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Who's Going To Pax East 2011??? And Opinions On The BCEC/Hotel
Posts
Steam:Aerynkelly Google+
Yes. Just so much yess.
PAX EAST 2012: HOTEL [X] FLIGHT [] PASSES [X] TIME OFF []
Again, "soon" in Penny Arcade terms can span from weeks to MONTHS... I think months take majority of the soons of PAX. It's a long test of patience, I know...
I really don't plan on doing the PPD down in that area unless we go nuts and rent out The Barking Crab.
I haven't quite been able to work out when the travel desk came up last year, but I know registration officially opened on the 20th...I'm hoping we have a few more weeks, honestly, but I'm frantically shoving money into my debit account as fast as I can just in case we don't.
After time adrift among open stars
Among tides of light and to shoals of dust
I will return to where I began
Uh when it comes to hotel and dates? It doesn't take months.
Anyone else have similar issues? How did you deal with them?
Hopefully my friends will be able to go this year, since it was mostly them being unable to go which caused me to not go last year.
Backloggery XBox Live 3DS: 1805-2274-4550 (Jonathan)
I'm the only person you should be listening to here because of all the people who went to PAX East last year no one screamed in their head as much as I did. I want to say that's a joke but holy crap I haven't worked harder then that very often in my life. I have anxiety and panic and some agoraphobia so yeah, PAX East was nothing but all my worst fears wrapped up in one hulking form.
Here's a few things to make things better.
1. Get a map of the area and inside of the building. Thankfully that is easy because we have maps for the city online and the fine folks who put on this shin dig make some great maps outlining everything. Also make note of places like hospitals, there a ton of them sprinkled around this complex.
2. Do a practice trip if you can. Go there and see it with your own eyes and then imagine how you're going to deal with it all, it helps to think of good things in this situation. Kittens, boobs, William Shatner, whatever you like. If you can't do a pretrip just find as many pics of it as you can and do the whole visualization thing.
3. I can say that almost every single person who goes to PAX East is an ok person, most of them are downright friendly and nice people. I only ran into one person the entire weekend who was a complete jerk and I wrote about it on here to vent because on a moron scale from one to ten he was jerk and if you have free time and this forum let's you search go check it out, honestly I still get mad to this day and I am right now thinking about what he did. Though it was just that guy, one guy out of everyone was a complete jerk.
4. PAX East is a "safe" place. I live for tech and the game industry and enforcement so being among all of those kinds of people that are connected to it either making it or a fan of it made me feel better. I'm guessing you're going to PAX because you want to and that means you're interested in something there, well chances are that you're going to meet other people who share your views and are somewhere between ok and nice people.
5. Also the nice people who go to PAX also include the head honchos, you run into someone who's either directly involved with putting PAX on or they're a presenter or act and they're nice. I'm the world's biggest Major Nelson, Stepto, Laura, and E fan around and I met and talked with them and they were awesome and more importantly I saw them all weekend long and they were always willing to meet and talk and just enjoy PAX with other people. All the people were that way.
6. If you can have a friend you trust go with you it's a major plus, even if you have to buy two passes bring someone that you can enjoy it with.
Honestly I dreaded every single second until the first PAX East. I thought I was going to be horrible and awful and I just wanted it to be over and then I got there and it was amazing, I didn't want it to end. This year I'm going to dread it and I'm going to be scared and I'm going to wish it wasn't so soon and the second I walk in there and see the people lined up just having fun and being at ease I'm going to be fine. Maybe it wont be fine that second but the stress is going to go away and I'm going to see cool people and things and I will have a good time.
Yes, there's crowds and loud noise and sometimes you have to wait an hour in a line to play a game but you're doing it with your friends in a safe place.
It's going to be hard but trust me, the body cannot sustain panic forever. Eventually the body is going to tell your mind that it's ok and you're going to have a great time.
Who do you have that could go with you?
Also, another key point to remember: ENFORCERS!
On all accounts, the PAX Enforcers are the kindest, most considerate people you will meet. I suggest reading through the Enforcer Appreciation Thread to get a better idea on specifics, but in general, Enforcers are there to help you out in any situation, because they are gamers just like you. I'm sure that they will be able to help you get through anxiety or panic, get you some information, and make sure you are comfortable.
On the "Who could go with you" front, you're on the PAX forums! If you don't have someone you know who will go with you, I'm sure you could find a veteran on here to get to know beforehand. I mean, you do have 5 months or so.
That!
Plus, if you skip Pax because your friends didn't want to go or couldn't then thats their loss and you're doing pax wrong. Don't sweat pax.. its there to be all around fun no matter your preference (tabletop, handheld, pc, console, etc.).
Get to know some people on the forums if you want.
If you get lost in the convention center then just ask someone around if the know where it is.
The worst thing that can happen is that they say they don't know. No one is going to off and shank you or anything.
Backloggery XBox Live 3DS: 1805-2274-4550 (Jonathan)
Thanks so much!
Hey, welcome!
Tickets aren't for sale quite yet. Keep an eye on these forums or on http://www.paxsite.com/paxeast/ for when they go on sale. Also, if you don't live in Boston proper it might be a good idea to book hotel rooms as soon as the "travel desk" con hotel deals go up. Good luck!
Oh, and if you're one of those twitter people, @Official_PAX is their twitter. They usually post notifications of tickets going on sale there pretty soon after they go up.
Triwizard Drinking Tournament - '09 !Hufflepuff unofficial conscript, '10 !Gryffindor
Nerd blog at culturalgeekgirl.com
I think it would be a really awesome birthday gift.
Registration for the tickets should be opening within the next few weeks I think.
