[STVO]

XenoBlade, on 04 May 2012 - 03:58 PM, said:

By the time people are in line, the alcohol is already IN their bodies. lol No need to bring it in. lol

That also reminds me, I think at acen 2010's soapbubble, one of the IRT members who was guarding the door seemed pretty drunk himself. I remember passing by and he was stumbling somewhat, and smashing cups with his head. Old story, and not complaining about it, but I found it rather funny that the person guarding the door seemed rather out of it himself. lol

Oh I know, but I'm just saying that for those saying "They need to limit the alcohol people to the con." Even if Hyatt put that on lock down or whatever (again, not happening, this isn't Macomb, IL or another city that has a dry county rule on Sundays, lol) people can go to one of the various surrounding bars or restaurants (Giordanos, Gibsons, McCormick and Scmitt, etc.) drink up there, have a cooler of beer/other alcohol in the car and drink in a secluded area, etc. There's a reason prohibition failed unfortunately, lol.

As for the IRT story, that's hilarious! The blind leading the blind if you will.

[Scott]

Is it really that much different than in 2003 when I started... I'm not too sure about that. At one convention our college anime club group had to leave early because one of our people got extremely drunk.

Has ACEN changed its focus since that time? I think so. I see a lot more variety of topics and guests. I personally like the addition of fashion shows. When talking with random people this year I had a lot of responses that they were there to hang out with friends more than anything. Anime seemed down the importance scale quite a bit.

Should the Masquerade be cut short so the next event could start on time? I don't think so, especially considering what it was. The Masquerade is one of the most Anime filled events at the convention. In the mini rave before the Masquerade started, one guy backed into me because he was so hyped up dancing around in the isle.

This post has been edited by Scott: 04 May 2012 - 05:31 PM

[-JUNK-]

So this thread comes up ALL the time...

If you don't like it anymore there plenty of other anime conventions in the Chicago area that you can go to. I like ACen because I've met so many friends and folks there. It may be changing but people seem to still like it. If Im still liking something then there cant be too much to the extreme going on. JUST SAYIN

This post has been edited by -JUNK-: 04 May 2012 - 05:58 PM

[tfcreate]

-JUNK-, on 04 May 2012 - 05:51 PM, said:

So this thread comes up ALL the time...

If you don't like it anymore there plenty of other anime conventions in the Chicago area that you can go to. I like ACen because I've met so many friends and folks there. It may be changing but people seem to still like it. If Im still liking something then there cant be too much to the extreme going on. JUST SAYIN

And the same suggestions are brought up each time this thread appears..... and they are all dismissed out of hand. No one wants change.
The only reason these threads are here is for victims to rant. It will disappear like the rest and the cycle will start again.
There ARE plenty of other true anime cons in the Chicago area now, most are held during warm weather so going outdoors is not a problem.
They are my choices now.
Some will whine about how ACEN isn't like it, but I see ACEN is now one massive REACTOR.
The only difference is that ACEN has money, REACTOR didn't.

This post has been edited by tfcreate: 04 May 2012 - 06:12 PM

[cactusmomma]

Grand Master Brief, on 01 May 2012 - 01:21 AM, said:

quick fix to all of these problems. Harsh as it seems. anime only photoshoots. Brony and doctor who fan though I am, no more pony shoots, no more homestuck,no more Doctor who, no more steampunk.

That will not stop the cosplayers from bringing those costumes to play with their friends. The photoshoots simply give them a chance to meet together under controlled circumstances (Meaning, being given a time and place).. otherwise, there would be scenarios like Otakon (they have 4 Homestuck meets last year and 4 this year. that are 'official'.. this isn't even counting the non-official ones.).

[OtakuAngelD]

Quote

quick fix to all of these problems. Harsh as it seems. anime only photoshoots. Brony and doctor who fan though I am, no more pony shoots, no more homestuck,no more Doctor who, no more steampunk.

