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[East 2012] People that were acting not-cool
solarnoise
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I think we all have a million stories of "that person was so cool!", but I'd like to share some stories about the not-cool people, not in the hopes of starting flame wars, but to highlight the kind of behavior that just shouldn't happen and raise awareness about it.
1. So I went with my girlfriend. She's beautiful and sweet and tends to get a lot of "looks" and the occasional harassment...it happens, whatever. Well, we were in line for a panel, the very first one we went to which I believe was the one about gaming and growing up. She happened to have been wearing a sundress thing which I guess is technically a little revealing but not even close to the degree of some of the cosplayers running around.
In fact, an ENFORCER made an extremely loud and obvious snide remark about my girlfriend as we walked by... I'm thinking, "what about the people showing 80% of their skin for a cosplay? But it's not cool for my girlfriend to wear a light dress with a hoodie on?"
Anyway, there was a guy in front of us, decked out in gaming related stuff (complete with Zelda guages in his ears) and he was presumably with his girlfriend. This guy was CONSTANTLY turning around and blatantly just... staring at my girlfriend. I am right there and even giving him a "look" back if you know what I mean, and he KEPT doing it. Like... more than even the usual amount I think guys do that kind of thing. I got so uncomfortable because I'm thinking "great, I'm going to have to get defensive and tell him to knock it off and possibly cause a scene..." when the line finally moved and it became a non-issue.
We run into this guy AGAIN at another panel... and he continues with the staring and the sly looks. I just wanted to focus on me and her having a good time at the panel but this damn guy was being a total creep. Once again the line moved before it escalated but it really put me in a bad mood.
Takeaway: guys, I know you're surrounded by chicks that are into the same hobbies you are, and may look fantastic, that does NOT grant you license to ogle them so creepily. Obviously it's hard not to look, but at least do it discretely and move on.
2. We're at the concert Saturday night. VGO is on and of course people are going crazy, loving every minute, as they should!
Well, a guy next to us was loving it a little TOO much... jumping around, bumping into me and my girlfriend several times, and at one point waiving his arms like he's in a mosh pit... I literally felt the air from his fist graze my face. He also kept like, yelling the lyrics at us? And the people around him? And then seemed to get mad when we didn't meet his level of energy.
Takeaway: It is completely normal and cool to get stoked over the music and concerts. But you are packed in there with thousands of people who may want to just enjoy it in relative peace. Please respect other people's space and try to stay within a reasonable personal bubble. Also, for safety's sake, don't wildly swing your fists around.
1. So I went with my girlfriend. She's beautiful and sweet and tends to get a lot of "looks" and the occasional harassment...it happens, whatever. Well, we were in line for a panel, the very first one we went to which I believe was the one about gaming and growing up. She happened to have been wearing a sundress thing which I guess is technically a little revealing but not even close to the degree of some of the cosplayers running around.
In fact, an ENFORCER made an extremely loud and obvious snide remark about my girlfriend as we walked by... I'm thinking, "what about the people showing 80% of their skin for a cosplay? But it's not cool for my girlfriend to wear a light dress with a hoodie on?"
Anyway, there was a guy in front of us, decked out in gaming related stuff (complete with Zelda guages in his ears) and he was presumably with his girlfriend. This guy was CONSTANTLY turning around and blatantly just... staring at my girlfriend. I am right there and even giving him a "look" back if you know what I mean, and he KEPT doing it. Like... more than even the usual amount I think guys do that kind of thing. I got so uncomfortable because I'm thinking "great, I'm going to have to get defensive and tell him to knock it off and possibly cause a scene..." when the line finally moved and it became a non-issue.
We run into this guy AGAIN at another panel... and he continues with the staring and the sly looks. I just wanted to focus on me and her having a good time at the panel but this damn guy was being a total creep. Once again the line moved before it escalated but it really put me in a bad mood.
Takeaway: guys, I know you're surrounded by chicks that are into the same hobbies you are, and may look fantastic, that does NOT grant you license to ogle them so creepily. Obviously it's hard not to look, but at least do it discretely and move on.
2. We're at the concert Saturday night. VGO is on and of course people are going crazy, loving every minute, as they should!
Well, a guy next to us was loving it a little TOO much... jumping around, bumping into me and my girlfriend several times, and at one point waiving his arms like he's in a mosh pit... I literally felt the air from his fist graze my face. He also kept like, yelling the lyrics at us? And the people around him? And then seemed to get mad when we didn't meet his level of energy.
Takeaway: It is completely normal and cool to get stoked over the music and concerts. But you are packed in there with thousands of people who may want to just enjoy it in relative peace. Please respect other people's space and try to stay within a reasonable personal bubble. Also, for safety's sake, don't wildly swing your fists around.
solarnoise on
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that and the competitive nature of some swag giveaways. you have people tearing items thrown to the crowd out of each others hands. if two people grab the same shirt there is some serious tension for a second. they should not force people to stand in a massive group and encourage people to fight over crappy necklaces.
for the most part only issues i had were some of the rent a cops over stepping there bounds saying if i dont see the right pass the first time your kicked out , some enforcers not knowing where anything was and just overly pushy crowds and so overly pushy venders but for the most part i want to say the seasoned pax goers and enforcers were awesome
i also didn't like enforcers trying to cram people in into booths at times to the point that they moved the display
Yeah I get that but frankly, that isn't going to be as visible or as effective. The forum is about PAX and we should be able to share our experiences, good and bad. This thread has, so far, not escalated to anything offensive or vulgar.
