SINGAPORE: The excitement at Dota 2’s prestigious The particular International (TI) eleven esport competition coming to South-east Asia for the first time has been evident as tickets for the Oct 20-30 tournament in Singapore were snapped up within the hour of happening sale on Saturday (Aug 13).
But much towards the dismay of fans, some of these tickets had been bought by scalpers who marked upward ticket prices by more than 10 periods.
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Tickets cost S$88 (RM285) for a single day of the play-off models and S$498 (RM1, 612) for the two-day grand finals, that are held at Suntec and the Singapore Interior Stadium respectively.
While there are simply no specific laws towards scalping, lawyer Chia Boon Teck from Chia Wong Chambers said scalpers may be found guilty of doing other offences.
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He said: “A scalper may be liable for cheating if they deceive the vendors into promoting them tickets. For example , by using false details to purchase multiple tickets or giving the false representation that this tickets would not be resold.
“There may also be Computer Improper use Act offences in the event that software is used to assist in their offences. For example , using bots in order to automatically make multiple purchases using fake identities. ”
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To combat the problem, Chia said that customers can avoid purchasing third-party tickets, while event organisers may implement systems in order to detect resold tickets and refuse entrance to those who present them.
He or she also cited just how certain countries sanction specific anti-scalping laws. One such country will be the United States, which released the Stopping Grinch Bots Act within November last year to help make the use of bots to perpetrate scalping illegal.
In response to concerns, Ticketmaster Singapore, the event’s ticket service provider and one of the Sports activities Hub’s ticketing partners, stressed that it has brought steps to ensure the “the best possible plus fairest experience meant for fans”.
These include various verification methods on the platform.
For example , an unique cellular number and email address is required to create an account and the account has to be verified through an TEXT MESSAGE code before followers can proceed to buy tickets.
The platform also uses captcha – a computer system or system which can tell the difference in between human and machine input – to prevent scalpers from using bots to bulk buy tickets.
The ticketing and advertising services provider furthermore sets ticket limitations, which in this case was five tickets per transaction.
A Ticketmaster Singapore spokesman also urged fans to get seat tickets from authorised agents such as itself, adding: “The inherent risk of purchasing unverified tickets is that the venue can not guarantee the validity of tickets marketed through unauthorised 3rd parties as there are several instances where seat tickets are falsified or even duplicated and resold multiple times. ”
While esports fan Jeremy Teo got tickets from a friend after he was unable to purchase them last Saturday (Aug 13), he felt that more can be carried out to clamp down on scalping.
For fans like Teo, the staging of the annual tournament here is a rare opportunity to capture one of the world’s biggest esports competition live.
Since the 1st edition in 2011, TI has been held within Europe, the United States, Europe and China.
The tournament has only grown within stature over the last 10 years. The first edition of the competition had a reward pool of US$1. 6mil (RM7. 14mil), while last year’s tournament boasted a prize pool of US$40mil (RM178. 55mil). The amount for this year’s competition is however to be determined.
University student Teo, twenty-seven, said: “Usually if you want to watch TI you’ve got to pay for flights overseas and accommodation. The truth that it’s happening right here on our home turf is quite hard an opportunity to pass up. ”
Having played and watched Dota for over 15 years, Adri Abu Bakar, 32, had desired the chance to attend the big event in person, although this individual was not surprised from being unable to obtain tickets given Dota ’s popularity in the area.
He had attempted purchasing two seat tickets for the play-offs, yet will be watching the tournament online and is intending to catch the particular finals at someone’s house or in a live screening.
The research engineer mentioned: “The atmosphere at live events to get professional gaming is fairly interesting. I would also want to get merchandise plus meet streamers and personalities. ” – The Straits Periods (Singapore)/Asia News Network