IronCon 2014 - Possible Cancellation

Tahquil

Wait? So January is the dead dead dead dead dead buy by time? Even if there is a miracle and enough people buy by January 31st there will be no tickets after?

Kyrra

I'm pretty certain Sarapis has been saying that repeatedly and people aren't listening.

Tickets are only being sold until the end of January and if not enough sell in the meantime, it's being cancelled.

I'd go if I could. People should less money on globes and more money on tickets. This is clearly @Tecton's fault

Tahquil

Well I thought he was just saying : Not enough tickets sold, if we don't hit quota by Feb then no Ironcon.

Not : We're only selling tickets in January. Even if we hit enough for Ironcon to go ahead no tickets will be sold in Feburary, March, Apr.. and so on.

There's a difference between January begin the deciding mark whether Ironcon is going ahead or not and January being the only month you can buy tickets in.

Tamiko

Honestly, the economy has finally hit everyone. I would LOVE to go but tax returns are not even going to be accepted until January 31st due to the government shut down, meaning most of us won't be getting tax return money until mid February to late February. Everything has been pushed back. I was dead set on going to IronCon this year too but my spending money is literally being iron gripped by the government.

Antonius

@Tahquil: I assumed there will be more tickets on sale after January 31st, but only if there's enough sales before then for IronCon to go ahead.

Essentially if people are waiting to buy tickets because they think they have tons of time to do so, that's no longer the case; if they wait until after the end of January there won't be any left because the event won't be going ahead.

Sarapis

Tahquil said:

Wait? So January is the dead dead dead dead dead buy by time? Even if there is a miracle and enough people buy by January 31st there will be no tickets after?

Ahh, yeah, sorry, there would be tickets available after January if we sell enough by end of January. (Bit sick and fuzzy currently.)

Boosteya

@Sarapis Available-ticket-count check please? With how many $200-tix, if possible?

Sarapis

Not very many! 

Xith

Sarapis said:

We had plenty of tickets sold by this time last year, despite tickets going on sale later than they did this year, and all of your reasoning would have applied then as much as now. It's evident there is just far less interest this year.

Was it sold out last year and what percentage of ticket holders actually came?

Sarapis

Yep, it did, and every ticket was accounted for except one I think. 

Xith

But Sarapis... I bought two tickets and didn't get rid of either.... O.o

Either you misunderstood the question, or some lucky Achaean will be the star of The Hangover Part 4.

Sarapis

Well, like I said, "I think" but we weren't all that focused on that once we got there and started having fun. Could you just not offload yours or something?

Xith

No, I tried. Posted on Achaea's forums a bunch and at least 2 of the other IRE games I think. No contacts.

Hyperlith

Xith said:

No, I tried. Posted on Achaea's forums a bunch and at least 2 of the other IRE games I think. No contacts.

Same here. Different circumstances though. Sorry I missed y'all (and definitely will miss out in 2014).

Sarapis

Xith said:

No, I tried. Posted on Achaea's forums a bunch and at least 2 of the other IRE games I think. No contacts.

Huh, bummer. We did have quite a few transferred tickets but I guess you juat got unlucky on timing or whatnot.

Xith

Sarapis said:

Xith said:

No, I tried. Posted on Achaea's forums a bunch and at least 2 of the other IRE games I think. No contacts.

Huh, bummer. We did have quite a few transferred tickets but I guess you juat got unlucky on timing or whatnot.

It is unlucky that people hate me.

Jovie

For those of you who don't plan six months ahead, you could still purchase a ticket if you have any interest in going.

Then if you can't make it, you can sell your ticket.

And if it gets cancelled, you get your money back anyway.

You might lose a bit of money, but you'd be helping the cause right now.

Sarapis

Yeah, exactly! If you buy and we cancel, not only will we refund your money, but you got 100 free bound credits, since you can keep those. 

Rakon

$150-$200 too much for 100 bound credits if it's canceled though. 

Either way, too much for me to spend right now considering all the other costs involved with going to such an event. 

Antonius

@Rakon: What? If it's cancelled you get your money back so the 100 bound credits don't cost you a thing.

