It didn’t break last year’s record but it came pretty close. The yearly online version of ‘The Hunger Games’ where hundreds of thousands of geeks fight to the proverbial soul sucking death to obtain the golden ticket – yes, folks, I’m talking about the quest to obtain online a San Diego Comic Con badge – began and ended in 93 minutes.
Soul sucking is putting it mildly as badges for the crown jewel of comic conventions officially went on sale today, February 16, at 9AM PST. By 9:06, many people were receiving this notice:
“We are sorry, but the EPIC online waiting room has reached capacity and it is unlikely that badges are still available. Please click here to return to the Comic-Con website. If you were unable to purchase a badge today, please check our website frequently or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for important badge resale announcements later this year.”
By 9:55AM, 4 day passes and 4 day passes with the preview night (costing $150 and $175 each) were sold out. 15 minutes later, Friday and Saturday badges were gone and by 10:35 it was all over.
Wails of unsuccessful potential buyers were heard across Facebook and Twitter complaining about the same issues the site had last year: server errors, site crashes and permanent over -site capacity messages. Some just felt the need to wail:
Whoever got the EPIC page to load…who did you have to sell your soul to? Crowley? Lemme know. #sdcc #comiccon @comic_con
— Devan (@vivaladevann) February 16, 2013
Seriously, someone needs to make a #ComicCon horror movie that begins with trying to get tickets and timing out. — Fogs (@Fogsmoviereview) February 16, 2013
I felt a disturbance in the force, as thousands of voices cried as their hopes for a #ComicCon badge slip away…
— Fernando Ortega (@IxmatiVader) February 16, 2013
This morning’s time allocation brought to you by failed #comiccon #sdcc registration. — Eric Cheng (@echeng) February 16, 2013
The #ComicCon Waiting Room page never updated; please increase the number of hamsters powering your servers next year, @comic_con. — More_Miscellany (@More_Miscellany) February 16, 2013
I’ve failed. Looks like #ComicCon is sold out. Who must I blow while wearing a Hello Kitty Costume and a Halo Helmet for tickets?.
— LaMott Jackson (@lamottjackson) February 16, 2013
Epic room? More like epic failure, thanks @comic_con, the servers crashed within the first couple of seconds. twitter.com/mohamedmansour…
— Mohamed Mansour (@mohamedmansour) February 16, 2013
‘Wow!Getting Comic Con tickets was easy this year’ – Said by nobody #comiccon
is that an earthquake? no, it’s a million nerds clicking there mouses to buy tix to #sdcc #comiccon!
— Johnny (@NerdOutburst) February 16, 2013
— Mark Espinosa (@MarkEEspinosa) February 16, 2013
Last year, SDCC did admit there were problems in their process and like last year, the organizers will be offering a resale opportunity telling those who were left empty handed to “check our website frequently or follow us on Facebook and Twitter for important badge resale announcements later this year.”
So were you able to get a badge? Let us know below and maybe we can set up a ScienceFiction.com meet up!