TOPIC: Electronic Tickets @ Gen Con

From the Gen Con newsletter:

As announced on Wednesday, we're beginning the transition to electronic ticketing. In 2018, this effort will be done as a test with a handful of events selected for ease of use. We're excited to share that True Dungeon events will be among the first to utilize e-tickets!

Most other events this year will still use paper tickets, but you can help us by trying out the e-ticketed events and providing post-show feedback via surveys.

All e-ticketed events will be noted as such in their event listing. The best part: all you have to do to attend an electronically ticketed event is to show up with your badge. It will get scanned at the event, and you'll be gaming in no time!

Event organizers that want to try e-ticketing can indicate their interest by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Really curious how this will work, especially with 1 person buying out a run of 10.

Jeff321 wrote: From the Gen Con newsletter:

As announced on Wednesday, we're beginning the transition to electronic ticketing. In 2018, this effort will be done as a test with a handful of events selected for ease of use. We're excited to share that True Dungeon events will be among the first to utilize e-tickets!

Really curious how this will work, especially with 1 person buying out a run of 10.

Too.. many... changes...

Nice change.

Good change since it does not rely on an individual showing an electric ticket or registration.

edwin wrote: Nice change.

Good change since it does not rely on an individual showing an electric ticket or registration.

I’m very glad we didn’t do this last year.

Last year I was getting tickets for my daughter and her friends on runs I wasn’t doing, swapping runs with other people and I don’t know what all. Paper tix made it all very simple. Electronic tickets would have been a nightmare to manage, unless we could pickup the wristbands two days before the run and swapped those - then it would have just been an extra hassle. And then we still have paper, so what’s the point?

The Lucas basement has suspect reception. Will it be hardwired? I work in IT - networks go down. And this is the first year, so I will be stunned if there are no problems. What’s the backup?

If given the option, I will NEVER use electronic tickets, especially for TD.

This change scares me. I hope for the best, but I fear the worst.

Jeff321 wrote: From the Gen Con newsletter:

As announced on Wednesday, we're beginning the transition to electronic ticketing. In 2018, this effort will be done as a test with a handful of events selected for ease of use. We're excited to share that True Dungeon events will be among the first to utilize e-tickets!

Most other events this year will still use paper tickets, but you can help us by trying out the e-ticketed events and providing post-show feedback via surveys.

All e-ticketed events will be noted as such in their event listing. The best part: all you have to do to attend an electronically ticketed event is to show up with your badge. It will get scanned at the event, and you'll be gaming in no time!

Event organizers that want to try e-ticketing can indicate their interest by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Really curious how this will work, especially with 1 person buying out a run of 10.

I really wonder about this as well. I wonder if the person that bought all 10 tickets will have all 10 coded to their badge.

My guess would be if they used friend/family list to name the other attendees the ticket would be linked to that attendee's badge. If they used 'another ticket for me' option the event runner would get a count of 2 after scanning the badge barcode.

For most non-TD events it would work well as the max of 1 extra person would almost certainly be showing up at the same time/to the same place. For TD it would probably mean groups where all the tickets went on one name would need to gather prior to going to the turn in waiver/get wristband station.

I would also guess that there will be at least a few years of having both paper and electronic supported (if they ever even completely get rid of paper) so we won't really need to worry about it for a while.

Mike Steele wrote:
Really curious how this will work, especially with 1 person buying out a run of 10.

Correct! Basically the buyer has to hang out at the ticket reg desk as his other 9 players show up in groups of 2-4 people (or whatever) and the buyer (and other players) havw their badges scanned. The buyer will need to have their badge scanned each time a group of their players show up. These players can go ahead into the Coaching Room while the buyer hangs out until all the players they bought tickets for show up.

I really wonder about this as well. I wonder if the person that bought all 10 tickets will have all 10 coded to their badge.

If I end up getting 10 tickets for a single run, I will keep them coded to my badge for ease of management.

As long as it is between GenCon and TD to make sure that all I have do is show up with my badge I like it.

If there is a move to make the badge holder show electronically what they have tickets for then it is a no go in my book.

from what I understand it's still in testing and will be limited to a few events this year.

it will link tickets to badges so buying 10 and sending them out might not be possible anymore.

since they started putting bar codes on the badges I've been expecting this to happen

I can think of a few ways to make it work.

at this time I'd say don't panic, the places I can see this being wonderful at is large events like concerts or movies. I have a suspicion that's the best place to work things out. A quick scan of the barcode and you should be in.

zap and move along

There have been a few really good changes to stream lining events and badge management. Put your trust in the Gen Con .

In theory this should be a good change, I just hope they've done adequate testing and have contingency plans in place. On the plus side, you don't need to worry about losing or misplacing the paper tickets. As long as you take care of your badge (which you need to do anyway), you should be good. I know there have been years where I have bought tickets literally about 30 minutes prior to the start of a run (yes, you can do this. tickets do get returned). So I assume purchases are instantly updated into the system.

As has been mentioned, what if there are wifi issues? That could be a huge problem. TD has to run smoothly and can't afford a 20-30 minute delay while technical issues are being resolved. There would be a lot of angry people if that happened. What is the back up plan in that case? Take people's word that they purchased a ticket? Have them bring up their Gen Con purchase record on their phone?

Can I assume the scanners are reliable and don't malfunction/break? You probably want one or two extras sitting around just in case. The print quality of the badges is usually pretty good, but I'd make sure nothing looks wrong there. I'll probably hold my breath a little until the first time it is scanned. Maybe as a backup they could tie an electronic version of your badge to your Gen Con account and you could bring it up on your phone if necessary. Sort of like when I buy an electronic movie ticket or airline boarding pass and they can scan it from my phone.

For people who buy out all 10 tickets on a run, it could be a hassle. There have been times when the buyer has been running late. In the past they could hand the tickets to a friend who could distribute to the group. Now you have to wait until the buyer shows up (unless they want to hand their badge to their friend).

So yeah, if it works as planned, this could be a very good change. But it is just one more thing that "could go wrong" and if options aren't in place it could turn very ugly.

Brad wrote: from what I understand it's still in testing and will be limited to a few events this year.

it will link tickets to badges so buying 10 and sending them out might not be possible anymore.

since they started putting bar codes on the badges I've been expecting this to happen

I can think of a few ways to make it work.

at this time I'd say don't panic, the places I can see this being wonderful at is large events like concerts or movies. I have a suspicion that's the best place to work things out. A quick scan of the barcode and you should be in.

zap and move along

There have been a few really good changes to stream lining events and badge management. Put your trust in the Gen Con .

I can't speak for other NFL Football teams, but the Dallas Cowboys Season Ticket Holder tickets are both physical and electronic for the past few Seasons.

If I don't want to cut up my sheet of Season Tickets I can just go to a game and show my e-Ticket through the DC App or my Season Ticket Manager Account. They scan the barcode on my smart phone and in I go to the game. The scanner they use actually prints out a generic ticket showing the Stadium personnel you have been scanned in and are good to go if needed.

Here is my use case:

I have a ticket to a run tomorrow. I find out I have to leave town tonight. I have a friend who wants to go instead.

The old system - I hand her my paper ticket; she hands me some cash. Done.

The new system - ?

Any solution that involves me having to be in town tomorrow, or paying the Con a change fee, or tossing the ticket into RUBI, are alll no-go IMO. Standing in line for someone to transfer my eTicket is tolerable but a huge PITA.

If that issue is resolved then I’ll feel a little better.