First Year PAX

vespachica

This is my first PAX though I had no idea it would be. It will be my son's third PAX. He usually would go with his dad. This year's turning out a little differently for all of us.

Anyway, we'll be there. He's definitely more of a hardcore gamer at 11 than I am at 38 but I'm still way more into gaming than, say, any of his friends' moms. I do relate more with the old school gaming and puzzle games (Tetris, etc.) than any of the RP or first person shooter games although those can be fun.

We're set with backpacks, water bottles, snacks, comfortable shoes, and hand sanitizer. Last year my son and my husband came home with PAXflu '09 and I'm hoping to avoid that situation.

Sevecon

this will be my first pax.... and luckily both of my cosplays can incorporate bags very easily

miquonranger03

Not only is this my first time attending PAX, but this is my first post on this forum! How fitting!

Anyway, I'm so happy that this worked out; my parents decided to go to Seattle for vacation, and the dates just happened to work pretty well. I was stupid and only got a Friday pass, but if I like it I'll go to East (since I live in Philadelphia, it's much closer). I've been to the VGXPO, but that's much, much smaller than PAX. And this year, I'm 17, so I don't have to worry about the game ratings as much.

omerome

This is my first time attending PAX and I must say I am a bit overwhelmed. :o

But I will be traveling with some friends who have been attending before though. From all of the activities and stuff, it looks like we'll be doing our own things. However, I'll be looking forward to making new friends with everyone I come in contact with.

bogmad

This'll be my first PAX or anything of any similar sort. A friend I didn't know THAT well convinced me to come this year, and then suddenly let me know she wasn't coming, but in some ways it might be better for me to experience all the hubub on my own. I really have no idea what to expect. I'm basically the lone gamer out of all my friends, to the extent that identifying as a "gamer" seems a bit odd.
That said, I'm looking to embrace things. Hell, the past week I've been gearing up to play some D&D, which I haven't attempted since 8th grade when my brother and I played a broken game fearing our secret might get out, with something approaching the trepidation gay kids in the closet must feel.*

*"approaching," but not quite the same thing I'm sure...

iqubal

Hello all, going for the first time to PAX and am pumped to play and see awesome games!!! however I was also excited to get free swag such as shirts etc and can only make it for the last day on Sunday. For anyone who has ever been is there anything left for that day or is it pretty much all cleared out? Regardless I'm still pumped!

Teknotronic

Sunday is generally the day alot of people go on their Swag hunts. Booths don't want to bring any of that stuff back with them so they are generally offloading everything they got.

However T-shirts and stuff you may only end up with XXXXL or other non standard sizes, some of the really awesome low supply swag may not make it to Sunday. I believe most booths try to keep a portion of their swag for each day though, so I wouldn't imagine too much would be unavailable Sunday.

Also this would of been better suited in the FAQ thread, though I imagine it will be moved shortly

karmacappa

It depends on the company, but lots of companies reserve part of the SWAG they make for each day. I know when I used to work for a gaming company at E3, we had a certain number of boxes for each day.

theDireMuffin

As a girl, Sunday was great - while some of the sizes of shirts were gone, a lot of stands had plenty of leftover girls' shirts, and were pretty much just handing them out (didn't even need to play the demos!).
So a lot of them ran out of Medium shirts, but honestly, there were still tons left over.

As for actual swag (that isn't shirts), yeah, some stands ran out. However, you can pretty well bet on there being shirts, and they pretty much just want to get rid of the shirts at the end so they don't have to pack them up. One or two stands just set out boxes of leftover shirts and expected them to go away.
I helped.

Point is - no prob, there will be swag. Not necessarily the shiniest coolest things, but there will be swag.

Kingkoa

First time going to PAX...been wanting to go for a while now....

I plan on taking my son who is two because he is crazy about anything video game related...

if i bring a stroller is there a place to put it where u cant use it or if it folds can i just put it on my back and be fine?

i bought friday/sunday badge from here but bought a 3 day pass on craigslist so my gf can come with...how do i know if its fake....is there something i can see if i went and found a blacklight and put it next to it? haha
sorry just paranoid about craigslist tickets..

am i fine that when i bought the 3 day pass all i got was the badge? or did i need the printed out ticket thing liek i got when i ordered my badge from here

Saraid

Kingkoa wrote: »

First time going to PAX...been wanting to go for a while now....

I plan on taking my son who is two because he is crazy about anything video game related...

if i bring a stroller is there a place to put it where u cant use it or if it folds can i just put it on my back and be fine?

i bought friday/sunday badge from here but bought a 3 day pass on craigslist so my gf can come with...how do i know if its fake....is there something i can see if i went and found a blacklight and put it next to it? haha
sorry just paranoid about craigslist tickets..

am i fine that when i bought the 3 day pass all i got was the badge? or did i need the printed out ticket thing liek i got when i ordered my badge from here

if you think you can carry the stroller around on your back, it'll be fine. a little bit unwieldy, so be careful, but it'll be fine.

just getting the badge is enough for the 3day pass. there isn't a printed out version tmk

adester

FYI on the stroller (down near the bottom):
http://www.paxsite.com/paxprime/faqs.php

RONIN_KX

This will be my first time to any convention, and I'm doing everything last minute since my cohort just bailed on me with less than a day's notice. If anyone's going South, I'd be more than to not have to take the bus. I should probably find a different thread for that, though.

Just out of curiosity's sake, how crowded is it (sorry, couldn't bring myself to read all the back-pages before posting). I ask because I'm probably going to be the only blind guy walking PAX.

I've got Friday/Saturday passes.

Onto a find-a-ride thread!

Dreamwriter

Depends on where you go. There are quite a lot of people there, but in most places there is plenty of room. It can get crowded right outside the Subway sandwich shop at the top of the stairs, by the theaters anytime a panel gets out, and in the entrance area to the convention center. The expo hall can have crowded bottlenecks where two booths are close together, especially if one of them is popular, but it's generally not too bad.

XxDavid206xX

Okay, I'm new to PAX and this is my first year so i was wondering where to get the badges and what do they give you once you're there...will they be able to provide a map of the whole area?

HELP!

Dreamwriter

If you didn't preorder a badge, the only way you can possibly get one now is to get it off of Craigslist, or through the "need a badge" thread here; there is no purchasing at the door. If you preordered yours from out of country, you can pick it up at the "Will Call" desk at the Sheraton Hotel.

letsgetfamous

First time at PAX, first post on here.

Just a quick question. My friend and I are coming primarily to see the Rooster teeth panel, which is after the PAX Q&A. We would love to see the Q&A but do they make people leave afterwards? Because if not, then we can stay in our seats for RT but if they do then we'd like to wait in the line later to make sure we get a spot.

Thanks!

mspencer

letsgetfamous wrote: »

First time at PAX, first post on here.

Just a quick question. My friend and I are coming primarily to see the Rooster teeth panel, which is after the PAX Q&A. We would love to see the Q&A but do they make people leave afterwards? Because if not, then we can stay in our seats for RT but if they do then we'd like to wait in the line later to make sure we get a spot.

Thanks!

Previously they've said the theater is only cleared if there is a gap of over (some length of time) between events. I think it was over an hour.

JHawk

Any advice as to what time to get to the convention center in the morining?

ticorah

Lines will start forming before 8 am and continue up until it opens depending on which line you are in.

JHawk

I assume the convention center will be more crowded.