Dark Lord Day 2016

It's not too easy to line jump since the line is a bunch of crowd control barriers going back and forth that forms most of the line, while I have seen someone jump a barrier, and you do get people trying to get back up to their group after stopping mid-line to use the bathroom (they have porta potties along the way in the sales line), for the most part people stay where they are. And honestly, line jumping would only benefit you at a very limited point in time, that would be when they are selling the last 20-30 bottles of Vanilla Bean during Group B or early Group C (or for all we know sometime during Group A). So for 98% of people attending it will have no impact.

 

Back in the old day we would sacrifice their first born and then stone them. Not quite sure how it's handled in today's modern era.

 

Thanks for the response. Your first point has merit, although I don't think it's a reach to say that the percentage of people looking for Group A for personal scheduling reasons is very low and given the mass amount of people simultaneously trying to get ANY ticket for DLD (not just Group A), randomizing variants probably wouldn't make it markedly easier to get into your group of choice.

As for the concern about paying the same price but getting a different product, I don't think that argument holds much water. If you've ever paid for a ticket at a concert or sporting event and were seated somewhere other than the ideal position in the stadium/arena/hall/etc for that price point, you've already fallen "victim" to this kind of commerce. IMO, once the vendor has shown you what you're purchasing and how much you're paying for it, it's on you as the consumer to click "complete order" or not. And once you decide to do so, it's tough for me to agree that you've been treated unfairly in any way assuming that you receive the product as advertised at the price that was agreed upon.

Also, you state "first come, first served on variants when we don't all have equal chance to be first...". Out of curiosity, in what way do you think you were denied an equal chance to be first?

Again, thanks for the cordial response and I completely agree with your final sentiment...it's just a beer forum. Cheers!

 

Line jumping at the beginning of the festival to get in at the south gate has been awful the last two years. It's amazing how my group was literally the first in line on Friday night and yet there seemed to be an abundance of people ahead of us or trying to get ahead of us as the gate open time approached. I wish they would put up those barriers for the line to get in to the festival.

 

Hey, this sounds like an app. We should get together and make it happen. We could sell it to drunk people at beer festivals!
(in case you thought I was more serious than you!)

 

If people can't stomach not getting what they view as a primo variant, then they should just go for Group A tickets and choose not to attend if they don't succeed. Nobody is "forced" to buy a variant, because nobody is "forced" to buy a ticket for DLD. And yet, the word "forced" is being bandied about routinely.

I do agree that completely randomizing the variants you get it would get rid of a lot of the most douchey conduct.

DLD is a blast. There are amazing guest taps and fantastic beers to share. People are generally really cool, despite the line-cutting and whatnot. If even 10% of your enjoyment of the event comes from whether you get the best trophy variant vs. something else, that's a shame.

 

Just to play devil's advocate, most concerts/sporting events/etc. that are not general admission have tiered pricing for different quality seats. To be analogous, each group really should be priced differently.

I do think fewer people would be worried about group A and might, in fact, avoid it if it offered no advantage in selection. They could sleep in, drive in from out of town that day without getting up at 0-dark-thirty (saving one night's hotel expense), have time to hit guest taps and/or merch before lining up for their allotment and may prefer later bands but not want to spend 10+ hours there. Those are just a few reasons to prefer a later group. In fact, other than selection, I'm glad I'm in group B.

I'm not advocating for random assignment of variants as I think FCFS probably satisfies the most people. I'm just pointing out that there are advantages to other options too.

 

Routinely?

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/search/32275777/?q=forced&t=post&o=date&c[thread]=378199

 

How/why did you let that many people cut in front of you? If you were "literally first in line" like you said, there's no excuse that anybody could've given to get in front of you.

 

Then they don't get the 4 bottles of regular DL. The primary issue (not mine, just pointing this out) is that buying the regular dark lord and the variant are coupled. That means that if you want the DL, you are indeed forced to buy the variant (unless you can find someone willing to sell it to you at cost after the fact).

I think what you're missing here is that the vast majority of this discussion is driven by anticipation for DLD. The number of people actually butthurt over their group assignment or what variant their "stuck with" is minute.

I know for me, I'm discussing it purely from the perspective that it's the current conversion regarding DLD. I'm eagerly anticipating my first and, quite frankly, a bit obsessive about it.

 

i think the Hot Mustard aged in barrels that held Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Lord is probably the best of the bunch

 

The setup used to be different, they had taps in other locations but the tap where all the big bad whalez were was front and center where you exited with your dark lord. it was a disaster. Last year anyway, I drank vanilla bean dark lord at one tent and another vintage dark lord at another tent, so the heavy hitters appeared more spread out. I didn't deal with any shoving, but of course, they would have slipped off my soaked-as-shit $2 poncho anyway.

 

(4-5 beers in)
Employee: "What beer do you want?"
Drunk Guy: "BVDL"
Employee: What are you doing with this beer?"
Drunk Guy:"tradin... FUCK"

 

Anyone who answers "selling it" gets dropped through a trap door onto spikes coated in hot mustard dark lord.

 

I'm going to Randall some hot mustard thru mine.

 

Exactly!

 

It was a shitshow. People were trying to argue that they were told people shouldn't line up until 9am and therefore it didn't matter where we were in line. I ended up holding my ground mostly and was one of the first few people in the event from the south gate...but it came with a lot of unnecessary arguing and I had to also help to prevent my one buddy from getting into a fight with a guy who was trying to tell us our spot in line didn't matter. Just a shitshow at the front.

 

Wow...just have a beer and relax. Who knew a bunch of beer lovers could get so uptight (of course it's probably the resellers/flippers who are turning it into a fight).

 

"What is your favorite color?"

"Red...no blu-AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

 

So much hot mustard talk...