A few answers on Pre-reg

29 JANUARY 2014



Another day, another trickle of information about Pre-registration. This almost makes me nostalgic for the great Pre-reg camp-out fail of 2011. (But not really.)


CCI released a few more details today:

• Notification: We'll get an email at least 24 hours in advance of the sale that contains our own personal registration code and link. Their advice is kind of hilarious: "if you do not receive an email, don't fret. You will be able to access your personal registration code by logging into your Member ID account." Unless, you know, you don't know to check your account because you didn't receive an email telling you about the sale. 

• The much-discussed registration code: this is to keep out ineligible rabble and bots "that want to crash the system." Right, all the past crashes were due to a big bot conspiracy. This code is NOT the badge code we were previously instructed to use; that was eliminated, and now there's a new personal code you'll receive in the above email.

• The timeframe: we'll get two hours to enter our registration codes and access the waiting room, beginning at 7 am PST. So no worries about making a typo in your code. You can relax. THEN the sale will go live at 9 am and the melee will begin. Just kidding  - it will be more like silent, hopeless fury as EPIC randomly sorts people for registration. Your place in line will not be connected to when you joined the waiting room. Unless, that is, you enter after the 9 am time. Then you'll go to the back of the line.

• The number of devices allowed: You can only use that registration code on one device, for one admission to the waiting room. No operating a network of tablets and phones and laptops. One person, one device.

• On refreshing: don't do it during the sale or you'll go to the back of the line. We've been given this advice before and it wasn't always the right advice - but you're still probably better off trusting it this time.

• Buying for friends: Yep, you can still buy for 3 people total (presumably yourself and 2 others.) Even if your friends are in line, it's ok. Now here's where it gets interesting: if you're in line and your best friend buys your badge, you can now use your turn to buy three badges for other people. That means that groups traveling together can up their chances slightly over people who are just buying for one or two people. I predict it also means that we'll see more people offering to buy marked-up badges for others.

So there it is. The era of the lottery has arrived.