TOPIC: Player Replacement Policies

If tickets are shown, a mark can be placed on the quantity of wristbands to match the number of tickets. Then, even if shift change occurs, it is clear that the players in the room have those tickets. If the appropriate time is reached and the remaining players have not shown, bring the remaining wristbands to the room (hmm, coach's assistant?) and offer them to the party in exchange for their tickets, but understanding that wristbands must at that point be worn by those who already signed waivers.

(And 6 minutes to locate/gather a waitlister, obtain generics, sign waiver, and fill out party card for the player is completely ridiculous. No wonder we were using up our training room time helping our walk-on.)

YupImJen wrote: If tickets are shown, a mark can be placed on the quantity of wristbands to match the number of tickets. Then, even if shift change occurs, it is clear that the players in the room have those tickets. If the appropriate time is reached and the remaining players have not shown, bring the remaining wristbands to the room (hmm, coach's assistant?) and offer them to the party in exchange for their tickets, but understanding that wristbands must at that point be worn by those who already signed waivers.

(And 6 minutes to locate/gather a waitlister, obtain generics, sign waiver, and fill out party card for the player is completely ridiculous. No wonder we were using up our training room time helping our walk-on.)

Yes, I had to deal with several very late walk ins as a coach. It was not fun.

Raven wrote:

jedibcg wrote: Wait is a missing ticket? Or is the ticket in the hands of the people present? These are two different things. If ticket isn't present then I can see TD reselling the spot because they don't have the ticket they need to get something to replace it (generics). I understand you may explain that the ticket is in route but I imagine they hear that all the time. Again when I turn in all 10 tickets I have never had them attempt to fill my spot because as far as they know we have 10 people.

In a nutshell TD doesn't replace players but they will (and should imo) replace tickets.

I agree, TD has every right to sell "empty" slots (where no ticket is present), because they deserve full $$ for the work which they do. I am pretty sure that policy has been in place for some time, and I doubt anyone is arguing with it - even if it has made things frustrating for us at one point or another.

The question is: When the players have all tickets present but the player using the ticket is not present, should TD sell the slot?

I think it would be best to at least offer the players with the ticket first chance to turn it in and use the extra slot as a "retainer"/"ghost" slot.

Preferable to that, allow the ticket to be handed in, receive the bracelet, and wait for the missing player to show up and sign their waiver before they put the bracelet on. Of course, that doesn't guarantee the Waiver gets signed & handed in, so I can see how this would not be an ideal option.

The most frustrating option (in my opinion) is to know that the players are in their Coaching room holding the extra ticket, and recruit a player off the waiting list to pay with generics.

Even if you say that "Giving more players the chance to experience True Dungeon" is a priority, the way to do it is not like this:

Walk into the coaching room with a stranger, introduce the new player and say "Your $48 ticket is now garbage, because this guy/girl gave us money, and we prefer their money to yours. Have fun!"

... it just sets things up for all kinds of bad feelings.

Yeah, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's not entirely wrong either. When you're talking nearly $50 per ticket, that's a huge slap in the face to have the desk sell your slot for generics. If nothing else you could have asked whether the players would like to donate a run to a new player.

There are obviously a lot of challenges to any system, and I see that one of the difficulties here is making sure the desk staff know that the ticket is present. They are very busy, and like any other volunteer they are doing the best they can, under a lot of pressure to make everyone happy, and sometimes it's just not possible.

Just for what it's worth I pretty much agree 100% with the above post.

Raven wrote:

jedibcg wrote:

It should also be noted that this year (snip) if you just turned in your ticket without going on the run (not getting a wristband) they were giving you 7 packs (I think it was 7) for you ticket.

Yeah..... that was..... weird.
I went on 3 runs where we ran with "retainer" wristbands. On our final run (and only our final one), we were given those extra packs of tokens (I think it was 6). We did turn in all 10 wristbands for that run, and ran with 5 players, and each player got their 1 bag of tokens, plus 6 for the extra wristband. I don't understand why.

I ran with ghosts and this did not happen

so it was also inconsistent

Unfortunately witnessed the awkward moment when two wait-listers with their tokens spread out on character sheets got booted from a run and their frustration pointed at the two players who just arrived late.

