SWC19 Badge Registration/Panel Lottery Discussion

Sigh...between this and the underwhelming guest list, I'm debating just selling my tickets. I just don't even know at this point.

 

I'd at least wait until we get the full procedure.

 

Depending on the size of the Galaxy Stage, the Rebels panel may be harder to get into than IX.

 

Maybe i don't know how this works, but do the people who get their badges first get first chance at the panels? my badge is supposed to get here on the 22nd. Do you think that certain events may be locked out or filled before everyone gets a chance to sign in? That is not fair.

 

No

 

I'm interested to see how this will actually work in practice. It's so vague at this point based on what they released.

Still, I'd rather it be a pure lottery rather than virtual queing the day of at the convention center. That makes it more based on who has a better cellular data connection and god help us if the site crashes.

With a lottery, I'd at least know coming into Chicago if I'm going to be able to go to a panel or can have a more leisurely morning vs. trying to rush to get there, trying to get registered online only to have the app crash on me, and then still find out I won't be getting in.

The lottery just seems more fair than a fastest finger in the west/who has a better data connection and gets in before it crashes virtual queue.

 

This is how they did it at NYCC btw

 

The thing is, some people are getting their badges at will call, so I don't know that you'll know before coming to Chicago.

 

For those people it would be tough, but they could register their badges right away and know if they were selected.

The bulk of people will be getting them via mail. We could register them and then be able to go in and know before even getting on a plane for Chicago what we can expect.

The idea of everyone trying to register at once on Friday morning seems like chaos.

 

Well, I think they'll open the lotteries in maybe like a week, but thinking you won't get the results until everyone has a chance to enter.

 

That's still fair at least.

 

Well a lot of people complained last time because of the lines for the 40th panel and TLJ and the wristbands being handed out at 6am. Those same people cried out for a lottery system or having to pay extra for panel access on top of badges. This is the results.

Personally I don’t care for it as a whole. This guessing game makes it easier for me to decide if I want to spend this kind of money next Celebration or if I want a break. I mean it was already annoying enough that you had to sacrifice so much time nowadays to get into the panel you wanted but it also meant that if that’s what you really wanted, you could. Now, you don’t even know till you get there? You could be one of those people who literally have zero luck getting into the couple of panels you really want, the guest list is people you already have or people you wouldn’t pay that much money for and basically you are spending thousands to walk around a crowded show floor for 5 days, watching the panels you did want to see on YouTube like you could have at home. And when you have been a regular attendee, that’s going to get old.

I get that it’s probably a smoother system. Doesn’t mean that I dont feel that my money could be better spent elsewhere when the panels are live on YouTube in real time for the most part and that I miss the days of C6 and prior

 

I just read the linked procedure for NYCC where they used this lottery system. At that con they only allotted half the seating to the lottery and the rest was a line (with no overnight queue). I wonder if this will be the same. Also it seems like the badge tapping procedure replaces the wristbands. Can anyone confirm that there were no wristbands at NYCC?

 

Not to mention the guest list is... underwhelming. They better have some REALLY cool things to do besides the panels or the auto's. It's already basically just a vacation in Chicago for me, now it's very possible I'll be spending a lot less time at the actual con.

 

Yeah, if I had known this was how it would be, I wouldn't have got tickets and while I already felt it was likely the case, this will be my last Celebration. I'm still 100% committed to going though and hopefully I can see a panel or two.

 

I honestly don't know how they are going to control the no overnight queue. There *will* be people waiting outside just to get into the beginning of the day queue when it opens, just now people will likely be outside, it won't be organized and it'll be a mob scene.

 

I get the feeling law enforcement might be involved.

 

Then maybe they are allocating all the panels digitally in their entirety. Guess we will find out.

 

I agree with all of this. This would also be another reason for them to do the reservations in advance. If someone bought tickets, but knew beforehand they weren't going to get into any panels they wanted, it might make sense for them to just cash out. Sell the badges through the resale website, cancel hotels, and get their airfare cancelled for a credit (possible with most airlines).

To me, this is better than someone shelling out thousands to just walk around a star wars themed shopping center if they can't get into the panels they want to attend. Not knowing in advance makes that very possible.

Just my .02.

 

IMO, this just makes the line problem worse. Those who don't get assured of getting in will be fighting harder over the leftover scraps. Line cutting and all that will be pushed to the max.

Do it one way or another. Don't allocate half the seats for virtual reservations and make tens of thousands fight over a few thousand leftover seats. that's just asking for pain.

 

My plan now is if/when I don't get picked for the IX panel is to sprint over to the Star Wars Show set and just hang out there. A lot of times they'll bring a couple of the big names out there during the day.

 

Yeah, the people who saw Harrison Ford on the show floor set were a lot closer to him than I was during the 40th panel in Orlando. haha

 

Yeah, I kinda wish they'd do the 50/50 thing here (though it would likely making the queuing even worse for the remaining seats) but wording so far looks like it will be 100% by online reservation/lottery.

Yeah, since they've apparently said international/will call fans won't be disadvantaged this is my biggest fear. ReedPop's site crashed for pin badges. This is a LOT bigger. The site does say presented by Amazon so let's hope they're using Amazon's servers for this so it doesn't crash.

Agreed. I hate the idea of a lottery, coming from abroad I wanted the control a line up would give me (plus the social side of things, I'm definitely gonna miss that). Will see how it goes and judge after I guess but this is definitely making me more nervous than the over night line up and wristbands ever did.