Tomec's FF07 Report
Day 1
What can I really say about day 1 other then HOLY LONG LINE BATMAN! I swear people were lining up upstairs at like 7am, and by 3pm they had to close the line upstairs and direct it downstairs in the lobby near the escalator. By 5pm, out the door around the corner of the hotel towards the parking garage. By 6 when registration opened? Who knows… In Square's favor though, the line moved fairly briskly and registration itself went smooth. I personally thought the gobby bag was a bit lacking, but it does cost more to hold something in a hotel then on a pier over the ocean! Which is a much better location in general (imo) lol.
Day 2
Panels and fun events galore on this day, so much news I couldn't hope to fit it all here or even remember it! All in all I think this was the funniest day of fanfest for me, though saturday was also fun... but more on that later!
Opening Ceremony and History of Vana'diel
Lots of very interesting stuff, including the cute little Tarutaru ruling the world!? Well, not the whole world, but the two main continents of the game. I imagine some people found this very boring, but I was rapt with attention since I love backstories behind things. Introducing the two new jobs in more detail was also nice, and certainly got a lot of applause. Especially when SCH did Gravityga, yummy!
Live Quest
After the opening stuff I wandered around some and then found some people to do the live quest with. In the end I ended up 2 random people (sorry I can't remember your names!) Kappachan and Randomlimbs + his friend (again sorry I can't remember the name, I'm very bad with names ;P) to form "My Little Pwny" which is a name Randomlimbs suggested. The livequest itself was VERY fun, and challenging in a few places. I'd like to think the team I was came up with pretty creative solutions to some of the things. Some of the ones that stand out in my mind are taking photos of various things around fanfest, which had some interesting solutions to imo, and the blue mage one to take pictures of mobs. I know some people went over to the booths to look up the mobs themselves, but we decided to imitate the mobs and had a great time doing it. The various puzzles were quite fun, although that weakness thing was a royal pain. Lucky we had someone who had done those in the past so we didn't have that hard a time, but it was still a pain.
Merchandise Store and Carnival Games
While I didn't buy anything from the store, I did pop in to see what they had and they had some pretty cool things. Nothing I thought was really worth the money though, or that I would want/use. I was sorely tempted by a couple items though, but in the end decided not to get anything. Because of manufacturing issues (seem to be a theme lately eh?) they didn't have the Windurst Nation Ring, which was probably about the only thing I would have been tempted to buy... but I don't were jewelry in general so.
The carnival games were actually quite fun, and the rewards not that bad if not hard to obtain some. My favorite was probably the "Ranger Training" where you had to shoot over some targets with little nerf arrows. They also had a ring toss style game, which was a bit of a pain since it used all plastic inflatable things, and an interesting thing of picking up a bottle with a ring on the edge of a stick. The rewards for all this weren't anything special tbh. In the Ranger thing you could get a pen, a little "erasable" (I've had trouble erasing it ;p) whiteboard thing and pen. In something else, and possibly the ranger thing, you got a real pumpkin hat. Kind of nifty, but nothing special imo.
They also had something called "Crafting Training" which I didn't do, although from what I saw it looked like punching out bits of paper or something... possibly brought over from Japan as I was told that they did have something from Japan and I've seen something similar in Anime where they go to festivals.
Tarutaru Marathon
Sadly, I wasn't picked to be in the marathon, but it was VERY fun watching people do that. Tarutaru death all around, and quite a few moments where you're wondering if they would make it or not. It was made all the more funny by constant cheering, jeering, "suggestions" (Drink the viscus liquid and the mobs wont attack you!) by the MC on stage at the time. They were only given 20 minutes to go buy cure (and in testing one of the staff bought out all the copies so they gave the tarus only enough to buy one scroll lol) and go cast it on the "Goal Galka" who just happened to be wearing... Panties! Needless to say everyone got a good laugh out of that, although apparently some of the team there wasn't that happy with the choice of outfit lol. Sadly, none were able to complete the run, although one was VERY close towards the end and I think they could have gotten it if they knew their way around a bit better. I do think there was a ledge that ran all the way around, but they dropped to the lower level and went *splat* sadly. In the end, I actually think they still placed though which is nice. But since time ran out (and it seemed to run out quick) whoever was closest to the goal when time went won.
