A bit late but none the less still very present in our hearts I present my quick review over the FFXIV FanFestival 2019 in Paris. Some may know I did suffer a lot after the festival due to a flu that I caught there. And it’s because of that flu that I didn’t feel like giving a summary… I’m weird I know ;P
But now the flu is almost gone and I can show you some pictures and tell you some stories about it. Firstly of course I have to show some pics from Paris itself as I was travelling through it on Friday prior to the FanFest.
But that’s not why you’re here. You want to see the FanFestival post. I wanted to see stuff too so I was there VERY EARLY on Saturday to get a good spot. Keep in mind, the event started at 10:00 and this picture has been taken at 06:56 according to the EXIF data…
Luckily the gates were opened earlier than first mentioned and already at around 08:00 we could sit in the “warmth” in front of the stage.
I say “warmth” because I was still freezing the whole morning… the lack of sleep did take its toll XD
Funny side story here: I was in Dortmund last year for the Symphonic Concert. And back then, a member of a FFXIV Event Discord I’m part of sat right next to me. Out of all the people. And who sits right next to me this time in Paris? HER AGAIN! Out of 4500 people at the event, she managed to grab the spot next to me XD Love such coincidences~
Two hours later and the show started. Lots of new things got relieved. Highlight for me was the NieR collab for the 24 player raid. I dreamed about such a raid and collab but didn’t think it’d ever be possible anymore at this point in time. Yet here we are, seeing this promo image!
Also nice to finally see some Viera in action, although I hoped to see the male version too. And with the recent development I wonder if we will see male Viera at all.. Tokyo will tell us!
The art panel was great even though some people around me were bored to death and kept talking through the entirety of it. Please, if you don’t like something, be quiet and don’t ruin it for the rest – OR just go and have fun at another place XD The FanFest is always huge!
I did take a lot of videos throughout the whole event but I did not yet have the time to order them into a nice review. Maybe one day I’ll get to it… sorry bout that!
Then one of the big highlights on Sunday was the photo session with the primals. It was here where either SOKEN made me, or I made him sick <_<;; All I know, we both ended up with the flu after the event…
I’m happy I could give him my gift (the book he’s holding). It’s the scores of ARR and he himself told me he didn’t have that book yet.. I hoped that was true and got him his own copy. He did look happy and I’m happy too.
And the rest of the band was really nice as well! I am a bit too tall to fit in there.. maybe Koji could help me more as he’s also a bit taller?.. aaaanyway!
The event went on and on, lots happened like the cosplay contest (which I almost missed) and the feast regional championships.
A word about the cosplay contest (which was actually on Saturday). In London at the first FanFestival, the cosplay contest barely had any people watching it. Sure the venue helped to scatter people a bit too much (and the merch line was too long) but still, I easily could go in and get a good place. In Frankfurt it was already a bit harder. I still managed to get good view at the start, but more and more people really seemed to like the contest. Now this year in Paris, it was filled to the brim with people! I was a bit too late at the start and only could get a very bad side view. That’s also why you don’t see pictures, as they don’t look nice at all.. People really love the cosplay contest now and that’s how it should be!
And a word about the PVP event (from Sunday). Wow they are fast! I know I’m lagging a lot because I play on an NA server from the EU. But lag alone doesn’t explain this speed they managed to play at. It’s a different league altogether. Well fought everyone!
Anyway, so the FanFest ended with an amazing concert again. This time I actually did take my earplugs with me and I was glad I did. I really could enjoy the music while people around me suffered as they were not used to the loud music ^^; I offered them all earplugs but well, most declined the offer, saying they don’t care… up to them
Aftermath of the FanFest was a horrible flu (we call it Grippe) that put me in bed with fever and running nose and coughing and what not all. Only now I’m back to “okay”. Still, it was amazing and I would go again!