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[PRIME] PAX Prime 2012 is COMPLETELY SOLD OUT!
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You're complaining about the current system because you're selfish and care only about your own interests.
You're being selfish by demanding that tickets be limited.
Your posts are a perfect example of selfish interests. You want the system changed so you can go and others miss out.
ooo..pot/kettle moment there... Buraisu, what you want is incredibly selfish of you. you want everyone else to suffer just so you think you can have a better chance of getting a pass. Honestly, your attitude is completely counter to that of the greater PAX community and what it represents.
Maybe it's time for different levels of access? I couldn't care less about what's in the Expo hall. I think I spent maybe an hour in there last year, save for the two hours I waited to play Skyrim. I just want to see the panels. Most of the panels I attended last year were over half empty.
What, exactly, is the problem with helping friends? This view seems to espouse the idea that we shouldn't help those close to us in situations like this; IIRC you're one of the people complaining that those without 24/7 internet, with day jobs or other obligations preventing them from getting a pass are being shafted (True to an extent). And yet you're also condemning one of the best ways to mitigate that problem.
Short of banning people from attending both (Which is what the proposal was; calling it a "limit" is a semantic game) or posting the sale day, making the quick sellout and scalping problems way worse, I don't see any system fairer from the current one. And this is coming from someone who would have been screwed if he didn't have Wednesdays off work.
You could sell 20k on Monday, 20k on Wednesday, 20k on Friday, and 20k on Saturday.
This would ease the stress on registration, ease the stress of missing work/school/etc to get a ticket (Can't find time monday? Buy tickets wednesday! or saturday!)
This would also allow people that work to have a fair chance at getting tickets, and same with people who live in alternate time zones. The first come first serve method would be great, except in this case,
the tickets can sell out before some people even get off work, school, etc.
As someone who went to PAX 2010, I have been feverently waiting for tickets to go on sale, and I'm severely disappointed I missed out. I had 8 other friends that wanted to go to, and we're all disappointed
that tickets sold out so quickly. I've checked PAX Site twice a week for over six months, and I've had the weekend booked off for over a month now.
I would like to see registration improved next year, and perhaps a system for selling unused tickets. The lack of a 'Sell at Face Value' thread is kinda disappointing, although I understand the reasoning.
But to everyone else adding anecdotes and plausible suggestions I applaud.
That said, I'm pretty frustrated with the way things went down this year. I checked the site nearly every day and I apparently got to the registration RIGHT after it crashed the first time. I managed to get single-day passes for Friday and Saturday when they came back up (I was about an hour, maybe 2, late for the 3-days) but I was really sad and disappointed that the 3-days sold out so quickly. And then even more frustrated to find that there would be no face value forum this year, something that has served me well in the past when friends needed passes.
Not that I don't think PAX is an amazing event, and I'm very happy for PA and everyone involved that it has grown so much and become so popular, but I have to wonder what happened this year. Last year, I think it took 3 weeks or so to sell out of 3-day passes and single days were being sold for quite a while after that. What changed? To go from 3 weeks to less than 24 hours is a HUGE jump! There has to be something completely different about this year. Will it continue to get worse? Next year will you have to be sitting at your computer the very minute the passes go on sale because they'll be sold out in 15 minutes? I've seen it happen with other events...
As someone else said, I'm sure they'll be looking at everything this year, trying to figure out the best way to proceed and I really, truly hope they come up with something. I don't pretend to know the answer (Dammit, Jim, I'm a pastry chef, not a Convention Coordinator), but the thought of not getting to go to PAX in upcoming years because it continually gets harder to get tickets makes me unbelievably sad.
tl;dr I guess I'm just curious if anyone on the inside has any insight as to what is different this year and whether or not it's going to be impossible to ever get tickets again.
Looking through the records, in 2009 3-days sold out in 6 months, 2010 3-days sold out in 3 months, 2011 3-days sold out in 22 days.
Pax has simply gotten more popular each year. It was only a matter of time before a 1 day sell out and if someone graphed this information it would have been easy to see 3-days were going to go VERY quickly this year.
If they moved PAX away from Seattle, to a larger venue, people would complain that it moved from Seattle.
NEWS FLASH: Penny Arcade did not screw anyone.
I'm sorry that there were 65,000+ people that made getting tickets their top priority and you missed out this year. It's a fantastic show and it's getting harder to get tickets every year.
Vent, cry, scream, table flip if you must but know that while PAX is amazing, it is still just one PAX, there will be more. Maybe you'll have better luck next year.
There are several theories as to why this year was so crazy:
1. no Blizzcon this year. That means a lot of nerds who would normally have to pick one or the other don't have to pick,
2. SDCC Sold out faster than ever before, while implementing a new registration system intended to prevent scalping that is regarded by many people as a complete and total disaster. This leaves another chunk of sad, vacationless nerds.
3. General increased demand
There will probably be a Blizzcon again someday, so that pressure may well be removed. SDCC is probably going to keep being an insane reg nightmare, so PAX may continue to have to pick up the West-coast-nerd-con slack. And demand is going to keep increasing.
So the future is pretty foggy. Still, these are the factors most people think may have had an effect.
Triwizard Drinking Tournament - '09 !Hufflepuff unofficial conscript, '10 !Gryffindor
Nerd blog at culturalgeekgirl.com
Well now I know, but that still means I would be signing up for a completely unrelated service for the sole purpose of being notified of ticket sales.
