|
Double Agent posted:That's not really the impression that I got as their reasoning for this. It seemed more like a way to reduce server load so the whole page didn't die because thousands of people were checking to see where in the queue they were at the same time. This is definitely a way for them to reduce server loads instead of investing in better servers.
|
# ? Feb 12, 2017 22:53 |
|
|
# ? May 10, 2024 00:56 |
|
RocknRollaAyatollah posted:This is definitely a way for them to reduce server loads instead of investing in better servers. Why invest in better servers (which are probably just co-located, anyway) when there's one day a year where there's any appreciable load? (I guess two; event reg day also drives a lot of traffic.)
|
# ? Feb 12, 2017 23:03 |
|
Welp, my hotel is a minimum 16 min drive from the Convention Center. At least I have a car to drive to and from.
|
# ? Feb 12, 2017 23:16 |
|
CellBlock posted:Why invest in better servers (which are probably just co-located, anyway) when there's one day a year where there's any appreciable load? (I guess two; event reg day also drives a lot of traffic.) I'm not saying they should, just adding to the sentiment that this is less about them finding a better system to give people equal access to rooms and more a system to lessen traffic on their end. It's an arbitrary and lovely system and instead of being hosed over by my ping I'm being hosed over by RNG. If you didn't get access within the first 2 and half hours, you're going to be pushing F5 until August or hope they open up more blocks after the VIGs throw down the scraps from their ivory tower.
|
# ? Feb 12, 2017 23:25 |
|
RocknRollaAyatollah posted:I'm not saying they should, just adding to the sentiment that this is less about them finding a better system to give people equal access to rooms and more a system to lessen traffic on their end. And the alternative would be... what now?
|
# ? Feb 12, 2017 23:29 |
|
I got in at 1:59pm and got a skywalk hotel! Only one bed so me and my friend will need to enact sacred friendship pillow (or get a cot, which is preferred)
|
# ? Feb 12, 2017 23:40 |
|
Haystack posted:And the alternative would be... what now? It's a lovely situation and difficult to deal with, don't get me wrong, but I just feel like they could have come up with a better system. It's not like they don't have the time or the money to do this. I could understand if it was a small convention that's only been around for a couple years but we're on year 50 of a convention that brings in tens of thousands of people every year. I honestly should just be happy I can go this year, I had to jump through a lot of hoops to pull it off. Having to wait and plan out my day to get hosed over by hotel rooms again just makes me salty about the whole thing.
|
# ? Feb 12, 2017 23:45 |
|
SirPhoebos posted:Welp, my hotel is a minimum 16 min drive from the Convention Center. At least I have a car to drive to and from. uber's your friend, friend.
|
# ? Feb 12, 2017 23:51 |
|
I think the current system is fine, frankly. I don't know how else they could fairly distribute rooms and I would rather it be through a random number generator like this than button mashing and ping times while hoping the server doesn't crash while you check out.
|
# ? Feb 12, 2017 23:58 |
|
Radio Free Walrus posted:Got our spots, I even ended up swinging a spot at the Westin with my 2:32pm. We got in a minute after you and there was NOTHING downtown. All we wanted was a single king for 2 people. Nothing. *sigh* So we're out at the airport. Anyone know what sort of shuttle system they have, if any, or do we need to look into renting a car once we get to indy?
