You should be physically attached to the Internet at all times, like me, and you won't miss things like this.
That's a little deluded and unrealistic, don't you think? If work and/or school doesn't allow that sort of attachment, then you're not living in the present times? What if you don't work at a job that gives you access to the internet, or if you are at a job that requires away-from-internet attention, or if you are in a class that restricts internet access?
I will not work any job with any Internet limitation. It's a travesty that a school would limit it. I consider myself a citizen of the Internet. If you take it away from me, that's like being exiled.
I don't know if it would be better or more fair if PA posted ahead of time what the exact date and time would be that PAX badges would go on sale or if it is better to do it like they currently do saying "sometime in the next week or two we'll announce that badges are on sale."
If they posted a specific date then it would avoid the issue of tickets selling out in such a short period of time that someone who wanted to attend couldn't even have found out and made it to a computer in time to purchase (6 hours for this PAX, 6 minutes in the near future I imagine). I believe this method favors the dedicated PAXer, and there is some real benefit to making sure those people are able to attend.
However, by keeping the specific date & time unannounced you hopefully lessen the vultures who are hovering and waiting to buy up mass quantities for resale. PAX continues to gain in popularity and this method also introduces some randomness in who is able to attend any given PAX - those that just happen to see the announcement and have immediate access to purchase their badge. Since the timing of the announcement is not completely predictable some hardcore people might end up just missing out due to life circumstances preventing them from immediately buying a badge, but this will allow some other individual to score his/her first ever PAX badge.
I was at work at the time, and away from the computer. There was nothing I could do. Is there still any chance to become an Enforcer, or something like that?
Enforcer roll-call went out about two days ago for returning Enforcers, I suspect they'll start recruiting in two or three weeks.
Since everything is sold out already, and I doubt my "kinda-sorta-want-to-go" friends won't be paying up to buy a badge off ebay, I suspect I have a room-share available at the Sheraton. I have a friend who actually lives in Seattle that might want to split the room with me, but I doubt it, as he's got a family and he'll probably have to work some of the days of the con.
Six hours is a lot of time. You should be physically attached to the Internet at all times, like me, and you won't miss things like this. That is why Google Goggles I will pay all the money day one. Welcome to the present.
If I have my phone on me at work (retail), I get FIRED. I get that you think life always works out that way, but it doesn't.
Thing is, it would have sold out no matter what. Announcing the exact time wouldn't have helped any more people get badges, just different ones. It's not like more badges can be made available.
Also, this is the first time it's ever sold out that fast. Remember: PAX Prime is smaller than PAX East, constrained by the venue. They anticipated a fast sellout, but not a few hours' fast sellout. It's a brand new problem.
Scott's point is true in the sense that, if you really want to go to a popular event, you have to make sacrifices in other areas. If you're not willing to make them (constantly watching the Internet for example), and someone else is, they want it more than you. There's just no way around that.
So in this case, due to the extreme popularity of PAX, super hardcore always-online people have the first mover advantage. If you aren't willing to be that (which is a perfectly reasonable thing to not want to be), then you've decided other things are more important than PAX.
SDCC sells out just as fast. Every year. In time, every good convention will sell out just as fast: there aren't venues large enough. It sucks, but there's nothing you can do about it other than "go hardcore" or say "it's not worth the effort for me."
It's the truth of human society. If there is high demand and low supply, you have to compete for it. PAX badges are no different than oil or Tickle me Elmo. If you didn't even try to fight for it, you really had no reasonable expectation of getting it in the first place.
Now when we get to the point where they sell out within microseconds because smart people have low latency ticket snatching algorithms running, like the stock market...
You still can't complain! I will just say I told you so yet again. In the present, and in the future even moreso, people with technological skills and resources will have a huge advantage in our society. Learn techmology and programming!
If necessary, one could employ a friend to do the actual buying. Or pay the higher price for a scalped ticket. That said, had I known the passes were going to sell out this quickly, I probably would have bought a few so I could make sure other people I wanted to go would have the option. I'll admit as much as anyone that "I want certain people to get passes."
If this goes the way of SDCC though, that might be a black mark against PAX for me. I don't want to have to fight to make a trip. If that's the case, I'm just going to try to find a vacation property to rent out on some sunny lakefront property and invite the people I want to game with for a weekend and enjoy that instead. There's always going to be a cost-benefit deal with this, and part of that is how much time and stress I can devote to a thing.
I also had a PAX related nightmare last night. Too soon...
had I known the passes were going to sell out this quickly
Did you not hear us say this multiple times, did you not believe us?
I am asking this question honestly. We tried to warn people numerous times over a span of many years. We gave specific advice and warnings, yet it did not work. I want to figure out how to give warnings in a way that they will be taken seriously.
Passes took 22 days last year. I was expecting two weeks, which puts me in the majority of expectations. I also happened to be on the front line of pass buying (see thread). What I did not expect was for people that lead the cookie brigade to not get passes. Or any of the other major PA Forum Community event leads. I expect someone will generously solve those problems, but had I known they would be out I would definitely have reserved a few. Which would have contributed to them selling out faster and so-on.
