562 posts
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Post by jadnoop on Jan 12, 2019 16:44:21 GMT
So is the booking on Monday open to everyone who lost on the ballot or have just a few been emailed as I haven't had any? My take on it is that it's only open to those that receive a message. I.e. Any previous ballot losers were effectively automatically entered into this second ballot. If you've not received any emails it might be worth checking spam folder for the last few days in case it's gone there(?) Incidentlaly, for those in the know. Whenever they talk about 'new/extra seats available' what does this really mean? Is it a way of advertising less-than-expected sales figures (through the ballot or special/patron/industry figure seats), or is it because finalising the set means that 'new' seats (which they perhaps thought would have no view) have truly become available? |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2019 16:57:11 GMT
I entered the first ballot, got an email saying I was unsuccessful in that. But nothing this time. Sad Sooz.
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371 posts
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Post by sam22 on Jan 13, 2019 2:15:28 GMT
Eurgh I really want to see this, guess I won't get to!
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Post by wannabedirector on Jan 13, 2019 10:30:41 GMT
Really lucky to get entry pass tickets to this on Friday, there was lots of availability though, even on Saturday once all the ballot winners had presumably booked only one date had sold its entry pass allocation (of about 20 seats I would guess). Dunno what will happen to these tickets, another entry pass ballot, another public ballot, or day tickets, but there were a fair few there.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2019 11:48:45 GMT
Really lucky to get entry pass tickets to this on Friday, there was lots of availability though, even on Saturday once all the ballot winners had presumably booked only one date had sold its entry pass allocation (of about 20 seats I would guess). Dunno what will happen to these tickets, another entry pass ballot, another public ballot, or day tickets, but there were a fair few there. This may seem a radical idea but why not put them on sale to the general public? |
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Post by gingerB on Jan 13, 2019 12:40:54 GMT
Really lucky to get entry pass tickets to this on Friday, there was lots of availability though, even on Saturday once all the ballot winners had presumably booked only one date had sold its entry pass allocation (of about 20 seats I would guess). Dunno what will happen to these tickets, another entry pass ballot, another public ballot, or day tickets, but there were a fair few there. was wed 16th sold out? |
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Post by gingerB on Jan 13, 2019 12:45:50 GMT
Really lucky to get entry pass tickets to this on Friday, there was lots of availability though, even on Saturday once all the ballot winners had presumably booked only one date had sold its entry pass allocation (of about 20 seats I would guess). Dunno what will happen to these tickets, another entry pass ballot, another public ballot, or day tickets, but there were a fair few there. This may seem a radical idea but why not put them on sale to the general public? because they want people to "suffer" in the queue. Specially with the temperatures plummeting down when the play starts LOL |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2019 13:05:42 GMT
Really lucky to get entry pass tickets to this on Friday, there was lots of availability though, even on Saturday once all the ballot winners had presumably booked only one date had sold its entry pass allocation (of about 20 seats I would guess). Dunno what will happen to these tickets, another entry pass ballot, another public ballot, or day tickets, but there were a fair few there. was wed 16th sold out? What is showing says yes, I’m afraid. The only dates sold out though are 16th, 18th, 19th, 22nd and 23rd Jan. There are still over forty performances with tickets left, many of them with a substantial number if that helps. |
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Post by wannabedirector on Jan 13, 2019 13:06:34 GMT
Really lucky to get entry pass tickets to this on Friday, there was lots of availability though, even on Saturday once all the ballot winners had presumably booked only one date had sold its entry pass allocation (of about 20 seats I would guess). Dunno what will happen to these tickets, another entry pass ballot, another public ballot, or day tickets, but there were a fair few there. was wed 16th sold out? Only date sold out when I checked early on Saturday afternoon (booking period closed at 4pm so that may have changed) was the first preview. Every other date, including press night, had entry pass when I looked had tickets |
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Post by floorshow on Jan 13, 2019 13:39:44 GMT
Really lucky to get entry pass tickets to this on Friday, there was lots of availability though, even on Saturday once all the ballot winners had presumably booked only one date had sold its entry pass allocation (of about 20 seats I would guess). Dunno what will happen to these tickets, another entry pass ballot, another public ballot, or day tickets, but there were a fair few there. This may seem a radical idea but why not put them on sale to the general public? Ha! There'll be a ballot for the recently departed before actually doing something sensible like that.. |
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1,218 posts
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Post by nash16 on Jan 13, 2019 23:47:14 GMT
The ballot idea really was ridiculous.
Let's hope they are dissuaded by the fact they now have lots of tickets left, and no way of shifting them, without having more "guess what, you've won now too" type emails, or flogging them to the freezing day seat queues.
And get rid of the terrible "queue-it" software whilst they're at it. (The Royal Court has been encouraged to adopt this software for its Monday seats now too... for what reason?...)
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5,691 posts
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Post by lynette on Jan 13, 2019 23:51:49 GMT
It was a ridiculous idea. I hope they don’t do it again.
