Greetings, Warriors of Light!

Luxpheras here, ready to regale you with tales from PAX East 2018! The FINAL FANTASY XIV team took to Boston, Massachusetts a little over a week ago now, leaving our LA sunshine behind for some brisk, chilly weather!

PAX East is a massive, four-day long gaming and entertainment convention that takes place at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) each year. This year had some particular FFXIV flavor, with these sweet lanyards given to each attendee with their convention badge:

It wouldn't be PAX without a classic FFXIV Battle Challenge. We faced attendees up against Byakko of the Four Lords. Adventurers who were able to withstand their time in The Jade Stoa and quell Byakko's rage were able to obtain an "I BEAT BYAKKO" t-shirt!

Our special guests this year were Main Scenario Writer Natsuko Ishikawa and English Localization Lead John Crow, who presented The Writing of FINAL FANTASY XIV: Stormblood panel on Saturday, April 7th.

Check out the view from the back of the Albatross Theatre where the panel took place for an idea at just how massive the room was--we had a nearly full house once doors opened! I'm sure that Ishikawa and Crow weren't the least bit intimidated, even though it was their first time hosting a panel!

Our first 100 panel attendees got a special bonus: tickets to a signing event with Natsuko Ishikawa and John Crow. They signed beautiful double sided posters for everyone, and had a great time meeting all the players and fans.

Apparently while we were away, LA was experiencing a bit of a heat wave. We got the whole spectrum of East Coast weather instead: rain, wind, and even some snow! Wait... was this Boston, or Ishgard?

While attendees on the show floor were busy taking on the Byakko Battle Challenge, Bayohne and the dev. crew were hard at work behind the scenes, preparing for the panel and interviews. Speaking of interviews, it seemed like they had an entirely packed day on Friday and part of Saturday! We've been sharing a lot of the articles that came from the event on our social channels so be sure and keep your eyes out for them!

Ishikawa also brought along some travel companions: Gosetsu, Zenos and Yotsuyu. These were giveaways during a special promotion at the Eorzea Café in Japan.

Oh... oh dear.

If you weren't able to catch the panel livestream, you can still watch it here on the official PAX Twitch channel!

Spoiler Alert:
At the end of the panel, we revealed a surprise: the male Bunny Attire is coming soon!

On the final day of the show just before wrap-up, Ishikawa and Foxclon decided to take on the Byakko Battle Challenge themselves with the help of our booth staff!

Ishikawa played as bard, while Foxclon played as white mage... wait a minute...

Foxclon! You were supposed to be healing her!! (She's trying to hide her KO'd character behind her hands... Whoops.)

All in all, PAX East 2018 was a great success. A huge thank you to all of the FINAL FANTASY XIV fans who attended the panel, took on Byakko, and stopped by our booth!

Until next time!

- Luxpheras
Community Team