But that would also probably mean there won't be panels to justify insane lines. Look at Turkeycon. No insane lines because there were no panels worth an insane line.
I think SDCC needs to come back with a bang. This con will make a statement. I don't think they want that statement to be low attendance. Especially coming off of Turkeycon. Remember when it was first announced that we were warned that there would be more people who wanted to attend then they could accommodate. In the end, it was the opposite of that. Supply exceeded demand.
I'd be shocked if it was only 1%. David Glazner's statement doesn't seem to line up with that. Why would they be considering it if it wasn't already high enough to be worthwhile.
A very good point. Wanting that buzz, having that big grand scale they had in the before times and almost being a benchmark to people of "things going back to normal" so to speak. Cons everywhere having been going full force, so why can't they?
But also to that measure, they used to have very big and successful panels that didn't have the long lines and staying overnight (I mean, these were also the years of buying the badges for next year at the con). But, one year... it just escalated and the hype machine happened and it just feels like the studios latched on because they could get the buzz and turn the hyperbole that is SDCC into what it is.
In the end, its tough to say if CCI wants that again, or at least a little bit of it given the times. We're not them xD I sadly didn't pay much attention to TurkeyCon but that was also during a spike... maybe the studios themselves didn't want to risk it which is why they didn't bring anything, or they didn't have anything, or it was really soon, or the poor timing since it was a massive American holiday. The studios and anyone bringing something to SDCC this year could still have apprehensions, they don't want to be a headline that they caused another spike or they are willing to risk it. Or the studios could also be like now, hey we can release stuff on our own without these cons (looks at E3, it dead).
Again, a slightly smaller con attendance could be nice like back in the day where you felt you could do stuff without sleeping overnight (after spending so much on a hotel xD) while having interesting things to actually do which also makes SDCC what it is. A little having cake and eating it too? Maybe. Wishful thinking for the most part and we'll see what they do in the coming months.