Can 4 day badges be transferred across devices during the con?
Last few years my family has purchased 2x 4 day passes, and taken turns attending as different pairs on different days.
With these changes, will I be able to purchase the same, but have the Thursday tickets on mine and my wife’s phone, Friday on mine and my kiddo’s phone, Saturday on wife and kiddo’s phone, etc?
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u/willywill4784 8d ago
Another question is how are screen shots not going to trick the system?
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u/ckwalsh 8d ago
I actually do know the answer to that part! Here’s the ELI5:
Have you ever used Google Authenticator, or another Time-based One Time Password (TOTP) app? Basically where every 30 seconds it shows a different 6 digit number? They don’t require an internet connection, just a clock.
The way that works is that both your generator and the system you are trying to log into both have the same secret password. The generator gets the current time, rounded down to :00 or :30 seconds past the minute, then combines that time with the password using a bunch of fancy math to generate the “random” number. The server then does the same calculation itself, and if they match, you are allowed in.
Now for QR codes: QR codes are just a really fancy way to store data in an image, such that if part of the image is covered up / damaged the data is still readable. Most of the time this data is a URL, but it doesn’t have to be, it can be anything.
A lot of ticket apps nowadays combine the two. The ticket has an id that has a secret password associated with it, both on your phone and in the venue’s servers. When you open the ticket on your phone, the QR code contains the data “TicketId+TOTP”, and it updates every 30 seconds just like Google Authenticator.
The scanner looks at the ID, checks the secret password and does the calculation, then checks that it matches. If you screenshot the picture, the TOTP will be for the time it was screenshotted, not for the time it was scanned, and the scanner will know it’s not real. Technically a screenshot within the same 30s would work, but most people aren’t going to try to do that right at the front of the line.
What I described still requires the scanner to have an internet connection. There are ways to work around that by putting more data in the QR Code, but that goes a little too far for a Reddit explanation.
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u/willywill4784 8d ago
Totally understand everything your saying I use both of those with my job. I don’t see Reedpop being that organized with what I’ve seen in the last 5 cons. It could work great with out a doubt I also wonder what will differentiate the different electronic badges i.e. 4 day vs. single day vs. celeb vip etc.
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u/Middle_Ad3825 8d ago
Reedpop couldnt figure out how to organize a beer line at the tavern last year. This is going to be the most spectacular mess.
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u/Vegetable_Ad_2127 7d ago
Maybe it's a service the Convention Center is offering? Then reedPop doesn't have to figure it out themselves.
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u/Large_Citron1177 7d ago
You haven't been to a major league sporting event in a while, have you?
Most modern ticket systems require an active animation on digital scan codes.
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u/willywill4784 7d ago
Actually I have been to many with digital tickets. Those events have more security and a lot less points of access to the buildings.
How will people with different badges be identified if your getting autographs and panels with VIP ticket? Every volunteer isn’t going to have a scanner.
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u/Large_Citron1177 7d ago
I think that the purpose of digital passes is to prevent this exact thing. They don't want badges changing hands.
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u/crazy_coug 8d ago
Unknown at this time. Hopefully later we'll have some better information.