@mgb327 - sorry to hear about the personal situation with your wife, but I think this is different. For a start, the BMOrg is doing what they can to be up-front about it. If anything, they're being too up-front and have told us about their being a change to the program before all the details could be announced. On the other, they're giving us more lead-time on the change than if they waited a few more weeks to spill it. If they only do a single round drawing and everybody who wants to go has money in the bank and is registered, that still puts the odds of 'winning' at about 85%. With multiple rounds, your odds get better. It's also worth pointing out that the full details are not yet available, it's entirely possible that the new process offers 'sure thing' opportunities for people (at whatever tier/price).
@mydearfriend - my creativity comes from a part of me that thinks a lot more positively than yours, I think. It's absurd, optimistic, emotional (and slightly squishy) and believes just about anything is possible. I wish we had complete details and information available now, but it is what it is, and we'll get that information soon enough (most likely a full 9 months ahead of the event). Don't let your emotions be ruled by fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
@jkisha - we do not yet know the full details of the lottery. While it does imply chance, for all we know there may be some 'sure thing' opportunities for those willing to pay one of the higher tiers. If you think about it, 2011 event tickets implied chance for a lot of people. Somewhere in the vicinity of 20K tickets sold in the first day, more than half of them didn't get the lowest tier that they wanted, and a significant number of people didn't get either first or second tier tickets that they were hoping to get. As for your work in progress comment, I don't believe that to be entirely true. I understand that the plan has been determined, it's the documentation and finalizing of dates that likely need to be ironed out before they can be officially announced.
@cpart - $320 was the highest regular tier, but $360 was the walk-in price. When retail tickets were recalled from walk-in outlets (at the end of the walk-in sales period), those tickets were sold online at the $360 price.
@BMG - good plan (reserving judgment).
@Malicious - Remember that BMOrg is not looking for suggestions or alternative plans on how to handle ticket sales for next year - they've already got one. The best thing that people could do is to post their questions and concerns on ePlaya about the ticket lottery system, so that those questions and concerns may be addressed in some way.
@Siouxanne - there will be changes to the low-income and scholarship ticket programs this year, offering more low-income ticket opportunities than last year. Details to follow.
@10538 - expect details on the ticket lottery to be posted in the near future.
@Kernul Killbuck - brilliant! I'll take $10 in scratchers, a slurpee, and whatever it comes to on pump #7…
@unjonharley - a decrease in population is entirely possible (it's happened before). But yeah, a lottery could work. I'm waiting for the particulars before I see what tier we're betting on.
@Jewel Man - wow, where do I begin? My guess is that if you went out to the site in mid to late July (and actually got the right location, since the event site moves between a couple specific locations), the Bureau Of Land Management would have no trouble whatsoever in removing you from the premises prior to BMOrg and DPW getting started. The "lucky few" comment seems inappropriate as there will likely be something in the neighborhood of 55,000 tickets. With demand likely in the range of 60-65K, the lucky few would actually be the vast majority. I'm not even going to comment on the whole 'occupy' angle to it.
@maxrenn - the old system already had plenty of possibilities for people to abuse it, a ticket lottery doesn't 'open up' any new opportunities. If anything, it potentially closes the loop. Keep in mind, you're on the hook financially for the tickets you're registering for. On the old system, I could just get a few friends to jump on the site and get in the queue and whoever got in used my cc info (or theirs, with me paying them back) to get tickets. On a registration based lottery, I'm making the commitment to purchase all those tickets should I and my friends win. Unless you've got plenty of disposable income and can afford to potentially tie up a couple grand in extra tickets (which you wouldn't receive until early summer), that's probably not a strategy you can afford.
@macstarr - I appreciate your taking the time to register and voice your concerns. While the particulars of the program have not yet been made available, I'd say that the odds are very much in favor of you and your friends. Approximately 55K tickets (just a guess, not official) and 60-65K demand means that even if there was only a single drawing, there's an 85% chance everything will work out just fine. With multiple drawings, the odds go up. Yes, there's a possibility of disappointment, but there's also a much larger possibility of success. ANY situation where there is more demand than supply guarantees exclusion no matter how tickets are sold (and that's unfortunate). Let's see what the actual plan is before calling for it to be abandoned.
@bradtem - I disagree, I think non-transferrable tickets is a horrible idea. As you describe, would require significant additional cost to administrate and process participants' ability to return tickets at any time up to the end of the event (so long as there was 'demand' in the queue). The irony here is that you're also the person who's posted quite extensively on the need to streamline the process at the gate, yet name verification on non-transferrable tickets would likely slow things down.
@Kykyri - my understanding is it was something developed by a number of the folks within the BMOrg, discussed extensively, and ultimately approved by the board. Hard to really say whether it's a bad idea yet, until details of the plan are posted we don't know enough to make an intelligent, informed decision. Welcome to ePlaya, btw.
@Presto - Remember that BMOrg is not looking for suggestions or alternative plans on how to handle ticket sales for next year - they've already got one (and they've been thinking about it for months). The best thing that people could do is to post their questions and concerns on ePlaya about the ticket lottery system, so that those questions and concerns may be addressed in some way.
@Shambala - it's the FUDdites…
@capjbadger - Pah. How about waiting until you've actually got the details of the plan before passing judgment on it? It could totally suck. But it might work.
@Franklin1948 - no, it's not. More than a third of the 2011 event tickets were sold in the first few hours, and I understand it passed the halfway mark within a few weeks. It doesn't appear to be about the money, or about nickeling and diming a few extra bucks on interest income, or trying to scam people into paying more for tickets. As for the 'new people running things' comment, the 2012 event is being planned by the same BMOrg (and individuals within the org) that were involved in previous years' events.
@meaghanq - a lottery system has the potential to punish those who plan, but the particulars have not yet been posted. It's very likely that there will be some behind-the-scenes effort to weed out registrations from known scalpers, we'll see.
@Rumbler - looking at just the estimated supply/demand side of it, the odds of getting a ticket are probably not worse than 85%. The odds get better if there are multiple drawings (as they've stated), and if campmates are informed. We'll all have a much better idea as soon as the additional details and FAQ info gets posted. Fingers crossed, I'm hoping that happens soon. And hopefully everything works out for you and your campmates
@A Jester - very well said.
@Babsta - winners would be notified after the drawing, but ticket fulfillment would not happen until summer. International orders were always will-call though, so unless something changes I'm not sure the last bit would even apply for you. We should have details soon, hopefully it works out for your camp's planning.
