TOPIC: San Diego Comic Con - open registration

Good luck to anyone who may be trying to get SDCC tickets this morning. Hope you guys score a crit!

I've never been successful once they started this random system. I really dislike it immensely.

and the tradition continues!

bpsymington wrote: I've never been successful once they started this random system. I really dislike it immensely.

For those unfamiliar, mind explaining the new vs old system? Oh, and is this for an event there, or do they sell out of badges on day 1?

kurtreznor wrote:

bpsymington wrote: I've never been successful once they started this random system. I really dislike it immensely.

For those unfamiliar, mind explaining the new vs old system? Oh, and is this for an event there, or do they sell out of badges on day 1?

Hi Kurt. bpsymington is referring to San Diego Comic Con badges which do sell out on day 1. The old system was an F5 festival. The tickets would go on sale and everyone would converge on the ticket server. The new system they devised allows everyone an hour during which to log into a "waiting room". After the waiting room closes, people are randomly placed in a "line" and purchasing begins. The line has no known logic to its order. It just randomly gives an order to all the folks in the line.

It's totally random and gut-wrenching for everyone in line, but the system runs smoothly. The old system was much more glitch-prone and would crash.

Arnold wrote:

kurtreznor wrote:

bpsymington wrote: I've never been successful once they started this random system. I really dislike it immensely.

For those unfamiliar, mind explaining the new vs old system? Oh, and is this for an event there, or do they sell out of badges on day 1?

Hi Kurt. bpsymington is referring to San Diego Comic Con badges which do sell out on day 1. The old system was an F5 festival. The tickets would go on sale and everyone would converge on the ticket server. The new system they devised allows everyone an hour during which to log into a "waiting room". After the waiting room closes, people are randomly placed in a "line" and purchasing begins. The line has no known logic to its order. It just randomly gives an order to all the folks in the line.

It's totally random and gut-wrenching for everyone in line, but the system runs smoothly. The old system was much more glitch-prone and would crash.

And this is the same comic con that people talk about waiting for hours in a line to get into a 1-hour panel, yeah? And they managed to turn even the badge buying into a line-waiting system?

kurtreznor wrote:

Arnold wrote:

kurtreznor wrote:

bpsymington wrote: I've never been successful once they started this random system. I really dislike it immensely.

For those unfamiliar, mind explaining the new vs old system? Oh, and is this for an event there, or do they sell out of badges on day 1?

Hi Kurt. bpsymington is referring to San Diego Comic Con badges which do sell out on day 1. The old system was an F5 festival. The tickets would go on sale and everyone would converge on the ticket server. The new system they devised allows everyone an hour during which to log into a "waiting room". After the waiting room closes, people are randomly placed in a "line" and purchasing begins. The line has no known logic to its order. It just randomly gives an order to all the folks in the line.

It's totally random and gut-wrenching for everyone in line, but the system runs smoothly. The old system was much more glitch-prone and would crash.

And this is the same comic con that people talk about waiting for hours in a line to get into a 1-hour panel, yeah? And they managed to turn even the badge buying into a line-waiting system?

If there is a limited number of badges and the number of people in "line" exceeds the number of badges, then it's not so much a line but rather a lottery.

Harlax wrote:
If there is a limited number of badges and the number of people in "line" exceeds the number of badges, then it's not so much a line but rather a lottery.

You're right. It's absolutely a lottery. Only a few hundred people are allowed to purchase at any given moment, though. Everyone else waits around with no indication as to when the system will let them in to buy tickets.

kurtreznor wrote: And this is the same comic con that people talk about waiting for hours in a line to get into a 1-hour panel, yeah? And they managed to turn even the badge buying into a line-waiting system?

San Diego Comic Con doesn't clear the room following panels. Usually the folks who wait for hours to get into a panel will stay in the same room watching the entire schedule that day.

Gen Con sure does seem to be growing at a rate where this could be the new normal. It was really only a period of ~4 years between when San Diego Comic Con started selling out in pre-registration to when it became an insane lottery system.

Arnold wrote:

Harlax wrote:
If there is a limited number of badges and the number of people in "line" exceeds the number of badges, then it's not so much a line but rather a lottery.

You're right. It's absolutely a lottery. Only a few hundred people are allowed to purchase at any given moment, though. Everyone else waits around with no indication as to when the system will let them in to buy tickets.

kurtreznor wrote: And this is the same comic con that people talk about waiting for hours in a line to get into a 1-hour panel, yeah? And they managed to turn even the badge buying into a line-waiting system?

San Diego Comic Con doesn't clear the room following panels. Usually the folks who wait for hours to get into a panel will stay in the same room watching the entire schedule that day.

Gen Con sure does seem to be growing at a rate where this could be the new normal. It was really only a period of ~4 years between when San Diego Comic Con started selling out in pre-registration to when it became an insane lottery system.

All the more reason to Volunteer at GenCon. You are guaranteed a badge.

Way to plug the volunteer program but absolutely true Harlax

Harlax wrote: All the more reason to Volunteer at Gen Con. You are guaranteed a badge.

And--only if requested--free hugs!

SDCC is a different animal. Yes, it's a lottery, but a lot of people go back year after year. It's almost like VIG in that they have a preregistration where only people who attended the previous year are eligible to participate. They sell about half of the tickets during preregistration, so even if everyone wanted to go year after year you have a 50% chance. Since not everyone returns, your odds are something better than 50%. And then if you don't get a ticket in preregistration, you can try again in open registration. Yes, there your odds are smaller. They don't publish any stats, but anecdotally it seems to be in the range of 10% to 20%. But getting tickets can't be impossible or you wouldn't have people able to attend ten years or longer in a row. I know many.

And yes, everything there is an insanely long line, but holding spots in line is acceptable. One person can hold a spot in line for 3 more people. So people take shifts. With SDCC it is an absolute must to travel with a group or make friends with a group. There are ticket buying groups, line groups, hotel registration groups, etc. Try it solo and you will miss a lot. In the end, it's fun, but its not for everyone.

I'm not sure if I see Gen Con going down this path.

As much as people here may dislike hotel registration for Gen Con, it's ten times worse for SDCC.