I disagree that "the existence of people who are taking downtown hotel rooms but didn't actually want them is entirely mythical" as if so, my group is one of these mythical beasts.

My group of 6 tried to get multiple rooms downtown.  Why?  Because 6 is the max in the rooms and if one of our buddies joined in later, we wanted to make sure we had the room space available.  The more options the better.

However, the idea that rooms would be taken because of these people is 100% off base.  In my scenario, I ended up getting extra out of block rooms.  Does this mean other people couldn't get those rooms?  Most definitely.  But, this is what people are forgetting.  If someone needs 1 room and books 2 rooms.  They now have 2 options...keep the extra room and pay like $1,500 or drop it.  What happens when they drop it?  Yep.  Another gamer gets it.

So, no matter which way you slice it, the same number of gamers get the rooms.  First come, first served or lottery really only covers 90-95%, the other 5-10% is luck of the draw / based on persistence...just like buying sport/concert tickets, finding that elusive new released console, etc.  

But then you still want the room. You didn't take six rooms, four of which you didn't want. And if your seventh friend does not come you release or trade the room to someone who DOES want it.

I think everyone with multiple badges tried to get multiple rooms. If not for themselves, then for a buddy who missed out.

People who don't want rooms don't bother logging on or into it to begin with. My sister, for example, who stays, believe it or not, in a friend's office downtown. She stays with the friend at the friend's house until friday, gets the key to get into the office building, takes an inflatable mattress, and sleeps there every night. Walking distance.

I doubt the office cares, or probably even knows. She probably isn't the only one, either.

I understand it can be hard to see the forest for the trees when you're in the middle of it, but as a person who has been locked out from the housing portal because of the error a few years back, this year's was smooth sailing from a technical standpoint, so even though I didn't get the rooms I wanted, that's what happens when the event you're going to is huge.  Who knows?  I might get lucky next year.

You are kidding yourself if you think that a checkbox would knock people out by achieving anything other than making the system more confusing. In no way does an extra check box "simplify" anything. It is the opposite of simplification. It's just going to result in people who didn't realize they needed to check it, or having to clarify that people need to check it to be part of the lottery.

Seriously, there is no system in place that will lower demand for downtown hotel rooms. The only solution is a greater supply of them, and that isn't up to GenCon, it's up to Indy.

(I still booked emergency downtown hotels even at $300+ a night for a few years, but so far I have not ended up needing them...and this year I could not even manage that, as the Conrad at like $500/night was the only choice I saw when booking in September)

Ryanjamison, it seems as though you didn't read and comprehend what I wrote. 

I thought this was the place for ideas and suggestions to improve the Con. Evidently, I'm in the wrong place. My bad. 

Of all the things that make this thread the most entertaining in the forums, I think what I like best is the fact that the word "housing" is not capitalized, the word "WORST" is all-capped, and then, bizarrely, "Ever" gets that capital E.

Ryanjamison, FYI I haven't used the housing lottery in a couple of years, so your accusation that this is for my personal gain has no basis in truth. 

People who don't use their lottery time ARE a factor. EVERYONE who purchases a badge is assigned a housing login time. If some of those ppl, locals and those who already had housing handled, opted out (indicating so by use of a check box during badge purchase), fewer people would be assigned housing login times, therefore shortening and simplifying the process. 

So, if we bought our two badges, opting out of the lottery would allow someone else to move up into our time slot. 

Never did I say that the number of hotel rooms would be impacted. 

The process taking too long was not the complaint. People not getting downtown rooms was. Removing people from the process doesn't affect that if they aren't even logging in.

At best, you'd be logging in at an earlier time for the exact same room availability, while running the risk of people opting out or not opting in that did not mean to. Since you get your time sent to you in the morning, nothing is shortened for anyone, just shifted earlier. This really has no objective benefit.

From GenCon's perspective, fewer people logging in at a time is a boon for server stability, ensuring uptime during everyone's slot.

It is, once again, a solution in search of a problem.

Thanks for the lively conversation. Have a great con, y'all.

