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INTEREST: Monster Fest Event at Makuhari Messe Spirals Out of Control




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revolutionotaku



Joined: 19 May 2011
Posts: 886
PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 12:54 am Reply with quote
EPIC FAIL!!! Rolling Eyes
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:08 am Reply with quote
It's unfortunate that the Monster Fest has turned into a Monster Disaster (no pun intended). Sad Here's hoping the person that's in the ambulance makes it out okay.
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:12 am Reply with quote
This is a PR nightmare to say the least.

Monster Strike is going to have to be an impossibly great game to get this sour note tucked away.
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Hameyadea



Joined: 23 Jun 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:31 am Reply with quote
It's a shame that (what I hope was) poor planning led to consumer dissatisfaction.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 9:09 am Reply with quote
Ironically, monster movies/games often entail there being riots, hysteria, and other disasters. So, from a certain standpoint, this is staying true to that atmosphere.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 9:29 am Reply with quote
My first reaction was that this is the difference between an anime fandom and a mobile fandom:
The organizers of a mobile event think "Well, they'll all be on their phones", and don't care about putting any great amount of planning into the physical event, and the fandom itself is too absorbed in itself to care about getting together as a (reasonably) polite group ethic.

Laziness and selfishness, two reasons why Cellphone Culture is more evil than us good, united physical-product watching fans. Smile
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:12 am Reply with quote
Mobile gamers in Japan proving that they are the worst gamers, trashy, uncultured, just ew the wild wild west, no control, the price of corporate slavery. I may crap on the dudebro but at least they have civilization in their bones when at a con.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:47 am Reply with quote
Sounds like they didn't hire anyone with convention experience, or that they did but didn't listen to them, because they knew better.
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Actar



Joined: 21 Nov 2010
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Location: Singapore
PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 12:35 pm Reply with quote
Well, at least we're getting 10 Orbs and a 5* Monster as compensation...
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meruru



Joined: 16 Jun 2009
Posts: 471
PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 12:56 pm Reply with quote
Mr. Oshawott wrote:
It's unfortunate that the Monster Fest has turned into a Monster Disaster (no pun intended). Sad Here's hoping the person that's in the ambulance makes it out okay.


I think "no pun intended" doesn't mean what you think it means. =p

Definitely sounds like a bad con when emergency services are involved.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:06 pm Reply with quote
Hoppy800 wrote:
Mobile gamers in Japan proving that they are the worst gamers, trashy, uncultured, just ew the wild wild west, no control, the price of corporate slavery. I may crap on the dudebro but at least they have civilization in their bones when at a con.


This is not because they're mobile gamers. This is because the convention was severely understaffed. Any event (or business, for that matter) this understaffed will have these problems. Someone did a poor job of figuring out how many people would be needed to run this convention. Whoever organized it either thought it was going to be far smaller than it actually was, or they were cheap and cut corners on necessary expenses (like security and experienced personnel). It is also possible that this was being organized by someone who had never run a convention before, but even then, I have been to inaugural conventions and they all had much less trouble than this because they were fully staffed. (Heck, I'd say Arcade Expo's inaugural event might have been somewhat overstaffed.)

Regardless of who is attending this convention, there shouldn't be 11 workers collapsing from heatstroke (which is caused by overexertion in the heat and a lack of precautions, like rotational shifts, shade, and water) or a 330-minute line for souvenirs that hardly has anyone in it. Everyone who worked at this convention was stretched way too thin and were working too many roles at once.

I can only hope that they learn from this and make next year's event not so understaffed. Unfortunately, it's also likely that they deem Monster Fest a failure and a disaster and not make any more.


Last edited by leafy sea dragon on Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:46 pm; edited 1 time in total
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1826
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 1:18 pm Reply with quote
The only time I attended the Makuhari Messe was for NoNukes 2012 day 1, which was one of the best organised and run events I had ever been to. Plenty of friendly and helpful staff, plenty of cloaking for baggage (a one time fee of 1000 yen for the day, where you could get your baggage back and have it looked after again as many times during the day as you liked), extra toilets, great acoustics, great food and merchandise, and great live acts that performed on time.

I would have thought that any event held there would go through various checklists of determining how many people would turn up, how to cope with the expected weather, how many staff were needed, and the like.

From what I heard about Monster Fest, there was a policy of not allowing food and drinks to be taken into the event that had not been announced in advance, and vending machines and stalls inside the event ran out of all food and drink except popcorn. Normally Japanese events make very clear what is and isn't allowed on their web sites beforehand and via twitter, and what catering will be available.
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crosswithyou



Joined: 15 Dec 2007
Posts: 2892
Location: California
PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 6:01 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Tweet: "Well, that's just a lie."

Actually the tweet said, "You've got to be kidding me." The article's translation is too literal.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
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Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP
PostPosted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 7:35 am Reply with quote
This is definitely not something to add to your PR resume unless you want to add to the negative accomplishments.
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meruru



Joined: 16 Jun 2009
Posts: 471
PostPosted: Wed Aug 05, 2015 3:49 pm Reply with quote
GokuMew2 wrote:
Quote:
Tweet: "Well, that's just a lie."

Actually the tweet said, "You've got to be kidding me." The article's translation is too literal.


Agreed. Although I was thinking the more sarcastic, "Seriously...?"
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