Greetings, everyone!

Camate here soaking up the (slightly higher) humidity of Los Angeles after a week-long trip drying out in the Sagolii Desert-like climate of Las Vegas.

Though the road to Fan Festival 2016 in Las Vegas was by no means an easy one, the show was a blast and seeing the enjoyment on everyone's faces during the event made it all worth it in the end. The entire FFXIV team is still coming down from the excitement rush that persisted through the weekend as we settle back into our cubicles (I've been listening to Locus on loop while I work all day...).

The second Fan Festival was bigger than the first in nearly every way, and the amount of unforgettable memories could span pages--volumes even--of the thickest grimoires. We were able to capture roughly 2000 photos over the course of the two days, and though it was difficult to sort through them all to extract highlights to showoff, we hope that the special collection we organized will suffice to stimulate your memories, or at least give you a good taste of what was experienced at Fan Festival!
(Click the thumbnails for the full size images!)

■Keynote
We announced our second expansion pack, FINAL FANTASY XIV: Stormblood!

And the crowd went wild!

Everyone summoned their inner Posing Rangers as well to kick off Fan Festival properly!

■Stage events
Battle Content Designer Masaki Nakagawa shared some insight into how high-level content is created.

Koji Fox's Lore and Localization panel was nothing short of hilarious (and of course very informative!).

Naturally, Yoshida teased new elements for the future during Letter from the Producer LIVE, and the paissa housing decorations got a huge reaction!

Joeneverfails and Bayohne hosted an exhilarating Feast exhibition tournament!

■In-game challenges
Adventurers did battle with a brand-new Proto Ultima 24-man alliance battle that debuted at Fan Festival!

They also spun the wheel of fate to see what kind of challenge they would be pitted against in the Trial Roulette.

■Live stream
Many guests joined us in the streaming booth for various FFXIV-related discussions.

Sicycre was also roaming the show floor talking to attendees at each of the activities.

■Mini-games
Hungry goobbues were fed mandragoras.

Attendees struck their favorite pose or dance while participating in a real-life rendition of Any Way the Wind Blows.

Everyone became a dragoon and threw their javelins to defeat Nidhogg!

All adventurers did a magnificent job stopping the Illuminati that invaded Fan Festival.

■Concerts
The piano concert featuring Susan Calloway ended the first day of Fan Fest with an elegant tone.

Soken also surprised the crowd with a special performance on his toy piano!

The Primals rocked the socks off everyone in attendance and closed out the second day of Fan Festival with an unforgettable finale!

On behalf of the entire team, I would like to give a big heartfelt thank you to everyone who attended or tuned in. It's with all of your support that this was made possible! There is truly nothing else in this realm that matches the feeling of seeing passionate fans enjoy themselves at shows like this. The energy at Fan Festival was unparalleled and once again proves that the FFXIV community is the best!

I'll leave you all with some bonus pictures:

This shrine dedicated to Haurchefant grew quite a bit after this picture...

Cuteness overwhelming!

Party on, Yoshida!

-Camate