave it based on my experiences.
#14 Jul 02 2014 at 6:27 AM Rating: Excellent
Catwho wrote:
Vegas has the hotel infrastructure and convention centers to handle a crowd of this size, most airports in the country have direct flights to it making it a relatively cheap place to fly to, and it's more centrally located than, say, New York or San Diego.

As for the lack of schedule or many details: most conventions won't have a schedule finalized or all the details formally pinned down until the last month before the event. I've seen the sausage making of a big anime con and it isn't pretty. Square Enix will have a bit of an easier time since there will not be a fan panel component to this, of course, but they still need to coordinate bringing dozens of people over from Japan, which can be a logistical nightmare if people can't all go on the same schedule. They're probably arranging for one of the half dozen FF inspired bands in Japan to come or for a tour of Distant Worlds, or something. They will have to see who the Tokyo offices can spare for technical panels. They will have to coordinate with the game dev team for any special events or prizes.


Exactly. I made it to Vana'fest once, in '09 I think, but that was because I was already planning on going to L.A. anyways... Las Vegas is an easy drive for Californians, has much better convention facilities from my personal experience of attending (more professionally related) conventions there, and not to mention I can also gamble and get drunk for free. (Ok not get drunk cause I will just sleep through the con but who doesn't like free booze?) :D

As far as details I would think they would have a bit more info released fairly soon. It would make since to have a general idea of what was going on before tickets go on sale, however like Cat mentioned, the logistics of it all is a nightmare (for any con). And yes the game has been out for 4 years. The mistakes made were that of a poor decisions by the top execs of the company and not Yoshida-san who has done an amazing job of turning the game around despite the huge pile of !@#$ he got dumped in his lap. I think it is well worth attending and showing my support considering the challenges the game faced. (And I would love it if Distant Worlds showed up cause I missed going to ACEN this year (GGRRRRRR!!!!!)
#15 Jul 02 2014 at 9:59 AM Rating: Excellent
I really wish I could go. I LOVE visiting Las Vegas. Heck, the fact that it's in Vegas almost makes it worth the ticket cost regardless of what they show at the convention. That said, Vegas isn't really much fun unless you're 21 or older. For adults though, Vegas is like Disneyland... but with booze and boobs instead of Disney characters.

I also wouldn't worry too much about getting your money's worth at the convention. Square Enix is great at these conventions.... been doing them for a long time now. I attended a FFXI Fan Fest (in 2009, I believe) and it was awesome. Lots of great panels, live music performances, big breaking-news trailers, playable demos of soon-to-be-released gameplay features, costume contests, art contests, etc... but the best part was just coming together with other XI fans and having a great time with them.

Also, although ARR is not yet a year old, the Final Fantasy XIV community has been around since 1.0. These are very important distinctions to make. These fan festivals are all about celebrating community, and this game's community is uniquely aged/big enough that a fan fest is totally appropriate. Even though I can't be there, I'm excited for it. Can't wait to read people's accounts, look at pictures, watch video clips, etc. I really do wish I could be there.
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#16 Jul 02 2014 at 3:34 PM Rating: Good
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Well as long as you guys are gonna be in Vegas........

Texas De Brazil

This is an all you can eat steakhouse. They have a dozen or so waiters walking around with carts of steak, pork, bacon wrapped chicken, anything your heart desires. As long as your coaster is flipped to the green side, not the red, they'll keep offering and dropping food on your plate. My heart is still pounding from my visit last Feb.

What else is good in Vegas.......the Tournament of Kings, and Penn and Teller are great shows, and if you're into chili cheese dogs, Weinerschnitzel is for you.

Also *clears throat* Little Darlings *clears throat*

It's Vegas, what'd you think the city was good for?
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#17 Jul 07 2014 at 1:45 PM Rating: Excellent
garethrogue wrote:
Well as long as you guys are gonna be in Vegas........

Texas De Brazil

This is an all you can eat steakhouse. They have a dozen or so waiters walking around with carts of steak, pork, bacon wrapped chicken, anything your heart desires. As long as your coaster is flipped to the green side, not the red, they'll keep offering and dropping food on your plate. My heart is still pounding from my visit last Feb.

What else is good in Vegas.......the Tournament of Kings, and Penn and Teller are great shows, and if you're into chili cheese dogs, Weinerschnitzel is for you.

