Why no exhibitor hall pass???
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Posted by daddystabz

Just for comparison...San Diego Comic-Con Con is a much, much larger con with more celebs, more to, do, and much bigger.  The cost for 1 day admission? $55.

The GenCon admission price went up like $15 from last year. 

 

Posted by hoidy daddystabz

daddystabz wrote:
Just for comparison...San Diego Comic-Con Con is a much, much larger con with more celebs, more to, do, and much bigger.  The cost for 1 day admission? $55.
The GenCon admission price went up like $15 from last year. 
 

It can also be very difficult to get one of those badges

Posted by maijstral2 hoidy

hoidy wrote:
daddystabz wrote:
Just for comparison...San Diego Comic-Con Con is a much, much larger con with more celebs, more to, do, and much bigger.  The cost for 1 day admission? $55.
The GenCon admission price went up like $15 from last year. 

It can also be very difficult to get one of those badges
If not impossible they come in limited numbers sell out within minutes then are scalped for, sometimes, hundreds of dollars if stories I've heard are true.

Posted by bigfathairyguy

I would say they need to charge even more to just go to the dealer hall or hang out in the hallways and not do events. That is the most crowded part of the convention. 

Posted by daringdragoon

Try planning in advance next year so you can preregister for discounted rates. 

Posted by trace_sl

Because every other person is paying extra for events, the badge is just that, a visitor badge, it just gives us the right to visit the convention and the option to participate in the activities.    

On top of that, there are a number of events that are taking place that do not require tickets nor is there volunteers at every event to monitor badges.  All it takes is one visitor that screws the system to cause issues, things like going to the costume contest or the auction or having a friend pass you a ticket so you can play a demo.  

As far as the increase in cost, I would say that is because of the expansion of Gen Con into other areas of the convention center that began this year. 
     

Posted by vutpakdi

Yes, $75 is very expensive if all you want to do is shop.  It sounds like it may be a wash if you just stay home and just buy whatever exclusives you want on ebay (with the accompanying markup).

Some manufacturers do release a set number of exclusives and pre-releases each day and not just on the first day.

Given that attendance is going up every year in spite of the increased costs for badges and housing as well as increased crowds (and accompanying hassle), I don't see the costs decreasing: there is no incentive for GenCon to offer reduced cost badges beyond the ones on Sunday.  

Posted by ryric

While I am not judging what you enjoy at Gen Con, it boggles my mind that you can "do" the entire exhibit hall in  4 hours. It takes my wife and I longer than that just to walk up and down all the aisles, noting booths we wish to return to later. For us shopping is a multi-day process:
Thursday: Pick up things that are hot or in danger of disappearing, or that we know in advance we want. Scout hall.
Friday: Demos and revisiting interesting booths
Saturday: mostly avoid exhibit hall
Sunday: Last minute purchases.

Posted by bith daddystabz

daddystabz wrote:
Why is there no badge for one day that allows people like me to just visit the exhibitor hall to do some shopping?
I know I already replied, but:

There is.  It's the one that costs $75.  It gives you limited access to the dealer hall, and a few other events, but for the vast majority of events it costs *extra* to play in those events.  That, I think, is the key element here.  Those 2 RPG sessions and 1 doomtown tournament I'm playing in?  They aren't free.  They did *not* come with the price of my badge. 

You can think the cost of the badge is ridiculous, but as long as 60,000+ people don't agree with you, your sol.

Posted by truelink daringdragoon

daringdragoon wrote:
Try planning in advance next year so you can preregister for discounted rates. 
.
It sounds like that would be difficult for daddystabz to do. I'm guessing they don't get their work schedule months in advance.

Daddystabz, I agree that that is a difficult cost to justify if all you are looking to do is shop the vendor hall for a few hours. I know I couldn't justify it. It sounds like GenCon is just not going to be a good fit for you this year. There is a lot more to see and do at GenCon than just get promos, so maybe next year you will have enough time to justify the badge cost with your friends.

Posted by boc_mage zaphod

zaphod wrote:
Gen Con is a 4-day convention with over 16,000 events.  It's not designed to be a quickie 4-hour shopping trip.  Most people who attend stay for a least a couple of days.  Those who only want to shop, can attend on Sunday, where the price is $45 for an entire family.  You're choosing to not attend the day that is designed for casual visitors and then complaining about the price.  Makes no sense.

+1, typical entitlement (don't care what age the op is). There is not an option that caters explicitly to him therefor the system is for 'fanboy's and suckers. 

I'll counter, i spend 5+ days in Indy and usually anymore gladly skip the dealerhall. Why? because i come to play games that i am unable to or won't play with my home groups. Why shouldn't i get a discount badge since i'll likely not step foot in dealerhall if i don't have to. This year i have 1 item on shopping list and can order online direct if i need to (thanks Artisan Dice).

Gencon isn't for everyone's taste/wallet/schedule. It is too big for that to be that absolute special thing to everyone. But it is special to a lot of us. Historical note, Origins used to do dealerhall pass only. Think it lasted 2 years. I grumble and still buy my 1 day pass for a 4 hour drive each way to shop a little. 

Posted by roundtop

I think the biggest thing that stands out was the comment that he wanted to gen con exclusives, which is why he wanted to get in.

Maybe the people who paid full price should get those exclusives, not someone who is coming just to snipe them.

Posted by alans

{{Never Mind}} I decided not to put out Troll Food.

Posted by ladyimm

Well, I checked Dragoncon, ComicCon and Origins.

None of these conventions offer exhibit hall only badges.  You buy a badge for the whole event (or whatever day you want to attend) or you don't go.

Just saying...

 

Posted by dradama

Way back in the Milwaukee days there was a spectator badge for just what the OP was looking for. 

With how many people keep attending they should probably keep increasing the ticket prices. 

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