I think the price thing is interesting. It would be interesting to see how high you could make the price and have it still sell out.
Which price thing though? Increasing or decreasing?
Remember as well, increasing also has a feedback loop with ebay. As the price of "one more" badge rises, more people are willing to sell theirs on ebay. It would cause a constant churn of badges, moreso than we've ever seen before, raising the prices for everyone.
So, you'd get one PAX where only riches attended. You'd sacrifice full PAX to get that data.
As Rym said, spreading out the timing window is just ruining people's lives even more. After the first window closes, people will KNOW the second window is coming. They will start to reload like crazy. Scalpers will have time to mobilize. It will be all around bad.
If the badges sell out in 3 hours, having one 3 hour block is the same as having 12 15-minute blocks. If you're in the bathroom for the first one, you've got 11 more chances. These chances all just happen one right after the other.
Riches are the only people who really attend PAX, I bet if I looked at the demographics a majority of the wage earners are upper middle class and the students generally come from families they have the dough. Sure some people make it in that are from the lower demos but I'm betting the top 20% make up 60% of the attendees.
The poor can always enforce :-p Slavery for entrance :-p
Lottery More scalpers More randos and families with single day badges Far lower chance of anyone who currently goes getting a badge
Increasing Price Poors still have to do what they do today anyway Riches get preferential treatment
Decreasing Price Poors have it even worse than they have it today Riches get preferential treatment
Multiple Windows Everyone has it worse and has to spend more time
Pre-Announced Date/Time More Scalpers Far lower chance of anyone who currently goes getting a badge Web site load issues / increased cost
Contest/Challenge/Game Only grognards and DotA players ever attend again Zero families or normal people
Pre-Purchase at Previous PAX Average age of PAX attendees go up 1 year per year No one new ever attends a PAX
More PAXes Increasingly lower game industry presence at each PAX Lower quality panels/events over time PA/E Burnout Data shows this has had hitherto zero positive impact on badge availability
More non-PAX gaming cons (like MAGFests) Basically no one is organized enough to do this
Bigger Convention Center/More Hotels Steals tax dollars from the city to subsidize PAX No positive return for the city Government corruption "Olympic Facility" problem - no other event uses the space
Riches are the only people who really attend PAX, I bet if I looked at the demographics a majority of the wage earners are upper middle class and the students generally come from families they have the dough. Sure some people make it in that are from the lower demos but I'm betting the top 20% make up 60% of the attendees.
Yes, you have to have at least $X to be able to afford PAX in the first place. That being said, even if you make like $20,000 you can definitely afford to go to one PAX if it's nearby and you save up. You can't afford to go to EVERY PAX, but one is still better than zero. If you're making $40,000 you can probably afford one PAX per year. I actually went to the most conventions when I was making that much money. I wasn't paying for badges, but I was paying for hotels and travel, which is the greatest expense.
The thing is, ANYONE who is above the line has an equal shot. Discounting the few scalped tickets, someone who makes Wall Street money has the same chances of getting a ticket as someone who makes $40k.
The system you are proposing probably actually raises the bar significantly. The first tickets will go to those multi-millionaires and work its way down. They will almost definitely sell out entirely to people making six figures and up before the price gets low enough for people further down.
Multiple Windows Everyone has it worse and has to spend more time
Technically not everyone has it worse. in the Multiple window, since some people will get tickets in the first window and others who would have missed it due to situations they couldn't' control will now get the chance.
Multiple Windows Everyone has it worse and has to spend more time
Technically not everyone has it worse. in the Multiple window, since some people will get tickets in the first window and others who would have missed it due to situations they couldnt' control will now get the chance.
The odds of each window are far lower than they are now. So the vast majority of people have to wait for multiple windows. Very few people are lucky enough to get anything in the first window. So in the net, everyone is worse, with a very small number of positive outliers.
Multiple Windows Everyone has it worse and has to spend more time
Technically not everyone has it worse. in the Multiple window, since some people will get tickets in the first window and others who would have missed it due to situations they couldn't' control will now get the chance.
I already told you. Having a second window gives scalpers time to mobilize among other issues.
Also, with multiple windows, the people who currently get badges for themselves and their friends via the F5 model will CONTINUE to be the ones who win every window by and large.
So, my shit is all booked up for Pax East and due to unfortunate circumstances nobody can come with this year so I have a spare set of one-day tickets for all days of the con. Is anyone looking?
So, my shit is all booked up for Pax East and due to unfortunate circumstances nobody can come with this year so I have a spare set of one-day tickets for all days of the con. Is anyone looking?
I will check with some friends may have someone who would bite.
The day that PAX starts raising the price, gives preferential treatment, has a VIP line or makes previous attendance a prerequisite is the day I stop being an Enforcer. I don't see it ever happening, thankfully.
Is the present system perfect, of course not. Is there a better system out there, no not really. Has PA and staff thought of better methods and rejected them, yes.
One reason I keep going back to PAX as an Enforcer (besides having fun) is that PAX and the PA staff are not resistant to change. They are so flexible that they can admit mistakes were made on Friday and change by Saturday. If they thought that badge sales was being done wrong they would change, but it is being done right.
PAX is cheap. A price check today on the reddit ticket exchange showed 1 day passes at 55 dollars. That's cheap. Even when I was on minimum wage I could have afforded 55 dollars if I wanted it bad enough. People always complain about lines, the richer attendees want to pay more so they can get a fast pass. Hell no, you invest with time. You can't do everything at PAX so you must make choices, just like in life.
