Find a nice large convention center somewhere that has several large hotels directly surrounding it. Take all of the hotel's hall space. If it's evident that an event won't have enough space (cosplay seems to NEVER have enough), have overflow rooms with A/V feeds going into them.
Boom, you've managed to expand the area your convention covers, AND cut down on crowding issues.
@Rakuen42: You can watch Blizzcon on pay per view; so they technically already offer A/V feeds to those not in the area and those in the area could just use pay per view instead of buying tickets. It seems clear that nothing makes up for the experience of being there.
You could put the cosplay in a football stadium and it would still be standing room only.
@Project_J187: Granted, however, it doesn't mean they shouldn't take advantage of the technology and space available.
And actually, you wouldn't be able to fill a football stadium. We still haven't managed to come close to filling the smaller stadium at Otakon. Attendance numbers between the two conventions are comparable.
I thought I recalled reading something, maybe on mmo-champion or somewhere else, that you couldn't really scalp these tickets, because you needed to present the credit card/id associated with the tickets at the door...however, once you had your badge to enter, it was fair game. Was that incorrect information?
@Wolzard: Attendee badges will be distributed on site at the Anaheim Convention Center during BlizzCon. Approximately one month before the show, the ticket purchaser will receive up to five separate e-mails (one for each ticket purchased) each containing a unique attendee barcode that will be required to gain entry to the show. You will also be able to access these bar-code emails through your Battle.net account.
Before arriving at the show, each attendee must print the e-mail containing his or her barcode and bring it to BlizzCon, along with valid photo ID. In order to receive a badge, the name on the bar-code e-mail *must* match the name on your photo ID. You can edit attendee names for all of the tickets you purchased until 5 p.m. Pacific Time on June 13 by logging in to Battle.net Account Management and going to Order History.
from Blizzard's website. Unless I'm missing something, doesn't this mean Scalping doesn't work?
You can edit attendee names for all of the tickets you purchased until 5 p.m. Pacific Time on June 13 by logging in to Battle.net Account Management and going to Order History.
Ah nevermind, just reread this...but I guess that means all scalping has to be done by June 13th.
True story- about two years ago I wanted to see a concert here in Edmonton, but the tickets sold out almost instantly.
I tried searching on ebay, and found some asshole all the way over in Ontario who was selling a bunch of the tickets at an exorbitant price. I fired him off an email telling him what an opportunistic asshole he was for preventing many people who genuinely want to see a great band from attending.
He never wrote back, but the next day, he relisted the tickets for about half the original asking price. I felt good about myself.
I ended up getting my tickets from a nice guy whose friends decided, at the last minute, not to attend.
Blizzard really screwed the pooch with this debacle: I was ready to pounce at 10-minutes prior to the availability and even had the page F5'ing to get the tickets. To my shock, I was placed 8000+ in the queue when I immediately pressed the buy button.
Like I said in the previous article: the only winners here are Blizzard and the eBay sharks.
I realize there's another opportunity on the 30th but what's the use? If I was prepped for the first go and failed so dismally, the second go will be even worse.
Also, I'm not a fan of jumping through hoops to part with my money. I went back in 2007 because of "connections" and I doubt I'll ever attend another one.
This elitist-exclusive fan-wankery can go on without my money.
@resvrgam: Seconded. Not to mention that they already announced SCII and Diablo III which are the only two games I care about. Unless they're planning on re-releasing Rock and Roll Racing I couldn't care less about this. I guess I don't play WoW and am not into the whole cosplay scene so I don't really "get" blizzcon. I'm an old bitter man! I hope everyone who DID get tickets has a blast though. Make sure to take lots of pics of all the orgiastic nerd festery!
@Aikage: The Skilled Cleric Wants More L4D Friends: It's ok, I understand where you are coming from with this discussion. I think the major issue for Blizzard would be 'how to allow everyone to be able to enter Blizzcon.' I understand it is fairly available to most, but not many ticket buyers, yet it's availability will stay stuck with the ticket prices. It only goes as far as that.
@oosiegewolfoo: true but I remember a long time ago reading that the states that allow reselling of tickets only let you add 10 to 15% surcharge on them. The site doesn't say if California allows this or not.
@Interim: I don't get why it bothers so many people. The only reason they're even selling it at that price is because people actually BUY it for that much.
