Bookings

Bookings taken at site entrance

The process for taking bookings at the site entrance is mostly not one GOD is involved with, but it’s outlined here for context:

1. The gate team take a payment from someone arriving on site, and note down the player’s details as best they can.

2. The gate team send a runner from the gate to the Matt Cave on a semi-regular basis to drop off cash and paperwork. (Occasionally we get asked to send a runner ourselves, depending on who can spare the crew more easily.)

3. Graeme, in the Matt Cave, processes the paperwork and books players in.

4. The GOD heads of department do intermittent print runs of new character packs, which will get made up and put in the matrix per Player Packs- GOD.

If someone appears and tells you they’ve paid on the gate, this means their pack may be in the matrix ready for them to collect, but that relies on them having got through this entire process.

What you need to do with someone who turns up at GOD who has paid at the gate depends on a variety of details:

• Check they’ve actually paid. They should have a receipt they can show you. Sometimes players will say something like “I’m here for a gate booking”, meaning they’ve already paid and they want to pick up their pack, and sometimes they’ll say something more-or-less identical but meaning that they want to make a booking now, in which case see Front desk bookings.
• Check they have an account. Sometimes the first contact someone has with PD will be when they turn up at the gate, and we need them to have an account before we can help them. If they don’t have an account, send them to create one on the player PCs or using their own device connected to the PD Wi-Fi. Once they’ve done that, fill out a query form, add it to the HoD Player Waiting inbox, and send them to the heads of department to sort out.
• Check when they paid, and check with the heads of department how up-to-date we are with gate bookings. If we’re sufficiently up-to-date, they can just be treated like any other player coming to pick up their pack. If not, depending on the backlog, we might be able to sort their pack straight away, or we might need to tell them to come back later.

Front desk bookings

The simple case

This should cover the majority of cases where someone wants to buy a ticket in GOD, that is: they’re an adult who needs either a crew or gate ticket for the current event, they already have an account, they’re buying the ticket for themselves, and they’re paying the balance due immediately. For more complex cases, refer to The complex case.

To create a booking, once you’re logged in to the website and you’ve clicked “Crew” from the home page:

1. Click “GOD” in the top bar, then click “Gate Booking”

2. Ask the player if they know their PID.

• If they do, put their PID in the PID box, then press Tab or Enter or click somewhere else on the page. Confirm the player’s name on your screen matches what they tell your their name is.
• If they don’t know their PID, click the “Search” button, and get some information from the player to be able to find their details; surname is normally best. Find and select the relevant player.

3. Check with the player which character they want to play, and select the character name from the “Character” drop-down menu.

4. Select the appropriate ticket type from the “Ticket” drop-down. This will normally be “Gate Booking” unless they’re crew, in which case select “Crew”.

5. If it’s a gate booking rather than a crew booking, ask the player if they’re entitled to a concession.

• If they’re not entitled to a concession, select “No” from the “Concession” drop-down.
• If they’re entitled to a concession and show you evidence of that, select “Yes” from the “Concession” drop-down.
• If they claim they’re entitled to a concession but aren’t able to show evidence, leave the Concession checkboxes blank. Tell them that you’ll need to charge full price, but that if they email in after the event, PD will refund the concession discount. More detail in Confirming concessions

6. Check how the player wants to pay:

• For cash, take the cash off them, check it’s the right amount, hand the cash off to a head of department or whoever has the cash box at the time, and select “Cash” in the Method dropdown.
• For card payments, follow the instructions at Operating the card reader in Taking payments, and once the payment has been processed, select “Sumup” in the Method dropdown.
• If the player isn’t able or willing to pay for some reason, escalate to a head of department.

7. Click “Create Booking”

8. Check with the heads of department whether we’re creating packs on demand or if there’s a queue, and either have the player wait while you prepare their pack per 9.2 Making up, or come back later and collect their pack from the Matrix.

The complex case

Bookings following this process should be relatively rare, but it allows us to sell any type of ticket (e.g. children’s tickets), to purchase multiple tickets at once, and to process tickets that one person is buying on someone else’s behalf (e.g. parents buying for their children, or traders paying for tickets for their crew).

To create bookings, once you’re logged in to the website and you’ve clicked “Crew” from the home page: 1. Click “Players” in the top bar.

2. Ask the player if they know their PID. If you have one person buying tickets for someone else, it’s the PID of the buyer we care about at this point, and since it’s their account we’re charging, their should either be present or the person you’re talking to should be an authorised proxy for them.

• If they do, put their PID in the PID box, then press Tab or Enter or click somewhere else on the page. Confirm the player’s name on your screen matches what they tell your their name is.
• If they don’t know their PID, click the “Search” button, and get some information from the player to be able to find their details; surname is normally best. Find and select the relevant player.

3. Click the “Bookings” tab, then click “Create Booking”

4. The “Purchase Details” section should already be filled out correctly, with the PID and name of the player buying the tickets, today’s date, and no introducer.