Wings of the Goddess Tour
Personally, I chose to do the tour after the marathon in hopes that the line wouldn't be too long... even though I already had the ticket thing to get in. I was right in that it wasn't, although it grew as I was waiting for them to reset the PCs to the tour (they used that area for the marathon).
All in all I think the tour was fun, although it was rendered less then ideal for me personally due to a couple things. One of which was that they didn't give you a controller to play the game with. I think it would have been better if they loaded it onto 360s or PS2s/3s rather then PCs. Not only were the settings not the greatest, and laggy, but for a game designed to be played with a controller and then having it be keyboard/mouse... oh well. The other thing, which I'm not even sure about, was we were given headsets and told to "listen to GM instructions" or something. However, for me, the game was VERY loud (and I had to turn it down in settings) and if we were supposed to hear a GM through that I certainly couldn't. Maybe whatever program they were using wasn't running on that PC for some odd reason, or it got muted or something else. Another thing is that the server decided to crash (or something network related happened) in the middle of my session lol. It was fixed quickly enough, but still a minor annoyance there.
Quiz Show 1 and Movie Contest
I only got to sit in partially on the first quiz show, but there really wasn't anything special about it. It was certainly fun, but was made less challenging by the crowd helping people and easy questions. One thing of note was that they had a price is right style opening round thing, which they used AH prices for. However, what server they used I don't know, and don't think they said, which kind of mars that idea some since every server has vastly different prices.
The movie contest was a lot funner, and there were some REALLY good submissions. Some of the pairings weren't the best imo, but a lot were funny so it didn't matter that much. My favorite was probably a tossup between the Taru Zombies and the "Lost Scenes" one. The "Lost Scenes" certainly had more technical merit imo, but the zombie one was very funny. Some of the entries, obviously, kind of had me shaking my head, but in general everything was really good and I can see why they got into the finals for sure.
Job Adjustments and Dev Panel 1
Job Changes
Wow, just wow. Some very interesting insight there, and some much needed things imo. Some certainly had me, and others, scratching my head. Others were ones that just blew me away. Maybe it's just that I'm a White Mage at heart, but what sticks in my mind most, although not the most exciting for most I'm sure, the one that sticks out in my mind most is WHM Sleep! Even though we got sleep already with BLM sub, this one should have been (and since it was in the current update we know is) light based which is very nice. No more needing a BRD to sleep things resistant to BLM Sleep. There is also talk of them adding more teleport spells, which would be oh so nice and LONG overdue.
The, possible, new Ninja skill was certainly a head scratcher... seems like the last thing you'd want a NIN to do, get rid of hate even for a few seconds. However, on closer "inspection" some people were thinking that it'd be handy for shared tanking in endgame and dropping hate long enough to get shadows back up. There was also some talk of giving them something like Tonko but with Sneak, or maybe adding that into Tonko, which I think makes a lot more sense then the effect of Invis.
SMNs getting multiple new summons was also a pretty good headline, and certainly stands out. Along with some more changes to BST and RNG. THFs are also getting to be even more of a master of aggro, although that ability I question a little since it gives it directly to the THF. Although I can see it being useful in some situations.
Dev Panel
Mainly information on the Expansion and a brief overview of some of the new things. Some really exciting things in that, including the announcement of some new SOLO mission things for the Campaign thing.
The questions I thought could have been better, but day 2's panel made up for that imo. For some reason, they decided to accept ANOTHER TH question... maybe to help put it bed finally? They also announced a new set of boots for the expansion with movement speed increase, which doesn't stack with anything but Strider Boots. Little disappointing in that respect, but it's nice of them to add that in! Flee for everyone, not just the powder boots which some jobs can't use.