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 00:25 |
|
Check on Air BnB too my dudes, it's normally pretty decent. Especially if you can jam in like 6-8 folks.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 00:37 |
|
Neveth posted:We got in a minute after you and there was NOTHING downtown. All we wanted was a single king for 2 people. Nothing. *sigh* So we're out at the airport. Anyone know what sort of shuttle system they have, if any, or do we need to look into renting a car once we get to indy? Initially there was nothing available outside of 4 blocks - a few refreshes revealed someone releasing the Westin.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 00:51 |
|
Neveth posted:We got in a minute after you and there was NOTHING downtown. All we wanted was a single king for 2 people. Nothing. *sigh* So we're out at the airport. Anyone know what sort of shuttle system they have, if any, or do we need to look into renting a car once we get to indy? 2 years ago we stayed near the airport, there are shuttles that come out to the outlying hotels. I can't remember the signup website offhand but it was 6 bucks a trip. We signed up for each morning shuttle in and über home so we didn't have a specific time we had to leave
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 01:04 |
|
Neveth posted:We got in a minute after you and there was NOTHING downtown. All we wanted was a single king for 2 people. Nothing. *sigh* So we're out at the airport. Anyone know what sort of shuttle system they have, if any, or do we need to look into renting a car once we get to indy? I think there's also a pedicab service which is kind of fun. Had to use them once when my car got locked in a parking garage overnight.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 01:17 |
|
LuiCypher posted:Fellis and I came to an arrangement where he'd use my account to get my sweet portal access time and he'd take care of all the deets on his end. Never needed to put my card up or check in to make sure I was making the 'right' reservation. This guy rules btw. Expect not to pay for drinks wed night
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 01:46 |
|
So how do you waitlist? Not going to do Gencon unless I can get something within walking distance, and my portal checkin was 8:00pm
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 02:00 |
|
My friends and I all signed up for badges separately to try to improve our chances in the lottery, and still didn't get in soon enough to get a walking distance hotel. Hopefully something opens up between now and then.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 02:13 |
|
Can't wait to see what I get!
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 02:21 |
|
There is a lifetime supply of salt about housing on facebook. Even though I got turbofucked by the system this year, it's still the best way to do it. The biggest problem was that since this was the first year they've done it this way, no one knew when downtown rooms were going to be gone. So now we have an idea of how long it's going to be if they stick with this format. Maybe. I think that since it's the 50th anniversary, more people who may not have attended this year are coming out of the woodwork. I guess we'll find out when attendance numbers are released post-con.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 02:29 |
|
I mean, I'm personally frustrated because their page said this:quote:Attendees should not be discouraged by a later starting time than in prior years, as the process will be intentionally paced differently in 2017. and quote:Attendees again should note that with this new process, access to the Housing Portal will be spread out over a longer span of time during the opening of Housing Registration than in past years. For instance, downtown housing still should be available after 2 pm (Eastern). Which implied that there were releasing downtown hotels in a staggered fashion throughout the day. But that seems not to have been the case at all, since most people are reporting that they were completely gone by about 2:30. By 3:05 PM (or 2:34 PM, going by someone else in the thread), it was airport only. At least with the old system I knew I was screwed with a later time slot instead of being assured otherwise.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 02:59 |
|
I mean the problem, logical or not, is at least before people felt some sense of power over their place in the order. If you showed up and hit the button at 12PM you knew you'd done everything you could. Obviously that's inaccurate and it was practically just as random as this system but replacing that with a direct RNG makes people feel like its arbitrary. Which it is but it was before anyway so. People feel "cheated". I'm annoyed that I just had literally 0 chance of ever getting a hotel within the state by my RNG roll but I've never gotten an early spot in any method so
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 03:05 |
The biggest problem is too many people, not enough rooms. The city is working on fixing that, but it takes several years of high day-to-day hotel occupancy before they will build more. They have had that even after the dumbass governor decided to push through the whole RFRA bullshit. So right now they are finding spots, getting permits, etc and in 1.5-2 years there should be at least 1 more good sized hotel downtown. Won't fix everything, but should help a little.
|
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 04:07 |
|
So I figured I'd check to see what was still available at 10:19 pm for kicks and as expected, it's gently caress-all. Nearest is 11.9 miles. Giving people log-in times 10+ hours after it opened feels like watching the last runner cross the finish line at a marathon well after it was won.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 04:24 |
|
Pez posted:2 years ago we stayed near the airport, there are shuttles that come out to the outlying hotels. I can't remember the signup website offhand but it was 6 bucks a trip. We signed up for each morning shuttle in and über home so we didn't have a specific time we had to leave Awesome, I will look into that. 2 years of skywalk hotels and the idea of bothering with a car is making me grumpy. I think I could put up with one uber a day? maybe? Radio Free Walrus posted:I think there's also a pedicab service which is kind of fun. Had to use them once when my car got locked in a parking garage overnight. The pedicabs are fun! I took one a couple years ago to the Cards Against Humanity concert/show/thing.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 05:37 |
|
Neveth posted:We got in a minute after you and there was NOTHING downtown. All we wanted was a single king for 2 people. Nothing. *sigh* So we're out at the airport. Anyone know what sort of shuttle system they have, if any, or do we need to look into renting a car once we get to indy? They have a shuttle but also just uber or taxi in, parking is like $20 a day and renting a car is going to be way more expensive than just using uber which is hella convenient and let's you drink.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 10:15 |
|
Sigma-X posted:They have a shuttle but also just uber or taxi in, parking is like $20 a day and renting a car is going to be way more expensive than just using uber which is hella convenient and let's you drink. Parking in the stadium is significantly cheaper than $20.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 10:29 |
|
Is there such a thing as a GenCon God? Bought badges on a whim because I wanted to see if I could (and have always wanted to go) and my housing time was 12:01pm so was able to get into the Westin. Do I have to sacrifice a small child now or was that now banned?