If you really think rich upper middle class are the only people attending PAX then I have to question if you're attending the same convention I am. I don't want to make any snide comments about you, I'm not intending this as a dig at all, but maybe you aren't interacting with people who are different that you (at the convention). You don't need to take my word for it, but I interact with a constant flow of people at PAX due to the nature of my job there and they represent the gamut from people who can't afford to buy a bottle of water at the show to the guy who paid 800 dollars a ticket (I shit you not) so his kid and his kids 2 friends could go (plus himself). Do rich people go, yes. Do poor people go, yes. Someone even with all the ticket sell outs, every year I meet someone who has no idea what PAX is and was able to get tickets at the last minute for them and their kids and didn't pay more than face value +10 bucks. I know because I ask them how much they paid.
I find your slavery comment distasteful and neither true nor funny, even with your smiley face at the end. Anyone trying to save money by being an Enforcer is doing it wrong. Most Enforcers loose money over the course of the weekend. PA and PAX do not feed off the labor of our volunteer staff like parasites and I find your comment offensive. Thankfully this is America and I don't have the right to not be offended.
Comments
Remember as well, increasing also has a feedback loop with ebay. As the price of "one more" badge rises, more people are willing to sell theirs on ebay. It would cause a constant churn of badges, moreso than we've ever seen before, raising the prices for everyone.
So, you'd get one PAX where only riches attended. You'd sacrifice full PAX to get that data.
If the badges sell out in 3 hours, having one 3 hour block is the same as having 12 15-minute blocks. If you're in the bathroom for the first one, you've got 11 more chances. These chances all just happen one right after the other.
Based on what I've seen go on ebay for Prime, I suspect it's around $400 for a four-day badge to still sell out the con.
The poor can always enforce :-p Slavery for entrance :-p
More scalpers
More randos and families with single day badges
Far lower chance of anyone who currently goes getting a badge
Increasing Price
Poors still have to do what they do today anyway
Riches get preferential treatment
Decreasing Price
Poors have it even worse than they have it today
Riches get preferential treatment
Multiple Windows
Everyone has it worse and has to spend more time
Pre-Announced Date/Time
More Scalpers
Far lower chance of anyone who currently goes getting a badge
Web site load issues / increased cost
Contest/Challenge/Game
Only grognards and DotA players ever attend again
Zero families or normal people
Pre-Purchase at Previous PAX
Average age of PAX attendees go up 1 year per year
No one new ever attends a PAX
More PAXes
Increasingly lower game industry presence at each PAX
Lower quality panels/events over time
PA/E Burnout
Data shows this has had hitherto zero positive impact on badge availability
More non-PAX gaming cons (like MAGFests)
Basically no one is organized enough to do this
Bigger Convention Center/More Hotels
Steals tax dollars from the city to subsidize PAX
No positive return for the city
Government corruption
"Olympic Facility" problem - no other event uses the space
The thing is, ANYONE who is above the line has an equal shot. Discounting the few scalped tickets, someone who makes Wall Street money has the same chances of getting a ticket as someone who makes $40k.
The system you are proposing probably actually raises the bar significantly. The first tickets will go to those multi-millionaires and work its way down. They will almost definitely sell out entirely to people making six figures and up before the price gets low enough for people further down.
Everyone has it worse and has to spend more time
Technically not everyone has it worse. in the Multiple window, since some people will get tickets in the first window and others who would have missed it due to situations they couldn't' control will now get the chance.
Yes, it is a tangent to the thread topic. No, we are not in disagreement about the basic realities of PAX ticket access.
Does this clarify the situation adequately? ;P
Though it is fun to talk out of my butt about demographics :-p
It's hard to make a price increase argument without already showing the demographics to be overwhelmingly upper middle class.
Is the present system perfect, of course not. Is there a better system out there, no not really. Has PA and staff thought of better methods and rejected them, yes.
One reason I keep going back to PAX as an Enforcer (besides having fun) is that PAX and the PA staff are not resistant to change. They are so flexible that they can admit mistakes were made on Friday and change by Saturday. If they thought that badge sales was being done wrong they would change, but it is being done right.
PAX is cheap. A price check today on the reddit ticket exchange showed 1 day passes at 55 dollars. That's cheap. Even when I was on minimum wage I could have afforded 55 dollars if I wanted it bad enough. People always complain about lines, the richer attendees want to pay more so they can get a fast pass. Hell no, you invest with time. You can't do everything at PAX so you must make choices, just like in life.
If you really think rich upper middle class are the only people attending PAX then I have to question if you're attending the same convention I am. I don't want to make any snide comments about you, I'm not intending this as a dig at all, but maybe you aren't interacting with people who are different that you (at the convention). You don't need to take my word for it, but I interact with a constant flow of people at PAX due to the nature of my job there and they represent the gamut from people who can't afford to buy a bottle of water at the show to the guy who paid 800 dollars a ticket (I shit you not) so his kid and his kids 2 friends could go (plus himself). Do rich people go, yes. Do poor people go, yes. Someone even with all the ticket sell outs, every year I meet someone who has no idea what PAX is and was able to get tickets at the last minute for them and their kids and didn't pay more than face value +10 bucks. I know because I ask them how much they paid.
I find your slavery comment distasteful and neither true nor funny, even with your smiley face at the end. Anyone trying to save money by being an Enforcer is doing it wrong. Most Enforcers loose money over the course of the weekend. PA and PAX do not feed off the labor of our volunteer staff like parasites and I find your comment offensive. Thankfully this is America and I don't have the right to not be offended.