Finally, something that will probably go down in history in some way... "Can we have a cheese sandwich recipe?" Shockingly enough, it wasn't submitted by our local Cheese Man Exodus either! They said they would add it, but whether they will or not remains to be seen. On the one hand, it'd be funny if they did, and they certainly have the things in-game already to make one easy enough. On the other hand, if they don't I don't think anyone would blame them as I don't think many took it that seriously.
Day 3
Not as much happened on day 3, though there was still lots of new information and lots of fun things.
Morning Address
Nothing really special here, was mainly just a quick recap on what happened yesterday. It was actually fairly empty in the hall, and nothing of note was said. It was still fun, and was nice to just hang out some without any "pressure" or anything, and just knowing it was to have fun and such.
Costume Contest
The first real event of the day, at least on the stage, and quite fun to watch. I wish I had been picked as one of the finalists, but oh well. Some of those costumes were REALLY well done, and you could tell there were some really dedicated people there behind them. One that really sticks out was actually a dual entry of a PUP and his puppet. The interesting thing about this is that the guy actually made TWO costumes, and his Girl Friend (at least I think it was his Girl Friend) was inside it. However she doesn't even play the game! There were also several summons, a Galka (second place iirc) and the winner from last was back with a new costume based off the "new" ToAU armor.
Sadly, one of the "favorite" cosplayers there didn't make it on stage... a little Taru RDM who had to have only been like 7 or younger. She was SOOO cute, and it's really a shame she didn't get up there. However, from what I heard, it was mostly because her parents didn't register in time. I also heard that square wanted her on stage anyways, but her parents didn't allow it. However, how accurate that is I don't know.
Quiz Show 2
More of the same really, but with even more help from the audience with the next event being a dev panel scheduled right after (and the closing of in-game events). It was still quite fun though, and some of the questions were actually a bit challenging and fun.
Dev Panel 2
Another recap of some WotG stuff, and then a LOT of stuff on the Special Task Force progress. Kind of boring in a sense, but it really shows just to what lengths Square is going to combat RMT. Obviously they didn't reveal everything they do and such, but it was nice to see more "material" evidence of just what they are doing with accounts banning... and not just the in-game deflation, although that is certainly nice!
After the STF stuff, they got to the "meat" as it were. Including some very nice things for future version updates. Some of the things that really stick out in my mind are changes to the Chocobo Circuit, new fishing things, more guild furnishing which also acts as a shop to sell things from! Also they are looking at adding in private dungeons, more then just instances like other games, but the ability for players to DESIGN and trade their own dungeons! They may not be able to of course, but if they can that should be really interesting. Also, I'm not sure if it was this panel or not, but they will be adding in GM support for in-game events. Soon the GMs will be (in theory) able to place items and mobs wherever they want in-game. Want to hold an RP wedding? Well a GM can set the scene for you. How about freak out some friends by luring them into a "trap" with various mobs? Or a chocobo race finish/starting line? Yep, they can do that. Finally, of note to me, there is talk of holding a lottery type thing with rewards such as endgame gear, gil, etc. They said they can't hold these often, but still that should be interesting.
Their little Random Trivia section was quite interesting also, including goblin background and hidden effects on various items like Avengers. They also had a hint on what to do with a new item in WotG, and how the GM service was actually being answered by the bi-lingual GMs in Japan for a couple hours. The funniest thing though had to be the announcement of a new mage type... We now have, are you ready for this? Brown Mage! Granted this isn't playable, and there is only one NPC in the game who is one. He also grants two secret titles... can you guess who? Or know who? Why none other then the Food Removal Taru... Although the titles you obtain are probably not ones most people would want, but they are still funny and it just showed me how much detail they put into the game to make things that STILL haven't been found out by the players.
The QA this time was much more meaty... including a HUGE stack of questions about Absolute Virtue! They said their testers were able to beat it, and they wanted to make a video of them beating it, but due to time constraints they couldn't. They did say they would get to work making one though, so lets hope they do that soon. Although they did mention something about testing for WotG and the first major patch were the main factors behind them not doing it... so it'll probably be awhile until they do.
