I loved seeing the huge love for D&D at PAX. Great stuff.
I was disappointed, though, in my inability to get into the Mines of Madness session. Friday we showed up at 5, and were told "come back at six to find out where to line up." We show up at 5:59, and the guy says, "Over there by the sign." We look, and there's like 300 people at the sign. No dice.
The next day, ah-hah, we won't be fooled, we ask at 5 and are again told, "Come back at six." At 5:55, we ask again, are told to come back at 6. But we see the crowd milling about, so we head over there, only to be turned away due to them instituting a password (probably in response to everyone leaping into it at 6 the day before).
I don't know how to fix it, but I wish it had been different/better. Clearly there will always be more people wanting in than there are seats.
Sounds like better communication on waiting/lines would have helped. I missed out in the 2 hour playtest sessions due to my inability to find a good time to both wait and want to participate. Depending on how long my current 4e campaign runs and when SW: EoE comes out proper, I might see if we want to throw some Next playtesting in with my group.
Mines of Madness was a blast, although the need to enter every chamber like a SWAT-team dragged the adventure on a bit. The big bonus was to actually meet Scott Kurtz and Chris Perkins and have them linger over my shoulder during the game! Can't wait to bring this adventure home when it's published and run a game myself.
Posts
I was disappointed, though, in my inability to get into the Mines of Madness session. Friday we showed up at 5, and were told "come back at six to find out where to line up." We show up at 5:59, and the guy says, "Over there by the sign." We look, and there's like 300 people at the sign. No dice.
The next day, ah-hah, we won't be fooled, we ask at 5 and are again told, "Come back at six." At 5:55, we ask again, are told to come back at 6. But we see the crowd milling about, so we head over there, only to be turned away due to them instituting a password (probably in response to everyone leaping into it at 6 the day before).
I don't know how to fix it, but I wish it had been different/better. Clearly there will always be more people wanting in than there are seats.