Greetings! This is Vystenya, Chesskyth, and Kiwikopo from the EU Community team, reporting in from London HQ with a special blog on our latest Fan Gatherings in Europe!
It's been a while since we've hosted some get-togethers with our players, and with several major events happening this year, we thought it would be a great opportunity to put the wheels back in motion.
We're eager to share with you our latest adventures, so without further ado, here's a quick recap of where we've been recently!
Potsdam Fan Gathering
Our Fan Gathering journey began on Thursday, 30 May at the Biosphäre in Potsdam, near Berlin! The location was super-secret, because unbeknownst to our roughly 80 attendees, the Dawntrail Media Tour was happening at the same time! It was the first German Fan Gathering in a while, so for most of our players, it was a completely new experience.
Biosphäre
The tropical climate at the Biosphäre was the perfect way to get our players in the mood for their adventures in Tural!
We were really impressed with how well everyone was handling the humidity...
This Fan Gathering also marked the debut of our new adventure passes, with a matching Dawntrail lanyard! Looks good, right?
Food and Drink
To keep with the theme, our players got to enjoy special welcome drinks - the Virgin Lemonette and Tural Sunset! G'raha Tia sadly couldn't make it himself, but we brought out the taco station regardless.
Activities
One of our goals for these Fan Gatherings is providing an opportunity for our Warriors of Light to meet and get to know likeminded players of FINAL FANTASY XIV. Of course, the best way to do that is some fun activities!
Next to our tattoo station, we had a well-lit Dawntrail backdrop for some commemorative photos.
(Here you can see photo pro Pampatomo hard at work helping people with their pictures!)
) Vystenya: My personal highlight was the signing board, where players could leave messages about whatever happened to be on their mind. We kept all the messages!
We also hosted a raffle (more on that shortly) and a music quiz, where players got to show off their deep knowledge of the FFXIV soundtrack. Players were seriously impressive; it often only took a couple of notes before they knew the exact boss fight a song appeared in.
Our Producer and Director, Naoki Yoshida, was also in attendance!
Our players got to enjoy a short opening speech from Yoshida-san, who stayed a while to talk to our Warriors of Light, take some pictures, and sign some goodies.
We noticed that the gentleman in black was holding two bags. Since his partner was unable to make it to the Fan Gathering, he was hoping Yoshida-san would be happy to sign her bag instead. How heartwarming!
Speaking of goodies, how could we forget our raffle? A few lucky winners had their name drawn by Yoshida-san, including the main prize: a signed Dawntrail Collector's Box, which at the time was the first and only of its kind.
It was a really special evening, and we hope our attendees had at least as much fun as we did! We received many kind messages about this Fan Gathering on the official forums, so we are working hard to bring the same joy to the next ones as well!
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London Fan Gathering
Our Fan Gathering in London was held on Monday, 24 June at Big Chill King's Cross, attended by over 150 Warriors of Light! This was our first Fan Gathering in the UK in five years, and it was amazing to have the opportunity to meet up with players again and chat about all things FFXIV.
With Dawntrail just around the corner, the atmosphere was full of excitement as everyone's thoughts were filled with the promise of blue seas, clear skies and boundless possibilities.
Look at this bustling crowd, it feels like we've stepped into the market streets of Tuliyollal!
As well as a tasty welcome drink, everyone was provided with a choice of tank, healer, or DPS adventurer pass, and soon we were all hard at work filling them out and decorating them~
) Chesskyth: Here's mine - I couldn't decide!!! I just ticked everything!!!
We had some delicious themed co*cktails and mocktails to enjoy, as well as a wonderful array of food. Two were named after the brand-new jobs arriving in 7.0, none other than the viper and the pictomancer. We also had a Tulliyollal Iced Tea and the vibrant colours and flavours matched up perfectly with its namesake.
Like our Fan Gathering in Potsdam, each guest could also enjoy getting FFXIV-themed tattoos at our tattoo parlour, from awesome-looking job icons to the ever-adorable fat cat. We hope that everyone who received one enjoyed representing their favourite job or minion out in the world for the days that followed!
) Kiwikopo: Here's my sage tattoo!
Of course, no Fan Gathering is complete without a signing wall. Our Warriors of Light left behind some wonderful messages, as well as.... Look at that! We've even got a few crafts?!
As you can see, some of our players even brought drawings of their Warrior of Light to add to the wall. We'll treasure them dearly here at the office, thank you everyone ♥
We also had a big selection of FFXIV-themed prizes on hand to distribute in our raffle. Congratulations to everyone lucky enough to take home something special!
) Chesskyth: One day I'll be able to pronounce "korpokkur" without getting my tongue twisted...
The evening finished with a short walk down to King's Cross St Pancras station, where a very special sight was waiting for us!
An Aetheryte in the very heart of London was lighting up the night in all its splendour~
Warriors of Light, attune!!!
We can only wonder how much gil it would cost to teleport from London to Tural... need to remember to keep our FC buffs up for that discount.
We had an absolutely incredible evening celebrating the launch of Dawntrail, and we hope that everyone who visited was able to make some special memories.
Until next time, UK Warriors of Light!
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Paris Fan Gathering
We also recently made a stop in France for Japan Expo 2024, and what's better than kicking it off with a Fan Gathering in Paris!
On Wednesday, 10 July, we headed to the Comptoir Général in Paris where our players received tote bags featuring the two new jobs in Dawntrail: the pictomancer and viper.
There was also plenty of artwork displayed around the venue, as well as numerous fun activities where players got to hang out with each other.
If you would like to read more on the Paris Fan Gathering, check out the French official blog for a special article on the team's trip to Japan Expo 2024!
* Please note that the article is only available in French.
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And that wraps up our recap of all the Fan Gatherings in 2024 so far!
We look forward to seeing you all again at future events, but in the meantime, hope you're all having a wonderful time in Dawntrail! \o/
Visit the Dawntrail special site.