SDCC actually sells out even faster. At the end of SDCC they announce the dates for the next one, and hotels sell out immediately thereafter. People call the hotels from the convention center. The five day badges also sell out effectively immediately.
I used to do that for Otakon, since the con rate wasn't actually cheaper than the hotel's normal rate for the weekend most years, and they sell out so fast. I called our hotel from outside of the Con Feedback panel one year.
If you didn't even try to fight for it, you really had no reasonable expectation of getting it in the first place.
We're not saying this is an "awesome" thing. It sucks for everyone who doesn't get to go to PAX. But, at least for this year, there's nothing you can do about it.
For future PACES, there are options for PA. However, you need to be acutely aware that EVERY SINGLE ONE of those options also sucks, just for different people.
1. Lottery: no possible way of elevating your chances, makes planning difficult, hotels have a large burden of reservations/cancellations.
2. Invitations/loyalty advantage: weights everything heavily toward people who have connections or are in the "club," effectively bans first-timers forever.
3. Higher badge price: I suspect doubling or even tripling the cost would have zero effect on the rate of sellout. PAX badges are priced artificially low already, by design. This would cost you more but not actually help with the root problem. A price high enough to prevent a sellout would be very high: higher than you expect.
4. Special badges with ludicrous prices: This would let rich nerds guarantee their spots, which goes against much of what PA is about and only helps people with money to burn, at the expense of everyone else. Normal badges still sell out.
5. Announced date for badges going on sale: you have the same percentage change of actually getting a badge as a random date, as there's much fiercer competition at the moment it goes live. It literally doesn't help anything.
6. Strict one-badge-per-person rule: The average purchase was something like 1.7 badges per person, with a max of 5 already, so scalpers aren't the problem (notice the good hotels sold out just as fast). Further, this would mean couples or groups would be almost impossible to guarantee, and cause an annoyingly large secondary market (persons A and B can't go because C and D didn't get badges, and thus have to sell theirs).
There's no good solution: don't fall into a false equivalency trap and think there's anything that can be done to "just fix it."
What I did not expect was for people that lead the cookie brigade to not get passes. Or any of the other major PA Forum Community event leads. I expect someone will generously solve those problems.
How so? What do you propose they do differently? Even we aren't guaranteed passes. It's not like they're obligated to have us as speakers. I didn't buy one, so if we don't present, I'm not going. ^_~
Any solution will seem (and likely be) unfair to someone.
I like Ro's idea of eliminating single-day passes. That might result in an overall increase in badge price, but I doubt that would stop people.
To be fair, going from 22 days to selling out to six fucking hours isn't a jump that anyone had any reason to predict. But now we know it can happen - which means IT'S ON for future PAXes.
To be fair, going from 22 days to selling out to six fucking hours isn't a jump that anyone had any reason to predict. But now we know it can happen - which means IT'S ON for future PAXes.
I've predicted this for years. I repeatedly since 2009 was amazed that it didn't already happen, and have been repeatedly predicting this. There was zero surprise when I saw it happen. Further, the issues that occurred when the registration system first went live earlier made it obvious what was going to happen.
Anyone who's been paying attention to the convention industry has been expecting this. In fact, if you'd been to the PAX site, there was an announcement that badges had not yet gone on sale due to the sheer volume of people who thought it was sold out before it even went live.
This has been a long time coming, but the signs were everywhere for this year's immediate sellout. Why do you think we've been warning people on almost every episode of geeknights for weeks up to this point?
I like Ro's idea of eliminating single-day passes. That might result in an overall increase in badge price, but I doubt that would stop people.
We suggested that to them every year since 2008. Sadly, the number of single-day passes is a drop in the bucket compared to the demand for three-day passes. I doubt it would have more than a momentary effect.
You should weigh out all the pros and cons of going/not going to PAX, and then put a dollar amount on the delta. Is that now a reasonable price to go buy a badge on the secondary market? If so, do it. If not, you don't want to go to PAX enough to make it worth it.
I was going to buy a badge this year even though there is very little chance of me making it to Prime again. Unfortunately I had what could only be described as "completely fucking crazy" days that just so happened to fall on the two days passes were up.
So yeah, I didn't get a pass, but I'm cool with that. The people who were smart enough to buy them immediately got them, and I wouldn't change how I went about my day yesterday. Sometimes shit happens in life and you can't be on your Twitter feed or the forums!
I'm not looking forward to the increased scrutiny on media badge registration. I'm sure there is going to be a spike in people creating fake websites to just get into PAX. I'll have no trouble registering, but it could mean extra hoops (annoyances) to jump through.
Comments
Step up your game, son!
If they posted a specific date then it would avoid the issue of tickets selling out in such a short period of time that someone who wanted to attend couldn't even have found out and made it to a computer in time to purchase (6 hours for this PAX, 6 minutes in the near future I imagine). I believe this method favors the dedicated PAXer, and there is some real benefit to making sure those people are able to attend.