5. Change the Event drop-down if necessary (this should very rarely be necessary; we only take bookings for the current event at the event)

6. In the Ticket drop-down, select the appropriate ticket type. This will normally be “Gate Booking”, but may be “Crew” or one of the children’s tickets. Don’t select “Early Booking” or “Late Booking” without first checking with a head of department; don’t select “Crew” unless the person is actually crew.

7. In the Recipient box, select the person who is receiving the ticket. This will normally be the same person as is buying the ticket, but might be different if, for example, this is a ticket being bought by a parent for a child, or a ticket being bought by a trader for one of their staff.

8. Check with the player which character they want to be playing, and select it in the Character drop-down.

9. Never select the Complimentary checkbox unless either (a) you’ve been told to by a head of department, or (b) this is a booking for a child and all their responsible adults are crew.

10. If it’s a gate booking, ask the player if they’re entitled to a concession.

• If they’re not entitled to a concession, leave the Concession checkboxes blank.
• If they’re entitled to a concession and show you evidence, select both “Concession” and “Concession Seen”. (Acceptable concession evidence examples in Confirming concessions)
• If they claim they’re entitled to a concession but aren’t able to show evidence, leave the Concession checkboxes blank. Tell them that you’ll need to charge full price, but that if they email in after the event, PD will refund the concession discount.

Note: in GOD, you should never select one of the Concession checkboxes but not the other.

11. Check that the amount in the “Amount” box is as expected. Don’t change this without first checking with a head of department.

12. Click “Add Ticket”.

13. If the buyer wants to buy multiple tickets at the same time, go back to step 5.

14. Click “Create Booking”.

15. You should now be returned to the player bookings page; note the balance at the top of the table, then click “Take Payment”.

16. Enter the appropriate amount in the “Amount” box.

17. Ask the player how they want to pay:

• For cash: take the cash off them, check the right amount, and select “Cash” in the Method dropdown. Hand the cash to a head of department (or whoever is in charge of the real-world cash box).
• For card payments: follow the instructions at Operating the card reader in Taking payments . Once the payment has been processed, select “Sumup” in the Method dropdown.
• If the player isn’t able or willing to pay for some reason, escalate to a head of department.

18. Don’t change any of the other values without first checking with a head of department: PID should already be correct, we never use any of the other payment methods, and the date and VAT rate will be automatically correct.

19. Click “Save”.

Day Tickets

Very occasionally, someone wants to attend for just one day of the event, normally turning up in the morning and leaving in the evening. They can, and they don’t have to pay full price. If someone asks for this, process it as for the complex case and charge them per the price list.

Trader Bookings

In principle, trader bookings are no different from player bookings: we expect traders to pay for tickets at the regular player prices. The two key differences are that (a) some of our traders also book and pay for trader pitches, and (b) some of our traders have their own crew, who also have regular player tickets, but which will typically be paid for by the trader.

If you have a trader wanting to make a pitch booking at GOD, they’re almost certainly far too late- Escalate to a head of department.

If you have a trader wanting to buy tickets for some of their crew, process that as a normal booking at the gate price per The Complex case. The trader may already have funds in their account to pay for the ticket, in which case there will be no need to take payment. If they don’t, they may want to leave the debt on their account rather than paying immediately; that’s probably fine, but check with a head of department (who will probably want to check with Graeme).

Caterer Bookings

Caterer bookings are always handled by Graeme. If you have someone from one of the caterers looking to make a booking or get a character pack or similar, escalate to a head of department or to Graeme directly

Converting Open Tickets

PD sell “open tickets” which aren’t tied to a particular event. Occasionally people will come to GOD saying they’re booked, but it’ll turn out they haven’t converted their open ticket to a booking for the specific event. If this happens, there’s a £10 charge for converting an open ticket to a regular booking at the event. Escalate this to a head of department, as it’s reasonably likely to become a complaint.

Price List

In case you need them, here’s the full list of prices as of 2024. PD honours prices from when bookings were first made provided they were paid for promptly, so if a player made a booking a while ago, the correct price might not be the one below:

• Adult early booking: £80 (£55 concession)
• Adult late booking: £85 (£60 concession)
• Adult gate booking: £95 (£70 concession)
• 16/17 year olds: as adult prices, but will generally be eligible for a concession
• 11–15 year olds: £20 (£10 if a responsible adult gets a concession)
• 7–10 year olds: £10 (£5 if a responsible adult gets a concession)
• Under-7s: free
• Day tickets: see below
• Carer's tickets: £10 (see below for more detail)

Players may also have a £15 credits on their account if they were introduced by another player or have introduced another player. This doesn’t affect the ticket price directly.

Day tickets

• Adult full price for all Saturday: £65
• Adult concession for all Saturday: £45
• Adult full price for Friday or Sunday: £50
• Adult concession for Friday or Sunday: £35

The rules for working out the day ticket prices (ask one of the heads of department if you’re not sure):

1. Find out how long the player is at the event: the categories we care about are broadly “a full day” (probably all Saturday), “less than that” (e.g. Friday only, or Saturday but leaving by 6pm) or “more than that” (e.g. arriving Saturday morning and staying the full event).

