[EAST] Pax and minors.

schimmdog

I'm a minor who is going to pax east. I already read that minors can't play demos for "m" rated games, but how about games that the ratings are pending on? Also can I get swag for games that are "M" rated? example the plush hat for skyrim at pax prime. Sorry if these are stupid questions, but I'm new to conventions.

whypick1

It more or less varies with each vendor. For example, the Borderlands 2 booth was ID'ing people, but Rage was not.

As for swag, vendors typically want you to actually play their game/watch their videos in order to get it, so if you're not allowed, don't expect to get anything from them.

schimmdog

Any other vendors Id'ing people that you knew of.

emimonster

The Skyrim guys were throwing the hat into their food line crowd outside. All ages were welcome to acquire the hat. It will completely be dependent on 2 things:
1. Who plans out the booth (i.e. if they make a closed Mass Effect style booth or if they have a big open booth, or even just a tank parked outside).
2. Who mans the booth (and this can change throughout the day)

schimmdog

Last Question is it worth going to pax if I may not be able to play some demos or get some swag

Djiem

Of course. PAX isn't about the demos or the swag! PAX is about the gamers! You won't be able to play all demos or get all swag anyway, since there's just so much of PAX for 3 days.

schimmdog

Ture, thanks for all of your help this is one hell of a great community

hobbseltoff

It's also worth pointing out that the only time I've ever had my ID checked was for the Duke Nukem Forever demo at Prime 2010.

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Ricin

I wish PAX was an 18+ event. Children really don't belong in any place at PAX. They will get lost in and crushed at Exhibits, they will annoy anyone and everyone in any form of gaming, concerts can drown them out but I highly doubt they will be cooperative during the several hour wait and the actual event itself.

Outside of them walking around in a costume or something I simply don't understand why anyone would bring their child ... unless they could not find a babysitter.

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Yakivegas

Ricin wrote:

I wish PAX was an 18+ event. Children really don't belong in any place at PAX. They will get lost in and crushed at Exhibits, they will annoy anyone and everyone in any form of gaming, concerts can drown them out but I highly doubt they will be cooperative during the several hour wait and the actual event itself.

Outside of them walking around in a costume or something I simply don't understand why anyone would bring their child ... unless they could not find a babysitter.

I'm going to agree with mcdermott and assume that you are referring to young children and not teens. My 17 year old son has been playing games since he was 4 or 5. My 16 year old daughter has played through Assassin's Creed, Dragon Age and Mass Effect more times than I can count. They can hold their own just fine in a group of gamers. They influence the game buying in our house as much as my wife and I do, so they are exactly the people that developers want at shows like PAX.

Djiem

I don't ever remember being inconvenienced by a child at PAX.

chupamiubre

Ricin wrote:

I wish PAX was an 18+ event. Children really don't belong in any place at PAX. They will get lost in and crushed at Exhibits, they will annoy anyone and everyone in any form of gaming, concerts can drown them out but I highly doubt they will be cooperative during the several hour wait and the actual event itself.

Outside of them walking around in a costume or something I simply don't understand why anyone would bring their child ... unless they could not find a babysitter.

Kids are the worst let me tell you. The last thing we need are children sharing something as trivial as gaming with there parents. I mean like seriously kids playing video games it's not cool and hinders my ability to get swag. We all know that kid's don't really like games any way i know that as a kid i never played any games, much less would i want to go to a gaming convention. Then again i could be wrong.

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Dangeresquetoo

Ricin wrote:

I wish PAX was an 18+ event. Children really don't belong in any place at PAX. They will get lost in and crushed at Exhibits, they will annoy anyone and everyone in any form of gaming, concerts can drown them out but I highly doubt they will be cooperative during the several hour wait and the actual event itself.

Outside of them walking around in a costume or something I simply don't understand why anyone would bring their child ... unless they could not find a babysitter.

I hope my kid finds you and randomly kicks you in the shin and/or beats you in SSFIV and tells you to "Go back to the girl scouts and learn to bake cookies."

Moe Fwacky

Guys, this isn't a debate on whether or not minors should be allowed at PAX. Let's get back on track here.

Ricin

Your right I am conflating child and minor.

I still think that it would be better as an 18+ event. Also I have been inconvenienced at pax by people bringing infants of all things. I am sorry but IN MY PERSONAL OPINION it should be 18+ with the compromise position being 16+ with complete parental supervision (must be within an arms reach to be smacked upon the head when they misbehave).

