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PAX Tips?
f0cus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
New to the forums, and I'm a bit overwhelmed. Trying to read everything, but my question essentially boils down to "What am I missing?"
My girlfriend and I went to PAX last year and had an absolutely amazing time. Had a great time during the day, met people and went out to dinner with them two out of the three nights we were there, and absolutely could not wait to come back. We both felt like it was summer camp for geeky adults. But especially after skimming the forums for just 20 minutes or so I cannot help but feel like I missed out on a TON of happenings. So ultimately... what's happening that isn't officially advertised or loudly talked about?
I've heard about some of the things, and have a tough time telling if they're open invitation, or just restricted to longtime forum members/established forum members.
Pre-PAX dinner, Poke-crawl (I've heard it mentioned with zero idea of what it is), PAX Pokemon League (LOVE THE IDEA), etc.
I love the feeling of community that Penny Arcade fans have. But as an outside observer and new blood, I feel a bit intimidated trying to figure this all out and become a deeper part of it.
Thank you for your time.
My girlfriend and I went to PAX last year and had an absolutely amazing time. Had a great time during the day, met people and went out to dinner with them two out of the three nights we were there, and absolutely could not wait to come back. We both felt like it was summer camp for geeky adults. But especially after skimming the forums for just 20 minutes or so I cannot help but feel like I missed out on a TON of happenings. So ultimately... what's happening that isn't officially advertised or loudly talked about?
I've heard about some of the things, and have a tough time telling if they're open invitation, or just restricted to longtime forum members/established forum members.
Pre-PAX dinner, Poke-crawl (I've heard it mentioned with zero idea of what it is), PAX Pokemon League (LOVE THE IDEA), etc.
I love the feeling of community that Penny Arcade fans have. But as an outside observer and new blood, I feel a bit intimidated trying to figure this all out and become a deeper part of it.
Thank you for your time.
XBox - Angry Cremepuff
PSN - AngryCremepuff
PSN - AngryCremepuff
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pre-PAX dinner is simply that. a bunch of people from the forums monopolize a restaurant to hang out, and be geeky. I wound up sitting with a bunch of guys I did'nt know, including an enforcer, bullshitted for a little while, and enjoyed the place.
don't sweat trying to take it all in. you can't. not unless you naruto'd yourself into about 1000 clones and had them all do different things, and then downloaded it all when the con was over. which would make you a vegetable.
just keep an eye out, plan a few things you want to do, allow some time for serendipity to smack you upside the head, and you'll have fun.
My scenario's a little different though - i'm 18, probably coming to Boston on my own and have absolutely no idea what to expect.. my goal was to have a few friendships developed hopefully before i went.. 'cause who just wants to go alone?
But yeah..ordered up my 3 day pass a few nights ago, found a cheap flight roundtrip to boston, and am looking forward to [and saving plenty of money for] march. A little guidance on what to do would be great, though
PSN - AngryCremepuff
I'm with you buddy this will be my first con EVER! I will be going alone too... So now we gotta become friends so we don't be alone!
We're going to be taking the T for the barcrawl, I believe.
f0cus: Awesome that you love the concept of the league. We're looking forward to you challenging us.
This.
I am new to the forums as well and I came here immediately after purchasing my 3 day pass. Since I have joined this community I have seen nothing but an eagerness to help and genuine friendliness across the board.
My point is that if you are looking for friends, you've come to the right place.
A little advice, which I don't follow anything like I should: Get involved before you come. Badges, Assassins, Cookie Brigade, ETA (yay trains), Pre-PAX events in your area (or area adjacent), or just hang out on the forum.
Also, pre-plan your convention events. Any schedule will be blown to hell within an hour, but it gives you a framework and an on-paper understanding of what will be going on at PAX.
Try to accommodate as close to the con as you can. The convention center closes at 2am, and there is tons of ancillary stuff going on around that area. It's worth the money if it's going to cost a little more.
Try and work up a sleep credit if you can. Sleeping while PAX is on can be as tough a choice as any decision about what to do at the con itself. Note that this is something I never do but should.
Above all, follow the advice of Doctor Who: "Look around, meet people, use the wrong verbs..Get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers" Jump in and have fun.
What everyone said here is true. I'll only add that having a mobile device with data access is almost a must if you really want to know where and when everything is happening. The PA community organises alot of stuff which you can read about in advance, but companies will also make announcements here and there. Sometimes last year they where either last minute or purposfully secretive, asking that people follow them on twitter.