The questions themself were more plentiful this time, and dealt with some more interesting subjects. Besides the AV one, a couple that really stand out is that they didn't know what the Almighty Apkallu was! Even though they also answered that in other dev interviews, I imagine that was the first time most had heard that. Another was them adding actual /dance animations, and also them making the scrolls tell a little about the ability and not just the level to learn! Although they said the translator would have to do all that text, at least I think they did because of how he worded their response. There was also a bit of a backstory about why there isn't a Taru serpent general... even if it was made up on the spot it was still funny and could easily been seen as true lol.
Awards Ceremony and Special Event
Awards Ceremony
All the awards ceremony really was was them doing a raffle and awarding a couple other things. Some of the art contest entries were really well done, and quite creative. I believe a little miniature Bubbly Bernie won the "crafting" section, of which there were only 4 entries, but I can't remember the art contest winners. However, they were all VERY well done, and you could tell people put a lot of work into them.
For the raffle the grand prize was an Asus Gaming Laptop, which was actually quite impressive. It actually went to a couple with a kid, so it was really hard to feel sorry for them winning. Not that I'm sure everyone didn't want to win themselves, but still. They also had production team signed boxed OSTs for some people who were the xth person to register online, which I thought was really cool. Although I thought they could have given out some more... but oh well.
Finally, for the awards ceremony, they had the winners from the Atomos Challenge and gave them prizes... mostly in-game, though also some of the pumpkin hats that could be won from the carnival games. The Atomos Challenge was actually sort of disappointing imo. They basically picked like 18 teams or something, and put them in control of a character they made from scratch on "Atomos" (I doubt it was the actual Atomos and was more just whatever server they brought with them). The premise was competing for highest level, most gil, and a secret category which turned out to be most deaths. While decent in theory, I don't really envy those teams who competed in it. Even with day 2 being slow, I can't say as I would have liked to take time out from the festival to sit playing the game. I mean even with it being a festival for the game, and having in-game events, I just can't see me doing something like that personally since it doesn't seem that fun to me.
Special Event
So, everyone was thinking it was going to be a Star Onions concert due to some of them being there. Well, in the end it turned out be some other group name, I think, The Smash Brothers. While they were pretty good, the volume was a bit loud and I personally only recognized like 2 of the songs they did. The highlight though, to the point of the band being BOOED when they took the stage again, had to have been the keyboardist from The Star Onions playing some songs from WotG and the game. Those were really quite good, and for most (see the booing comment above) outclassed the band. I think that part of the reason behind that was that the band was sort of an unknown, and didn't play very recognizable songs like I said. That doesn't mean they were bad, and I enjoyed it even with the volume being a bit high and them not playing songs that I could easily place to FFXI.
After the festival and misc thoughts
After the festival was over I hung around a little and some of the Star Onion people were signing a few autographs and taking pictures, so being the fan I am I stuck around and got a picture and my bag signed by a couple hehe. I also found Sage Sundi as he was taking some pics, and was able to get one with him also.
Some of you may have noticed that I didn't talk about the BCNM events they had there... Mainly this is due to the fact I didn't do them. Why? Well mainly I heard how hard they were and all the restrictions. I figured they would give out codes to do them on live in some way, and they did, and that they would be much easier on live with people you knew and such. I heard of only one group who actually beat the Mercenary Camp, which was vs the 5 Serpent Generals. They were actually 5 members of some LS, so knew how to play together and such. I do kind of regret some that I didn't do them, however it isn't like I wont be able to experience them ever again right?
All in all it was really fun, and it was a blast just hanging out with people who were fun to hang out with. Some points were a little disappointing, but they obviously can't please everyone, no one can. It was very worth it, and really if they hold one next year I urge everyone who is a fan of the game to go if they can. See you all next year if you're going!