Don't get me wrong, I had loads of fun, but I can't help but feel this year doesn't live up to last. Just like PAX outgrew the original location, I almost feel like they've outgrown the convention center too. There were A LOT of people here today, as expected, but there was a lot more confusion and disorganization this year than in past.
When we first came in, it was just a sea of humanity. Several different lines had formed, and no one was quite sure which was which, even the event staff all had different answers. Once we got to the front of the line, someone came running out claiming that this was not the correct line to get your lanyard and swag bag. Despite this, we still moved foward into the expo hall, without a lanyard or visible pass, and no obe questioned us at any point. Why even issue badges if you're not even going to check them? How many other people were able to just wander in with no badge? I'm going to guess lots.
The exhibition hall itself was just way too crowded, and the lines for everything was preposterously long. An hour and a half wait for a five minute demo of Chainsaw Lollipop? Give me a break (and on that note, don't bother, it sucked and was better when it was called Bayonetta). The lines to even get near Borderlands 2 or Max Payne were even worse, if you wanted to play either of these, you might as well have kissed half your day goodbye.
Ultimately it just seemed this year that despite the fact that everyone involved was aware of the crowd size, no one seemed ready to accomodate it. I don't mind large crowds, but surely the developers could have had more screens or allowed for shorter gameplay times to move the lines along faster. The food is the same as it always crappy and overpriced, and of course the convention center is not within reasonable walking distance of any other food. The panels this year sucked too, and no one seemed to be doing anything to stop people hogging TVs and games in the console freeplay room eiter, but that's another issue.
Hopefully given the fact that they've got a long term contract with the convention center, hopefully next year they can do a better job expanding the exhibition floor to utilize more of the available space, and encourage developers to do more to shorten wait times. Oh well, it was fun none the less.
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I am not disappointed. Spent the whole day on the expo floor chatting with reps, got to play a few really awesome games, some beta invites, met Jerry while he was playing Dyad... Mostly I'm fucking exhausted after being on my feet all day since we didn't hit any panels.
I just don't want to wait 3 hours to see the Giant Bomb guys.
Weren't the keynote, Q&A and Rooster Teeth ALL overfilled? Or did I fuck up by not having the patience.
There were Borderlands and Max Payne shirts, posters, and stickers, but nothing was just being handed out, you had to wait in line and play the games first.
All those, the two bioware (dragon age and me3) and a few others I saw. Line management sucked, more than once I walked into the waiting rooms for the smaller halls and people were spread out everywhere with no semblance of lines while the enforcers were all out in the hall hanging out. Can't even blame them, they are volunteers, maybe pax needs more actual staff to keep things organized.
That having been said out of the 4 panels I saw today 3 were excellent and the other was entertaining if not a complete mess.
Actually, to my totally unexpected and outrageously grateful surprise, our panel (Press XY) pretty much filled to capacity.
The CS:GO tourney at the Nvidia area was a complete disaster. I got drafted from BYOC to play, they told us our team won 3rd because the enemy team forfeited and then told us we were actually 4th. It took them over 3 hours to tell us that we would get nothing. The 4 gigabyte flash drive is nice, though.
Yeah. PAX this year just seems.. dull.
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It seemed much the same as day one last year. I will note, there were some differences of course:
I didn't care much for the more restricted "flow". Last year, things were a lot more open. And I understand why they changed it, but it's a bit of a negative. This negative is heavily offset by WHY they changed the flow - to accommodate the giant free play PC area, which is awesome, even if I didn't use it. .
Tabletop gaming area felt smaller, even though I believe it's the same size, just broken up differently - making it feel kind of cramped (again, compared to last year).
Only did one panel, but it was full, which surprised me, as I thought the topic wouldn't be much of a draw.
I will say that it sure felt like WotC owned the place. (which I could use many different emoticons to express my feeling about that, but that's just me. )
Anyway, I'll see what I think tomorrow, but all three of us had fun, and are looking forward to tomorrow.
For one thing, and I know this sounds really silly, I barely saw any of the PA crew outside of panels. Last year I saw Khoo numerous times, as well as Kiko and a few others. I didn't see Khoo at all today and barely saw the others. I know there are a load of people and it's possible not to see any of them all day but last year, they were front and center handing out swag bags and laynards to the people going to the keynote. They're busy people, but I felt a bit let down just the same
I also think a lack of interesting panels also disappointed me. Kris and Scott not being able to make it was a big blow and I didn't feel fulfilled by the panels that were offered (notable exception was the transgender issues in gaming panel. Time very well spent)
Another explanation could be that I'm a little burnt out. The event only happens once a year but this year, I have a wedding coming up in May and am moving to a new place next weekend. That many stress factors combined with waking up early plus not having the same feeling I had last year didn't make me feel content
On the plus side, I was first in line for the keynote. That's something to be proud of
The fallout DLC Panel was pretty packed
You know you're buying those games though. I mean wanting to check them out is great and all, but the awesome part of PAX is checking out all those indie titles with small lines. You get to see some awesome titles, spend time actually talking to the devs instead of marketing people, and in the end may make someone's day by appreciating their hard work. Seriously? Fuck Max Payne, Borderlands, and all the others. I'll spend time playing Dyad, Awesomenauts, SuperTime Force, Lawnmower Challenge, and Retro/Grade all day and be far happier for it.
Actually I agree the indie games are prett good at the show and only had a 5 min wait
Don't get me wrong...there were a lot of good things about today, and it is a huge event, but the disorganization was a huge negative. There are 2 more days, so I'm still trying to be optimistic. All I'm saying is more signage would help.
They keynote was fairly full, the Q&A may have been to capacity, but Rooster Teeth had plenty of space.
I spent the entire morning in the Main Theater, and wondered what the line looked like outside and if they weren't letting people in or if there was just no one in line.
There did seem to be a lot of disorganization this year compared to last year.. No one knew what any one line was for, no one knew where to get a lanyard, I didn't see a single pile of guidebooks or anyone even handing them out and just happened to find one left on a table just before the concerts. Panels were 15-30 minutes late, which throws off planning - cut out early and miss content, or risk missing the next. One panel I tried to get into just a little late (Gaming as a spectator sport) an Enforcer told me it was overfilled, closed and locked down and no one else would be let in, so I left. Moments later, a friend of mine showed up (he was just a little bit behind me), no one was there, he walked in and said the place was half empty!
But its still PAX and its still great to see everyone. Glad I got to see Minibosses last night and wish I didn't have to leave early to catch the T. VERY much looking forward to tonight's musical lineup, I'm driving! And.. $12 vs $25 for parking? Eff self-park, I'm going valet!
Speaking of which, its Go-c'clock. No posts in the carpool thread...
See you bitches there!
(Hopefully I can actually find other people in a line who want to play MK7)
I got a few stickers, lol
Edit: Scratch that, Borderlands 2 is a 4 hour wait. Forget that jazz.
there are tonnes of beanbags!! Follow the yellow brick road to the Hand Held Lounge!
There was a serious problem with forged tickets at PAX Prime 2011 (which is why ticket re-sales aren't available through this forum, for example), if there's a real issue with overcrowding then I'd consider it much more likely to be due to forged tickets than legitimate ones.
And well should it have been; it was an excellent panel.
Fun is there, just stop looking at the giant games. You are setting yourself up for disappointment.
Sorry
If a vast majority of you were there to see it, how would you expect the line to be small?
Day 2 has rocked my gorram socks off.
I have to say the Enforcers make PAX what it is. Not only do they offer help in a polite manner, but they entertain us all.