Hey guys, a friendly Canadian here I've never been to PAX and it's gonna be my first time going next year. I was wondering if anyone else wants to go with me. I live in Ontario so I was actually thinking of driving there. Would anyone else be interested?
Thank! XD
Might want to narrow that down a bit. Ontario's a good sized place. I'm from Ottawa, I think there's a Torontonian about. Probably others, or will be as the date draws closer.
Waves from Toronto. Coming from Seattle, I've recognized a good dozen faces that are within the area, and I'm sure there's quite a few around that will be making the trip to East too.
I am planning on getting a group of people and a driving convoy down to Boston. Maybe I'll start a thread sometime soon.
Hey fellow canadian and ontarioan i was thinking of carpooling and driving down to boston but i am thinkining a flight might be better. And Same for being a first year PAX Goer.
I've done the flying route from Toronto to Boston, with both Air Canada and Porter. Return flight averages around $330 including tax. If you are from Toronto, I highly recommend Porter only because it cuts down on the wait at the airport time.
However, $330 is a pretty big premium to pay for the reduced time to travel.
Last year when I checked it was something crazy around $380 for Toronto -> Boston. Porter seems to be slowly decreasing their prices, so if I can get it around $250 for next year I'm willing to pay that. What I ended up doing was taking the Greyhound to Buffalo and leaving through their airport. The whole trip was under $200 including the bus tickets. It takes a lot more time, but you do save a significant amount of money. I plan on going that route again if flights from YYZ are still nuts.
Hiding plastic eggs with candy may be an awesome fun idea, but not for while the con is going on. At least, not just hiding random food stuffs around. I don't think I need to go into how this could turn into a hazardous adventure by others.
Instead! Consider these:
- Cookie Brigade armed with said candy eggs.
- A QR virtual egg hunt. There were dozens of anonymous codes stuck all around Prime for the XP quest and Life is Crime. Follow the clues and be rewarded with an Easter treat in the end!
- A community event before PAX (Much like the MMT) which involves an Easter egg hunt. Boston has a few parks to use for such a thing, but again I would avoid any retail area for the sake of safety.
I left for a few days, only to notice that this thread has flourished in my absence
I answered a few people personally on several matters.
I second the QR code egg hunt idea
I think this thread should change into the general PAX East CHAT since we now have the official PAX East FAQ up.
For those who are psyched about East, here are my tim bits of wisdom about my plans for the next event
- Staying to the closest hotel possible may be more costly but it's worth the money. Sometimes you will surprise yourself by spending more as you try to save money by staying elsewhere. Not saying that staying further to cut down on costs is not going to work either. I'm not going to elaborate else this will become a foot thick wall of text.
- Bring a bag with you and carry only the essentials, such as WATER (if not, at least a reusable bottle), a line game, note taking stuff and maybe a DS. Don't bring a library of games (video or not) just in case. Don't over burden yourself.
- Bring a good pair of walking shoes.
- Bring personal cards with your safe to distribute internet contact info. Homemade is just as good, and more often than not, the coolest.
- Easy swag drops is the biggest reason to get as close as possible for myself. I had to make at least 2 swag drops a day, and being at the Sheraton for Prime made it so convenient. Not only do swag drops allow you to get even more swag, the 10 minute break they give you from the insanity of the con is worth it in its own right.
- I have this philosophy when I go to PAX: While it'd be nice to play the AAAAAAAAAAA titles coming out, at the end of the day I'll be buying them regardless. I didn't play GoW3, Uncharted 3, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect 3, etc not only because their lines were crazy long, but also because it wouldn't allow me to experience hidden gems I didn't know about. I didn't know about Bastion until I played it at PAX and fell in love. The game is dope. You guys need to check out at least the demo. If there is a game you must play regardless (Read: Final Fantasy XIII-2) wake up early and get in the queue for it.
- Make a Strip panel. Go to it. No questions.
- Don't be afraid to talk to the people working the booths. Not only is it the only chance most of us will get, the majority are extremely friendly people. Sometimes you get stuck with some PR/Marketing person who's just reading off bullet-points, but most of the time you end up talking to someone genuinely passionate and excited about the game they've been working on. I remember at Prime '10 we talked to this one dev who ended up giving us an hour walk-through of the game he was working on. While the rest of the booth was nuts with people getting shuffled in and out we received special attention because we talked to him about the game and showed interest in it. Elemental: War of Magic may not be the best game in the world, but lord we all bought that game the second we could and haven't looked back since.
- Going in a group is a ton of fun. Walking the show floor in a posse is an amazing experiences so I hope everyone out there has a group they can hang with.
- That being said, don't be afraid to wander off by your lonesome from time-to-time. Nobody out there has 100% similar tastes so while people are checking out a panel or game you don't really care about go off on your own little adventure.
- Having a phone or some means of communication is super important. A backup plan of, "Everyone meet at booth/panel/whatever for 3pm" is a good idea too.
Was just curious, but are there discounts for the hotels? >_> I looked up on one of them and it was 1,118 for 3 nights!
this is better for the East FAQ thread, but I'll answer you here: Yes, there is a 3rd party company that manages hotels for PAX and has pre-arranged discount rates and blocked off rooms for most of the major hotels near PAX. The link will go up on the website and on the forums when it is ready.
Something new for this year, I will arrive WAY in advance and leave on day later. Boston is just too cool of a city and merits more time to visit. Also I will finally get to experience the final day of PAX in it's entirety.
Boston is just too cool of a city and merits more time to visit.
This. Seriously, if you don't mind walking, Boston is worth coming a day early to visit...hell, just the atmosphere of the city is intoxicating. Cool stuff is really just a 20-30 minute walk away from the BCEC area.
Boston is just too cool of a city and merits more time to visit.
