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PAX BYOC
Carl_Caliente
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
One of the most baffling things all weekend was the apathy/hate for the byoc. Obviously there is a lot to do at pax and playing games you already own might not be a big priority, but they sure as hell take care of you there. Many of the people I talked to didn't seem to understand why you would want to attend a lan at pax, and some even thought it was a terrible idea.
Yes this is a partly a brag thread, but I hope this will convince a lot of you guys to attend the byoc next year. The enforcers working the area were running nearly non-stop tournaments and contests to keep things interesting with an insane amount of hardware and prizes to give away. It was great to have something entertaining to come back to when there were no panels I was interested in and sick of walking the expo floor for the 5th time. Everyone at the byoc was very friendly and I met a ton of cool people.
On top of all of that I walked away Sunday night with $2600 in prizes (Two i7's, two 3D monitors, a video card, several games and other swag), and that was only a fraction of what was given away over the 3 days. That is more than enough to get myself out to pax prime and I can only hope for a chance to do it all over again.
I'd like to thank all of the admins, enforcers, and sponsors one last time for all of their hard work. 300 people isn't close to the biggest lan I've been to, but prizes or no prizes it was the most fun I've had at an event of that kind.
I highly encourage any PC gamer to attend future byoc's. The $30 ticket was reimbursed the second you walked in the door with a copy of BF Bad Company 2, a nice backpack and other swag. If the interest and attendance grows the byoc can only get better
Yes this is a partly a brag thread, but I hope this will convince a lot of you guys to attend the byoc next year. The enforcers working the area were running nearly non-stop tournaments and contests to keep things interesting with an insane amount of hardware and prizes to give away. It was great to have something entertaining to come back to when there were no panels I was interested in and sick of walking the expo floor for the 5th time. Everyone at the byoc was very friendly and I met a ton of cool people.
On top of all of that I walked away Sunday night with $2600 in prizes (Two i7's, two 3D monitors, a video card, several games and other swag), and that was only a fraction of what was given away over the 3 days. That is more than enough to get myself out to pax prime and I can only hope for a chance to do it all over again.
I'd like to thank all of the admins, enforcers, and sponsors one last time for all of their hard work. 300 people isn't close to the biggest lan I've been to, but prizes or no prizes it was the most fun I've had at an event of that kind.
I highly encourage any PC gamer to attend future byoc's. The $30 ticket was reimbursed the second you walked in the door with a copy of BF Bad Company 2, a nice backpack and other swag. If the interest and attendance grows the byoc can only get better
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My trunk almost didn't close on the way out as it is due to the massive amount of t-shirts we had acquired over the three days.
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Carl,
I think I speak for all BYOC Enforcers when I say that we really enjoyed hosting this massive LAN Party and getting to meet some really interesting people! The nVidia swag was totally worth the $30 BYOC Ticket and for those of you that missed it.
But really, it is us, the staff, the admins, the Enforcers, that should be thanking all BYOC Attendees for making PAX East 2010 BYOC super fun, competitive, and safe.
Thanks y'all! Hope to see you all at PAX Prime 2010 and again next year in Boston at PAX East 2011.
Cheers!
Vapok
I hate to make my own task of getting into BYOC next year more difficult, but seriously, if you do nothing but play 20 minutes of Peggle on a netbook, go BYOC next year. It's like PAX First Class.
Hopefully the swag is just as good in PAXP BYOC. I mean seriously if anyone doubts the awesome of BYOC just show them your snuggie.
However the necessity list usually looks something like this (for those with towers):
1. The PC Tower (mini tower whatever)
2. Your monitor
3. Cables (Power 2x, Monitor cable)
4. Cat5 network cable, at least 10ft long (You wouldn't believe how many of these we admins gave out)
5. Peripherals: mouse, keyboard, headset, mousepad
6. Power strip (preferably one with a surge protector) Note: UPS's usually aren't allowed due to their large draw.
That's all you really need to get up and running, everything else is just stuff that's nice to have. I've got a whole bucket just full of little things that attendees somehow end up needing.
A few examples of things in my bucket commonly used:
1. White hockey tape, you'd be surprised how much this gets used. Great for taping aggravating table edges, mouse cables down etc.
