PAX East Information and FAQ (ASK QUESTIONS HERE!)

Moe Fwacky

Ask anybody here and they'll tell you the same thing. Go big or go home. If you cut friday, you're missing 1/3 of PAX. As for sunday, well the same thing happens sunday as does on friday and saturday: panels, tournaments, freeplay (console, PC and tabletop) and everything else that makes PAX amazing.

edit: also, if you add your location to your profile, it will be displayed beneath your avatar and you won't have to remind us where you're from.

fylraen

Any word on when enforcer apps are turned down or accepted? I submitted an app a while ago, got no confirmation (didn't expect one), but wondering when people will know.

heels

Everyone who submitted an Enforcer application should hear back...soon, hopefully within the next few weeks

fylraen

That was snappy, thanks for the reply!

Godofhardcore

I'm strongly Considering saying FUCK ANIME BOSTON and going to PAX instead. I've been to AB every year but this year I may not beable to make it so PAX is sounding pretty good to me.

So I'm making this thread for people like me who have never to been to PAX on the west coast and are wondering what we can expect from PAX East. I'm assmuming it'll be pretty much the same experience.

Dealer's room Swag it of great interst to me, like, what kind of vendors were there in the past and such?

Any one else wondering feel free to add your own questions. If a thread like this already exists merge it or whatever.

whypick1

Godofhardcore wrote: »

Any one else wondering feel free to add your own questions. If a thread like this already exists merge it or whatever.

Like this one?

Godofhardcore wrote: »

Dealer's room Swag it of great interst to me, like, what kind of vendors were there in the past and such?

"Vendors" as in "people who sell stuff" or as in "people who are exhibiting stuff"? There's not a whole lot of people selling (off the top of my head, PA store, Pink Gorilla who I doubt would make the east coast trek, Red vs. Blue and a few of the indie developers). As far as exhibitors go, take any developer or publisher who released anything worth playing the past year either on console, PC, or tabletop, and then add a few other names that pop to your head and a bunch of indie developers you've probably never heard of. Not all of them hand out swag (the Diablo 3 t-shirts the Blizzard folks were wearing pissed me off since they were giving away not-a-damn-thing), but you'd be hard pressed to not get something (this year, I walked out with 13 t-shirts, and I only paid for 2 of them).

Godofhardcore

Thanks and Thanks.

and I mean people who are selling stuff.

Moe Fwacky

There are people who sell stuff and people who give stuff away.

Ulquiora

Ok, from what I've been reading on PAX, it seems like it would be a mistake to go to PAX alone, but, unfortunately for me, no one else I know has any interest in attending.

Now this may sound a bit strange, but is there a thread somewhere were people meet up in a pre-PAX sort of way?

Moe Fwacky

You mean something like this?

Ulquiora

EXACTLY!

Zuki

Ulquiora wrote: »

Ok, from what I've been reading on PAX, it seems like it would be a mistake to go to PAX alone, but, unfortunately for me, no one else I know has any interest in attending.

Now this may sound a bit strange, but is there a thread somewhere were people meet up in a pre-PAX sort of way?

Depending on your schedule and travel budget, the PAXeast train alliance may be another way to meet up with PAXfolk ahead of time.

I'd agree, if you're going to it alone, make friends on the forums and the day you check in (probably thursday?), and take it from there. If you don't bring a crew, make one or find one.

VThornheart

Also, for those curious about the aforementioned tour, Location voting is taking place *NOW*! So get to it!

Sillyconmind

First off, there are a shit ton of people attending pax, you may go alone, but you will make tons of awesome friends.

Secondly... Party at the sherton. That is all

Thirdishiously... I want to see some vendors and attractions so I know how awesome this is going to be, is it possible for someone to update with confirmed people who are coming?

