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PAX Prime Suggestions Thread
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(Here is my pipe cleaner joke for all the art majors out there.)
EPIC FAIL!! Every cookie that a conventioner got from that booth was one less from the Cookie Brigade. Booths that compete with the known charity efforts violate Wheaton's law. Give out something else. Silly Geese.
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Hm. I agree with you in general, but the one time I found a cookie brigadier they were completely out of non-chocolate cookies, so I didn't end up getting any anyway.
Maybe next year the grannies can give out cups of tea to go with the Cookie Brigade cookies.
Last year they "borrowed" the unicorn plushies from the theater to go and take a photo, never returned them, and later video was up on the internet of them doing lewd things with the plushies. Those were bought by the Enforcers who were in that theater, were enjoyed by many panelists and attendees, and it was incredibly dickish to steal and despoil them for giggles.
This year they had a cake face-stuffing contest, and not only did they not come prepared with tarps or anything protective (or ask ahead of time to have these provided), they chose to use the worst cake possible - red velvet with chocolate icing. Most of the carpet at the front of that theater is permanently ruined, along with several chairs, some tablecloths, and part of the stage that the panel table/seats were set up on. Additionally, the panels after that one were delayed, and then took place with the reek of overly-sugary icing throughout the room to boot.
If you can't figure out how to apply Wheaton's Law (or simple common sense) two years in a row, you shouldn't be allowed back as a panel to do it again.
[X] 4 1-Day Passes [X] Hotel Booked [ ] Buttons Ordered [ ] Challenge Coin Ordered
[ ] Pre-PAX Dinner Tickets [ ] Girls Meetup Tickets [ ] Waiting Patiently...
PAX Prime Attendee since 2006, BYOC Attendee 2008-2012, Buttoneer since 2010
Aside from those dressed as characters from the game (like Lollipop Chainsaw), which I think get more leeway, i didn't notice any. I know that some issues got addressed, but that's the system "working. "
Not sure on lines. The panel lines seemed shorter (aside from a few), but the expo hall did seem worse. I think it was a mix of issues, including forged badges, more closed booths, harder to get swag, etc. The guys only have so much control of these factors.
Also, the lines for booths was stupid long. Someone mentioned how they did it for Civ5 during PAX10 with taking people's names and having them come back at the appointed time. That worked beautifully.
I saw ONE Cookie Brigade person, and didn't realize they were the Cookie Brigade until they had moved on down the street. Which made me sad. I'm just happy I donated my cash money during the TWDT.
However, I would have happily had a cookie from the GoG booth, and then easily purchased a cookie/rice krispy treat/etc... from a CB person because, well, it's the CB.
Also, fighting game tourneys really should have a double elimination bracket setup. I have never heard of a Street Fighter tourney that was single elimination. If having double elimination fighting game tourneys is too time consuming then maybe you should cut back on some of the mini-tourneys. I don't think anyone is going to be terribly offended if they can't play Pac-Man or Puzzle Fighter in a tournament, to be terribly honest.
As well, I don't think providing a prize of some kind for the tournaments should be out of the question. PAX rakes in a lot of money and there are only a few major tourneys. Would offering a prize such as a special controller or Astro gaming headset be so costly?
You don't have to get a cookie to donate though...... I got a cookie and donated, had I gotten a cookie from GOG I'd still have donated to cookie brigade. It's a great cause.
Considering the tournaments were hosted by vendors and not PAX itself, I believe that the vendors themselves would be responsible for prizes and tournament rules (and platforms). I could be wrong (especially if we're both talking about different tournaments), so feel free to correct me
I almost brought my 360 TE, and I'm glad I didn't.
My girlfriend was PISSED when this happened to her. They punched her BYOC badge, then realizing it was the wrong one, they punched the 3-day pass. It'd be great to have a QR code that is basically the ID of the badge. This would still allow people to re-sell their badges, but at least people can signup with their badge ID and be counted without destroying it.
