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Blizzard Apologises For BlizzCon Ticket Trifles (Makes More Available)
Posted by Brian Ashcraft at 9:00 PM on August 14, 2008
BlizzCon tickets went fast, completely selling out. And while Fahey didn't have the best of lucky unluckily trying to secure tickets. Blizzard CEO Mark Morhaime released a statement on the WoW Forums:
On behalf of everyone at Blizzard, I want to apologise for the challenges and frustrations you experienced while trying to purchase BlizzCon tickets on Monday and Tuesday. BlizzCon is about the positive experiences you all have had with Blizzard games. As a result of this week's events, the excitement that many of you felt about the show has turned into dissatisfaction and disappointment.Due to these circumstances, we've reevaluated our convention hall space and come up with some solutions that will allow us to offer 3,000 more tickets for sale. We know this will not be enough to satisfy the very high level of demand for tickets this year, but we want to ensure that BlizzCon remains a great experience for those of you who are able to attend. To avoid the issues many of you faced this week, we'll be selling these 3,000 via a lottery. We'll post further details once our plans are finalised. Please note that the lottery will only be open to those with an active Blizzard Account as of 9:00 PM PDT on August 12, the time that the "Sold Out" notice was posted.
I, and everyone else at Blizzard, share the frustration and disappointment that many of you have expressed as a result of this process. We'll do what it takes to avoid this type of situation in the future.
Sincerely,
Mike Morhaime
Not sure if 3,000 more tickets will meet the demand, but whaddayagonnado. Nice of him to apologise. I guess.
Statement from Mike Morhaime [WoW Forums Thanks, None None!]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
VileMethoD
Posted 9:32 PM 14/8/08
Oh, been away for a while. Your wifes doing well I hope?
VileMethoD
VileMethoD
Posted 9:31 PM 14/8/08
Bash, That was me actually. I forgot to attach my forum name. LOL I'm dumb -_-
VileMethoD
Posted 9:21 PM 14/8/08
Ebay has some for sale! 2 for 1000$ and up lol.
Kazzahdrane
Posted 9:12 PM 14/8/08
Hope Fahey gets a ticket for his girlfriend!
Kazzahdrane
Hdfisise
Posted 9:10 PM 14/8/08
Good job they are restricting it to people who could have tried and failed to get it on the 12th, or else there would be huge influx of blizzard accounts :D
Hdfisise
abbe
Posted 9:09 PM 14/8/08
Hm, would have liked to go to Blizzcon, to see how it is. I was at the worldwide invitional in paris and were quite bored most of the time unfortunately.
abbe
Hahaue
Posted 9:49 PM 14/8/08
The lottery thing annoys me. It's like that FigurePrints lottery BS. If I show up early to buy something, I better damn well get it.
Hahaue
Cchrist
Posted 9:47 PM 14/8/08
@VileMethoD: Do you often find that you're talking to yourself? Maybe you should get that checked out...
Cchrist
Savior
Posted 10:17 PM 14/8/08
yeah.. watch ppl get like 2-3 tickets just like some did for the burning crusade beta keys.. OH JOY!
Savior
Mike Fahey
Posted 10:53 PM 14/8/08
@Hahaue: Yes, well thousands of people showed up early for the tickets, and the failing website didn't let them get it.
The lottery is really the only fair way to distribute the extras, and limiting it to those that tried and failed is a bonus.
Mike Fahey
SeraphX2
Posted 11:29 PM 14/8/08
Yeah, I love how people complain about the generosity of Blizzard. They didn't simply say, "Oh, we really have room for 3,00 more people; so we'll sell 3,000 more now." They MADE room for 3000 more people.
You could have no chance at more tickets.
Lot of ingrates.
SeraphX2
TheBoxNinja
Posted 11:55 PM 14/8/08
@SeraphX2: he's right. They MADE more room, not went "look, I found a sliding wall that opens a new room up, that can fit 3000 more people". Blizzard is doing what they can, so be happy that they're unlike other companies and they try to help their customers/fans.
A lottery is the only fair way to distribute the tickets.
TheBoxNinja
Posted 12:55 AM 15/8/08
No, the fair way to distribute tickets is to go to all of us with money being held for Blizzard due to their website and give us tickets.
Dehnus
Posted 1:17 AM 15/8/08
Every company's dream. having people pay 100 euros to roam around on a convention you organise, and then selling out within seconds. And still have fans call other fans Ingrates and complainers. TheBoxNinja and SeraphX2, you show all signs of an abused spouse but then to Blizzard. Please get out before he does it again, you deserve better ;).
(And thats comming from a Warcraft fan (since the first game) and WOW addict, so I'm as addicted as any of you ;))
Dehnus
jettokisora
Posted 1:14 AM 15/8/08
I wouldn't blame Blizzard for this, anyway. Excess server load is something you can predict, but preventing it is nigh impossible without first having statistics. Now that they've seen their server reduced to a smoking heap, I doubt they'll have this problem next year.
jettokisora
Posted 9:55 PM 14/8/08
@Hahaue: Instead, they're giving everyone an equal chance, rather than giving the chance only to people whose schedules coincide with the selling start time. What's wrong with that? They should have done it that way in the first place if you ask me.
StratfordX
Posted 2:27 AM 15/8/08
the notion that this is a 14 or even 17,000 capacity event is sort of stunning. this is going down at the anaheim convention center, where I can't imagine capacity being that light. is it possible that the content of the goodie bags has more to do with capacity than fire safety?
StratfordX
Trai_Dep
Posted 2:22 AM 15/8/08
It's a shame my baby nephew is so ugly, otherwise I'd offer him up in a NY second.
Even if it means my dogs lose a chew toy.
Trai_Dep
Posted 3:23 AM 15/8/08
I remember last year I randomly logged on to blizzard and I was like "ooh blizzcon tickets...gonna buy" with no complications. Next year blizzard shouldn't announce the date it goes up for sale, just the month so millions of people aren't waiting for the clock to strike 12:00 ona specific date to buy the ticket(s).
silvery_eagle
Posted 4:32 AM 15/8/08
who wouldn't want extra $300grand?
the purchasing experience was a total nightmare!
glad they "make" room to accommodate more ppl.
silvery_eagle
flashtut
Posted 5:09 AM 15/8/08
That's okay, Mike. Just give me a free copy of Starcraft 2 or Diablo 3 and all will be forgotten.
flashtut
Graham
Posted 8:42 AM 15/8/08
I just hope they didn't sacrifice any booths or panels to fit the extra people in there.
This whole thing could have been avoided if they didn't hype it so much ahead of time and announce when the tickets were to go on sale.
Graham
GhostWhoWalks
Posted 11:03 AM 15/8/08
Hey, you gotta give it to Blizzard; they take care of their fans. A sincere apology and extra admission made available randomly, as opposed to the mad rush of a first-come-first-serve? Props, Bliz, props.
GhostWhoWalks
Posted 7:32 PM 15/8/08
Despite the success Blizzard had over the years, it's nice to know they kept themselves humble (well in a way). Sony should hire Blizzard's PR.
Aryq
Posted 3:07 AM 15/8/08
Its nice of them to offer 3000 more tickets but then again at $100 each that means $300,000 more for them. So call it what you will.
Aryq