This. Seriously, if you don't mind walking, Boston is worth coming a day early to visit...hell, just the atmosphere of the city is intoxicating. Cool stuff is really just a 20-30 minute walk away from the BCEC area.
I agree. Last year was my first year and I went with 2 friends. This year I'll be back with those 2 friends plus my wife and one more friend, so showing up early is a great way to hang with a group. Also, we met a guy at lunch on Thursday last year that ended up hanging with us and we still stay in touch and are already planning stuff for 2012.
Also, in case anyone is interested, I'm from Milwaukee, WI and thought it would be cool to meet other PAX folks from my area, so let me know.
PAX South Status: [x] Room @ The Marriot - [x] 3 day pass - [x] Vacation scheduled
Posts
Yeah The Torontonian
I am planning on getting a group of people and a driving convoy down to Boston. Maybe I'll start a thread sometime soon. I've done the flying route from Toronto to Boston, with both Air Canada and Porter. Return flight averages around $330 including tax. If you are from Toronto, I highly recommend Porter only because it cuts down on the wait at the airport time.
However, $330 is a pretty big premium to pay for the reduced time to travel.
Last year when I checked it was something crazy around $380 for Toronto -> Boston. Porter seems to be slowly decreasing their prices, so if I can get it around $250 for next year I'm willing to pay that. What I ended up doing was taking the Greyhound to Buffalo and leaving through their airport. The whole trip was under $200 including the bus tickets. It takes a lot more time, but you do save a significant amount of money. I plan on going that route again if flights from YYZ are still nuts.
Hiding plastic eggs with candy may be an awesome fun idea, but not for while the con is going on. At least, not just hiding random food stuffs around. I don't think I need to go into how this could turn into a hazardous adventure by others.
Instead! Consider these:
- Cookie Brigade armed with said candy eggs.
- A QR virtual egg hunt. There were dozens of anonymous codes stuck all around Prime for the XP quest and Life is Crime. Follow the clues and be rewarded with an Easter treat in the end!
- A community event before PAX (Much like the MMT) which involves an Easter egg hunt. Boston has a few parks to use for such a thing, but again I would avoid any retail area for the sake of safety.
PAX EAST 2012: HOTEL [X] FLIGHT [] PASSES [X] TIME OFF []
I answered a few people personally on several matters.
I second the QR code egg hunt idea
I think this thread should change into the general PAX East CHAT since we now have the official PAX East FAQ up.
For those who are psyched about East, here are my tim bits of wisdom about my plans for the next event
- Staying to the closest hotel possible may be more costly but it's worth the money. Sometimes you will surprise yourself by spending more as you try to save money by staying elsewhere. Not saying that staying further to cut down on costs is not going to work either. I'm not going to elaborate else this will become a foot thick wall of text.
- Bring a bag with you and carry only the essentials, such as WATER (if not, at least a reusable bottle), a line game, note taking stuff and maybe a DS. Don't bring a library of games (video or not) just in case. Don't over burden yourself.
- Bring a good pair of walking shoes.
- Bring personal cards with your safe to distribute internet contact info. Homemade is just as good, and more often than not, the coolest.
- I have this philosophy when I go to PAX: While it'd be nice to play the AAAAAAAAAAA titles coming out, at the end of the day I'll be buying them regardless. I didn't play GoW3, Uncharted 3, Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect 3, etc not only because their lines were crazy long, but also because it wouldn't allow me to experience hidden gems I didn't know about. I didn't know about Bastion until I played it at PAX and fell in love. The game is dope. You guys need to check out at least the demo. If there is a game you must play regardless (Read: Final Fantasy XIII-2) wake up early and get in the queue for it.
- Make a Strip panel. Go to it. No questions.
- Don't be afraid to talk to the people working the booths. Not only is it the only chance most of us will get, the majority are extremely friendly people. Sometimes you get stuck with some PR/Marketing person who's just reading off bullet-points, but most of the time you end up talking to someone genuinely passionate and excited about the game they've been working on. I remember at Prime '10 we talked to this one dev who ended up giving us an hour walk-through of the game he was working on. While the rest of the booth was nuts with people getting shuffled in and out we received special attention because we talked to him about the game and showed interest in it. Elemental: War of Magic may not be the best game in the world, but lord we all bought that game the second we could and haven't looked back since.
- Going in a group is a ton of fun. Walking the show floor in a posse is an amazing experiences so I hope everyone out there has a group they can hang with.
- That being said, don't be afraid to wander off by your lonesome from time-to-time. Nobody out there has 100% similar tastes so while people are checking out a panel or game you don't really care about go off on your own little adventure.
- Having a phone or some means of communication is super important. A backup plan of, "Everyone meet at booth/panel/whatever for 3pm" is a good idea too.
this is better for the East FAQ thread, but I'll answer you here: Yes, there is a 3rd party company that manages hotels for PAX and has pre-arranged discount rates and blocked off rooms for most of the major hotels near PAX. The link will go up on the website and on the forums when it is ready.
Just saying.
Vacation time booked!
Something new for this year, I will arrive WAY in advance and leave on day later. Boston is just too cool of a city and merits more time to visit. Also I will finally get to experience the final day of PAX in it's entirety.
This. Seriously, if you don't mind walking, Boston is worth coming a day early to visit...hell, just the atmosphere of the city is intoxicating. Cool stuff is really just a 20-30 minute walk away from the BCEC area.
I agree. Last year was my first year and I went with 2 friends. This year I'll be back with those 2 friends plus my wife and one more friend, so showing up early is a great way to hang with a group. Also, we met a guy at lunch on Thursday last year that ended up hanging with us and we still stay in touch and are already planning stuff for 2012.
Also, in case anyone is interested, I'm from Milwaukee, WI and thought it would be cool to meet other PAX folks from my area, so let me know.