The thing is with that, there is more and more "American" things happening in Japan. Just a year ago, we have had a Supernatural Anime, an Iron Man anime, and I believe a couple of XMen/Wolverine animes as well as a PowerPuff Girls Anime. From Japan. I cannot begin to say what will come of next year or subsequent years after. As for fashion shoots, such as steampunk, this is a style gaining more and more popularity. I am sure that it has gained a foothold in the street styles of Japan and you can see it along side Gothic Lolita and CyberPunks.

While I do see your point, it is unwise to limit photoshoots in such a manner. Anime Only shoots would also take away all the video games shoots, such as Final Fantasy as well as many other shoots. Plus, there were NUMEROUS anime shoots. Yes there were a few non-anime ones, but honestly, there were a LOT more anime related ones. Even shoots set up that no one went to, such as the Angel Scantuary shoot on Sunday.

[STVO]

No offense to those who are saying "anime only photo shoots" but really what is the problem?!?! While I disagree about the Soap bubble party/aspect, I think every photoshoot be it anime, DC Comics, etc. create things for people to have a good time and it's harmless fun. There's multiple shoots for every person and if ACen doesn't have an official one for a certain series, so what!?!? My friends and I did our own Danny Phantom group photoshoot and had a blast and we weren't ruining anyone else's, why not just do one for your own group if you don't like the American stuff!

No offense to you guys, but it is petty. I'm sure if ACem were ALL anime, people would complain "Not enough older shows" or "Not enough new shows!" Seriously, just find stuff you can find fun or don't go if that's such an issue.

[linlindesu]

STVO, on 04 May 2012 - 09:18 PM, said:

No offense to those who are saying "anime only photo shoots" but really what is the problem?!?! While I disagree about the Soap bubble party/aspect, I think every photoshoot be it anime, DC Comics, etc. create things for people to have a good time and it's harmless fun. There's multiple shoots for every person and if ACen doesn't have an official one for a certain series, so what!?!? My friends and I did our own Danny Phantom group photoshoot and had a blast and we weren't ruining anyone else's, why not just do one for your own group if you don't like the American stuff!

No offense to you guys, but it is petty. I'm sure if ACem were ALL anime, people would complain "Not enough older shows" or "Not enough new shows!" Seriously, just find stuff you can find fun or don't go if that's such an issue.

The only reason I think people are getting that way probably has something to do with the MLP photoshoot ( see that thread for all that fun)
which honestly, some anime series could have gotten just as nuts.
Which either way, it is not the series' fault people are so darn stupid :]

[STVO]

linlindesu, on 04 May 2012 - 09:21 PM, said:

The only reason I think people are getting that way probably has something to do with the MLP photoshoot ( see that thread for all that fun)
which honestly, some anime series could have gotten just as nuts.
Which either way, it is not the series' fault people are so darn stupid :]

I happened to hear about that, but my point still stands. If that series is prohibited fine, I don't think the MLP guys really should be banned but rather the ones starting the havoc. The DC Universe/Batman group (which I was apart of) was just fine. I'm sticking to my point on the whole "anime only" nonsense. Pretty sure if those people were involved in that photoshoot or another rambunctious group came into play, an anime photoshoot could get that bad, maybe worse.

[Lina]

STVO, on 04 May 2012 - 09:18 PM, said:

No offense to those who are saying "anime only photo shoots" but really what is the problem?!?! While I disagree about the Soap bubble party/aspect, I think every photoshoot be it anime, DC Comics, etc. create things for people to have a good time and it's harmless fun. There's multiple shoots for every person and if ACen doesn't have an official one for a certain series, so what!?!? My friends and I did our own Danny Phantom group photoshoot and had a blast and we weren't ruining anyone else's, why not just do one for your own group if you don't like the American stuff!

No offense to you guys, but it is petty. I'm sure if ACem were ALL anime, people would complain "Not enough older shows" or "Not enough new shows!" Seriously, just find stuff you can find fun or don't go if that's such an issue.

I don't get where you're getting the whole, "Everyone who is complaining wants this to be an all anime con." thing from because I highly doubt that those of us complaining want it to be an anime only con. You keep mentioning that we want it to be anime only, but none of us are saying that. We want it to be the focus and it doesn't seem like anime is the focus anymore.