Blame the buyer not the seller for enabling such a ridiculous prices.
It comes down to some discipline and self control... If you're too excited about going to a convention and consider it a life changing event then you fucking deserve to waste that much money. >.>
@Sammo21: It's not that simple. Eventually SOME of these will be shut down, but not all of them. It is all relative on where you are trying to sell these and for how much. Each state varies.
Ticket brokers are big business and actually have a lot of power within the government as far as lobbyist go. Earmarking I believe is where a lot of these ticket broking laws go unnoticed. I have a friend in the business and it is just straight up mob tactics.
@Lincolnsbeard33: Nothing wrong with them. Frankly if I had the chance I would. Just like buying a few nex-gen consoles to sell on the net. (hey I'm a college student I need cash)
@Lincolnsbeard33: Oh yes. Ebay needs to shut these down because they rely on THEIR ENTIRE BUSINESS MODEL. The point of online auctions is to mark things up and sell them to a willing market, whether it's antiques, toys, or yes, tickets. Shutting these down would be hypocritical to everything ebay stands for. If everything was a bargain on the site, nobody would make money and they would shut down. Sheesh.
@monkeysaresilly: EBay should shut these down because this is direct scalping, which is against the law. Time limited events are not the same as merchandise which will continue to exist and be available for the foreseeable future. That is why scalping is illegal. Unfortunately, you'll find many places getting around the law by packaging the ticket with a hotel room or some other amenity such that the scalper can write off the tremendous price increase due to the extraneous item increasing the ticket's value (see, Superbowl).
@Kobun: If ticket reselling is illegal, there's a multi-billion dollar secondary industry out there that should probably be informed. Maybe some police too. The bottom line is, ebay allows this, and makes money off it. [pages.ebay.com] Also, all merchandise is "time limited." A ticket is still available after the event, it's just not worth much (maybe someone would pay a dollar for it, as a souvenir or artwork, but "worthless" can't be claimed). Just like a toy that's very hot right now might be valued lower a few years from now. Variable value shouldn't (and doesn't) effect the legality of auction/resale.
Yes some people package things with tickets, but that's often to sweeten the deal, not really to get around anything unless the specific primary seller (say, the nfl) forbids ticket resale--which, we should note, blizzard has not in this case. You'll see non-packaged superbowl seats sell as often as package deals, neither one is more legal than the other.
@monkeysaresilly: EBay also allows pirated materials to be sold routinely. What eBay allows isn't indicative of what is legal and what isn't. Of course, you'll find that laws aren't uniform across the cities and states which make up the USA let alone across the world, but being that eBay sells nationwide, it cannot break the laws of those territories to which it does business.
$1,500? In normal people money isn't that usually a lot? I never quite understood how much money WoW players actually have; what with the $500 dollar accounts for sale, the gold farming sites, and those players out there with multiple Lv.80's paying monthly for each one, you would think that WoW was some sort of millionaire's online country club.
Oops, I made a minor grammar slip up. Nothing big but I'm OCD about this, it'll bug me all day. At the end of my comment I meant to say either "WoW was some sort of online millionaire's club" or "WoW was some sort of online country club". I kinda mixed the two together, sorry about this whole thing. I doubt anyone is reading this reply anyway. Or are they? Doesn't matter I feel satasfied...
@meeish: If your so OCD how come you missed the acual gramatical mistake instead of the mistake that wasn't really a mistake because it still makes sense?
Are you referring to when I say "In normal people money isn't that usually a lot?"
If you are, I know its wrong: I simply planted it as a trap to lure in an inquiry like yours. An inquiry where you are confused about the fact that if I were a grammar freak, then why would I make a point to correct an error that isn't even grammar related while the actual mistake is left as is. The answer? I enjoy creating confusion on the internet, it helps me deal with my megalomania by letting me control forums through way of my little grammar traps. I'm like the god damned Riddler.
Kidding. But seriously though, nice catch. I thought about whether that sentence was right or not soon after I wrote it and had meant to put it in my self-reply, but my mind sort of drifted away and I forgot to.
So here it is Kotaku, my correct sentence, all thanks to 'pmur': it should have been "Isn't that usually a lot in normal people money?" instead of "In normal people money isn't that usually a lot?"
