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gamerman1227
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in PAX East
What did you enjoy the most? What did you enjoy the least?
What I enjoyed most was the environment and the atmosphere. This year seemed a lot less crowded than last, especially on the expo floor. Part of that may be due to there being fewer AAA titles on the expo floor this year than last, as well as the fact that they capped the lines this year rather than allow them to spiral out of control. I loved the fact that I was actually able to walk around and explore, without being elbow to elbow with other people at all times. Loved the vendors, even the ones charging absurd prices for their retro stuff (which was actually a lot better this year, I saw a lot more reasonable prices on old stuff this year). I loved seeing the crazy indy titles I never would have heard of otherwise, the presentations on the floor, everything.
I also loved the classic console room and the classic arcade as well. I don't know who organizes and arranges the classic video game room, whether the classic video game museum has exclusive rights to it, or what, but it would be better if we could organize people here to loan out more consoles and more games, so the room can be expanded. This year was fun, but the room was understaffed, so the lines were always long. The variety of consoles this year was a little head scratching as well. SNES, N64, and NES were clearly the most popular, but did not have enough available consoles. It's great to see the Apple 2, Commodore, Turbografx, and Atari Jaguar type stuff represented, but from what I observed, there was only limited interest in that, there should have been more of the stuff people actually wanted to play.
As far as what I enjoyed the least, same as always, was the lines. I know it's always a struggle, last years allowing lines to sprawl endlessly until the fire marshall threatens to shut the place down didn't work. This year capping the lines did not work either. It's absurd that I can line up at 9AM, get on the Expo Floor as soon as it opens, and find out that the line for The Last of Us was already full and capped. I don't know what the answer is, I know some people suggest a system where you get a ticket to come back and play at a certain time, I don't know about that so much. A better idea would just be to strongly encourage developers to shorten the length of their demos. 8 - 12 minutes is the perfect length for your demo. 25-30 minutes is bordering on absurd, and leads to 4 hours lines. I don't know how much, if any, influence the PAX organizers have on this, but if they have any, they should definitely use it.
Another disappointment was that there were a lot fewer AAA level titles this year, and fewer mainstream developers overall. I assume this was due to the fact that this year is the end of the current console cycle, and all the developers are working on next gen stuff that won't be unveiled until E3. Seriously though, Microsoft had TV's demoing Halo 4? A game that came out 5 months ago? Why? I think this was also why swag was more limited this year. If you have nothing to promote, you have nothing to give out.
One last thing, I love the concerts, but a little more variety would be great. VGO was great as always, but they did a lot of the same material as last year. Same this with Jonathan Coultain on Night 2. The Final Fantasy opera thing that went on second on night one, was uh, how could I say this nicely? Not good at all? I know the Protomen have a strong following, but I just don't get them. Maybe we can find some new, different acts going forward?
What I enjoyed most was the environment and the atmosphere. This year seemed a lot less crowded than last, especially on the expo floor. Part of that may be due to there being fewer AAA titles on the expo floor this year than last, as well as the fact that they capped the lines this year rather than allow them to spiral out of control. I loved the fact that I was actually able to walk around and explore, without being elbow to elbow with other people at all times. Loved the vendors, even the ones charging absurd prices for their retro stuff (which was actually a lot better this year, I saw a lot more reasonable prices on old stuff this year). I loved seeing the crazy indy titles I never would have heard of otherwise, the presentations on the floor, everything.
I also loved the classic console room and the classic arcade as well. I don't know who organizes and arranges the classic video game room, whether the classic video game museum has exclusive rights to it, or what, but it would be better if we could organize people here to loan out more consoles and more games, so the room can be expanded. This year was fun, but the room was understaffed, so the lines were always long. The variety of consoles this year was a little head scratching as well. SNES, N64, and NES were clearly the most popular, but did not have enough available consoles. It's great to see the Apple 2, Commodore, Turbografx, and Atari Jaguar type stuff represented, but from what I observed, there was only limited interest in that, there should have been more of the stuff people actually wanted to play.
As far as what I enjoyed the least, same as always, was the lines. I know it's always a struggle, last years allowing lines to sprawl endlessly until the fire marshall threatens to shut the place down didn't work. This year capping the lines did not work either. It's absurd that I can line up at 9AM, get on the Expo Floor as soon as it opens, and find out that the line for The Last of Us was already full and capped. I don't know what the answer is, I know some people suggest a system where you get a ticket to come back and play at a certain time, I don't know about that so much. A better idea would just be to strongly encourage developers to shorten the length of their demos. 8 - 12 minutes is the perfect length for your demo. 25-30 minutes is bordering on absurd, and leads to 4 hours lines. I don't know how much, if any, influence the PAX organizers have on this, but if they have any, they should definitely use it.
Another disappointment was that there were a lot fewer AAA level titles this year, and fewer mainstream developers overall. I assume this was due to the fact that this year is the end of the current console cycle, and all the developers are working on next gen stuff that won't be unveiled until E3. Seriously though, Microsoft had TV's demoing Halo 4? A game that came out 5 months ago? Why? I think this was also why swag was more limited this year. If you have nothing to promote, you have nothing to give out.