The same can go for lines. It'd be great if there was a queue system that allowed you to schedule when to play a game aka Disney World/Land. This should greatly diminish the lines for the expo hall. The same could be done for each room. It'd take a little bit of development, but having a simple seat/floor plan that is pluggable per room would allow you to scan your badge and pick your seat for panels, and would tell you when they are full. Have it timed so its only available for reservations 2hours ahead of the panel, and then require you to be in line 30 mins before the panel starts.
With QR codes and people linking a phone number to their badge number will allow text messages (for simple phone and our Canadian friends with no US data), private twitter messages, etc.
Also, doing non-sequential number/letter ID between 1 - X10X00X with QR codes would greatly decrease the probability of a counterfeit number actually being valid. When someone goes to schedule, create a profile, etc, the backend database will immediately know if its a valid key code. And those who make counterfeit codes will not be able to schedule themselves in line. Its like being limited to single player for those with fake passes!
Other than that, bring BYOC back to 500. Hopefully with no Halo Fest next year there will be enough space?
Also.. is there a way to make that huge room on floor 4 more efficient than just a expo queue line? Its empty it seems most of the con.
Just put it this way - MS wanted to have it at PAX, and I'm glad the PAX staff got the space that they did for MS instead of on the expo floor.
At the boston convention center we had moving tables. I'm wondering if there were folded moving tables stacked around the sides, and once the room lets in at 10am, have a crew of event staff and enforcers roll them into place. It could become the new table top area. It'd probably only take 30 minutes with a large enough crew. If its only used for one queue line in the morning I think this could be feasible.
Then move the table top venders to the outside where the t-shirts were being sold, and put that upstairs or somewhere.. =P
That's an option. Also a good spot for things like raffles. Also, they should ask every presenter if they're planning on, oh I don't know, giving away free consoles to everybody....if so, we know to put you by it for easy overflow.
I think it'd be a good spot to expand tabletop to maybe free up some space for a Rock Band stage/room.
Oh, and the merch booth is where it is for a reason....I don't see it moving.
Thanks for the explanation! I didn't want to get back in line and seem greedy or anything, plus I was afraid someone was mad at me (I'm pretty meek when it comes to confrontation) or that I'd done something wrong on accident. It was Saturday day around 2:30ish or so. Anyway, will keep all of that in mind for next year. Thanks again
Perhaps the queue could be in the unused area of the 'secret level' ? it'd be out of the way. Understandably there would need to be some big ass signs out front indicating the Expo hall queue room is across the street. If that room wasn't a queue room at all, the table top vendors could be in there as well.
Yeah, it was the main theater/concert hall in '09 IIRC. Which was...meh. Better for concerts than Benaroyal in some ways (standing room!) but still shitty and the Paramount takes things to many new levels. I forget where/how they queued up people for the expo floor that year...
...oh, wait, that was the year I lost my badge, so I wasn't there to see how they did it. Right.
I was really bummed about not getting a swag bag any of the three days. From reading the forums it seems there actually were swag bags in multiple places, and the enforcers in the queue room didn't point us to any of the other locations. Better communication of where the swag bags were would have been great.
Loved the Paramount! It is such a nice venue, and it's so close to the convention center. It was really cool that a city street was blocked off for the queue line. A sunshade of some sort would be nice for the area of the line that isn't shaded by buildings, but that wasn't a very large area anyway. I'm just glad it didn't rain because that would have seriously sucked.
More tabletop space would be great! It was hard to find a table to play on, but that's probably because the tabletop library is always so awesome.
I really missed the Rock Band stage this year!
Hopefully they can get the counterfeit badge thing under control next year... I was pulled aside to have my badge checked, but it was quick and friendly so it wasn't such a big deal. I would prefer to have my legitimate badge checked for legitimacy, than to risk PAX being over capacity and getting shut down.
Supercommuter needs more exposure. I understand why they played last, like the Minibosses, but they were much better than I or any of my team expected.