However, by keeping the specific date & time unannounced you hopefully lessen the vultures who are hovering and waiting to buy up mass quantities for resale. PAX continues to gain in popularity and this method also introduces some randomness in who is able to attend any given PAX - those that just happen to see the announcement and have immediate access to purchase their badge. Since the timing of the announcement is not completely predictable some hardcore people might end up just missing out due to life circumstances preventing them from immediately buying a badge, but this will allow some other individual to score his/her first ever PAX badge.
http://boardgamebash.com/
35 bucks for 49 hours of gaming.
Also, this is the first time it's ever sold out that fast. Remember: PAX Prime is smaller than PAX East, constrained by the venue. They anticipated a fast sellout, but not a few hours' fast sellout. It's a brand new problem.
Scott's point is true in the sense that, if you really want to go to a popular event, you have to make sacrifices in other areas. If you're not willing to make them (constantly watching the Internet for example), and someone else is, they want it more than you. There's just no way around that.
So in this case, due to the extreme popularity of PAX, super hardcore always-online people have the first mover advantage. If you aren't willing to be that (which is a perfectly reasonable thing to not want to be), then you've decided other things are more important than PAX.
SDCC sells out just as fast. Every year. In time, every good convention will sell out just as fast: there aren't venues large enough. It sucks, but there's nothing you can do about it other than "go hardcore" or say "it's not worth the effort for me."
Now when we get to the point where they sell out within microseconds because smart people have low latency ticket snatching algorithms running, like the stock market...
You still can't complain! I will just say I told you so yet again. In the present, and in the future even moreso, people with technological skills and resources will have a huge advantage in our society. Learn techmology and programming!
If this goes the way of SDCC though, that might be a black mark against PAX for me. I don't want to have to fight to make a trip. If that's the case, I'm just going to try to find a vacation property to rent out on some sunny lakefront property and invite the people I want to game with for a weekend and enjoy that instead. There's always going to be a cost-benefit deal with this, and part of that is how much time and stress I can devote to a thing.
I also had a PAX related nightmare last night. Too soon...
I am asking this question honestly. We tried to warn people numerous times over a span of many years. We gave specific advice and warnings, yet it did not work. I want to figure out how to give warnings in a way that they will be taken seriously.
For future PACES, there are options for PA. However, you need to be acutely aware that EVERY SINGLE ONE of those options also sucks, just for different people.
1. Lottery: no possible way of elevating your chances, makes planning difficult, hotels have a large burden of reservations/cancellations.
2. Invitations/loyalty advantage: weights everything heavily toward people who have connections or are in the "club," effectively bans first-timers forever.
3. Higher badge price: I suspect doubling or even tripling the cost would have zero effect on the rate of sellout. PAX badges are priced artificially low already, by design. This would cost you more but not actually help with the root problem. A price high enough to prevent a sellout would be very high: higher than you expect.
4. Special badges with ludicrous prices: This would let rich nerds guarantee their spots, which goes against much of what PA is about and only helps people with money to burn, at the expense of everyone else. Normal badges still sell out.
5. Announced date for badges going on sale: you have the same percentage change of actually getting a badge as a random date, as there's much fiercer competition at the moment it goes live. It literally doesn't help anything.
6. Strict one-badge-per-person rule: The average purchase was something like 1.7 badges per person, with a max of 5 already, so scalpers aren't the problem (notice the good hotels sold out just as fast). Further, this would mean couples or groups would be almost impossible to guarantee, and cause an annoyingly large secondary market (persons A and B can't go because C and D didn't get badges, and thus have to sell theirs).
There's no good solution: don't fall into a false equivalency trap and think there's anything that can be done to "just fix it."
Any solution will seem (and likely be) unfair to someone.
To be fair, going from 22 days to selling out to six fucking hours isn't a jump that anyone had any reason to predict. But now we know it can happen - which means IT'S ON for future PAXes.
I'm not addressing what PA should do.
I'm addressing what I should do.
Anyone who's been paying attention to the convention industry has been expecting this. In fact, if you'd been to the PAX site, there was an announcement that badges had not yet gone on sale due to the sheer volume of people who thought it was sold out before it even went live.
This has been a long time coming, but the signs were everywhere for this year's immediate sellout. Why do you think we've been warning people on almost every episode of geeknights for weeks up to this point? We suggested that to them every year since 2008. Sadly, the number of single-day passes is a drop in the bucket compared to the demand for three-day passes. I doubt it would have more than a momentary effect.
I was going to buy a badge this year even though there is very little chance of me making it to Prime again. Unfortunately I had what could only be described as "completely fucking crazy" days that just so happened to fall on the two days passes were up.
So yeah, I didn't get a pass, but I'm cool with that. The people who were smart enough to buy them immediately got them, and I wouldn't change how I went about my day yesterday. Sometimes shit happens in life and you can't be on your Twitter feed or the forums!
I'm not looking forward to the increased scrutiny on media badge registration. I'm sure there is going to be a spike in people creating fake websites to just get into PAX. I'll have no trouble registering, but it could mean extra hoops (annoyances) to jump through.