Disappointed Event Experience

General Discussion
1

I had several issues with my experience that I feel are worth addressing.

I registered for the event on Friday after seeing that several other people were registering that day. However, it took some searching just to figure out that Friday registration was available. For an event of this size, basic information such as registration times, event hours, merchandise hours, activities, and entry locations should have been clearly presented in one centralized schedule or calendar. The information seemed scattered, with the most visible schedule focusing primarily on the shows in the showroom.

With this being promoted as a celebration/party and the event closing at 7:00 p.m., the amount of time spent standing in lines significantly limited what my wife and I were able to experience. Between the merchandise store, Darkmoon Faire, and food lines, we spent much of our time waiting rather than enjoying the event.

The merchandise experience was particularly disappointing. On Friday, I spent approximately four hours in the merchandise line. On Saturday, we attempted to return to the merchandise store, only to have the line closed at approximately 6:00 p.m., despite the store being advertised as open until 7:00 p.m.

I was also disappointed to find that a different set of keychain plushies had been put out on Saturday. I wanted to purchase that set as well as a BlizzCon backpack, but because the merchandise line was closed early, I was unable to purchase either item.

Another frustration was entry into the event. Information appeared to advertise one primary entry point, but after spending hours waiting in line, we learned that there were two additional entry points available. Better communication and signage regarding all available entrances could have significantly reduced wait times and improved the experience.

I have been an active subscriber since 2004, and this was my first BlizzCon. I came into the event excited to finally experience it in person. Unfortunately, my wife and I left disappointed with several of the organizational and communication decisions. I completely understand that an event with this many attendees will involve lines and waiting. My frustration is that unclear information and lines being closed before the advertised event hours prevented us from experiencing parts of the event and purchasing merchandise that we specifically wanted.

I would also appreciate a response regarding the merchandise I was unable to purchase because the line was closed early. Is there a way for me to purchase the set of keychain plushies that was released on Saturday and a BlizzCon backpack after the event? I am not asking for these items for free—I simply would like the opportunity to purchase them, since I was at the event and attempted to do so but was unable to because the merchandise line was closed before the advertised closing time.

I hope this feedback is considered when planning future BlizzCon events. There was a lot that we wanted to experience, but better communication, a single comprehensive schedule, accurate operating hours, better management of merchandise lines, and clearly advertised entry points would have made a significant difference.

Outside of these issues, my wife and I had an overall positive experience and enjoyed the event.

2

A clarifying question, was the line closed or at capacity for what they could reasonably service?

I know those lines were brutal and if they have say 600 people in line at 6, they maybe can’t service anymore people and reasonably expect to have the ability to service everyone and close at 7.

3

The lack of communication in terms of the entrances was insane, but almost worse than that for myself was when I asked one of the employees about other entrances (after the people in line around me talked about others) and the employee said he honestly didn’t know. Seems that communication was lacking on multiple levels.

The low inventory count on the merchandise was also disappointing. The one item I wanted to get, a blizzcon hat, was entirely gone by Saturday.

If more merchandise was sold than anticipated..it would be really cool if an attendee only page of the online store was a thing.. and those whom attended (based off it being tied to your bnet) could purchase various event-only items

4

No line to enter at around 6 on Saturday night. We could see people in the store excuse was they had to have to to clear everyone out mean while they were letting media into the store.

5

Yeah, the mutli-entrance thing was really confusing. I entered in on the Hall D side, which was really easy, but then realized that there were multiple entrances, like how the main entrance was on the Hilton/Mariott side. Some clarity on the multiple entry and exit points would have been nice.

6

The Blizzcon page addressed a lot of things people were confused about. The “things to know before you arrive” page was particularly helpful in explaining where to go and when things opened and closed. The Friday registration and store hours were posted there, along with the links to the daily schedule and a pretty detailed map. The Blizzcon page was thick with details and information about the logistics of the show, including community stuff. I don’t know why so many people didn’t use the website.

But you nailed it with the lines. Practically had to get in line to get in the line. And the lines to get into places like DMF and the store changed multiple times during the weekend which made matters even worse. To make matters worse, it became a cluster mess between lines and just gaggles of people standing around because there weren’t even many places you could go to sit and relax indoors. I feel like they tried to cram in too much stuff and didn’t give us enough space to actually gather without clumping up a line. Hall E was ridiculously under used outside of the early registration. Place was empty almost all weekend except Friday. But God forbid you if weren’t staff or a cosplayer to use the space to get out of the way of the horde (no pun intended).

The thing about the store and the release of new merch on Saturday was they should have opened the blink store again. And for the love of Azeroth, Blizzard, freakin stock your merch better! Blizz knows how many tickets were sold, they know everyone is going to want the exclusive pins and keychains. Bring enough for everyone! That said, all the scalpers and trade mongers need to stop buying so many just to leverage it for personal gain. And limits won’t help unless we get one time use checkout codes because they just get right back in line to bypass the limit.

All of it kind of boils down to I feel like they oversold tickets. Must have been 50,000 people and that saps a lot of the fun because you can’t even walk two feet without encountering a line. I know it’s an expensive event for Blizz, but they can throw the long Boi into the cash shop and print $12 million dollars so I think they can pony up for a more exclusive event somewhere in a happy medium where we can actually swing our arms when we walk and still cover some expenses.