Not to mention that it's also a great way to meet up with other forumers.
1.) In my Hitchhiker's Guide to PAX East 2011 thread there is a forum guide that collects all the important East 2011 threads: http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=127998
2.) Go to the main PAX | The Penny Arcade Expo! forum and scroll down. Look for "Display Options" and change the prefix to East and and change the "From the" to whatever you want. Basically East threads started about 3 weeks ago.
Any member here is welcome to join a community event. That's the whole point really.
PokeCrawl is definitely out then but there's the dinner (hosted by yours truly) and last year at the same time as the crawl there was a forum gaming night being held and I believe this will happen again this year as well.
I'm gonna be flying in from Grand Rapids, Michigan [the train from here would take 48 hours, x.x]
and yeah, it'd be nice to meet up with some of you guys and maybe roomshare? That'd help alleviate the costs for all of us involved, since hotels don't seem to be cheap in Boston..
As far as events, i'm kind of interested in the PAX Pokemon league... you'll be using HG/SS, right? If so i gotta get my hands on a copy of HG.
Other than that, just gotta have Twitter and Facebook at the ready and i should be good to go!
I know it's still 5 months away, so not everything is going to be decided yet. I'm just WILDLY excited, especially since it's gonna be a pretty non-stop few months coming up.
One of the tips that I really somehow missed knowing about... don't neglect the Free Play lounge, especially once the show floor closes. That's gonna be one of your best bets for making friends.
PSN - AngryCremepuff
As for myself, I have a great pair of tennis shoes that I'll probably wear. They're beat up but that's a good thing.
I'm also excited for PAX East; this is my first video game con (went to an anime con a couple years ago) and I am stoked for it.
My personal quote.
Also, I'm laughing at anybody who wears flip flops to this.
My personal quote.
am not new to the forums and wasn't when i attended last year(though i would class myself as an almost perpetual lurker). however despite checking the forums on a regular basis in the lead up toe PAX East and one or two desperate pleas on the forums as certain aspects of my trip came crashing down around me the main thing i learned was that a smart phone is your friend at PAX. whether it be checking twitter feeds, keeping in touch with friends(old and new) or trying to group(for RPGs or any multiplayer game really), a slow and steady service is better than having no phone/service at all.
EDIT: and for the record i still owe Ferris007 a drink after he came to my rescue when my hotel booking looked like it was about to be cancelled. God how i wish that was the only part of the booking that went wrong, but at the very least i've learned the lessons from the first(and till next March) only international trip i've made by myself.
PSN - AngryCremepuff
to be honest a lot of it was completely my own fault(or at least i have no evidence to the contrary).
the first problem was booking into the hotel. i was under the mistaken idea that the credit card i used to pre-book would automatically be the one billed when i checked into the hotel. this was not the case, and the card i wasn't able to cover the stay. thankfully i was able to sort that all out, but as you can imagine its a bit off putting to land in a foreign country and find you've potentially no where to stay.
the second part i really have to take the entire blame for, even though i've no idea how i could possible have made such a mistake. it seems there was a slight discrepancy between checking out of my hotel and my flight home. a 24 hour discrepancy. :oops: and after the issues with booking into the hotel the first time around, it wasn't anymore fun the second time around.
so lessons learned, read everything twice before confirming and check that everything syncs up and make sure you know exactly what you expect of your hotel and what they expect of you.
so yeah, take from that what you will. either very helpful advice or proof that i'm a total idiot.
I don't think we had a parents/kids meetup last year. Not sure how many are on the forums but it could be worth perusing.
This March will be my first trip to PAX and I would love to meet some people in advance. I'm still working out logistics of who will be coming with me, but to the extent that I can meet some folks here as well, I'm game!
I'm coming from the DC area, flying in Thursday and leaving Monday. I'm staying at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront. Looking forward to seeing everyone!
Thanks for the advice. He'll be super excited, shit I am. I only wish I had something to give him on Christmas.
Never did a post make so much sense.
- when booking your flight that has a connection, double check to make sure its a reasonable amount of time (im talking to you, atlanta airport!) my boyfriend had the last flight out of atlanta, missed his connection due to no part of his and the next flight didnt come into seattle until 11am the next day. we completely missed the keynote, q&a and any early plans we had.
Yes. Always take the first flights out, if possible. Leave 1-2 hours for connections, fly direct if possible. At the first sign of trouble, talk to the gate agent to get rerouted or get the info.
PAX DVD you say? Awesome! At least that way he/we will know what to expect.