[BakaBarbarian]

Lina, on 05 May 2012 - 01:59 AM, said:

I don't get where you're getting the whole, "Everyone who is complaining wants this to be an all anime con." thing from because I highly doubt that those of us complaining want it to be an anime only con. You keep mentioning that we want it to be anime only, but none of us are saying that. We want it to be the focus and it doesn't seem like anime is the focus anymore.

Agreed. You can't control whether the cosplayers are showing up in American or European or Japanese or whatever costumes, barring anything illegal. Nor should there be an attempt to control that. Whether there should be some better control over what dealers are allowed in the dealer's room is, IMO, a valid question; there can only be so much steampunk before you have to ask yourself if the con is really just a geekdom convention pretending to be an anime con. And if that's the direction ACEN wants to go, fine. Just don't be disingenuous about it.

The original poster's point, which has been warped by many of the posters in this thread, is that the focus isn't strongly enough on anime/manga/Asian pop culture (which is how ACEN describes itself). If there's a My Little Pony photo shoot or a fashion show (which I would argue is quite Japanese), who cares? But when the masquerade (made up of cosplayers, and yes, that's also quite Japanese) is partly canceled for a rave, that tells you something is very dissonant between what the con proclaims itself to be and what it truly is.

[STVO]

BakaBarbarian, on 05 May 2012 - 02:15 AM, said:

The original poster's point, which has been warped by many of the posters in this thread, is that the focus isn't strongly enough on anime/manga/Asian pop culture (which is how ACEN describes itself). If there's a My Little Pony photo shoot or a fashion show (which I would argue is quite Japanese), who cares? But when the masquerade (made up of cosplayers, and yes, that's also quite Japanese) is partly canceled for a rave, that tells you something is very dissonant between what the con proclaims itself to be and what it truly is.

I agree that something should have been done about the masquerade, but honestly it was a spare of the moment decision. The event was already to a late start and now there's a legit complaint to have: ACen needs to make sure their panelists have better time management.) Masquerade and Soap Bubble have been around since the beginning of the con. Whatever they decided it was a lose-lose situation. If they cancelled the Soap Bubble or at least said "ok this event will only be 2 hours long now" then another group of people would be furious! As much as you guys may say "Oh but they're not anime fans, who cares?" they also paid for the event too and would have as much right to be made about their event being cancelled like the people with the masquerade was. The only idea I have would be to pre-empt the masquerade to Sunday, possibly in the morning, maybe open earlier? Again, I'm not on staff, I don't know how or if that would work, again I wish people wouldn't give the staff crap about this spare of the moment decision. If you want to give them crap about starting the masquerade (as well as many other panels late) then by all means do that because yes it isn't fair if one panel runs later than expected and another is delayed due to it, certain groups get to it. Also like the Soap Bubble head said in the Facebook group, this is the one year where Soap Bubble actually started a little earlier than scheduled this year, normally it's delayed due to the masquerade.


Also Lina, I have explained other than cosplay ACen is still focused on Anime! And not just in the cosplay aspect. There's plenty of panels, photoshoots, guests, video rooms, the vendors (most of them), and several other things are primarily anime based. No it's not 100% anime but C2E2 has celebrities from TV/movies and had three (4?) people from pro wrestling, and I've barely heard any complaints about that (though it didn't overload it like Wizard World, which I see people do give crap to.) While its not 100% anime/manga I still believe it has a strong focus. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, the masquerade only allows Japan-based characters right? I remember this because I was going to try to get a Nickelodeon Doug group to do a skit but it wouldn't have been allowed.

This post has been edited by STVO: 05 May 2012 - 09:40 AM

[STVO]

Foolish Humon, on 30 April 2012 - 11:33 PM, said:

Yeah, it really bugged me that most of the cosplayers, panels, and items for sale I saw were not anime or manga themed. To each there own, but I was upset that most of the cosplayers were either Homestuck, My Little Ponies, or some sort of internet meme. This is one of the reasons why I am debating not coming back next year. I've noticed that year by year it's become less and less about anime which sucks because that's the whole reason I like to go. If I wanted to go to HomestuckCon or PonyCon than I would go to that, but I want to go to an anime convention. But you can't control the guests can you?