One last thing, I love the concerts, but a little more variety would be great. VGO was great as always, but they did a lot of the same material as last year. Same this with Jonathan Coultain on Night 2. The Final Fantasy opera thing that went on second on night one, was uh, how could I say this nicely? Not good at all? I know the Protomen have a strong following, but I just don't get them. Maybe we can find some new, different acts going forward?
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My favourite part was all the console, handheld and tabletop freeplay. This is my first PAX so it may not be all that unusual to anyone else but for me, being able to borrow such a vast variety of games is amazing. I agree that the classic room needs to be larger.
ACAM was fantastic, I was happy to donate.
Handheld lounge was awesome. So comfy! I love the tournaments too.
In terms of expo floor, my favourite booth was the chivalry: Medieval warfare one. Short lines for a game that's perfect for an expo like this. I liked Hawken as well.
Least favourite parts... not much because I loved this weekend. Just lines really.
http://www.twitter.com/ConMeoPaxEast
Least favorite? I wish the food trucks could have parked closer, but given the layout, I understand why they couldn't. Not as much free stuff this year, either. Some of the tabletop vendor booths were HORRIBLY laid out, with everyone funneling through a 3 foot wide opening between tables to actually look at the games. People leaving trash around sucked, clean up after yourself, you slobs. Absolute least favorite moment was the d-bag who was haggling for a $10 decrease on a $40 board game. For 20 minutes.
We were told a line didnt start until 7pm for a D&D game, we show up at a few minutes till and theres over 150 people in a line, they could take approx 120. The line overfilled, was cut off before it was time to line up. Most of friday was spent being told we were 3 people short of getting into what we wanted to do.
Maybe an extra day of the con would help? schedules sessions for public would be nice too I suppose, it works for the paint and take sessions, but they had like 40 seats.
I will commend that I didnt see pseudo booth babes this year. for the past couple of years they had shown up in different forms with more clothes on, but I think they were all but extinct this year and it made me happy.
I did enjoy how the convention turned into alot of indie stuff this time. So many interesting games to see. Also loved all the board game demos, we sat down for so many of those, and that was great.
I have a love/hate relationship with swag: I desperately need a cards against humanity "A" pack, but had nothing to trade for it, and the stuff like LoL skins to trade for it would of taken forever to get. I try not to take what I don't need, so people who actually want it can use it.
I mean, I'll give you that the line for Transistor was damn long, but the rest moved along well for the most part.
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Last year definitely had more top tier console stuff playable than this year. AC IV and Watchdogs were both video presentations. If you aren't into PC gaming, this year you had The Last of Us, and that's about it. There was a definite decrease in AAA level titles this year.
I hate complaining about free stuff but I did notice this as well. In previous years all you had to do was walk by the booth and they would give you stuff. Posters, pins, dlc codes etc etc Now it seems like you only get something if you wait in line for hours to play the game or if you pre order.
True. Sony had only 1 game. MS had nothing. Bioware had nothing. Ubisoft's big games weren't demos. I'm pretty sure Square didn't have any games to demo that weren't already released on a different console. Capcom had a few games but only one won't be a download only or is an already released game. Hopefully next year with two new systems on the market there will be a lot more playable AAA games.
That was my favorite, too. I'm a fan of indie games and I was still surprised at how many I enjoyed and how many things I dropped from my plans so I could spend more time at indie booths. It's great that you can talk to some or all of the people working on a game and offer feedback, wish them luck, etc.
Least favorite: I was disappointed that the Dropchord demo seemed to wig out when it got to the "flick" section. Not sure if that was the game, the Leap, or the environment. And I'm grumpy that I didn't get to try Transistor.
Ubisoft was kind of a let down with video only demos. Sony had an insane 3-4 hour wait for Last of Us. Bethesda only had Elder Scrolls Online, a game I'll never play as a console gamer. Nintendo is, well... Nintendo. Microsoft had nothing new except a DLC for Halo 4. Irrational, Bungie, EA, Activision, and more were completely MIA (EA gracefully so).
Well what could they have done? What you saw on the show floor was probably all of the currently announced AAA games for the rest of the year
I spent most (if not all) of my freetime in the Mega Indie booth and had a blast! I must have bought for 70$ of indie games. Definitely one of the highlights this year and I hope to see more indies next year too.
This was my first time with the Leap and I wasn't impressed. I couln't do the flicks myself and had many problems with the sensor when my fingers were on top of each others. I still don't know if this was a bug, if I didn't followed the tutorials correctly or simply a limitation of the Leap controller. I think the worst part was when I finished the demo thinking that I could have done better and then realise that I had the top high score and got congratulations from Greg Rice for my high score.
I'll probably buy the game but only once it's available on iPad.
Planning PAX East 2014 invasion:
[ ... ] Hotel | [ ... ] Travel | ✓ Pass
Minus GTA
For myself, it was another PAX where I managed to scratch off a number of important "Must do" things which I never really got around too. I played and socialized a lot, and really, I think that's what PAX is all about. I'm just saying that I did things my way and achieved goals that were on part with how I have always seen this event. I wish I could have done more.