Jovie

Rakon said:

$150-$200 too much for 100 bound credits if it's canceled though. 

Either way, too much for me to spend right now considering all the other costs involved with going to such an event. 

Obviously that $150-200 isn't just for credits, you're buying a package to go to a convention and hang out in a literal mansion.

I don't know if you are in the US or not but trips to Vegas are rather cheap conus side. It's a tourist city, and you can find excellent deals for flights + hotels. I'd been under the impression it was expensive, but it's really not. What makes Vegas is expensive is the gambling.

Just a suggestion to anyone interested, every time you check plane prices on the same airline sites, make sure you delete your cookies before going again. They jack up the prices when they know you are interested, so the price will rise and rise.

Tamiko

Ummm...even from BWI to LAS and back is going to cost $300 in economy and business class takes a jump to $947. Some people have a drive to the airport, for me that is $100 since I have to have someone drive me. If you park your car, that costs a daily fee. You have to feed yourself. You have to take time off of work. All of that is on TOP of paying the $150-200 ticket to get in. 90% of plane tickets have a no return policy on them, even when brought 6 months in advance. I haven't even covered hotel costs sooo that's about $120 a night (checking into a Holiday Inn Express).

I don''t know about everyone else buuuut I'm not working right now. Even if I was working right now, most businesses hiring only paying $7.25 an hour where I live. Also, think about this, even if we buy the ticket now and we only did it so IronCon wouldn't be cancelled but then cancelled afterwards, there goes the funding IRE needs to set things up. I am pretty sure just buying the ticket and then cancelling is a big deal. You are asking someone to put down $150-200 to the average person working part time, that's a check and a quarter. Most of us have to fully support ourselves. That $150-200 is my natural gas bill alone.

I think some people who live closer to Las Vegas isn't thinking about us on the coasts, especially on the east coast or us that have to take care of all our bills on minimum wage. I understand where Rakon is coming from 100%. This trip is expensive...sooo let me break the costs down for some.

Ticket:  150

Airfare:  300

Parked Car at Airport:  30

Food: 150

Hotel:  360

Rental car: 90

Total:  1080

That total is not including spending money or taxes on items. Let's not forget bag fees or courtesy fees you will find at the hotel and rental car place. I'm basing these figures on traveling from Maryland and back with someone who has a driver's license. I don't have one so I am sure I would have to pay more out of pocket.

Just for those who don't realize some of us don't have $150-200 for a maybe.

Zeon

Unfortunately Ironcon doesn't really cater to all players equally. IRE couldn't do that even if they wanted to. There are players from all over the world, all of varying ages and socio-economic classes. Judging from the number of players walking around with a year's worth of rent in text bling, I imagine there is a significant number of players that could make a vacation like this.

Also I left my car at Seatac (Seattle-Tacoma airport) for like 4 days a few months back and paid over $100, $30 sounds like a steal.

Ruth

To get to Ironcon, I'll have to spend roughly 1900 USD for air tickets to Las Vegas. Don't forget accommodations which would probably add up to be about 400 USD, assuming 100 USD per night. Then there's food and transport to take note of, which I will likely set aside about 700-800 USD for. In total, that means I'll be looking to set aside 3,100 USD, which would be roughly 4,000 SGD (Singapore dollars) for me.

I'm still going though. If only to experience Ironcon once.

Antonius

Some of these estimates seem kind of high, and don't necessarily account for being able to split some costs with other attendees. Sure, some people just can't afford it, but if you (probably) can and feel like you might want to go (you do, trust me!) then buying a ticket is the sensible option.

Sarapis

Tamiko said:

Also, think about this, even if we buy the ticket now and we only did it so IronCon wouldn't be cancelled but then cancelled afterwards, there goes the funding IRE needs to set things up. I am pretty sure just buying the ticket and then cancelling is a big deal. 

Yeah, definitely do not buy a ticket with the intention of getting a refund later, as the only way we'd offer a refund on it is if we cancelled the whole event.