(The tickets were in the room, TD staff was told that the players were on their way)

Flip side, I would not be into TD if the wait-list had not got me in the door my first two years.

Idea:
It might be helpful if there was a laptop/tablet available to wait-listers where they could build and print a character sheet or two. One it keeps you busy, and immerses you in TD during what could be a long wait. Two, it would save so much time when as a newbie you get thrown into a party at the last minute and are being rushed to get the party card filled... no time for questions.

Looking at this as an outsider who thankfully hasn't faced this problem before, it seems that the problem is rooted in the lack of ticket present most of the time instead of in the lack of player present.

If your friend is running late to the run you are about to go on him with, and you are trying to convince the volunteers at check-in that he really is showing up and to please wait a bit longer, having his ticket on you, seems to help the situation.

Then, like jedibcg described earlier, you either have the ticket ready for him when he does show or ghost his ticket if he doesn't show. I suppose this does mean that you are waiting for him at the check-in desk and being there to constantly remind the check-in volunteer to not waitlist the spot.

Raven wrote: I agree, TD has every right to sell "empty" slots (where no ticket is present), because they deserve full $$ for the work which they do.

Hasn't TD already gotten paid for the "empty" slot since the ticket was purchased in May? Or do they need to turn in the paper tickets to GenCon in order to collect their share of ticket sales?

Either way, when an "empty" slot is re-sold to generics, that means that either GenCon or True Dungeon is getting paid twice for that one seat on that one run. Unless I'm wrong on this again, and you can get a refund for a purchased ticket after the event has started?

Adeya wrote:

Raven wrote: I agree, TD has every right to sell "empty" slots (where no ticket is present), because they deserve full $$ for the work which they do.

Hasn't TD already gotten paid for the "empty" slot since the ticket was purchased in May? Or do they need to turn in the paper tickets to GenCon in order to collect their share of ticket sales?

Either way, when an "empty" slot is re-sold to generics, that means that either GenCon or True Dungeon is getting paid twice for that one seat on that one run. Unless I'm wrong on this again, and you can get a refund for a purchased ticket after the event has started?

Nope! TD only gets paid for the tickets that are turned in.

If tickets are bought from GenCon but are unused, then GenCon pockets it all and TD gets nothing.

So if you ever see me getting all OCD about collecting Grind tickets, that is why!

I belive TD only gets paid for turned in tickets. Gencon likely gets paid when the tickets are sold.

Sidebar to the wristband issue, would it help at all if folks who were running late presigned wavers and sent them along with the ticket holder?

Incognito wrote:

Adeya wrote:

Raven wrote: I agree, TD has every right to sell "empty" slots (where no ticket is present), because they deserve full $$ for the work which they do.

Hasn't TD already gotten paid for the "empty" slot since the ticket was purchased in May? Or do they need to turn in the paper tickets to GenCon in order to collect their share of ticket sales?

Either way, when an "empty" slot is re-sold to generics, that means that either GenCon or True Dungeon is getting paid twice for that one seat on that one run. Unless I'm wrong on this again, and you can get a refund for a purchased ticket after the event has started?

Nope! TD only gets paid for the tickets that are turned in.

If tickets are bought from GenCon but are unused, then GenCon pockets it all and TD gets nothing.

So if you ever see me getting all OCD about collecting Grind tickets, that is why!

That doesn't surprise me. So GenCon gets the profits for selling the same slot twice.

Unless people return the unused genetics

Adeya wrote:

Raven wrote: I agree, TD has every right to sell "empty" slots (where no ticket is present), because they deserve full $$ for the work which they do.

Hasn't TD already gotten paid for the "empty" slot since the ticket was purchased in May? Or do they need to turn in the paper tickets to GenCon in order to collect their share of ticket sales?

Either way, when an "empty" slot is re-sold to generics, that means that either GenCon or True Dungeon is getting paid twice for that one seat on that one run. Unless I'm wrong on this again, and you can get a refund for a purchased ticket after the event has started?

This is also true that I didn't think about. When I do have someone that is 'about' to arrive I am usually waiting for them at the checkin so as to get them checked in as fast as possible. My presence might be keeping the waitlisters at bay. When I determine the about is going to be too late for my taste is when I ghost the ticket and tell my friend sorry better make it one time next time (on time being 30 to 15 minutes ahead of ticket time).