Grand Master Brief, on 01 May 2012 - 01:21 AM, said:

quick fix to all of these problems. Harsh as it seems. anime only photoshoots. Brony and doctor who fan though I am, no more pony shoots, no more homestuck,no more Doctor who, no more steampunk. Panels must be somehow anime or manga related or have something to do with Japan. I have no problem with people cosplaying any of these things, just no photoshoots for them. C2E2 is like 2 weeks before hand, save those things for that, there is now a bronycon in chicago. There are plenty of other places to gather. ACen 2008 was my first ACen and I have to say that this one was the best one since them but I was disapointed that anime and manga seemed to fall out of the spotlight that it rightfully belongs in.

These are the posts in question where I think I was thinking people are saying "People should only cosplay anime." Like I said, I understand there was a ruckus at the MLP photoshoot. IF it was that bad, then yeah I guess no more MLP should be allowed but I don't think it should be blamed on the fandom but rather the people who started the problem and/or the people who organized said photoshoot. Sorry, but since I'm not a brony, I won't fight tooth and nail for whatever ACen's decision to that is, but best of luck to those who want to keep it.

I understand you guys don't want (or already believe) Acen to lose its focus as an anime con, and that's fine, but I just strongly disagree with that sentiment. Like I mentioned the Masquerade (unless I missed a rule change) is all anime/manga, video rooms are all anime (and to those saying that's not a legit reason, they easily could have put in My Little Pony DVDs or Marvel animated series if they wished to do so but haven't), except for a few web comic artists the guests are primarily in the anime/manga industry in some way, and there's plenty of panels and vendors dedicated to anime.

Until the video room plays more than just anime, there's 20% panels dedicated towards anime, and Lou Ferrigno, Virgil, Ted DiBiase, and Dr. Who actors are signing autographs instead of people in the anime industry, then my personal opinion they can keep the name of an "anime con" and not a "pop culture con."

I don't mind them being different with their panels though. Mortal Kombat isn't anime or of Japanese origin, but I thought the Martial Arts demonstration was phenomenal and I think the majority of people in the room thought so too. Honestly, if you're having fun, does it really matter what the focus is? Just my opinion though...

[Lina]

STVO, on 05 May 2012 - 09:24 AM, said:

I agree that something should have been done about the masquerade, but honestly it was a spare of the moment decision. The event was already to a late start and now there's a legit complaint to have: ACen needs to make sure their panelists have better time management.) Masquerade and Soap Bubble have been around since the beginning of the con. Whatever they decided it was a lose-lose situation. If they cancelled the Soap Bubble or at least said "ok this event will only be 2 hours long now" then another group of people would be furious! As much as you guys may say "Oh but they're not anime fans, who cares?" they also paid for the event too and would have as much right to be made about their event being cancelled like the people with the masquerade was. The only idea I have would be to pre-empt the masquerade to Sunday, possibly in the morning, maybe open earlier? Again, I'm not on staff, I don't know how or if that would work, again I wish people wouldn't give the staff crap about this spare of the moment decision. If you want to give them crap about starting the masquerade (as well as many other panels late) then by all means do that because yes it isn't fair if one panel runs later than expected and another is delayed due to it, certain groups get to it. Also like the Soap Bubble head said in the Facebook group, this is the one year where Soap Bubble actually started a little earlier than scheduled this year, normally it's delayed due to the masquerade.


Also Lina, I have explained other than cosplay ACen is still focused on Anime! And not just in the cosplay aspect. There's plenty of panels, photoshoots, guests, video rooms, the vendors (most of them), and several other things are primarily anime based. No it's not 100% anime but C2E2 has celebrities from TV/movies and had three (4?) people from pro wrestling, and I've barely heard any complaints about that (though it didn't overload it like Wizard World, which I see people do give crap to.) While its not 100% anime/manga I still believe it has a strong focus. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, the masquerade only allows Japan-based characters right? I remember this because I was going to try to get a Nickelodeon Doug group to do a skit but it wouldn't have been allowed.