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zerzhul

mcdermott wrote:

Back on the subject, to my knowledge the only thing you'd be locked out of as a minor are a few of the expo booths (well, and some of the afterparties...but even some of those, like the SEGA party at Prime, are all-ages). And not even all the M-rated ones, but some of them. I don't recall ever seeing anybody card for panels, or card for M-rated games in the freeplay, or any of that. A few exhibitors take it upon themselves to care about age, but it seems like the attitude of PAX in general is "your parents gave implicit consent for this shit when they sent you here."

And there's definitely a ton to do, even if you ignored the expo hall entirely. Which you won't, anyway.

I ignored the expo hall entirely this year at prime. Then again, I'm not a minor. Maybe they're related?

On a more serious note aside from the expo hall, most panels and concerts and the like aren't censored. While it may not relate to the OP question *directly*, it could be a concern for minors at pax if their parents have serious issues with them being exposed to foul language and possibly "inappropriate" content.

Clix

Nothing against you OP, but it was nice to see so few minors by themselves this year. Most kids or teenagers I saw always had an adult in tow. The only loner I saw was some 14 year old looking boy that was complaining about how "gay" it was to have to stand in line at booths to get the swag they were giving out.

Alatheia

I actually got complaints that I did not bring my 13 year old niece with me this year.

Behavior is highly dependent upon the maturity level of the individual, a blanket ban of people under a certain age is something a silly goose would come up with.

Clix

By the way, the little kid that was cosplaying the Barbarian from Castle Crashers was the coolest thing.

Lindsay Lohan

We're actually bringing my son for one day this year to East and he's 7. I think we're going to get me a 3 day pass and get him and my wife a Sunday pass so he can see the expo hall and his biggest hope is to meet JoCo. I figured Sunday is the calmest day, shortest day, and the best day to scoop up left over swag which he would love. He's the type of kid that can handle a crowd though - and I don't care about language/violent games/etc in that kind of an environment.

The only thing I would think would stink for a minor on your own would be more dependent on height. I'm short and getting swag as it's thrown into the audience/crowd royally sucks - tall people snag everything. The concert venue at PaxE is bad for the vertically challenged too...

TOGSolid

Dangeresquetoo wrote:

I hope my kid finds you and randomly kicks you in the shin and/or beats you in SSFIV and tells you to "Go back to the girl scouts and learn to bake cookies."

The FGC phrase you're looking for is "go home and be a family man."


Anyhoo only a couple booths at Prime were ID checking (The Darkness 2 was carding everyone and apparently a few others) You'll be completely a-ok getting swag and having a ball on the expo floor. If the ratings are pending then it's a bit more of a crapshoot but no matter what the actual rating, it all comes down to the exhibitor's decision. For instance they might not be ID checking for an M rated game or they might be checking but still let you in if your parent is with you.

Have fun at East!

I figured Sunday is the calmest day, shortest day, and the best day to scoop up left over swag which he would love.

You are correct sir. Sunday is DA BEST for anything involving lines and if you cruise the expo hall an hour or so before it closes, you're going to walk out of there with enough swag to clothe an army.

zepherin

Sunday, ahhh man that is a good idea. I'll remember that next year. I already had a reasonable haul. Enough so I had to go find someone handing out tote bags because my arms was full, but a sunday last run through sounds like good planning. I will indulge at boston.

Artereis

Kids should be collected by exhibitors, garbed in that booth's tshirt and put on display. That way PAX can re-ban the booth babes, and the exhibitors could compete to see who can get the most mobile billboards.

matguy

Artereis wrote:

Kids should be collected by exhibitors, garbed in that booth's tshirt and put on display. That way PAX can re-ban the booth babes, and the exhibitors could compete to see who can get the most mobile billboards.

My 4 year old came on Sunday, 30 minutes later he looked like the Swag Monster.

klz

Imsorad wrote:

Nothing against you OP, but it was nice to see so few minors by themselves this year. Most kids or teenagers I saw always had an adult in tow. The only loner I saw was some 14 year old looking boy that was complaining about how "gay" it was to have to stand in line at booths to get the swag they were giving out.

Did anyone compliment him loudly about how FAAAAAAAAABULOUS he looked while on line?

Liger

Imsorad wrote:

Nothing against you OP, but it was nice to see so few minors by themselves this year. Most kids or teenagers I saw always had an adult in tow. The only loner I saw was some 14 year old looking boy that was complaining about how "gay" it was to have to stand in line at booths to get the swag they were giving out.

I've seen 20-somethings display the same behavior. That's immaturity, not age.

I heard one screaming 5yo kid all weekend, by the 4th floor Subway. He was hungry and I don't think his parents expected such long food lines. Kids are fine as long as they know how to behave in crowds.