This happened to us, too!!!
It was for the Saturday night concerts line... if any of you were in that monstrosity, you know how long it was. Well, there was a very funny and enthusiastic enforcer telling everyone to scrunch in and fill empty space, to make the line more compact.
Well there was one point in the line where there was a gap between the line and the windows... we were separated from the windows by a few benches... some people were walking up that gap to cut a few dozen people in line, and then rejoining the line... and were saying like "well... he DID tell us to fill in the gaps..."
My girlfriend and I must have burning holes into their backs with our eyes and almost said something, but the line was moving quick enough that we felt it unnecessary.
Girlfriend and I were in line for AC3, chatting with some people behind us. We turn around and this group of 4-5 teens is suddenly between us and the guy we were just behind. They're just standing around talking and I'm like "hey guys, I don't know where you came from but you need to get to the back of the line." They talked over me when I was talking to them, so I know they acknowledged me talking to them but they decided to be assholes about it. They were wearing "You suck at Halo" shirts so yeah, that crowd.
Anyway, an enforcer walked by and asked us all to step closer to the wall a few seconds later and I was like "I don't know where these guys came from but they weren't here 2 minutes ago and they need to gtfo." The enforcer pulled them out of line, they said I was lying but apparently they're very bad actors because the enforcer basically told them that he knows they're full of shit and they need to get to the back of the line or gtfo. It also helped that the people both behind me and in front of them (who we were originally behind) backed me up when I called them out on it the second time.
Fucking kids.
It got so bad that she's sworn she's never coming back to PAX. Not to work it, not to attend it, never again. (She was absolutely miserable on Sunday after putting up with it for the entire expo. I really don't blame her.)
I suppose the takeaway of that is "Look, personal space is important. It's cool that you're excited and that people are selling cool stuff, but don't go around touching people without their permission!"
I mean, "Don't harass people" is rule 5 on the badges. I've never had problems at PAX about this sort of thing, but I don't think anyone should. And I think this qualifies as a "not-cool" thing that should be brought up. I don't think anything can be done about it, but I think it's better to get it out there that some people seemed to miss the idea of PAX being a safe, cool place.
I think the mistake people may be making about an expo like this is that they are surrounded by like minded people, and such a thing rarely, if ever, occurs in the "normal world" so they maybe think they can bend the rules or assume that people are going to be more receptive to weird behavior.
I think that what PAX attendees should learn is that while yes, everyone else there is into gaming in some form or another, and 99% of them are ready and willing to act silly or talk to strangers or whatever, there are a good portion of people that are just there to see interesting things and go to events, not to act any differently than they normally would.
..I can only imagine what Anime Boston was like.
Other than that there was the odd run in with a person who decided the D&D line was the right place to inform us of their repugnant personal political views. Pretty strange overall.
I was with my man when a guy came up to us, only said hi and acknowledged me then proceeded to try to flirt with me.....WHILE I'M SITTING ON MY HUSBAND'S LAP. He seriously would not take a hint so I had to pull out the "It was nice to meet you but I really have to go to the bathroom....Honey I'll be right back :smooches husband:" move before the guys got aggressive.
I mean, seriously? I don't know if these guys are oblivious or just don't care.
my rule is if im talking to any women at a con and shes with a guy assume they are together and if shes alone just chat and if its going good just wait for her to say O YEAH MY HUSBAND LOVES THAT TOO lol
the one thing alot of people need to under stand game / anime cons tends to has alot of people with asperger (raises hand) and alot of people who have it aren't trying to be assholes they just cant help it they socially dont know whats bad to say or do, he'll im guilty of it myself even though i've worked on it. also they could just be dicks
Future game art lady!
2 nights in a row i had very drunk people on the comuts rail, the second night i kept getting jabbed in the shoulder followed by HEY HEY CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION the third ride home was really nice ....until some one had a seizure
I don't need it to accomplish anything, other than bring some awareness to this stuff... it's just a discussion I want to have, and maybe know that the community I'm a part of doesn't approve of this stuff. Talking about cosplays doesn't accomplish much either, it's just another discussion, which is what a forum is for
I don't think this thread was meant to accomplish much. It's more along the lines of storytime. I don't see the harm in people sharing experiences.
Anime conventions in general have an issue where some attendees think because they're in the "bubble" of the convention that all social decency no longer applies. Hugging and touching people without asking is a big one. I don't see that as much at PAX.