GEP

Im excited this will be my first pax since its finally on the east coast. Ill be coming from NYC but I have not booked a hotel yet. Hope to make some friends on the forums and at the expo in the coming two months. Im still trying to get a group together here to go with me but im not sure how that will work out. I guess this would be the thread to ask about cool pax stories, travel advice around boston, possibly where to mesh into a larger group before the event begins and etc. To the post earlier the site says things start friday afternoon unless you include pre-pax meetups which I know nothing about :P

Moe Fwacky

There are many Pre-PAX events to meet people beforehand. There's the PAX East Train Alliance, which coordinates PAXers from many starting locations to Amtrak it up to Boston. There's the Magical Mystery Tour, which is a touristy jaunt around the city with other PAXers. There's the pub crawl (thread not available yet), which will be a Pokemon themed bar crawl around town.

That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure more stuff will pop up. Also keep an eye out on the NJ/NYC local meetup thread for meetups in your area.

Notoriety

I registered for PAX in early September, which I think was several months before the news post announcing the official opening of registration for the event. Was my registration valid?

Wormdundee

Yes, a lot of people on the boards buy their tickets well before the 'official' announcement. So yeah, you're fine.

Paine

So, I'm a Bostonian looking to attend the upcoming PAX East as my first gaming con. I was going to register for a 3-day pass to take advantage of the Early Bird special, but then I saw multiple passing references in the FAQ about BYOC passes being different than regular passes.

So, should I hold off on buying the 3-day pass if there's a possibility I would B[My]OC? How does that work exactly?

Moe Fwacky

BYOC is for bring your own computer, if you choose do this, you will need a normal 3-day PAX pass in addition to the BYOC Pass. The PAX Pass get you into PAX, the BYOC pass gives you a place to put your computer with power and network access.

Buy your PAX pass as soon as you can, and the BYOC pass when they become available.

gilby123

Hi there! Long Time Reader of PA, First Time Attendee. My question involves Wheelchair availability. Will there be any? I walk with a cane, but can't walk overly far before my bad knee requires sitting down. I understand the area is wheelchair accessable, but was wondering does the facility have them available for rental or usage by attendees.

Additionally, despite living relatively in the area, I have no idea how handicapped parking is in the area. My currently thinking is perhaps to park at one of the T-stations and take the T in, but this will only add to the importance of wheelchair access for me, since my legs will already get a minor workout getting to the place beforehand.

Thanks for the help!

aetherg

How late does the last day of the show typically run to? I'm wondering whether I need to book an extra hotel night, or whether I'll have time to catch my bus without missing out on anything.

whypick1

6pm.

awkook

Hey guys i have a few questions about this years pax.

1. Is the same thing going to be happening all 3 days? Or are there different things each day?

2. I have 3 tickets to PAX. One has my name, the other 2 has the same name. Will i be able to make one of those 2 tickets have another persons name on the badge?

Thanks, awkook

whypick1

1. Definitely different stuff each day. This was the schedule for Prime '09. Lots of variety.
2. The badges themselves do not have names printed on them.

awkook

How much will I be missing by only going saturday?

Moe Fwacky

66.666% of PAX

whypick1

Going by hours instead of days like Moe calculated, you'd actually only miss 60.465% of PAX.

Still too much though.

Moe Fwacky

awkook wrote: »

How much will I be missing by only going saturday?

Here's what it comes down to. If you're local or within easy traveling distance to PAX, there's no reason not to go all three days. If you're not local and you're coming in from out of town, there's no reason not to go all three days. PAX is awesome and there's more to do in those three days than you will ever see.

gilby123

gilby123 wrote: »

Hi there! Long Time Reader of PA, First Time Attendee. My question involves Wheelchair availability. Will there be any? I walk with a cane, but can't walk overly far before my bad knee requires sitting down. I understand the area is wheelchair accessable, but was wondering does the facility have them available for rental or usage by attendees.

Additionally, despite living relatively in the area, I have no idea how handicapped parking is in the area. My currently thinking is perhaps to park at one of the T-stations and take the T in, but this will only add to the importance of wheelchair access for me, since my legs will already get a minor workout getting to the place beforehand.

Thanks for the help!

Anyone know who I could contact about this if no one on here knows?

heels

Hi! sorry for the delay on the response!