DanUNG

Lindsey Lohan wrote:

We're actually bringing my son for one day this year to East and he's 7. I think we're going to get me a 3 day pass and get him and my wife a Sunday pass so he can see the expo hall and his biggest hope is to meet JoCo. I figured Sunday is the calmest day, shortest day, and the best day to scoop up left over swag which he would love. He's the type of kid that can handle a crowd though - and I don't care about language/violent games/etc in that kind of an environment.

One of my favorite East memories is of two kids (brother/sister, age 7) at Bandland who came up to meet Jonathan. They were huge fans, and said they really enjoyed Creepy Doll and were sad they couldn't stay up for the concert. So Jonathan grabbed Paul and Storm and they sang the chorus from Creepy Doll for the kids. It was only 15 seconds, but it made their day (and mine too -- I still have the video of it!).

TopherRocks

The only issue I saw with any minors was a kid I stood in line with to check out The Darkness 2 at PAX East earlier this year. Turned out he was 16 and didn't realize they were carding at the booth. If there's anything that has a chance of being above a teen rating you probably shouldn't count on trying to see it.
As for the talk of behavior, I've had no issues whatsoever at PAX.

TOGSolid

TopherRocks wrote:

The only issue I saw with any minors was a kid I stood in line with to check out The Darkness 2 at PAX East earlier this year. Turned out he was 16 and didn't realize they were carding at the booth. If there's anything that has a chance of being above a teen rating you probably shouldn't count on trying to see it.

And on that day little Jimmy learned an important lesson about paying attention to his surroundings.

Lokiale

Djiem wrote:

I don't ever remember being inconvenienced by a child at PAX.

I suppose they can sometimes be too adorable. This can be a problem if it causes obstructions to foot traffic flow.

bushisprez

I had to lol when I saw people dragging infants around the exhibition floor. Pax is too big for the kiddies probably easy to get lost in amazement and the amount of germs floating around from unclean hands increases their chances of getting some kind of flu/sick.

Warabit

bushisprez wrote:

I had to lol when I saw people dragging infants around the exhibition floor. Pax is too big for the kiddies probably easy to get lost in amazement and the amount of germs floating around from unclean hands increases their chances of getting some kind of flu/sick.

That is going to be us this PAX. I will have her in a chest/back baby carrier with peltor ear muffs or some other hearing protection. I think she will be alright. Plus her mom will probably be at the hotel with her half the time.

Trandescent

I was 14 last PAX. Couldnt play Duke Nukem Forever.

As far as my take on minors, I really can't stand any local gamers my age. I've met few 15/16 year old gamers that I actually get along with that have their elitist "this game is serious or fuck you" type of attitude. I got along with all the adults I met at PAX last year (had a saturday pass), and even sat down for lunch with a few to discuss games. The only complaint I got was a 17 year old during the TF2 competition because me and one of the older guys were hollering at the other team in good fun, ha.

Lindsay Lohan

Booked at the Westin to help with bringing my son - that way if he gets overwhelmed he can take a break with my wife back at the room. He's already working on his team of Pokemon to take on the league too. I think by the time PAX rolls around he'll have driven me nuts he's so excited though...

feitocomfruta

In summary of my opinion on the matter:

Our generation (the Millennials and older) are the ones who grew up with games, and many of us are now parents and husbands and wives. It would be unfair to have a blanket ban on a certain age group, because that would likely mean an added burden on the parents. As for content and such, I firmly believe that much of the solution to the problem of "VIDEOGAMESAREEVILBLAAAAGAHGHAGHHGGAWHARRGARRRBL" people is to remember that games and media are not a babysitter, they are not a surrogate parent, they are an entertainment medium that requires discussion among the family.

By that I mean, if you don't want your kids to see something, don't let them see it, but if they do see it, deal with the results.

And I got off topic, it seems, but to bring it back around, it's not an issue of age, it's an issue of maturity. But it's also safe to have your ID with you at all times, and a good attitude when you are told no.

Trandescent

Lindsey Lohan wrote:

Booked at the Westin to help with bringing my son - that way if he gets overwhelmed he can take a break with my wife back at the room. He's already working on his team of Pokemon to take on the league too. I think by the time PAX rolls around he'll have driven me nuts he's so excited though...

Ive been trying to raise a perfect scizor, ha

Propriety

Lindsey Lohan wrote:

Booked at the Westin to help with bringing my son - that way if he gets overwhelmed he can take a break with my wife back at the room. He's already working on his team of Pokemon to take on the league too. I think by the time PAX rolls around he'll have driven me nuts he's so excited though...

Hooray! I am so looking forward to his challenge.