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 11:49 |
|
Just know as punishment you have to introduce yourself to every goon you meet as the guy/gal that was born lucky so we can all get our turn telling you to gently caress off and damning you to Catholic Hell.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 11:57 |
|
Yeah especially frustrating this year. No one i went with got any earlier than 330 EST and everything with 6 miles was gone by then. Now there is literally 0 availability which is crazy Fuckin' a. I got 3 mouths to house
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 15:11 |
|
It's six months and change to the event, rooms will open up, they always do. All the downtown rooms are gone within three hours, anyway. Namaste.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 16:29 |
|
Housing panic is done, let the panic of event registration begin!
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 16:41 |
|
Yeah, I was spoiled the past couple of years getting easy access to doubles in connected hotels. This year will be a challenge, you just have to not freak out too much and make backup plans. (My group ended up booking something at an Embassy Suites like 12 miles away, but it's a queen/queen/sofa room that sleeps 6, so one way or another, we'll at least have some crash space. We usually drive to Indy, so we'll have cars, and the room is a lot cheaper, so there's leftover money for Uber or whatever.) VIG leftovers will open, people will consolidate/cancel, and everyone will still get to go to Gen Con.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 16:43 |
|
CyberGeist posted:Is there such a thing as a GenCon God? The Random Number God gives and takes. Next year you'll wind up with 12:01am. Edit: I should probably make a brief guide to GenCon housing, especially if they're going to continue with the system next year.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 17:01 |
|
LuiCypher posted:The Random Number God gives and takes. Next year you'll wind up with 12:01am. 1: Buy Badge 2: Pray
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 17:15 |
|
Ugh. I don't know what compelled me to do this, but here's the quintessential GenCon Housing Guide based upon both my experiences and those of other goons in this thread for TYOOL 2017. Let me know if you think I missed anything major. Edit: I realize it's kind of late, but I want to keep it around for next year. As I won't be attending next year, I'll be more than happy to leave it in the care of another goon to update after Housing Portal: GenCon 51 Edition. They will likely be unable to resist jiggering with how it works considering the outpouring of salt. LuiCypher fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Feb 13, 2017 |
# ? Feb 13, 2017 18:15 |
|
Didn't someone have a script or something to auto check hotel availability last year? Does someone still have it?
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 19:53 |
|
Does anyone know when they usually dump in the VIG block leftovers? Are we talking a few days or weeks here?
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 20:47 |
|
nesbit37 posted:Does anyone know when they usually dump in the VIG block leftovers? Are we talking a few days or weeks here? It should have already happened. Let me check the emails. Edit: from the email "Registration will remain open for returning VIGs until February 5 at 11:59 am (Eastern). You will need to purchase your VIG package by that date. VIGs must reserve all of their preferred VIG housing by February 12, 2017. After that date, you can reserve housing, but it will be offered from the regular attendee housing block, while supplies last." 8one6 fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Feb 13, 2017 |
# ? Feb 13, 2017 20:52 |
|
8one6 posted:It should have already happened. Let me check the emails. This is confusing because don't they usually free up the unused VIG rooms a month or two before the convention? Is this how it's always worded in the faq or did they change the policy? EDIT: Looking at the language of 2016's VIG faq, it seems like all the VIG reserved rooms are now gone. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 22:38 on Feb 13, 2017 |
# ? Feb 13, 2017 22:22 |
|
|
# ? May 10, 2024 00:56 |
|
I think it refers to actually grabbing one, but that doesn't mean they won't cancel in a month and then it frees up on the block.
|
# ? Feb 13, 2017 22:45 |