2. Find out the normal gate price for the full event, e.g. £95 for adult full price, £70 adult concession.

3. For the “a full day” category, apply a 33% discount. For the “less than that” category, apply a 50% discount. For the “more than that” category, charge full price.

4. Round to £5.

Carer's tickets

Carers pay £10 to cover the cost of being on site, using our facilities, etc. They are not here to play the game, but to support someone else playing the game; depending on the person they're supporting, that might involve them being in character, or it might involve them only camping in the out-of-character field so they're nearby. In either case, they don't get a character pack or a downtime or any of the other trappings of playing Empire. If they want those, they need to buy a full ticket.

Thursday Nights

There’s a £5 charge for players people staying on Thursday night. The vast majority of the time, this will be handled by the folk on the gate, but we do occasionally get people turning up at GOD to pay.

If someone wants to pay for Thursday night camping:

• If they’re paying by cash, pass the cash off to a head of department or to whoever has the cash box. Make sure it’s tallied that the money is for Thursday night camping – that cash needs to be kept (or at least counted) separately – and do not record it on the player account.
• If they’re paying by card, follow the instructions at Operating the card reader in Taking payments. Again, do not record the payment on the player account.

Lost Bookings

So you have a player who thinks they should be booked, but as best you can tell they don’t have a pack anywhere, or you otherwise need to work out what’s going on with their booking. Here’s the process for that:

First of all, work out whether the database thinks they’re actually booked. Once you’re logged into the website and have clicked the “Crew” link…

1. Click “Player” across the top bar.

2. Ask the player if they know their PID.

• If they do, put their PID in the PID box, then press Tab or Enter or click somewhere else on the page. Confirm the player’s name on your screen matches what they tell your their name is.
• If they don’t know their PID, click the “Search” button, and get some information from the player to be able to find their details; surname is normally best. Find and select the relevant player.

3. Check you’ve actually found the relevant player, rather than just a different player with the same or a similar name. Click the “Characters” tab and get them to verify the name of one of their characters, or get them to give you the registration plate of their car if there’s one on the account, or their login username.

4. Click the “Events” tab. This is the definitive list of what events someone actually has tickets for. If the current event (“Winter” for E1, “Spring” for E2, “Summer” for E3, “Autumn” for E4) is listed, the system thinks they have a booking. If the current event isn’t listed, we don’t have a booking for them.

From here, next steps will depend on whether we have a booking for them at all.

If the system does think there’s a booking for this player:

1. Find out when they booked. If they didn’t book until after the start of the packing weekend, and the issue is you can’t find a pack for them, it’s likely we just haven’t got it ready yet; see Bookings taken at the site entrance above. If we just haven’t had chance to make a pack up for them yet, they’ll need to come back later. The “Date” column should tell you when the system thinks they booked.

2. If we can’t find a pack for them and we should have made one up already, we’ll just need to make one up anew. Take down the player’s details, and either get a pack made up immediately or add it to the queue and get them to come back later. (See Making up packs in Player Packs- GOD)

If the system does not think there’s a booking for this player, the first question has to be why, which will hopefully point us to what to do about it.

• Does the player have any open bookings? You can see these on the “Events” tab as bookings that don’t have a ticket type or event name listed, and also on the “Bookings” tab. If the player has an open booking that they wanted to convert to a regular booking, see Converting open tickets above.

• Does the player think someone else booked for them? If you can find details of the other person who made the booking, the booking should show up on the “Events” tab for the person who received the ticket, and the “Bookings” tab for the person who made and paid for the booking. If there’s an issue around this, you’ll probably need to escalate to a head of department.
• Is there a booking listed on the “Bookings” tab that’s crossed out? If so, that indicates the booking was cancelled

for some reason. Possibly the player cancelled it themselves; possibly PD cancelled it for some reason for them. There may be a note explaining what’s going on on the “Notes” and/or “Audit” tabs, but this will also probably need escalating to a head of department.

Duplicate accounts

If one person has ended up with multiple accounts, there's a few different things that might need to happen...

In all cases

Make a note of the details of the accounts – whatever we'll need to identify the accounts – then pass a ticket up the escalation path; these need to be merged by Matt after the event.

Booking on one account, character on another

If someone doesn't have a character pack because they made their booking on one account and their character on another, we need to shift things around so we can generate that character pack:

• If the account with the character has a PID:
  • On the "Bookings" page for the account with the booking, edit the booking so that the recipient is the account with the character.
  • On the character page, click the "Event Pack" button.
  • The event pack should now be in the print queue and can be handled as normal.
• If the account with the character does not have a PID: escalate. The process is essentially identical, except it needs someone to generate a PID for the account with the character, and that's not a common permission.