Comic-Con started selling tickets for 2011 Registration at 9:00 a.m., and shortly after registration opened the site went over captivity asking would-be buyers to “try again momentarily”.
Was anybody surprised? Of course not. Twitter lit up with people chiming in with predictable frustration. “My first year at #SDCC was 2009, and I don't recall buying a ticket being THIS bad. This is ridiculous”, tweeted @IntempestaNox Early tweets had stories of near success; “I GOT THE BUY SCREEN FOR HALF A SECOND! Then tried to proceed and got comiccockblocked. #sdcc”, said green_queen. Other tweets aimed at Ticket Leap (Comic-Con’s ticket seller) went as far as to say that if this sort of thing happens every registration they might just give up all together. One tweet, from shaylrose, blamed “freaking Twilight girls invading” the convention for overloading the site. Others said they would even be willing to pay high Ticketmaster fees to avoid another ticketing snafu.
TicketLeap quickly responded, in a tweet, “@Comic_Con fans, if you see an over capacity message hit refresh. We are under heavy load right now and it should smooth out. #sdcc.”
Comic Con tickets are not available over the phone. Some fans suggested that organizers renew tickets for attendees who have gone to the show in the past.