2. Extra power strip
3. Extra Cat5
4. Spare mouse
5. Spare mousepad (someone always forgets theirs)
6. USB Thumbdrive
7. Screwdriver set and scissors
For those of us who are paranoid (I will admit to doing this for my first few LANs) it's usually a good idea to bring all the drivers and installers required just in case if unspeakable atrocities occur. Basically what I do is have my motherboard box full of everything that I would need to pretty much get my computer running from a naked drive. This means having an OS install CD/DVD with key (don't leave that out in the open), and all your hardware drivers (soundcard, gfx card, etc.)
A-effing-men. BYOC was the only way to fly at PAX East. A huge thank you to Big Red, all the Enforcers, all of the Asus and Nvidia folks and other vendors, etc etc., who made it all work for us. I was not in BYOC for an extended period of time, but just knowing that I had a home at PAX made all the difference in the world. I actually am more on the "let's keep this on the down low" side...I think I got pretty spoiled having all that space :0
Thanks again guys...can't wait till next year.
-BG, gannobd9 on Steam
PS: To my neighbor Chris from the UK (and thanks to all my neighbors btw for helping a TF2 noob), I must have gotten your Steam ID spelling wrong because my invites aren't working. Can you PM it to me? Thanks.
These are two of the points I always make to people who are unsure about signing up for BYOC. Escape from the crowds + no matter your machine we will always have stuff to do to entertain you (ie oregon trail, flash game contests, etc).
Plus I enjoy my low tech contests every year, despite only 5 people signing up for the bridge contest. Maybe next PAX East we will have more people sign up
Thanks everyone for making it out to this. As always BYOC went smooth and everyones stuff was safe.
protip: if you are planing on this for prime BUY YOUR TICKET RIGHT AWAY. Prime BYOC *always* sells out fast (around 2 weeks) so dont wait to consider your ticket :P
I carried to PAX ( one duffel bag, one 20 inch lcd, one ammo case PC ). Totally doable. I left with an extra ( and might I say awesome ) bag as well. Still no huge issue carrying it.
I made it home in one piece. No worse for the wear.
BYOC was awesome. Please don't tell everyone. They will show up and destroy all that awesome =P
(I'm sorry I know there's threads on this but I'm too lazy to look.)
A: "What do you want from me?!?!?"
You're the guy who won the wikipedia race in like 2 seconds? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! :P
I have to agree, just having the seat to park yourself, sit, surf and play a game for a few minutes was more than worth the price of admission. Tack on the default swag bag (which I was not told about, btw, and had to ask nvidia for - otherwise baller job by all enforcers) and it was 200% worth it.
I just wish more people were sitting in there! I felt like there were only a couple games to play.
I don't think PAX Prime will have any issues with BYOC. I'm buying my ticket the second it's available.
Massive Crystal Cavern!
Next year should work out better. I will have a better idea of what to expect and I can spend my time a little more wisely. I would have spent more time there playing games with everyone but there was so much to do it was overwhelming for my first PAX in a city I have been eager to see.
I would liked to have participated in the bridge building but when I realized with the keynote, walking the floor, going out for dinner and drinks and getting back for the concerts there was just no way I would fit everything in.
I would also like to thank the Enforcers and ever one there who helped run the BYOC and kept our gear safe for the entire weekend.
That's just why I can't understand doing BYOC, but if you have the time, then it sounds like a fantastic way to spend it.
You get two hours before and one hour after the show opens/closes to get your rig set up.
I see the point of BYOC very clearly, and yes, it is clearly not for me.
It's something I personally would like to see, but it would either require the entire convention to run 24 hours a day, or the pc room would to exist somewhere external to the show to ensure access while still maintaining security. Neither options are something we're all that excited by.
I will admit that I purchased a gaming laptop instead of a new desktop this year solely for the one time a year I travel out to PAX. :-)
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And yeah, the first PAX East BYOC was great! I only wish I'd spend more time there to reap the increased prizes over the decreased amount of people.
Hell even most 24h huge LAN parties I know of are closing down each night cause only a small handful of people are there all the time.
