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I understand that sentiment completely ... this is very strange to me, but a friend didn't want to come to PAX, which is cool ... but he kind of insinuated that it was beneath him. We haven't really talked since I got back from PAX. This is the same person that was my husband's best man, who traveled with us overseas to Japan! I knew something was wrong when we were in Tokyo and he didn't want to have anything to do with Akihabara, the anime nerd paradise ... he has just acted really superior ever since then
Outside of RIT I've basically been THE GEEK of the group, and now that PAX is done it hits home harder than ever. I think that's why I've been sticking to some forums and blog comments so closely ever since. I want to recapture some of that comradery as it is clearly missing from my real life.
PAX East 2013 Checklist:
[X] - Pre-registered | [X] - Train tickets | [ X] - Time Off
WE are all winning so much, Charlie Sheen needs to take some notes.
Hopefully, they announce the dates for 2012 soon so we can build an app to countdown... ::PAX Withdrawal::
Look inside of your PAX East program. They already announced them.
Something else that struck me recently is how apt the song "To Have A Home" from A Very Potter Sequel is in describing my feelings and experiences at my first PAX East.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uesDv58ZLZE
It really does give you a feeling like you belong, a reason and a something to believe in. It is hard to hide a smile. For the first time in my life (well in a long time) I didn't feel so alone, and that made my heart heal.
Wow. I can't believe other people are saying this too. I noticed last year and again this year that I was much more confident and outgoing after PAX. Talking to random strangers... looking people in the eye... stuff I usually have a very hard time doing.
I actually said to my boyfriend "Just watch... PAX will make me more confident and outgoing... at least for a couple months... and then it will slowly wear off until PAX 2012." Hmm... Which I think is why I need to convince him to go to PAX Prime.
Can't wait to see all of you next time.
Thanks for writing the first part of my post for me!
As implied above, I hail from the north of Scotland, a relitavely sparsely populated area which is very conservitive in its outlook. To compund that, I'm in the military where "Geek" is very definately a pejorative term and gaming (beyond your FPS macho-thons) is looked down on. Finally I'm old school, as in old and left school a loooong time ago.
My geek life was always kept very quiet. I collected my comics, played NwN and WoW and never let a nerdish hair on my head rise above the parapet.
Until a couple of years ago.
When the first season of Penny Arcade: The Series started I felt, vicariously, like I'd found a home. Scott Kurtz even talks about the feeling, his "Night Court family". As I watched the various installments there was frequently an ad playing - Jerry standing on stage, bellowing "Welcome to PAX!", Helix Nebula cuts in... it was heady, emotional stuff and I was caught hook, line and sinker. I was going to PAX.
I began trolling this forum, getting caught up in the sense of community almost immediately. I signed for some events to help me get out of my shell a bit and counted down the days.
The Pokecrawl on the first night was great, but I didn't really get that whole sense of a greater community - perhaps because I was there solo while most others at least had a +1. On the Friday I was hungover, a little bit overwhelmed and just wandered around in a bit of a daze... it was fun, but where was that PAX community that I'd seen in the ads?
Turns out it was in the queue for the concert that night. As we sat there for 4 hours we played games, we did crafts, we sung songs, we kept beachballs in the air for a preposterous amount of time, we whored ourselves for the smallest pieces of swag (I got all 5 badges though!)... When we finally got into the concerts we collectively had our minds blown.
The rest of the weekend was suddenly open. I bought some dice, signed up at the DnD booth and roleplayed for the first time in... 20 years? I learned to play the WoWTCG (and got utterly crucified in the process!). I talked to people more freely in lines and panels. I queued ridiculously early again for the Saturday concert and was stunned when four complete strangers not only held my place in the line when I went to get some food, but took all mystuff with them when the preline got moved upstairs. It says it all that I had no fear about leaving my DS, my phone, my camera, my Kindle lying aroung in a building with 70,000 strangers. That night when Paul and Storm sang Frogger! The Frogger Musical I reached that state I had seen - and now I'm home.
So sure, I had a great time, so did a lot of people. The lasting impact? I've shared it with people. I've told the guys I work with about dressing up as a Pokemon, about the cool new games I watched and played, about how 4E has changed everything I knew about DnD. And while it got me a lot of strange looks, it also got me a lot of positive responses. Who knows, maybe I won't have to go all the way to Boston to find my own Night Court family after all?
Tweet me @Landerolin
this++;
Although this was my first PAX, I am in a similar position. PAX East renewed my sense of joy, in games specifically. A bit of depression kicked in after we were home from Boston, but I have since made connections with friends and want to give back to the community of gamers. PAX and the spirit of Christmas are very similar in that way, and it's been a long time since I've felt it.
Thank you everyone, and thank you PAX.