Tamiko

Antonius said:

Some of these estimates seem kind of high, and don't necessarily account for being able to split some costs with other attendees. Sure, some people just can't afford it, but if you (probably) can and feel like you might want to go (you do, trust me!) then buying a ticket is the sensible option.

My estimate was based on someone going from Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, getting the cheapest ticket possible (not on Southwest because the seating arrangement just sucks), going to an Holiday Inn Express which is decently located from the usual venue and a middle class hotel, BWI basic car parking, a rental car economy size, eating within the venue and sit down places (because who wants to just sit in their hotel when there is a nightlife with people you might only get to meet once), and cheapest IronCon ticket possible. 

Even if you shared the expenses you could with someone else (rental car and hotel costs) that would only reduce the grand total by $225. And remember, my price list above did not include spending money for knick knacks, go shopping, or gambling nor did the price include incurred taxes, courtesy fees, and checked luggage fees. Some of us have never been to Vegas to tell us we don't need spending money is denying us a key experience of a Con and Las Vegas.

I know IRE can not really make travelling costs for all of us. It is going to vary. I was just showing other people how the prices can jump from place to place. Especially for us that don't live in a major city. I'm about 2 1/2 - 3 hours away from Baltimore.

Sarapis said: 

Yeah, definitely do not buy a ticket with the intention of getting a refund later, as the only way we'd offer a refund on it is if we cancelled the whole event.

You know some people have the feels and were going to do it I really do wish I had the money. With Congress dragging their feet on everything, my money just isn't right.

Antonius

@Tamiko: I'm not telling you that you don't need spending money (of course you do, though how much really depends on you). I am, however, saying you don't need to spend $120/night on your hotel (even if you don't share) when you likely won't be doing anything other than crashing there (I paid 75/night for IronCon last year, my hotel was totally fine for what I needed it for), and Ruth probably isn't going to need 800 USD just for food and transport if she's only in Vegas for four or five days (unless she eats a lot more than her size suggests and/or has very expensive tastes).

(I also don't think reducing the total cost by 225 just from sharing expenses with others, when you started at 1080, is all that bad; that's over a fifth of your original estimate.)

Ruth

I'm staying in America for 3 weeks. Would explain 800 USD for food/other expenses. Normal estimate for four-five days would be like. 200?

Tamiko

Antonius said:

@Tamiko: I'm not telling you that you don't need spending money (of course you do, though how much really depends on you). I am, however, saying you don't need to spend $120/night on your hotel (even if you don't share) when you likely won't be doing anything other than crashing there (I paid 75/night for IronCon last year, my hotel was totally fine for what I needed it for), and Ruth probably isn't going to need 800 USD just for food and transport if she's only in Vegas for four or five days (unless she eats a lot more than her size suggests and/or has very expensive tastes).

(I also don't think reducing the total cost by 225 just from sharing expenses with others, when you started at 1080, is all that bad; that's over a fifth of your original estimate.)

Personally, I like Holiday Inn Express. It is a sound chain that offers protection from theft in their terms and agreements. No hotel chain under 100 offers that. You never really know how much you need that protection until you go to the hotel, leave your luggage there, and come back to half of it missing. Even reducing the hotel from $120 to $70 a night only saves you $150 from the total price (for a 3 night stay). You still have the same taxes and courtesy fees to pay. You say saving $225 (which included half of the rental car pricing so the true total of savings would be $160) isn't worth it so how is saving $150 ok?

That 1080 didn't cover everything I stated in my original post. That was the bare minimal basics for a driving Marylander for 3 nights in Las Vegas. I did not include spending money, taxes, or the baggage fees. When adding in those numbers, that 1080 could easily hit the 1500-1800 USD mark.

Again, I broke things down for the people who wasn't quite getting why some people can not afford a maybe on buying a ticket. $150-200 without tax money and on a minimum wage job is a biiiiggg commitment. Also...once you are actually dropping 1080 and more on a trip, I doubt saving $225 by sharing share a room and car with someone really matters. Honestly, if I'm dropping almost a grand to go halfway across the country (or out of my country) to enjoy myself, spending the extra $225 for privacy and the freedom to come and go as I please is worth that extra money.