Wingedillidan: I am angry all the time :P Im nicest at PAX itself :P
When I first walked in and Nvidia handed me that massive backpack with the Bad Company 2 snuggie, t-shirt and game, etc. it really did feel like I'd stumbled on PAX First Class! I made a few new friends while I was there, too.
I'll definitely sign up for BYOC at PAX Prime, though I'm going to bring a gaming laptop this time. The people playing LAN games all seemed to be having a great time.
http://www.logicalcreativity.com/jon/plush/01.html
In my eyes its like the Bat Cave of PAX. Find sanctuary, find security, find nifty gadgets, find dark dank smelly corners that probably should be washed or avoided altogether.
No man should have that kind of power.(Twitter)
It's true, he is an angry person.
What I witnessed first-hand occurred on Friday, around 7:30 p.m. After packing up the laptop that I was using in the BYOC room, I walked right out the door - and not a single Enforcer stopped me.
Now for anyone who is unfamiliar with the BYOC room, and what I find disturbing, is that the Enforcers were supposed to scan matching barcodes on everyone walking out with equipment for that location - one sticker on your BYOC badge, and a matching one on your computer. It's unfortunate for me to say, but I could have walked out with anything that day.
It is also important to mention that the laptop in question actually belonged to my business partner. I almost brought my own desktop to the event, but either way, the issue could have been avoided were the Enforcers doing their job.
Both myself and my business partner would like to attend another PAX, but if we do, we sure won't be purchasing a BYOC spot the next time around. I hope someone can crack the whip at the Enforcers, I personally would like to see some improvement in the future.
1) did you have a laptop lock on that?
2) did anybody ask you at the door if you were checking out equipment? Also did you say you were checking out equipment?
3) did you have a laptop bag or was it in a backpack?
1) I did not. I was never given a laptop lock during setup.
2) No one had asked me if I was checking out equipment, and no I did not say that I was. However, several Enforcers were only a few feet away when I was packing up, and no one asked me any questions.
3) I had a laptop bag, which I kept under the chair at the station I was at. I put the laptop into the bag before I walked out the door.
1) You were instructed to bring your own laptop lock if you are bringing a laptop, we couldn't provide those at east. At prime I *sometimes* have some, they are donated by one of my PAX Prime staff. In the future is a super good idea to have something as easily concealed like a laptop to have a cable lock on it.
2) people should have, they have already been flogged.
3) They certainly should have asked you if you had a separate laptop bag. I had to ask because there are a lot of backpacks that have laptop slots in them and we cant really stop every single person with a backpack, just inquire if they are checking out equipment.
Although the time you said you left, SOMEBODY stole a bunch of my staff (which I am still upset about because then shit like this happens) so at the time I was super short staffed. It will be addressed for next time.
No harm was done in the end so no need to get upset, things will be fixed for future years. Next time bring a cable lock as well
Remember that the security of your items is your own responsibility. We do what we can to keep things safe in such a way as not to inconvenience people, and I think we've found a very good balance there. Just my opinion, however, and I'll admit that I'm biased.
I appreciate the flogging. The main issue was that I hope this doesn't get out of hand, but it was a bit hard to swallow as far as professionalism goes.
Thank you for your help.
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Just to clarify, that this may have been during a rush or lull, while it doesnt excuse it, I know people were being asked at one point.
As for a time frame when it happened, it was at some point shortly after the wall between the theatre and byoc was rolled back.
Will next year's PAX East room be as limited in size as this past year? (ie will there only be a small number of people who can sign up for it?)
If I chose to bring my brother or cousin with me, could we purchase two badges and only take up one computer slot? Would that be a waste of money? Obviously, I'd have the barcode on the laptop on my badge, but if it's the only laptop between us, a BYOC badge with no barcode would seem suspicious (and rightfully so).
And just checking, there is no place to really hold things safely for a few hours other than bringing them back to the hotel room, right?
I will likely be working a booth for part of the con, but I'd love to see if I can get into a game or two in the late hours if people are still hanging out (not a party person), so are there still events or people hanging out at say midnight for an hour or so, other than the Enforcers?