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3,040 posts
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Post by crowblack on Jan 14, 2019 0:37:56 GMT
I hope they don’t do it again. Yes, made those of us who didn't get tickets feel very shut out. I didn't think I'd feel this resentful about it but I do. Even if they do relax the system now and release more tickets, cheap train travel won't be possible that close to. |
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4,787 posts
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Post by Mark on Jan 14, 2019 12:34:01 GMT
Number 1000 in the queue and when I got through the last preview tickets must have just sold. Shame as they were the only dates I could do. Seems to be a fair amount of availability for the later dates, although at £28 for the potentially very restricted view seats, I'll give it a miss.
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2,744 posts
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Post by n1david on Jan 14, 2019 12:41:02 GMT
So is there a chance that the booking process for this will turn out to be a huge immersive theatre experiment by the NT, and there won't actually be a play at all?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2019 13:09:56 GMT
I've been saying for a while now that this has got to be some kind of long-form durational piece looking at the idea of causing suffering to audiences over a period of months. There'll be a play, but that will be only the smallest part of it.
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4,155 posts
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Post by kathryn on Jan 14, 2019 13:13:26 GMT
So, that was weird - for a minute there it let me select a seat after I logged in, even though I didn't enter the ballot let alone win it! They're all back to showing 'not on sale yet' again now, but for a few minutes there were dates with 10+ tickets available.
Ahhhh, ballots.....
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3,040 posts
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Post by crowblack on Jan 14, 2019 13:17:35 GMT
Same here. Quite a few seats on lots of dates, but then got a pink bar across the top saying no can do. |
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Post by bgarde on Jan 14, 2019 13:25:54 GMT
Got in quite easily. £23 for front row matinee on the last Saturday - restricted view /looking up but quite relieved as I'd no expectation of getting through after missing the first round.
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2,481 posts
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Post by zahidf on Jan 14, 2019 13:35:17 GMT
Got in quite easily. £23 for front row matinee on the last Saturday - restricted view /looking up but quite relieved as I'd no expectation of getting through after missing the first round. Public sale or entry pass? |
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100 posts
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Post by noboiscout on Jan 14, 2019 13:44:18 GMT
I am sure there is a camera following me..watching me try buy a ticket at work for Tortured Each Other..then see me being fired for misuse of computer..then fall in to arrears with rent..kicked out of flat..made homeless..then rescued by Director of Tortured Each Other from under Blackfriars Bridgr and brought onto stage of Dorfman a la The Trueman Show. That must be the reason behind the ballot as I can see no other reason for this torture..having 'won' second time around..and still no closer to a seat..
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Post by bgarde on Jan 14, 2019 13:47:40 GMT
Got in quite easily. £23 for front row matinee on the last Saturday - restricted view /looking up but quite relieved as I'd no expectation of getting through after missing the first round. Public sale or entry pass? Second round of public entry. |
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562 posts
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Post by jadnoop on Jan 14, 2019 14:23:59 GMT
For what it's worth, I hope the NT and other venues do ballots more regularly for events like this one where demand for tickets will hugely outstrip availability.
Granted, the way this has run has been messy, but it's just their first attempt. In the future, being more transparent about how it will work and when & what proportion of tickets will be available will be good, perhaps in conjunction with a more open day-ticketing system.
Ultimately though, once the kinks have been ironed out a ballot will mean that people aren't penalised for not having internet access, or access to lots of computers, or where work/study/other responsibilities means that they can't simply take time off at random times in order to enter the mad rush of a traditional sale.
The balloting system (in theory at least) gives everyone a fair stab at getting tickets and removes the need to set aside an unknown amount of time on ticket day to sit in front of several computers frantically hitting refresh. I suspect that it also helps with things like touts and reduces the load on the IT infrastructure since the surge in web traffic should be reduced and it's less problematic if the website struggles.
I can only imagine how thankless a task it must be for whoever is organising sales on things like this. At the end of the day, no matter what, there will always be a large number of people disappointed. Furthermore, there probably isn't a much chance of spending money on improving the ticketing system, given that the income is fixed (i.e. you can't increase the number of seats sold since it's already ~100%).
I appreciate that I've been lucky enough to get tickets in this second ballot, but I was saying the same thing back when I lost in the initial ballot.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2019 14:36:02 GMT
Whether I'm randomly selected to be one of the first ~however many~ on the day public booking opens or whether I'm randomly selected to win a ballot to buy a ticket, my ability to buy a ticket for a popular show that will have WAY more interest than seats over the course of the run is always going to be based in luck and it doesn't make that huge a difference to me which method they use. I stand by my belief that people who hate ballots are mostly just annoyed that they can't game the system to give them an edge in the ticket buying contest (and I don't believe that using multiple browsers to see which will get me nearest the front of the queue gives me a statistically significant advantage over the people who don't).
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Post by floorshow on Jan 14, 2019 15:00:49 GMT
I hate this ballot, it is annoying but not because I want to game the system. I just want to buy tickets, which has been possible for literally every other show in town. Even the ones that don't sell memberships to make ticket buying easier. Humph  |
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