Um, do you even know what C2E2 stands for? Chicago Comic and ENTERTAINMENT Expo. TV/Movie celebs, pro wrestlers, etc. are entertainment guests so they belong at C2E2. So your argument about that is invalid.

[Visadin the insane]

The main core issues with the mop shoot was someone hijacked the shoot and moved it in middle of the video hall.

And even if the shoot is canceled there will be a unofficial shoot.

[STVO]

Lina, on 05 May 2012 - 10:11 AM, said:

Um, do you even know what C2E2 stands for? Chicago Comic and ENTERTAINMENT Expo. TV/Movie celebs, pro wrestlers, etc. are entertainment guests so they belong at C2E2. So your argument about that is invalid.

Thanks I already knew that. People praise it as primarily being a comic convention yet they have celebrities come in too. I don't really care honestly, but trust me the day it gets near SDCC levels, you people will be on here or in their forums complaining how awful it is.

Also should we start giving Wizard World crap for being called "Chicago Comic Con" for having celebrities, pop culture, etc. Sure it's called "Wizard World" but it has the title of being "Chicago Comic Con", therefore why is there all these non-comic personalities, vendors, etc.?

All I'm saying is you guys should either kick back, relax, and enjoy the con or find somewhere else to go. I'm done trying to convince you all ACen is still primarily anime. You guys have all praised Youmacon and Kollision (Kollision I've been to and have had fun there as well), why not just stick to that and write ACen off completely then? Then when/if Kollision gets to ACen size, you guys can repeat the cycle.

[Scott]

So what could "ACEN" stand for to make it reflect more than just the center of Anime? As long as the web address is kept, I think it wouldn't damage visibility much to officially call it "ACEN" instead of "Anime Central."

[STVO]

Scott, on 05 May 2012 - 03:17 PM, said:

So what could "ACEN" stand for to make it reflect more than just the center of Anime? As long as the web address is kept, I think it wouldn't damage visibility much to officially call it "ACEN" instead of "Anime Central."

WWE did that to Claim they're "not a wrestling company" by saying it only means WWE and not "World Wrestling Entertainment" and MTV did that to say "hey we're not Music Television anymore." Unlike MTV though, there's still plenty of anime at ACen that I don't think they need to do that, but if they decide to do that then by all means do it I guess. As long as its still a good con, I'll be happy.

Edit: I hate you iphone

This post has been edited by STVO: 05 May 2012 - 03:29 PM

[Lina]

STVO, on 05 May 2012 - 10:41 AM, said:

Thanks I already knew that. People praise it as primarily being a comic convention yet they have celebrities come in too. I don't really care honestly, but trust me the day it gets near SDCC levels, you people will be on here or in their forums complaining how awful it is.

Also should we start giving Wizard World crap for being called "Chicago Comic Con" for having celebrities, pop culture, etc. Sure it's called "Wizard World" but it has the title of being "Chicago Comic Con", therefore why is there all these non-comic personalities, vendors, etc.?

All I'm saying is you guys should either kick back, relax, and enjoy the con or find somewhere else to go. I'm done trying to convince you all ACen is still primarily anime. You guys have all praised Youmacon and Kollision (Kollision I've been to and have had fun there as well), why not just stick to that and write ACen off completely then? Then when/if Kollision gets to ACen size, you guys can repeat the cycle.

Seriously? You just think all of us complain just to complain? If we complain, it's for a good reason. We want this con to be better than it is. I honestly don't get your logic. We also don't complain because of the size, but there are things that happen because of the size. And because C2E2 has "Entertainment" in their name, having entertainment guests are fine.

And I will go to cons that I feel are much better than ACen. I'm done with ACen after this year.

[BakaBarbarian]

Lina, on 05 May 2012 - 03:28 PM, said:

Seriously? You just think all of us complain just to complain? If we complain, it's for a good reason. We want this con to be better than it is. I honestly don't get your logic. We also don't complain because of the size, but there are things that happen because of the size. And because C2E2 has "Entertainment" in their name, having entertainment guests are fine.

And I will go to cons that I feel are much better than ACen. I'm done with ACen after this year.

^ This, exactly.