As usual I'm going to keep saying bring back The OneUps. And even Freezepop (even just for East).
Otherwise things were ran pretty well, good show. I'll think of some other things later.
I am sorry to say that the Cookie Brigade cookies cannot compete. It has to do with the fact that these cookies were fresh made whereas the cookie brigade cookies were cold
This ^
I was expecting so much more from you halofest
I agree with the PAX 10 part but the ticket system is a BAD idea. People would just go around getting tickets which woud:
A) Cause lines for getting tickets form up
B) Most people would skip the majority of tickets they got since they would have a lot of tickets, and this would lead to unrealistic estimates of lines to games, which would lead to exhibitors not letting people get tickets for the game.
C) Anyone who arrived an hour or more late would be at a serious disadvantage.
Yeah, to whoever does @Official_Pax , please stop tweeting the percent complete. It made me very sad
I disagree with this one actually. I had more than one person tell me they weren't getting cookies from the cookie brigade because they can get them hot and fresh from Grandma upstairs.
More than once I felt like the "silly gooseness" had been turned up this year. Convention center staff and the new "security" people just seemed snarly. I had one jump my 7 year olds butt for standing in the wrong area on Sunday, she was picking up garbage off the floor, took everything she had not to bust out in tears, guy was just a jerk. I'm not sure what can be done to fix that one, but I have never seen a group of people so genuinely unhappy to be somewhere before in my life!
Shipping cookies for Prime 2013
Yeah, the Cookie Brigade cookies aren't that great. I mean after all, they're homemade instead of being mass produced junk food... there are awesome themed cookies like combustible lemons and jammy dodgers...the proceeds go to a charity that the PA guys started...
I can see why a commercially produced marketing bid handed out by paid actors who know nothing about PAX would be better hot.
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I <3 PAX always, been since 2008 and things are running so much more smoothly over past years that I only have a fairly nit-pick list and try to give constructive examples so I’m throwing it behind a spoiler.
+1 to discouraging raffle mobs in the expo hall. This has improved greatly since ’08, but there are still some vendors that insist on this (Zotac/CoolerMaster looking at you). Other vendors did come back and check your ticket/twitter at a specific time, sign up for our mailing list and randomly win, like us on facebook, etc. Those things actually work.
+1 to enforcing policy. Glad the NOS girls were told to tone down the outfits, it’s an all ages event. They kind of had a Hooters vibe, I don’t like Hooters so I avoided that whole aisle in the expo. The kicker for me was when they were allowed in BYOC. I watched a BYOC girl chase the NOS girl down just to get a sample drink (gals need caffeine too!) but guys who weren’t even interested or paying attention got bracelets slapped on them at their seats and drinks handed to them. Boo-urns! Also, not sure if it was known/dealt with but apparently CoolerMaster had a boothbabe calendar as swag. One of my “friends” stuffed one in my monitor box when I wasn’t looking during BYOC teardown. It’s really tacky and looks like those escort cards on the street in Vegas. Granted I’ll probably use it for a prank gift now…
+1 6th floor planning. It was very often a cluster up there and made trying to get to BYOC a real pain, especially around 6:00 when the mini expo was herded out the one set of doors near Unicorn to the big escalator to the 4th floor. I <3 Enforcers, but it was a real drag to have to be herded in that mob when they had to block the hallway that went straight from the mini-expo to BYOC, it was like missing the warp zone and having to play Worlds 2 and 3 in ultra slo-mo shuffle.
+1 bring back more free play space. Overall I felt everything was a little more commercial this year with preference to giving space to vendors/developers rather than to the actual gamers who are there to game. TT, Console, PC, BYOC were all reduced this year and I feel like that was to accommodate more booths and Halofest.
+1 Halofest, meh. It was interesting, but it was about a 15 min walkthough. I’ve only played Halo in more recent years but it just felt like it was suited for a traveling exhibit at EMP or the Pacific Science Center. That would have allowed for the “hidden level” again with the escalators leading from the expo hall down to mini expo instead of having it up on 6th limiting BYOC/PC/Console so badly.