I always love this conversation.  I'm one of those who books early and out of block.  I actually (horrors!) booked THREE hotel rooms this year.  I booked the Hampton Inn downtown, for $2366 for 7 nights on 9/23.  I actually just released that reservation recently.  I then booked the Homewood Suites (which DOES NOT participate in the housing block) for $1,417 for 5 nights on 10/21/16.  I also posted in the forum that the rooms were available when I saw them come online.  The Homewood is just a little over block rate - and that's for a 2-room suite with wifi & breakfast included, 2 blocks from the ICC.

I also booked the Hampton Inn South on 8/23/16 for $756 for 5 nights.  Yes, it's 10 minutes away.  But if we decided we wanted to save money  and drive in, we could.  I still have that reservation, but we'll probably release it.  We've pretty much decided we want to be downtown for the 50th.

In years past, I've gotten the Embassy Suites for less than block rate.  That got farked this year when Hilton messed up their reservation system and then canceled all the reservations.  Poor customer service on their part, and I'm not happy with it at all.  However, that may be fixed next year, so we'll see if they redeem themselves.  (Note, those that got through on Hotels.com apparently did NOT lose their reservations, only those who actually booked directly through Hilton.)

There are options.  Yes, you may pay more for them.  And yes, if my lottery time had been earlier than 8:30 or whatever it was, I may have logged in and gotten an in-block room (I also may not have, Homewood Suites isn't that much more than a block rate, and I'm liking the idea of the convenience and the perks). 

But that doesn't mean I'd have been "taking a room away from someone else".  My purchase of a badge entitles me to the same access to in-block rooms as everyone else who purchases a badge.  If GenCon chooses a lottery and I get "lucky" enough to get an early time, that isn't stealing something from someone else.  If I choose not to book a room, that room remains open for the next person to log in. 

We're in on that Homewood Suites deal, too, thanks to you! I think ours was $1550ish for 6 nights, including taxes. I'll give it a try. 
Anything is better than arrival and departure from the downtown Embassy Suites. Such a mess!

Neither me nor the other members of my 4-person group have ever gotten near downtown using the lottery the last two years we have tried. The first year the best choice the lottery gave us was the Airport Candlewood Suites (6.7 mi away), and this year I just reserved at that same Candlewood outside of the lottery last November so I could use my points and not worry about it. We did try the lottery again this year for downtown rooms with no luck.

IHG (they own Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Candlewood, among others) does let you reserve 12 months in advance, and I did see rooms at the Crowne Plaza available during Gencon for general reservation starting at $450/night. If I remember correctly, I think the Residence Inn downtown also had non-Gencon rooms starting at $500/night. Personally, staying downtown is not worth $450-500+/day to me, but may be to others.

PS- For anyone else who belongs to the IHG points club, I tried using my "guaranteed availability" perk at the Holiday Inn Express downtown and they turned me down. There is fine print that says it is up to the hotel's discretion to deny this perk, but possibly if you were willing to make a scene about it (I wasn't), especially if you are Spire tier, you might be able to get them to give in.

Also, "GenCon 2" is a ridiculous idea and didn't work in the past; will not work in the future.

Indy does have its issues, but the demand is so high there is literally nothing that can be done about it until Indy expands its hotel availability.

Try being me- I live a solid hour from Indianapolis, far passed even the outer ring hotels.  Getting a hotel for my group is not cost-effective at all, yet we have to spend 2 hours + driving in and out everyday, which cancels any event for us earlier than 900a due to needing to sleep.  On top of that, imagine being an hour away but then getting a hotel downtown...we would be using a room which someone from out of state could be using.  

People have to get it through their skulls that yes, this problems sucks a big one, but gencon has no power over the matter.  It's a symptom of rapid expansion and popularity, supply and demand.  If you should be mad at someone or something, be mad at economics.  Which, I might add, doesn't care about your complaints.  I would love to get a hotel room downtown so I didn't have to get home at 100a only to have to get up in time to leave by 800a to make the morning games.