I remember reading about a convention once (it wasn't an anime or sci-fi con, I forget what it was for) where you could get a badge with a color stripe at the bottom. Green means okay to hug, yellow means you have to ask, red means no hugging. I thought that was a clever idea, but it works better for a small con than a ginormous one like PAX.
This guy thought he'd let himself free in the Rooster Teeth panel, and decided to strip down to his underwear, and then dance on the panel chairs. I didn't attend PAX and only saw this on the Twitch.tv stream, but it was incredibly awkward. The panel looked completely shocked and offended, as did the audience, and in addition he had been blocking the view of the panel and being completely inconsiderate.
Going to PAX East 2013/14 is my biggest goal right now. I plan to achieve it...
A group of muscleheaded "bro-gamers" say "there are too many nerds here, let's go" like there wouldn't be any at a GAMING CON.
A group younger people mentioning how "these people have no life if they stay at the con all day" or more than a couple of hours.
"The retro arcade is full of old nerds". Although that might have been more of a jest than an asshole comment. Didn't get the context.
Far into the Aliens line a young man asked a group of guys behind me how long we were waiting in line. They said five minutes (the hell?), I gave the correct time of 3hrs. They gave me shit for "interrupting them".
Some shitbird derided me for throwing a plastic bottle into a garbage can when I should have recycled it when the recycling bin was clearly overflowing on to the floor. This was late at night and i had really had enough.
There were many more occurrences like the above and while I'm glad others had a good experience I thought I could come here and dork out with like minded people but it ended up being the same shit different day, different city.
Which is still making me scratch my head as to why Nathan's fans are upset about him getting bounced. Really? He was being a douche. I like Keith, and I think he's funny but this isn't KAX as he's been calling it.
Last year when he kept calling an enforcer a rent a cop was proof the guy's a tool - you don't insult the people who help run the event for free. Nothing makes volunteering for hard work more rewarding than a balding loser "internet celebrity" mocking you.
Believe it or not, it's Mensa events. You know, the high-IQ society. They also have a blue dot for badges which means that you're single and looking for a mate. what is this i don't even
1) I got to be a Cookie Brigadier this year, and he was helping me by carrying one of my bags for me. We were jumping through the main queue line on Day 1(with permission from enforcers to do so for the cookie brigade) and gathering donations when an enforcer approached him and yelled at him in front of everyone (I was a few rows down so I did not see it happen or I'd have gone to help). My bf tried to explain to the enforcer that he had NOT just passed everyone in line, like a jerk, but that he was simply walking around the area to help me! Anyway- he was very upset about the situation not because he couldn't understand how an enforcer could misunderstand the situation, but because he was being publicly ridiculed and felt extremely unwelcome and attacked at his first PAX
2) The second situation involved my BF and another friend who were sitting on the floor near manticore playing zombie dice. An enforcer approached them and yelled at them for being there and made them leave (apparently they were starting a new line or something and the two of them were going to be in the way). He wasn't upset at being asked to move, but he was indignant at how angrily and hostilely the enforcer told them to do so. A simple 'move please!' would have served more effective than the purposeless scolding they received.
These instances aside, though, we both had a great time and overall everyone was fantastic to be around!
3DS Friend Code: 2449-5711-0640
1) It was around the 2pm hour in the Gearbox line. Being a member of the cookie brigade, I was doing my last run down the line before turning in my final haul to be counted. I'm sell my pitch down the line to blocks of people at a time. This late 30s woman looked at me and says "I gave enough money already, so get out of my face." If only she could read minds for my response to her.
2) I stopped by the que area for Borderlands. Great place to pass out goodies since everyone had to wait to play the game. One of the Frag Dolls, shoved my bag then said "no one wants what you're selling" as she walked away.
The 1% who disobey Wheaton's Law can't ruin the joy the 99% brought me.
I ♥ making awesome crafts! I ♥ my Cookie Brigaders!
In all honestly, I've got nothing. Every single person I met at PAX was a welcoming, polite, upstanding, and generally awesome people. The people at PAX are the people at PAX are those that make me proud to be a gamer.
UNbelievable. Someone needs to cosplay as Politeness Man and teach a few lessons with his Radioactive Hankie.
I agree with the second one. While the enforcers were mainly nice to me (maybe because I was a speaker) I was a little shocked how pushy they were when creating lines. Like GameTrailers TV tips them money or something to make sure they have good lines? If that is the case, Nintendo and us have never heard of that.
Second I would like to apologize in advance for two things. This was my first time every speaking at PAX and the first time I was handing out swag. So I am sorry if people were pushy when trying to get the stuff we were handing out. We did not see it coming and will have measures put in next time if we hand something out.
Also, sorry if I spoke very loud on Saturday and Sunday, the Tanooki Suit helmet cut5s off half my hearing so I could not hear myself talking half the time.
Last year it was cones. This year it was those stupid top hats.
Protip: If you're in a situation where you're seated, such as in a crowded panel, people will think much more highly of your character if you take your stupid paper hat off for the duration of the event, thereby not blocking the view of every single person behind you.