What about an email list, like how 99.9% of organizations notify the public?
The fact that PAX Prime sold out so fast is actually excellent news. I'd say this is a new record for the con. With that being said, I have some suggestions that might be useful for future PAX registrations.
For one, badges should have the name of the buyer printed on them and the badge-holder should have valid state-issued ID present in order to be accepted in. This would be a great way to bring down the problem of scalpers buying up passes, hawking them on the net, and having folks risk possibly buying an illegitimate pass for the event. If someone decides to not go for instance, they can just contact the PAX registration administrator to pull them off the list, thus freeing up the queue for any stragglers who haven't bought tickets. It also keeps the number of pass purchases to a sane level. Apple's ever popular WWDC conference adopted this name-on-a-ticket system to keep the abuse down this year, and it was probably one of the better ways to prevent scalper onslaughts. It keeps everything fair for everyone.
Also, the switch to another registration system in the midst of the PAX pass selling was not a great idea. The old system worked just fine in years past and switching to another, unproven system only caused headaches for those who didn't manage to snag their pass in time. As the old adage goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
That's all I really have to say about that. Personally, I have submitted a panel to PAX and, should my topic be accepted, I will get a complementary pass, so hopefully karma is on my side.
Peace bros,
Matt
1. Whose idea was it to sell passes without any forewarning as to day/time?
- I missed the first day of sale, however, when I looked at the forums those passes started their sale when I was at work, and broke before I got home that day. So, I checked everyday, because I have gone to this show every year since '08 and LOVE this event. However, once again, when the sale happened it was at a time when I was at work. ~1400 and sold out before I could even get home. I see that NO forethought was given to us working stiffs that work normal dayshift hours. I happen to work at a Govt installation where I cannot carry my smartphone nor do I have access to gaming based websites. (Paxsite is blocked...). SO, even though I checked everyday, hoping against hope that there would be a forewarning, the tickets sale for 3day passes started and ended before I even got home from work. I feel I shouldn't even have to point this out...WHY did this sale start at ~1400? WHO does this benefit? Out of work people, students, kids, and people on the East Coast. Most other working stiffs who may have wanted to go, were still at work... This show is the amongst the largest shows in the NW area...bring a LOT of business to Seattle and the Puget Sound, yet the ticket sales don't even give the residents of this area a fair shot at the the tickets. The start time of 1400 WAS MORONIC. For a show held in the NW, why couldn't it wait until 1800? Allowing those of us that work a fair shot at buying the tickets as well...or is that TOO DAMN much to ask?
2. Whose 'brilliant' idea was it to sell the exact same number of passes to a show that has doubled it's attendance every year it has been held? Just based on the numbers, and the history of the show, this idea was brain-numbingly stupid. What ever happened to talks to move this show to a much LARGER venue? 3day passes sold out in hours...not days, HOURS! Granted that is amazing, a clear testament to how popular this event is, but, was foreseeable by anyone with a bit of brain power between their ears. Unfortunately, the organizers of this year's event, fell somewhat short of smart.
3. Why do the Penny Arcade bosses allow for scalping tickets to occur on ebay? There are ways to limit ticket scalping, no passes in the mail, all passes have to be picked up at a willcall window with proof of purchase, ID, and the credit card that was used for purchase. Don't have these? No Pass for you... I got it, those in charge just don't care about fans being fleeced.
How can this process be improved? Hmmmmmmmmm...
1. The show is being held in the NW...sell the tickets with a start time that benefits the people of the NW the most. We are the ones most likely to want to attend, we should have an even shot at buying said passes.
2. Move to a larger venue. You have LONG outgrown the Seattle location. Time to go to a place that supports your yearly growth rate.
3. Tell your fans a FIRM start date/time as to when the passes will be sold, this will build a NEED to buy them...granted that is already there, but it will raise it to fever pitch.
4. Rent more servers to handle the load of the sales. You WILL be slammed, and not being able to sell due to a crush of traffic is just piss-poor planning.
5. STOP allowing ebay sellers to scalp and fleece your fans. Require positive ID, credit card used to purchase to pick up passes at a willcall window. This will limit the ebay and other scalpers from profiting from YOUR fans.
Hopefully your organizers will learn from this fiasco, and do better next year. Otherwise, you WILL lose fans...
I can't say I didn't see this coming, but I would've enjoyed alternate methods like multi-day distribution, that way I atleast knew the tickets had gone on sale, and when I could purchase mine.
I would of been less dissappointed if I had known the tickets were on sale and missed my chance, but it's super disappointing to get home and see that tickets had gone on sale and sold out all in the time of a single work
shift (6 hours)
Scalpers charge prices they know they can get. People are desperate to go to PAX. People pay way more than face value for hard to get tickets.
So it's simple, if you can get every person everywhere to stop buying pax badges for over face value, then scalpers have no business.
Problem Solved! DANCE PARTY!!!!!!
I disagree. I would think this is a bad idea. I think that the double-launch was one of the reasons that 3-days sold so quickly. You're only going to amplify the rush for tickets by limiting supply. Putting names on badges and enforcing ticket pickup with ID ONLY would be the best way to control scalping, and hopefully control ticket sales from scalpers.
Also, the League Of Legends Regional Championship being held at Prime was announced on the same day as registration re-opening. That might have spurred some more people on to get tickets ASAP.
It might be worth watching though just to see the inevitable rage and massive salt production.