Philippines “rarely” celebrate gaming conventions. We tend to only have but a handful of these events unlike in the US, Europe or Australia. Last August 10th, Garena Philippines celebrated the annual “Rampage” convention. The convention if for the game League of Legends. What you are about to read would be very disturbing.
So the event is scheduled August 10th and SMX Convention Hall building played host to such “extravagant” event. In the Philippines, console gaming isn’t the trend. Online gaming is what fuels a huge chunk of the game enthusiasts in this country. League of Legends is a Free-To-Play game that is played by thousands and thousands of filipino gamers. Holding a grand event as of such would mean a really really huge amount of supporters especially if you marketed that you will be giving away free-stuff together with the entrance pass/fee.
Overall, the event as stated by the many was a disaster. Attendees were not allowed to go in as the tickets ran out. The tickets ran out as early as 6:00am. That’s kinda awkward seeing that the event starts a few more hours after 6:00am.
the video above was taken at the entrance of the event area, attendees that are not allowed to enter are angry and even cursing the community managers and the organizers of the event. A few policemen were summoned in-case a riot broke out.
The queue was so long that it is currently the longest queue for a convention that was “gaming” related in the Philippines. One thing that I would like to point out is that.
“ Why did you ran out of tickets as early as 6:00am “
Did the organizers of the event miscalculated? I hear people saying that “this is the very same issue last year”. Now that is so awkward I don’t even want to imagine last year’s mishap. I was suppose to attend this event but I had a hunch something like this were to happen so I decided to back out. To think that my hunch was correct was amazing for me. For the attendees that queued for such a long time, there was no compensation.
This individual was not part of the organizers nor part of the sponsors. The individuals claims he had someone assist him who is working with the organizers. Underhanded tactics at play! http://www.calvinshub.com/2013/08/rampage-2013-league-of-legends-cosplay-clash-photos/
There was a “Riot Graves Skin” that was given together with the entrance pass. Funny thing is, It is now available as well on the League of Legends Item Mall. http://lol.garena.ph/featured/riot-graves-skin
Attendees who were not able to enter are raising their hands putting up the notable “Dirty Finger” as a sign of protest to the event.
A cosplayer was also ranting about what happened to the event for the cosplay competition. Here’s the link to her rant and apparently it reallly wasn’t a pretty sight or rather the term “mishandled or mismanaged” is but an insult to such words if used to coin or refer to about how or what she felt during the event.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/dhannielle-shane-smith/rampage-2013-cosplayers-rant/10153322980995107
Joseph Saratan is one of the Community Managers aka “GM” (as what filipinos call it) of Garena PH for League of Legends PH. Below is a screenshot of what he stated on his facebook page ” http://www.facebook.com/mrseph/ “.
You are happy because you made other people happy? Isn’t that rather selfish? It’s more than enough? Seriously, look at the photos of the people who weren’t able to go in. I hear that some are from provinces that requires ships to sail in-order to reach their place. Instead of an apology, he believes he did the right thing.
So what have we learned from all of this? I don’t know about you guys but attending conventions and if it is going to be like this “again” for the nth time. I’d rather go to a nearby coffee shop and grab a book or hang out with friends in a different area where i’m sure i’ll have fun without having someone ruining that day for me.
NendoGamer 