My fellow Kotakuites, thank you for your time and patience in this little ordeal.
@chewychomp: Did you know that I have, in fact, been on more than a dozen different medications since last year? I doubt you did, figuring that there would be absolutely no way of your knowing unless I had maybe drunk-posted a forum about the very fact which you coincidentally were on?
Anyway around November I had to undergo reconstructive surgery due to a car accident that I was in. It was a head on collision, and when the windshield shattered my face got pretty fucked up by the glass. I was in the hospital for nearly two weeks and went through three separate procedures over the course of my stay. I have excellent health insurance so I didn't have to pay much out of the $235,000 worth of surgery. After my release from the hospital I was on and off many medications, ranging from pain killers to steroids. I had an I.V. in my arm until late December, pumping in Morphine-like shit to deal with the pain. Most of the glass was embedded around my nose and eyes. The doctors say that I was lucky to not end up blind, let alone dead. But i did in fact lose much of my sense of smell, and I'm unable to breath through my left nostril. I can get that fixed through surgery, but my insurance may not cover it since it's technically elective. I was in fact eligible for a medical marijuana prescription, a prescription which I accepted for a short time but eventually stopped when I was well enough to go back to work. That was back in February, and I'm still on a pill a day; but there was a time when I was taking six pills per day.
So to answer you question: I have, in fact, been taking my meds.
"I don't really know how Blizzard can address it other than by really cutting down on the number of ticket you can buy at a time, or greatly expanding the size of the event."
@[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D: Actually, the only TRUE solution is to price your tickets at the proper point of supply and demand. Meaning, tickets bought from Blizzard would cost around $850. Blizzard would make the money, not the scalpers, and tickets would only go to those that really wanted to go.
@psychobaka: Horrible idea. Ideally, you'd have to provide the conference goer's name at the point of purchase, and the ticket would be printed with his/her name on it. If the ticket doesn't match the person's ID, he/she doesn't get allowed into the building.
08/22/09
08/22/09
08/22/09
Boom, you've managed to expand the area your convention covers, AND cut down on crowding issues.
08/22/09
You could put the cosplay in a football stadium and it would still be standing room only.
08/22/09
And actually, you wouldn't be able to fill a football stadium. We still haven't managed to come close to filling the smaller stadium at Otakon. Attendance numbers between the two conventions are comparable.
08/22/09
on a nice sunny da-
wait never mind, half of the people attending would melt from sun exposure...
08/22/09
Blaming Blizzard for all of their problems, jeez.
08/22/09
08/22/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
Attendee badges will be distributed on site at the Anaheim Convention Center during BlizzCon. Approximately one month before the show, the ticket purchaser will receive up to five separate e-mails (one for each ticket purchased) each containing a unique attendee barcode that will be required to gain entry to the show. You will also be able to access these bar-code emails through your Battle.net account.
Before arriving at the show, each attendee must print the e-mail containing his or her barcode and bring it to BlizzCon, along with valid photo ID. In order to receive a badge, the name on the bar-code e-mail *must* match the name on your photo ID. You can edit attendee names for all of the tickets you purchased until 5 p.m. Pacific Time on June 13 by logging in to Battle.net Account Management and going to Order History.
from Blizzard's website. Unless I'm missing something, doesn't this mean Scalping doesn't work?
05/17/09
You can edit attendee names for all of the tickets you purchased until 5 p.m. Pacific Time on June 13 by logging in to Battle.net Account Management and going to Order History.
Ah nevermind, just reread this...but I guess that means all scalping has to be done by June 13th.
05/17/09
05/17/09
I tried searching on ebay, and found some asshole all the way over in Ontario who was selling a bunch of the tickets at an exorbitant price. I fired him off an email telling him what an opportunistic asshole he was for preventing many people who genuinely want to see a great band from attending.
He never wrote back, but the next day, he relisted the tickets for about half the original asking price. I felt good about myself.
I ended up getting my tickets from a nice guy whose friends decided, at the last minute, not to attend.
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
Like I said in the previous article: the only winners here are Blizzard and the eBay sharks.
I realize there's another opportunity on the 30th but what's the use? If I was prepped for the first go and failed so dismally, the second go will be even worse.
Also, I'm not a fan of jumping through hoops to part with my money. I went back in 2007 because of "connections" and I doubt I'll ever attend another one.
