Tickets to PAX Australia 2021 went back on sale today and, in what can only be described as proof that nature is healing and we’re headed towards some sort of post-pandemic normality, the queues were insane.
For a hot second there, I actually thought I had missed the preposterous queues for live events, but alas, I have not.
The first round of badges went on sale a few weeks back, and — due to a surge in demand as we all desperately crave some sort of IRL human interaction — servers failed and many punters missed out.
Thankfully, the second round of badges were up for grabs today, prompting those who missed out in the initial round to wake up early and jump in the queue. But sadly, today’s tickets weren’t without their fair share of mishaps.
For starters, there was a 7000+ strong queue, which is a huge win for the return of live events, but isn’t so fun when you’re 6998th in the queue.
Sadly, the problems didn’t stop there.
In what can only be described as some pretty antisocial behaviour, there are a number of reports on social media of people finding ways to bypass the queue and purchase their tickets before their turn.
I feel sorry for the people who may miss out on PAX tickets today because of another IT exploit allowing others to jump the virtual queue ????
— SubParLover (@SubParLover) April 8, 2021
Everyone who cheated their way to PAX tickets is the reason everyone in queue can’t get them anymore xD
— pastelsparkles (checkmark emoji) (@pastelsparkless) April 8, 2021
There have been reports that PAX will not be voiding these tickets, but PAX is yet to formally confirm this.
But even if you managed to get an early spot in the queue, many gamers claim their servers timed out before they were able to purchase tickets.
Just tried to pay for my pax tickets and it timed me out hehe 🙂
— aly ???? (@Aeialy) April 8, 2021
I just got kicked out of queue while in the checkout screen are you joking?????
— James Derrick (@Nerfdriveby) April 8, 2021
Or, if they did manage to get their hands on tickets, some users claimed they were double-charged. Obviously, this is an easy fix and they’ll receive a refund eventually, but it’s still not exactly ideal considering tickets range from $65 to $170.
people waiting for pax tickets it sometimes charges you twice so just be careful
— General Obi Wan Kenobi (@general_obiwan) April 8, 2021
Some punters even claimed it was harder to secure a PAX ticket than it was to get a PS5. Yikes.
To think I’m having more trouble getting PAX tickets than I did getting my launch day PS5 on @EBGamesAus‘ website is pathetically hilarious. Maybe instead of cheapening out on hosts DROP INFOSALON and get a company capable of distributing on a true first come first served basis.
— Brohan (@rohanwood) April 8, 2021
At this stage, the event looks like it’s sure to sell out before they even release the event’s schedule.
But if today’s interest is anything to go by, this year’s event is going to be the light at the end of this dreary COVID-filled tunnel that we’ve all been desperately waiting for.
Obviously it’s frustrating to spend all day in a virtual queue only to miss out at the last minute. But it’s important to remember that the team at PAX who are answering your queries are doing their best and likely aren’t the reason you might’ve missed out on tickets, so remember to be kind if you’re getting in contact with them today.
PAX Australia provided the following statement to Kotaku Australia:
“We are disappointedly aware of the issues that occurred with our ticketing platform this morning. We want to thank all our PAX fans for their support and patience with this new ticketing system.
“PAX is a community-focused event, and as such we thought it important to support our local events community by moving to a ticketing platform that employs an Australian workforce to help drive the post-COVID recovery of our local industry. This move to a new platform has caused so many headaches for our community, for which we can only massively apologise.
“The third-party payment gateway had a temporary issue which was fixed as soon as the cause was identified. Regretfully, a small number of people were able to find their way onto the site early. This was such a tiny % of the overall site traffic that we will not be taking the step of invalidating their purchases.
“As soon as an issue has been identified, we have tried, as quickly as possible and to the best of our abilities, to rectify those issues and all issues have now been resolved.
“Again, we are so sorry that the ticket launch has not gone to plan. We have worked and continue to work hard to resolve things as quickly as possible and again we apologise to the community for any inconvenience and distress this may have caused.”
If you’d like to try your hand at getting a ticket, you can do so on the PAX website here.
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