This post has been edited by BakaBarbarian: 05 May 2012 - 05:06 PM

[Voxx]

Lina, on 05 May 2012 - 03:28 PM, said:

And I will go to cons that I feel are much better than ACen. I'm done with ACen after this year.

And this year is over with. If you are done, then let it go unless you have constructive criticism besides just bashing the con and going back and forth with others on the forums.


And btw, Acen is still an anime con.

[STVO]

Voxx, on 05 May 2012 - 06:12 PM, said:

And this year is over with. If you are done, then let it go unless you have constructive criticism besides just bashing the con and going back and forth with others on the forums.


And btw, Acen is still an anime con.

Thank you. Until Lou Ferrigno and Virgil are signing autographs and hosting panels, then it's still an anime con to me. I'm sorry you guys don't like ACen, but like you all have said you have other cons. With that said, I'll leave you be.

[Voxx]

There is much room for improvement with Acen, but I really don't see how it has strayed that far off. Cosplayers that dress up like other fandoms other than anime? That's been done. Every year. It just happens that Homestuck and MLP and Dr. Who are really popular now. And the Dealers room... It is actually refreshing to see other booths besides an anime booth. Every year each anime merchandiser brings almost the same set of goods and I did see a huge majority of anime. The sad thing is that most of the anime vendors have no clue about anime while I found that the miscellaneous vendors love it! And the issue with the masquerade... If Anime Hell or a different event was happening after the masquerade, people wouldn't be arguing about whether or not Acen favored a rave over the masquerade. It just happened that way. If it was a fashion show, people would be complaining that Acen is more concerned with fashion. *shrugs* There will always be people nit picking everything. Even panels that didn't have anything to do with anime still incorporated it like the Oregon Trail panel, which was done nicely.

Overall, I just don't see how it isn't considered an anime con like some people have stated. Oh well. I had tons of fun ♥

[Scott]

I think both sides have valid points, minus the personal digs. Does anyone have a schedule from 10 years ago we could compare to the 2012 one? That's the purpose of this thread, right?

[sentinel28a]

Scott, on 05 May 2012 - 07:21 PM, said:

I think both sides have valid points, minus the personal digs. Does anyone have a schedule from 10 years ago we could compare to the 2012 one? That's the purpose of this thread, right?

I have one from 2003. Other than the Soap Bubble, no other dances are listed. There's also more foreign guests--more guests in general, it seems. There definitely seems to be more of an emphasis on anime. The big events are mainly Anime Hell, Soap Bubble, and the Masquerade.

I personally have no problem with the other cosplays. If ACen was to ban non-anime cosplaying, who would enforce it? IRT? Like they're not busy enough!

Cosplay is one of the things ACen has gotten better at, IMHO. I've noticed less "I'm dressing like a free love so fanboys will take my picture" outfits in the last few years, less "I'm wearing a Naruto headband, therefore I am Naruto," and less idiots screaming sex for pocky. Still got the yaoi vendors screaming about that, but meh...

Was registration better this year? One factor that determines if I come back for ACen 2013 is if we don't have LineCon (2007) or Son of Linecon (2011).

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"Not a fan of waiting in line"

[Scott]

sentinel28a, on 06 May 2012 - 01:07 AM, said:

I have one from 2003. Other than the Soap Bubble, no other dances are listed. There's also more foreign guests--more guests in general, it seems. There definitely seems to be more of an emphasis on anime. The big events are mainly Anime Hell, Soap Bubble, and the Masquerade.

I personally have no problem with the other cosplays. If ACen was to ban non-anime cosplaying, who would enforce it? IRT? Like they're not busy enough!

Cosplay is one of the things ACen has gotten better at, IMHO. I've noticed less "I'm dressing like a free love so fanboys will take my picture" outfits in the last few years, less "I'm wearing a Naruto headband, therefore I am Naruto," and less idiots screaming sex for pocky. Still got the yaoi vendors screaming about that, but meh...

Was registration better this year? One factor that determines if I come back for ACen 2013 is if we don't have LineCon (2007) or Son of Linecon (2011).

