Motorskills
Explorer
FYI some additional info from Facebook posts (Fai Chen going on at Winter Fantasy right now):
-Wand of the Warmage +1 was one of the "standard" items
-Potions of superior healing for sale
-Several different 'membership in a specific fun group' (actors' guild, gravediggers' union, etc) for sale
-Apparently the line can take up to an hour to get through (man I hope they find a way to accelerate it for orccon)
It was pretty horrible, stressful for both the desk agent, and also for the huge number of people sacrificing their precious one hour for lunch to stand in a queue.
There do seem to be a number of obvious things that could be done to reduce the turnaround time. Here are some basic concepts, no doubt there are better options out there:
1. Appoint some assistants to help with the whole process.
2. One person to filter the line, requiring that only 2-4 people approach the "Red" desk at any one time.
3. One or two assistants managing the preview "Red" desk, where the available new and gently used items can be previewed.
4. A "White" desk where formal trades and purchases of U/R/VR/L items takes place.
5. A "Blue" desk where various thematic trades are made - the 5gp trinkets, the Guild Memberships, scrolls, potions, and other consumables, etc
If necessary, give each player a series of tickets upon registration, a different colour for each day. They get one visit to each of a White and a Red table each day. They hand these tickets in when they make their trades.