Should Hall H be a line, a lottery, or both?

 15 JULY 2024

The general consensus so far is that San Diego Comic-Con 2024 is looking as ripe and juicy as a pre-pandemic Con - or pretty close, at least. I feel like that was confirmed by today's sizzling announcement of a "Deadpool & Wolverine Celebration of Life" Hall H lottery event. The fact that it's stretching for several hours hints heavily that it includes the movie. So if you weren't enticed enough by the Thursday night riches of Her Universe, Kung Fu, or Methgator, here is an even splashier option. In fact, I feel safe in saying it will be the #1 pick for many people.

But it's a lottery! So we all signed up here at this link: event.twdc.com/ultimatedpw and now we wait.

And it brought up a recurring debate: should all of Hall H be a lottery or a line?

Advantages to a lottery

It eliminates cheating and takes away the advantage from people with massive, well-organized friend groups. It's also kinder to people who aren't disabled enough for the ADA line but have the kind of physical ailments that make it impossible to stay in a long line. Ditto for volunteers who can't break away from their assignments to wait in line or panelists or parents or vendors - you get the idea. A lot of people who would love to get into Hall H but can't hack the lines would finally have a chance without having to give up other Con events.

What's not great: it would break up groups and families, where only some could get in and others wouldn't. (Can you imagine being the 1 person who gets in and having to pick your +1 without pissing off your friends? You'd have to hold another lottery.)  And some attendees would have to pay for badges and hotels without knowing if they could even get into their raison d'etre.

Advantages to a line

It puts control back in attendees' hands - especially the most determined, passionate fans willing to sacrifice all else. If they buy badges specifically to see a certain panel that's almost certain to be there, they can somewhat guarantee access as long as they're ready to spend hours in line. And as I've said before, many people actually enjoy being in line - that's part of the event for them.

What's not great: all the problems we have now - having to make Sophie's Choice between different parts of the Con, the physical difficulty in staying in line so long, time constraints and professional responsibilities, and the bitter fights over cheating.

Advantages to combined

In this scenario, half the room is a lottery, half is a line. Best of both worlds, right? My first impulse is to vote for this but I recognize it would create even greater competition and divisiveness amongst the line warriors. 

I know you all have opinions on this. I don't think there's a perfect solution. I do think we need to try other options - I don't understand why we can't have Hall H on Sunday, for instance (we used to) so please explain in the comments if you know. Holding the most popular panels twice or simply having Marvel/whoever hold court for four hours and have different groups come in and out would be dreary for the panelists but would accommodate a much larger number of people. Again, it wouldn't accommodate everyone (and the room would have to be cleared) but I can't think of anything that would.

So where do you fall? Line, lottery, or both? Or do you have a genius idea no one has tried? If so, you should definitely bring it to the Talkback panel.