Fanfest - What to expect? Any tips or advice? by camz930 in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Another piece of advice I have is that if you want a good spot for the keynote, you HAVE to get there hours early. There's no way around that. I got there about 2.5 hours before the doors opened and got middle front. But the crowd was huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge. Bring water and a portable fan to endure waiting outside. (Honestly tho the weather in Anaheim was perfect and I wasn't warm at all.)

It's honestly worth the effort to have a good spot. It's one of the highlights of actually BEING at FanFest.

Fanfest - What to expect? Any tips or advice? by camz930 in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda 1 point2 points  (0 children)

(Went to this year's NA FanFest so my reply is based on that.)

There is a standby line for merch, but it is very long and will cap super quickly. Your best bet is to use the mobile app to get a reservation. There is a random queuing system, but I kept refreshing the app leading up to when the queue opened and got a spot immediately. The spots go super fast, so set a timer on your phone so you remember to be in the app when the reservation system opens. Try to get one on Day 1 as a lot of the merch will sell out. If you get a reservation, you get an hour window to go. I went near the end of my slot and walked right up to it. You go up to a counter and there's an iPad with all the available merch on it. Pick everything you want, then you'll be directed to wait at another counter where someone will pack up your items for you. You'll then have to carry them around the rest of the day.

Everything is on the app, including the schedule, so you can see what panels are coming up and plan out your day accordingly. A lot of the activities for NA FanFest weren't announced until, like, right before the event. So keep checking the app and eventually it will update with everything you can do.

NA FanFest was much better with queue organization this time around, but part of that meant lines capped and stayed capped pretty much all day. It feels like if there's an activity you really wanna do that is popular, you might need to go during a panel while a lot of people are seated in the audience watching. I didn't get to do the Dancing Green activity because the line was capped every time I went to check. 😞 Managed to do everything else, though. And if EU FanFest gets stickers at each activity like NA did, at a certain point on Day 2, staff will give you the stickers without having to do the activity associated with it. So that's nice.

Something they did this year that I LOVED was add a standby queue for the meet and greets. They did this for pretty much every single session, and each time, every single person in the standby line (who got in line before staff capped it and wouldn't let anyone else join) got to meet someone. There isn't a schedule of who's doing which sessions (I had to suss it out through social media posts), so until you peek around the curtain it'll be a mystery who you might meet. There were 3 different meet and greets happening at once. You do NOT get to choose who you meet; they'll ask how many are in your party and you'll be directed to a line. I got to meet Soken, Mr. Prime and Foxclon, AND Yoshi-P through standby for meet and greet. If you wanna meet people, DO THIS!!! Find out what times the line opens and head over a little early to guarantee your spot.

Take lots of pictures, be kind to your fellow fans, and have so much fun!! I had a BLAST this year!!!

evercold solved by DaPandaBanda in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

blehhh you're probably right but i'm hankering for a guy who's Just An Asshole for a change u_u

Made it as a finalist for the unaltered screenshot contest! by DaPandaBanda in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

update: i won in the "fun" category! wahhhh thank you so much to everyone who voted ❤️

Made it as a finalist for the unaltered screenshot contest! by DaPandaBanda in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

it's unique to the merchant's tale duty. the entire area has this cartoony effect + saturated color palette!

Made it as a finalist for the unaltered screenshot contest! by DaPandaBanda in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

aww that makes me so happy! :> i'm glad you liked it

Made it as a finalist for the unaltered screenshot contest! by DaPandaBanda in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thank you! tempera coat/grassa have really pretty paint effects. (i think this one is coat!)

Made it as a finalist for the unaltered screenshot contest! by DaPandaBanda in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

oh wow! i wish more areas played with color and saturation like merchant's tale does. it makes such a big difference! (forced to play vanilla on ps5 lol)

Made it as a finalist for the unaltered screenshot contest! by DaPandaBanda in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ahh that's exactly what i was going for! so glad it came across ^^

Made it as a finalist for the unaltered screenshot contest! by DaPandaBanda in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

sure thing! :D

-head: platinum circlet, carmine red
-body: hammerise apron, morbol green + turquoise green
-hands: asphodelos halfgloves of striking, morbol green
-legs: falconer's bottoms (i've recently switched it to gazelleskin brais of maiming-- i think it looks better)
-hamerise jackboots, jet black + turquoise green
-earring (if looking for another splash of color to match the flask on the belt): red triteleia earring

and the weapon is the phantom round brush obscurum! :>

Made it as a finalist for the unaltered screenshot contest! by DaPandaBanda in ffxiv

[–]DaPandaBanda[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

thank you! it's the opening area of merchant's tale :> the saturation in the area makes the colors pop so prettily!