PAX is wheelchair accessible but I do not think the facility has wheelchairs for rental, I will however check with my contact at the building to make sure. As for the T itself I found a wikipage with far too much information on this subject. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBTA_accessibility

I will post another response in this thread when I find out about wheelchair rental or usage.

dardor

heels wrote: »

As for the T itself I found a wikipage with far too much information on this subject. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MBTA_accessibility

wow...just...wow...

facetious

Second Edit: Actually one more question, because I'm a total newb to traveling. If I booked the hotel for Thursday-Sunday, would that mean I'd have to check out early Sunday? I'll probably want to leave Sunday night, and I wouldn't want to have to carry my bag around with me all day, but I also wouldn't want to be charged for an extra day in my hotel room when I'd hardly spend any time there..


This is a pretty simple question, but: during what hours does the con run each day?

For flight scheduling purposes, et cetera.

Edit: And of course on this very page there's a post that answers my question! Thanks for the schedule for reference, whypick1. I guess I should have been able to infer from the official FAQ's response regarding what days to attend (namely, the bit about concerts being Friday and Saturday nights) that it closed early on Sunday, which is what I really needed to know.

tehnakki

facetious wrote: »

Second Edit: Actually one more question, because I'm a total newb to traveling. If I booked the hotel for Thursday-Sunday, would that mean I'd have to check out early Sunday? I'll probably want to leave Sunday night, and I wouldn't want to have to carry my bag around with me all day, but I also wouldn't want to be charged for an extra day in my hotel room when I'd hardly spend any time there.

If you book Thursday-Sunday you'll check out Sunday morning (usually around 11am is the checkout time, though you can sometimes request* a late checkout of up to 1pm) and the bellhop will have a bag check where you can leave your bags until you are ready to leave for the airport. So you can enjoy PAX without dragging your bags around all day

*you would make this request at check in if you wanted to.

facetious

Awesome, thanks! I didn't know about the bag check option. (Like I said, newb. This'll be my first time on a plane since I was three and my first time out of state by myself.)



PS. I'm a Hufflepuff too! I'm a little unsure about your House of Awesome reference, however. It could be a general commentary on the awesomeness of Hufflepuff, but is it possible the first person with whom I react on these forums is a fellow wizard rock fan?!

tehnakki

No problem =D

Yes indeed I am a huge WRock fan, though the comment about awesomeness is more in reference to the fact Hufflepuffs kick ass then of Whompy's song =D Specifically in my signature it refers to the Triwizard Drinking Tournament Pubcrawl which takes place at PAXPrime. There will be a similar pub crawl at PAXEast, though it will be Pokemon themed.

The_Reflection

This is probably a question that can't be answered yet, but since i've never left the west coast in my life.

How cold is it gonna be? On average how cold is Boston in March?

dardor

The_Reflection wrote: »

This is probably a question that can't be answered yet, but since i've never left the west coast in my life.

How cold is it gonna be? On average how cold is Boston in March?

This has been mentioned in the PAX East Bible thread, but judging by temperatures in Jersey so far this winter (it's snowing outside my window as I type), it will be pretty cold even if it's late March. West Coasters will definitely be cold, as your nights usually dip down to what, around 60 degrees? Think about half that, at most maybe 2/3.

Gundabad

The short answer? Completely unpredictable. It's impossible for us to predict what late March will be like because it is right when the temperature starts to shift. That shift can happens a week early, a week late, but we won't know until we start to see 10-day forecasts come out in mid-March.

Some historical data from weatherbase.com:
Boston averages 38 degrees in March, yet on average there is also one March day above 65 degrees each year, and 17 days below freezing. Boston also averages 8 inches of snow ever March but that is more likely to happen earlier in the month.

So as of now expect anything from 30 to 65 degrees! We'll know much more once we get to mid-march.

For curiosity's sake, the record temps going back 50 years range from 1 to 85 degrees, but you can't plan a trip around those kind of numbers.

whypick1

The_Reflection wrote: »

West Coasters will definitely be cold, as your nights usually dip down to what, around 60 degrees? Think about half that, at most maybe 2/3.

Hey, the West Coast consists of more than California. I can't even remember the last time it broke 50° as a high here in the Portland area.