Was there a waiting room problem?

soona · Post by **soona** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 7:53 am

Coming late to this discussion; maybe nobody will read this, but:

My girlfriend and I both tried to log on about 11:50 (from separate IP addresses - different states even). I immediately got into the waiting room and eventually did not get tickets.

She, on the other hand, did not get into the waiting room and was really frustrated, she kept trying to log on and then about 12:05 she suddenly got directly to ticket sales and was able to buy two tix plus a vehicle pass.

to be clear, she never got into the waiting room and she did get tickets. No idea why. She has theories but she always has theories.

Ratty · Post by **Ratty** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 8:17 am

Soona, Thanks for the info. Where you said,

she kept trying to log on and then about 12:05 she suddenly got directly to ticket sales

doesn't nail it down much. If it was 2:06 then we could add you to the list used by conspiracy theorists. (This thread is all for fun anyway.) I'm glad it worked out for you guys. See you in the dust.

I would like to thank all of our contestants for playing. Be sure and pick up your gift bag and hug on the way out. Today's venting thread is sponsored by Red Man suntan lotion. "Buy American, buy Red Man". And also by Fiber On a Stick. The only truly portable digestion aid. "If it ain't on a stick, it ain't shit". Thank you everybody. See you here next year for 'Timestamp Deathmatch' and 'Burner Hacks FAIL'.

smiffman · Post by **smiffman** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 9:12 am

Re: Was there a waiting room problem?

Answer: YES

sparr · Post by **sparr** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 9:23 am

Corvus wrote:an $80 pass which so far has been readily available

As I sat at the purchase screen and frantically raced a thousand other people to see who could click refresh and add to cart the fastest, I saw a lot of people apparently getting tickets with no chance to get a vehicle pass. I don't think they are as readily available as you suggest.

BBadger · Post by **BBadger** » Sat Apr 02, 2016 11:52 pm

Elderberry wrote:Being that both MV's and placed camps actually have a pretty big benefit to the whole event, I doubt that would happen. Not to mention it comes too close to pay to play. Or rather the more you pay the better your placement. Nope, no way in hell that would happen. (fingers crossed)

The benefit is far greater for the camps than for the "whole event." Historically, having reserved real estate is a huge benefit over having to fight it out for whatever spots are in the boondocks. It also granted/grants access to early arrival passes. More importantly these days, having a placed camp status inevitably means having access to DGS tickets, which allows camps to further build upon their wealth.

For MVs, sure they add to the visuals of Burning Man, but utility-wise, most MVs are personal camp transport vehicles. The demand for them was so great that people were swamping the event with worthless "cardboard box" MVs just to have a powered ride.

The BMORG could easily start charging "service handling fees" to siphon off a bit without any drop in demand. Reasons/excuses for the charges are also easy to invent as well.

Captain Goddammit wrote:That would have lawsuit written all over it.
If you publish rules saying trailered vehicles are exempt from the VP requirement, then deny someone because they have a trailered vehicle without a VP, which party has done something wrong?

Well we've already seen them change the rules. It'd probably be "oh hey, that was really so you could tow in MVs." But then some MVs aren't pre-mutated before they arrive.

gateway · Post by **gateway** » Wed Apr 06, 2016 9:50 am

Well it seems this thread is dead and also ignored by BM Staff that handles the tickets. Clearly their was *some* sort of issues with the waiting room, many people outside of just this thread have also voiced their issues with it.

The common situation was the following:

Followed the directions stating you can jump in the waiting room at 11:45 and to not refresh or use multiple browsers.
Most people took this to heart and jumped in at around that time.
A majority of those who did never got tickets and had the man slowly move across the screen until around 12:32 ish when everyone then saw a notice on screen saying all tickets where in carts.
Those that let the man finaly finish ended up on the ticket page with no change to buy tickets.

On the other hand those who may of jumped in the waiting room closer to 12:05 or after where pretty much taking to the store.

This is talked about as *luck* here on this thread which well it wasnt, I have stated many times in my threads the reasons the waiting room probably had issues, but you know what we will never know.

Any sort of rules/waiting room suggestions for next year will be completely ignored because people felt the sting this year.

I hope I'm able to secure tickets in the STEP program and well maybe the OMG (only 1000 tickets).

Again, this was all *luck* as everyone who got a ticket might be saying right now or the admins of this forum.

Hope to see some of my good friends at the Playa this year..

The Rod · Post by **The Rod** » Mon Apr 11, 2016 5:13 pm

Definitely a problem.

gateway · Post by **gateway** » Tue Apr 12, 2016 10:27 am

A-RockLeFrench wrote:Definitely a problem.