Also *clears throat* Little Darlings *clears throat*

It's Vegas, what'd you think the city was good for?


I don't know if I will have time for all of that...already gonna miss some classes due to the trip most likely so will probably end up taking work with me.
#18 Jul 07 2014 at 3:31 PM Rating: Excellent
35 posts
I wasn't able to attend the last FF11 Fan Fest because the tickets sold out by the end of the day! Definitely getting ready Tuesday morning to secure my place.
#19 Jul 08 2014 at 11:46 AM Rating: Excellent
The website seems to be totally choked. XD

Edit: Choked and done. They're all gone already. The website timed out on me three times. Now it just says "This event is not available."

I will have to try again next week.

Edited, Jul 8th 2014 1:58pm by Catwho
#20 Jul 08 2014 at 12:11 PM Rating: Excellent
35 posts
They had 1500 tickets. Managed to buy 4 (myself, partner, and two buddies).

I timed out once, and my friend timed out three times, so I ended up getting them for everyone. It's like Comic-Con all over again.

Good luck during the next round, Cat.
#21 Jul 08 2014 at 12:24 PM Rating: Good
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972 posts
I am unable to go... Saving for a trip to San Francisco and Burning man.
I have never been to a fan fest though.

Do you think some of you could post some pics after the event. So I can see what it looks like?
#22 Jul 08 2014 at 12:27 PM Rating: Excellent
xZENOGIASx wrote:
They had 1500 tickets. Managed to buy 4 (myself, partner, and two buddies).

I timed out once, and my friend timed out three times, so I ended up getting them for everyone. It's like Comic-Con all over again.

Good luck during the next round, Cat.


Thanks. It should go better next time, as the IP address I tried to use in Germany apparently freaked EventBrite out. At one point it was like "uhhhh do you want us to switch you to German language?"

Next week I should be at work on a fiber connection. In the frickin US. Smiley: lol
#23 Jul 08 2014 at 2:16 PM Rating: Good
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I timed out so many times and got nothing, wow. I hope that doesn't happen for the public sale. Any idea how many tickets will be on sale for the public? I don't want to miss out, that would suck.
#24 Jul 08 2014 at 2:54 PM Rating: Excellent
Posted by Bayohne on the offical forums:

An Update on Advance Ticket Sales for Fan Festival 2014

We apologize for the frustration that all this congestion has caused our most loyal fans and truly appreciate the support and patience you’ve all shown us so far. I’d like to give you all an update on advance ticket sales for the Las Vegas Fan Festival.

Advance ticket sales are not completely sold out.
Also, we are still planning to sell the second batch of tickets next week (Tuesday, July 15 at 10:30 a.m. (PDT)) as scheduled.

We anticipated that there would be a large amount of interest in the advance ticket sales which would lead to heavy traffic to the event website, however, there were unanticipated errors that began occurring as a side effect. This caused many people to experience a lot of congestion and/or errors when trying to purchase their tickets.

As a result of the problems that the event site was receiving, the decision was made to halt ticket sales momentarily. While the ticket counter showed that the advance tickets had completely sold out, it was actually a matter of them being on hold/pending during that time.

We still have 483 advance tickets to sell and we will be re-opening advance ticket sales (timing to be announced). The event company is still determining when the fixes can be implemented and as soon as we have a set time that they will be re-opened we will be sure to let you know.

If you have received an email confirmation that you have your ticket, then you have successfully made your purchase! If you have not received an email confirmation, you are encouraged to try your order again when we re-open advance ticket sales.

Regarding the promotional codes – if you have not made a successful purchase with them, then they are still valid and can still be used.

Additional information will be posted when it is available.

#25 Jul 08 2014 at 2:55 PM Rating: Excellent
I wasn't able to get mine as a result. Will be trying again soon as they re-activate the site.
#26 Jul 08 2014 at 4:19 PM Rating: Excellent
Update from the forums:

Greetings,

The event site has made great efforts in alleviating the problems that caused the issues this morning and we have the green light to move forward with selling the remainder of the advance tickets.

Therefore, we have confirmed that we will be re-opening ticket sales for the remaining 483 advance tickets today at 5:00 p.m. (PDT).
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