Ben Da Mad Irishman
"Not a fan of waiting in line"

Thanks. I assumed as much with official events from around 10 years ago. If what they had ~10 years ago really doesn't appeal to the audience now, that's just the way of things I guess.

As for cosplay, I certainly don't want to see a ban on anything. Cosplay itself has never been something that's official and is just part of the subculture. I like seeing the random Ninja Turtle or other American comic character. Gatherings are run by attendees, so I really don't see any need for the convention to start banning things.

As for YAOI, hmm, yeah, I took a picture of a group at ACEN this year and didn't notice someone had pink panties on their head that said "YAOI" on. Another one tried after I noticed it and I said no panties. I was also asked by two girls doing a scavenger hunt if I would mock-makeout with two men I was standing around with, that was quickly denied. There is all this talk of how men in this culture are the creepers and such, but ...ah... anyways. I don't take it personally.

When having the badge mailed, there is absolutely no waiting in line. All I have to do is pick up a lanyard and program book. So I personally haven't experienced a registration line in a long time.

[Washu Takahashi]

I don't know what exactly happened with the MLP shoot, but just wanted to throw this out there. Last year the Hetalia shoot was a MESS. People were being pushed around, almost forced to do things they weren't comfortable with, glomped, paired off against their will, etc. So just because the craziest shoot THIS year was MLP, doesn't mean it won't be an anime shoot NEXT year. even without MLP and other non-anime shoots, you're still going to have at least one out of control shoot, so no use whining about that.

[Sapphy]

Washu Takahashi, on 07 May 2012 - 12:44 PM, said:

So just because the craziest shoot THIS year was MLP, doesn't mean it won't be an anime shoot NEXT year.

Exactly this. Any time a gathering gets out of hand it's unfortunate--the people involved should know better and should be more courteous to people around them--but it's wrong to place blame or disallow an entire fandom based on the acts of a few. The majority of coplayers (and congoers, for that matter) are good, well-behaved people. It's easy to throw the blame for a few on the whole majority (like with what's being done for the Soap Bubble) but that doesn't make it right.

[linlindesu]

linlindesu, on 04 May 2012 - 09:21 PM, said:

which honestly, some anime series could have gotten just as nuts.
Which either way, it is not the series' fault people are so darn stupid :]

Washu Takahashi, on 07 May 2012 - 12:44 PM, said:

I don't know what exactly happened with the MLP shoot, but just wanted to throw this out there. Last year the Hetalia shoot was a MESS. People were being pushed around, almost forced to do things they weren't comfortable with, glomped, paired off against their will, etc. So just because the craziest shoot THIS year was MLP, doesn't mean it won't be an anime shoot NEXT year. even without MLP and other non-anime shoots, you're still going to have at least one out of control shoot, so no use whining about that.

:x already stated that when I brought the shoot up.

[BakaBarbarian]

Washu Takahashi, on 07 May 2012 - 12:44 PM, said:

I don't know what exactly happened with the MLP shoot, but just wanted to throw this out there. Last year the Hetalia shoot was a MESS. People were being pushed around, almost forced to do things they weren't comfortable with, glomped, paired off against their will, etc. So just because the craziest shoot THIS year was MLP, doesn't mean it won't be an anime shoot NEXT year. even without MLP and other non-anime shoots, you're still going to have at least one out of control shoot, so no use whining about that.

Bryn Mawr road was a mess on Saturday. I don't know or care what photoshoots were going on, but trying to get into the Expoteria from the Hyatt felt like you were taking your life into your hands in a crazy mob. The three police officers there looked like they were ready to throw the cosplayers into traffic, they were that fed up with people walking in the street.

If someone had had a medical emergency at a photo shoot, it would have been a disaster. If someone had needed to be evacuated out of the Exhibit Hall that way (plausible, given those are the loading docks and large doors that open up onto the street where an ambulance could be brought), it would have been impossible to get them through those crowds in a hurry. If there had been, say, a fire in the Exhibit Hall, I don't know how the people in the hall would have been evacuated without causing a stampede against the photo shoots.

I agree, just because it's a non-anime photo shoot, doesn't mean it can't go horribly wrong or cause a major safety issue for the rest of the con.