This elitist-exclusive fan-wankery can go on without my money.
05/17/09
Not to mention that they already announced SCII and Diablo III which are the only two games I care about. Unless they're planning on re-releasing Rock and Roll Racing I couldn't care less about this. I guess I don't play WoW and am not into the whole cosplay scene so I don't really "get" blizzcon.
I'm an old bitter man!
I hope everyone who DID get tickets has a blast though. Make sure to take lots of pics of all the orgiastic nerd festery!
05/17/09
Change is needed Blizzard. It needs to be done.
05/17/09
[www.cga.ct.gov]
05/17/09
05/17/09
Which is how it should be. It's your property, you're free to sell it for whatever the market will bear.
05/17/09
05/17/09
Blame the buyer not the seller for enabling such a ridiculous prices.
It comes down to some discipline and self control... If you're too excited about going to a convention and consider it a life changing event then you fucking deserve to waste that much money. >.>
05/17/09
05/17/09
Ticket brokers are big business and actually have a lot of power within the government as far as lobbyist go. Earmarking I believe is where a lot of these ticket broking laws go unnoticed. I have a friend in the business and it is just straight up mob tactics.
05/18/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
Yes some people package things with tickets, but that's often to sweeten the deal, not really to get around anything unless the specific primary seller (say, the nfl) forbids ticket resale--which, we should note, blizzard has not in this case. You'll see non-packaged superbowl seats sell as often as package deals, neither one is more legal than the other.
05/18/09
05/17/09
05/17/09
Oops, I made a minor grammar slip up. Nothing big but I'm OCD about this, it'll bug me all day. At the end of my comment I meant to say either "WoW was some sort of online millionaire's club" or "WoW was some sort of online country club". I kinda mixed the two together, sorry about this whole thing. I doubt anyone is reading this reply anyway. Or are they? Doesn't matter I feel satasfied...
Kotaku, you may carry on now.
05/17/09
05/17/09
Are you referring to when I say "In normal people money isn't that usually a lot?"
If you are, I know its wrong: I simply planted it as a trap to lure in an inquiry like yours. An inquiry where you are confused about the fact that if I were a grammar freak, then why would I make a point to correct an error that isn't even grammar related while the actual mistake is left as is. The answer? I enjoy creating confusion on the internet, it helps me deal with my megalomania by letting me control forums through way of my little grammar traps. I'm like the god damned Riddler.
Kidding. But seriously though, nice catch. I thought about whether that sentence was right or not soon after I wrote it and had meant to put it in my self-reply, but my mind sort of drifted away and I forgot to.
So here it is Kotaku, my correct sentence, all thanks to 'pmur': it should have been "Isn't that usually a lot in normal people money?" instead of "In normal people money isn't that usually a lot?"
My fellow Kotakuites, thank you for your time and patience in this little ordeal.
Sincerely,
Meeish
05/17/09
05/17/09
Anyway around November I had to undergo reconstructive surgery due to a car accident that I was in. It was a head on collision, and when the windshield shattered my face got pretty fucked up by the glass. I was in the hospital for nearly two weeks and went through three separate procedures over the course of my stay. I have excellent health insurance so I didn't have to pay much out of the $235,000 worth of surgery. After my release from the hospital I was on and off many medications, ranging from pain killers to steroids. I had an I.V. in my arm until late December, pumping in Morphine-like shit to deal with the pain. Most of the glass was embedded around my nose and eyes. The doctors say that I was lucky to not end up blind, let alone dead. But i did in fact lose much of my sense of smell, and I'm unable to breath through my left nostril. I can get that fixed through surgery, but my insurance may not cover it since it's technically elective. I was in fact eligible for a medical marijuana prescription, a prescription which I accepted for a short time but eventually stopped when I was well enough to go back to work. That was back in February, and I'm still on a pill a day; but there was a time when I was taking six pills per day.
So to answer you question: I have, in fact, been taking my meds.
05/17/09
Damn! My last sentence was supposed to say "to answer your question" not "to answer you question"
Sorry Kotaku! This is the last time, I promise.
05/17/09
Really rather enormous
Too long, did not read.
05/18/09
Just saying..
05/18/09
05/17/09
Make it free.
05/17/09
05/17/09