+1 scalpers/forgers are lame. I’m as bummed as everyone else and know PA has some difficult decisions ahead regarding the situation. Having worked with the Seattle Fire Marshal for a Haunted House at UW I know how very difficult it is to keep them happy and would hate to see PAX run into issues and possible shut down.
TL;DR
Love Paramount / Box Booths bad / Expo Raffle Mobs bad / Enforcing booth policies good / 6th floor crowded bad / moar freeplay/BYOC / Send Halofest to EMP+SFM or Pac-Sci / Future badge security good
Very few bummers that I can think of offhand:
1. "Gamers are second-class citizens." Reserving large sections of the Paramount theater (e.g. the entire loge section and first three rows of the mezzanine/balcony) for media was unnecessary and insulting. PAX should really be for the regular attendees, not for the media or "VIPs." Worst of all, these sections were almost entirely empty after the sessions began, but still nobody was allowed to sit there.
2. "Oh sorry, the schedule lied." For example, the printed schedule promised that the legendary David "Zeb" Cook (designer of 2nd edition AD&D) would be at the "D&D Through the Ages" panel, and he's the reason I got in line more than an hour in advance. However, when the panel started, he was missing. I asked the panel organizers about it, and they said that they had known for a long time that he wouldn't be there and had informed PAX far in advance, but neither the printed schedule, nor the posted schedule at the room, nor the schedule in the iPhone app were updated. In the future, any changes to the schedule or panels should be clearly noted in printed updates, on the mobile app, and on the schedule that is posted at the auditorium itself.
3. "Ahhh! It Burns!! What is that LIGHT!!!" The line outside the Paramount was, surprisingly for Seattle, scorchingly hot during the day. I can't believe I actually got .... sunburned??? If the weather has any chance of being good next year, is there any chance that the line could be moved to a sheltered or shaded location? Otherwise, warn people that they may actually need sunscreen - or an umbrella even if it's not raining.
Thanks for listening.
I was sitting at the big Street Fighter screen watching people play, waiting to get a few matches in myself. The guys who were playing right before me played first-to-three with one guy taking three games in a row before the loser surrendered his seat to me. I then take a seat, hook up my fightstick, set up my controls, and play three matches, losing all three. I start getting ready to leave.
An enforcer then comes from nowhere and tells me that I've been playing for "a really long time", matter-of-factly telling me that "loser gets off" and ordering me to put the matches on best three out of five, and that players switch after one match. He then vanishes from the room instantly, leaving me to wonder if he even really cared, and leaving everyone else with a "what the hell was that guy's deal" look on their faces. I was playing SF4 in console freeplay a lot this weekend, and I saw a lot of people play first-to-three sets. I really feel like I was treated unfairly.
This enforcer obviously didn't understand how casuals are played in fighting games. Both guys usually connect their sticks, rearrange the control scheme for their respective sticks, button check to see if everything is working fine, and then play a set of first-to-three, first-to-ten, or something similar. Nobody ever plays three-out-of-five round matches, it's always two rounds out of three. I play Akuma, so I like to put light kick to the right of hard kick (right where triple punch usually goes) so that I can do the Raging Demon shortcut easier. Almost nobody uses this setup, so if someone wants to use the default setup for their stick, they'll have to rearrange all the controls again every single time I finish a match. Playing big sets of matches means less hassle with people having to constantly get up and get settled, as well as ensuring the people playing at one time get a lot of time to do so. Yeah, it also means people have to watch for a while, but most fighting game enthusiasts like watching matches, and it's considered to be extremely rude to demand someone to get off and give someone else a turn during matches.
What the enforcer said to me made me uncomfortable because I felt like I was being watched constantly/stalked by the enforcers in a way that nobody who wasn't playing a fighting game in console freeplay was subjected to, as well as the fact that the enforcer was simply being flat-out rude. I thought enforcers were supposed enforce the Don't Be A Dick rule, rather than being dicks themselves.