Thanks.. I knew someone would of had the time to capture and test the calls to the server, I personally was so pissed I didn't think to test some commands during the process

Jovankat · Post by **Jovankat** » Thu Apr 14, 2016 7:28 pm

The answer is yes.

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 9:04 pm

bump! because I have popcorn

Waiting Room

Waiting Room? Huh? Here’s What Happened in the 2016 Main Ticket Sale

April 14, 2016 By Burning Man

40 comments

'We do everything we can to give everyone a fair shot at a ticket to Burning Man, and we work with our ticketing partner Ticketfly to do just that. In an attempt to execute a smooth sale, Ticketfly adjusted how they implemented the queueing technology they use, which inadvertently resulted in 3,500 people who showed up early being placed in the front of the line during the March 23 Main Sale.

Because these people did nothing malicious, we’re not going to cancel their purchases, but unfair advantages are not acceptable, and we are working with Ticketfly to fix this problem for all future sales, including the August 3 OMG Sale. So what happened?

What Happened Before the Sale

Early in the planning process for the 2016 Main Sale, Ticketfly wanted to put a waiting room in place before the sale to accommodate the expected high server load. Under this plan, Burners who entered the sale before it opened would be placed in a “pre-queue” waiting room, and when the sale opened, everyone in that room would be randomly assigned a place in line.

We pushed back on this idea because it conflicted with our longtime policy that arriving early for a sale shouldn’t give one an advantage over someone who arrives when the sale officially begins. In this respect we’re kind of industry oddballs — it is standard practice in most high-volume ticket sales to use a waiting room like this, but it is philosophically out of line with how we feel participants should be treated in a sale.

In response, Ticketfly insisted the system was necessary to ensure a smooth sale, so we sent our standard night-before reminder email to everyone registered for the sale, including an explanation about the waiting room, to be transparent about the process.

In order to be fair to people who signed on at noon (as they were originally told to), we wanted the 20-minute waiting room to open at 11:45 am. That way, places in line wouldn’t be assigned until 12:05 pm, allowing people arriving promptly at noon to still have an equal chance. Everyone who showed up after 12:05 would be placed in line behind them.

It wasn’t ideal, but this compromise satisfied Ticketfly’s need to protect their system from attack and overload, and our need to not leave anyone out in the cold who showed up right at the official 12:00 pm sale time. Unfortunately, it turns out this isn’t what happened.

What We’ve Learned Since the Sale

Before 11:30 am, the Ticketfly system reached a load threshold that triggered the opening of a pre-pre-queue, called a “safety net”, that could absorb the crush of people attempting to line up in the minutes before the official start of the pre-queue. Here’s where human error comes into play: Ticketfly did not anticipate how the safety net would interact with the waiting room, and proceeded to open the expected waiting room at 11:30 am, 15 minutes earlier than we’d agreed and publicized. This waiting room was open for 35 minutes, still ending at 12:05 pm. Unbeknownst to us though, the roughly 3,500 people that arrived in the “safety net” period were given preferential placement ahead of everyone else to buy tickets and vehicle passes.

Reports from participants who experienced anomalies during the Main Sale began trickling in, and our team immediately started researching the claims and pressed Ticketfly for a more in-depth analysis. We scheduled a debrief meeting for April 11 to share the results of the research and address any remaining questions. It was at this point BRC learned about the failure of those caught in the “safety net” to be randomized along with everyone else.

Needless to say, we don’t like being in the position of having to notify people late in the game of a change in how the system works. On top of that, you can imagine our frustration upon learning of the system’s failure to faithfully randomize everyone. We hate that this happened. Please know that Ticketfly is keenly aware of how important it is to fix this problem and are committed to getting it right next time. And to you, we are sorry.

We genuinely wish ticket scarcity didn’t have to weigh on the community consciousness. Unfortunately, the reality is that demand far outstrips supply. But if you didn’t get tickets in the Main Sale, try not to lose heart; there are still options: The Secure Ticket Exchange Program (STEP) opens to those seeking tickets April 27, the OMG Sale happens August 3, and the Low Income Ticket Program is still accepting applications for those who have a demonstrable need for it. Also, keep in mind many tickets change hands among Burners during the summer as people’s plans settle down. This is practically a tradition. Be patient, get the word out, stay connected to your Burner community, and one could very well make its way to you.'

Post by **Elderberry** » Sat Apr 16, 2016 9:30 pm

viewtopic.php?f=464&t=77019

Jovankat · Post by **Jovankat** » Sun Apr 17, 2016 12:27 pm

Also the link in the comment above Tiahaar's was a link to the article