The Tickets come in the mail in the form of a badge and I believe has penny arcade logo on the envelope. They arrive about 2 weeks to a week before (might arrive earlier). I thought I would tell you just in case you want to surprise him.
Baseball doesn't start until late March/early April so you're out of luck there (unless you wanted to take him on a tour of Fenway though I don't know if they do that)
If you wanted to take him to a sports game, the Bruins are playing on the 10th and the Celtics on the 13th (evening game)
Unfortunately, since I live outside of Boston, I have no experience with the city's hotels so I can't give you advice on that
The convention itself is $50 per three day pass, or it was whenever I pre-ordered last year. There are discounts based on how early you order, but they're in the $5-$10 range.
Generally the best deals on hotels that are super convenient to the convention come from the travel desk. The convention negotiates with several local hotels specifically for "con rates" that are usually substantially lower than normal. They're still not super cheap though, last year my con room was $199 a night. I usually end up reducing the cost by sharing the room with about four people (some of whom I've met through this very forum), but if this is a romantic getaway you may not want to have extra guests.
You can probably find hotels a bit further afield that are a bargain on your typical travel websites. The only problem is that you have to factor in travel cost and convenience - many of the most popular events of PAX end after the trains and buses stop running, and parking can be expensive.
Triwizard Drinking Tournament - '09 !Hufflepuff unofficial conscript, '10 !Gryffindor
Nerd blog at culturalgeekgirl.com
One thought might be to see if you can have them delivered to an alternative address (work, a friend, etc.)...
They do tours pretty much every day for some nominal fee like $12.
Hotels start over $150/night but there are less options down by the waterfront and they will run more expensive they staying a bit further out.
Almost everyone I know booked on their own and found better/cheaper options than what the con set-up.
You can park down by South Station from the 10th- 14th for less than $100 (in one case less than $50). I posted this site about a million times last year before giving up and letting people think it costs your first born to park in Boston (FYI it doesn't).
You can fly from Philly to Boston via Southwest but I'd just drive. I make the drive from Boston to Vineland fairly frequently and it's an easy ride. Driving will cost less than plane tickets for two and you can then travel outside of the city to other sites/places if you want. Hell, it'd be wicked easy to stop in NYC on the way up or down. (Just don't take 95 all the way, get off the turnpike on to the parkway, go over the Tappenzee and hit the CT Autobahn known as 15 and cruise in from 84 to 90).
So I have a LARGE group of friends I'm going with.... like 15.... so... we're thinking the Train is the best way to get there (we're only out like 45min (by car) from Boston). Is this true?
Also, if we do the train... what kind of group discounts can we try and grab? Or maybe student discounts?
I ask because, although kind of tedious, we will be going to and from PAX every day to sleep back in our homes.
Thanks.
Alright.
Well, I've taken a look at their schedule and last train leave around 11-11:30... that's plenty late... honestly not in it for any of the parties, etc. Just PAX itself. I went last year, and by 11 there isn't much to be there for.
I've taken a look at MBTA.com, and it refers to Student Discounts, so I just contacted my school's Principal in hopes to obtain some Student CharlieTickets.
Either way, the train is truly a no-brainer for us. It'd be $40.50 for 6 rides. $20.25 would be sweet, though.
Let me know of any other feedback you have.
Thanks!
Yeah. I've kept the concerts in mind, but it's not something (IMO) to stay for, especially since they are going on way before 11.
Thanks for the feedback
Ah, okay. My judgment of last year was off then :mrgreen:
Thanks for clarifying!
Yeah... that's my worries D:
EDIT: Principal just said that they are not participating school at this time
Guess it's going to be 6.75$ a ride!
Do you know of any cheaper (and just as convenient) ways to get into Boston that way? Like... maybe drive closer into Boston, then take train? Or is it going to be minimal difference?
Hmm... that's still more expensive than taking my town's Zone 6 Train... $40.50 for 6 rides (3 to Boston and 3 back - for each PAX Day), plus the convenience factor is huge.
Guess that's the only option
EDIT: OH WAIT!
See this : https://commerce.mbta.com/program/?prog=multi is the "10 Ride Half-Fare Commuter Rail" applicable to me?
Did you see my edit?
Well, since I went last year, I'm kind of the "leader" in putting this together for me and my friends. My only reason against driving, is because we are 17/18 years old, and driving into Boston for some of us doesn't sound like a nice time. I don't want anyone to feel nervous or anything.
Especially if I can get the 10 rides for half-fare, I think it's way worth it.
Let me know
Alright. Will do, thanks.
If you're still considering driving, and if there are enough competent drivers who can get vehicles, one way to determine how much of a pain it will be is to make a test drive.
Instead of driving there for the first time with all your friends in the back seat, drive on some other day with just a navigator/copilot and see whether the route is confusing/a pain. I have to say that driving in Boston (especially in that area) is nowhere near as unpleasant and aggressive as driving in NYC or DC is, but for new drivers it might still be a bit stressful.
Triwizard Drinking Tournament - '09 !Hufflepuff unofficial conscript, '10 !Gryffindor
Nerd blog at culturalgeekgirl.com
what part of MA are you coming from?
Red B/Gold Professor
[15:53] <+juju-work> ArsonIsFun is one of the best people I know.
Franklin, MA
Also, I got in contact with MBTA. The half-fare tickets do indeed need a special ID card. I didn't get any information on how to obtain one, BUT I did get a hotline where you can obtain group discounted tickets.
For those who could utilize this, here is the info:
"617-222-3663, Monday-Friday 7:00am-3:00pm, for group travel of 10 or more persons."
I'll have to call them on the weekend, but I'll let you guys know how it works out.