~Basically, I am on the train of "Yay! Paramount!"
~I don't play Halo, but I thought Fest was cool. It made me want to buy the soundtracks...didn't but I wanted to.
~The WotC floors below Halo Fest = Awesome in the possum (yee-haw)
~Also on the forever-will-say-this-until-it-happens train of "Please bring Wil to Main Theatre."
I spoiled what every day's great stuff and I will place in my stuff after spoiler.
1) I agree...to a point. I understand Media/VIPs should get SOME privileges; but I believe five minutes into the panel and there are empty seatings in that area; it should open up to the public.
2) There were some time changes with a few of the panels throughout the weekend and luckily whomever does the Official PAX twitter feed did a good job at doing the best to keep up. The San Diego Comic-Con does these daily news letters to wrap up what happened the day before and have an updated schedule of that day. Maybe PAX can do something similar? I know it costs monies, but this is a suggestion thread after all.
As for the GOG/Cookie Brigade. Having fresh cookies DID NOT stop me from getting other cookies and treats from the Brigade. Funny enough, I actually found a Brigadier not long after I had a GOG cookie.
Okie. That is my stuff. Doneski.
Your ever-awesome Frog-Backpack Girl.
1)
Just like last east exhibitors were let into BYOC because they want to take a look around and hand out free things to attendees (and give us more prizes). We all love more free stuff (plus hey, free energy drinks!) plus more sponsors for PC room checking things out is always awesome. This cant happen if they aren't let in... plus if they are there for work why would they pose a security risk. They are just eyeing everyone for more marketing opportunities.
I too was kind of... cross with them randomly putting the slapbracelets on people and told them to stop when I wasn't being pulled multiple directions from various problems.
2)
Yeah we knew about the coolermaster thing. It was in a box of random marketing/swag stuff that came in with the PC prizes. Probably just a standard LAN sponsorship thing that was sent (not like they are trying to circumvent the boothbabe thing).
It also wasn't a boothbabe calender but it was the girls from all the coolermaster videos on their youtube channel.
We just laughed at it, there was only about 15 of them, I just threw them in the large box of free stuff I put out for BYOC people. If it makes you feel better you can blame me for them being given out in BYOC
LOL... yeah trust me I'm getting those guys back after dumping it in my monitor box and finding it when I got home in my zombie like stupor trying to get my computer set back up so I could get on the interwebs. So thanks for the future white elephant gift. BYOC was a hoot again this year and I'm having so much fun telling all the engineers at work about our bridge.
3. This is a concern that I will try to share up the chain when it comes time. I carried a fair supply of SPF50 around with me for those who asked, but not enough for "the whole class."
Because I don't.
I have a good paying job, and I don't want to be a videogame tester anymore than I want to be a gynecologist. I know better.
I guess I could dig up the old programs and see if this is an actual "thing" that is happening, but talking with some friends we all seem to agree that it feels like it is.
The suggesting, of course, being "less of this."
To clarify, I still bought cookie brigade cookies for the good cause
But I really did enjoy the fresh cookies better...they just tasted better. In addition, all the cookie brigadiers I bought from only had standard chocolate chip, bran muffins, and brownies. I was really hoping to see the themed cookies
I enjoy the cookie brigade immensely and always picked up some delicious cookies. That said, you are being absolutely ridiculous about this. The cookie brigade is for charity, the GOG booth is not a competitor. They were not drinking the Cookie Brigade's milkshake.
On to actual suggestions:
-Love the Paramount. I kept joking that I need to see something "legitimate" there in the next year.
-HaloFest was a one off, and I understand completely why it was done. It was a celebration of a franchise with roots in the northwest. Yes, other things could have been there, and next year there will be.
-I still want to see an Art Gallery/Auction with Community and Famous artists selling works for Child's Play. Hell, I'd organize if it asked.