Another big thing has to be the loot I brought back. We have a lot of local game stores that sell all kinds of stuff here, but often enough the prices aren't like what you can find in the states, so whenever I go to PAX, I also make it a point to bring back as much stuff as I can. I did my homework and brought back a whole bunch of board games that I have been itching to own, and more importantly, I got them at prices that I will never, ever come close to seeing here.
I also learned a great deal of things about pro PC gaming gear, and was glad to have grabbed a CMStorm for very cheap.
I don't really have any regrets, beyond the fact that there were a lot of people I wished I would have met, but that always happens.
See, I stopped going after AAA titles in the expo hall a bit ago. Long lines to play demos of games I know I'm going to play anyway and chances at swag for games I won't ever play. When I hit expo, I do it for two reasons. Either to find small titles I've never heard of and see if they're great and purposeful missions like getting the Vault 101 hoodie.
I now have a pin and three new posters hanging up with a fourth kind of here to the side (I grabbed their Classic Arcade poster without realizing I don't recognize most of the games). Only reason I skipped on Dark Arisen is because I already own Dragon's Dogma and know it is good enough that I'll probably buy it eventually.
I understand the idea that there's a "lack of AAA presence", but Capcom was in full force this year. Plus there was also The Wonderful 101 at Nintendo's booth, which has me wanting a Wii-U.
Maybe it's just a matter of perspective. I found the Indie Megabooth disappointing because some of the devs didn't have a time limit on their demo and they had only one or two televisions. I sat there for twenty minutes hoping to play Charlie Murder before I realized the developer was just taking three guys through the game without a specific end-point. I moved on and found Mercenary Kings by the guys who made the Scott Pilgrim game, though.
So basically, it feels like the indies to pay attention to are the ones outside the Megabooth.
PAX East 2014 Checklist:
[X] - Pre-registered | [ ] - Train tickets | [ ] - Time Off
What I didn't Like: The Expo Hall was more commercial this year and way smaller, felt like there wasn't as much to do there and I limited the time I spent there beyond the few key games like transistor.
Also, really hated the behavior of some of the attendees this year as some of Wheaton's laws were broken. Example: Stood in line for Final Fantasy Panel, get in, square put beta keys to FXIV Reborn on each chair, and a ton of people and myself missed out on nabbing one because the people who got inside first took the beta keys off other peoples chairs, seriously guys? This is PAX East, not Comic-con, left a bitter taste in my mouth thinking that so many attendees did this at PAX.
I share your frustrations, but I'm a little more pessimistic about the attendees. You reference Comic-Con, and you're right to do so: As with any large convention, PAX will now have a significant percentage of attendees that are primarily there to grab a bunch of shit and sell it on eBay. That's going to be there at every future PAX, and all that we can do as fellow attendees is to try and not get too attached to that stuff.
In other words: you're likely to have a better time at PAX if you can completely fail to give a shit about swag.
It took me until halfway through Saturday to realize that it wasn't that the con was smaller this year but rather that the traffic and routing was much improved over last year. I'd say linecapping was a part of that, but there were more than a few Enforcers helping to direct people around to avoid bottlenecks which I thought was just fantastic. On the showroom floor, I felt the placement of most of the AAA title booths was perfect - not directly in front of the escalators. Riot's booth, for example, was a bit off from the escalators and left a ton of space for spectating which was genius placement.
Lines were handled a bit better for panels this year as well, though I wish they'd go to a number-queue system instead of the corral system. What I mean by this would be that people would have the option to line-up prior to a panel (I believe you could officially start as soon as the previous panel's line went in), but also the option to get a number for their place in line or some form of pass so that you didn't need to sit around for an hour or more (depending on panel). This issue though is probably more a "it is what it is" kind of scenario.
Some feedback about placement, and this is just an idea - attempt to consolidate PC vendors towards the PC freeplay and BYOC areas. I only say this because Intel was all on their lonesome by freeplay, and I felt that it would be an excellent organizational idea to also have had Kingston, Coolermaster, etc also set up around there as well.
There were a few out of place vendors though, like the Chessex vendor over nearer to the Bethesda booth when they should have been located in the tabletop area. Same deal with Troll & Toad and Gaming Etc's booths. I feel it would better to have had them all in tabletop.
Speaking of tabletop! Way, way too many unused queue-rails for the swag bag lines. Could have totally used half of that space for even more freeplay tabletop areas. Big props to Sentinels of the Multiverse as having their designer heading it and being an extremely friendly, cool guy to talk to.
Final comment! Perhaps contract with someone to have roaming food and drink vendors? I say this because having someone floating around with drinks when major panel lines form would be extreme convenience, but also good business for them as well. Not that I want to lighten my wallet further =X
I saw a lot of incredible looking games on the expo floor, most of which reminded me of the stack of incredible games I already don't have time to play. Thanks, adulthood!
The best thing I picked up at PAX was inspiration to get back to work on some of my own projects.
I was trying to remember the previous two years myself, as I felt like a lot of people in the Expo Hall were just oblivious to others. I'd get stuck behind people walking slowly with their eyes on their phones, or people in groups would just have a conversation of the middle of the hall forcing you to try and squeeze around, or simply stop and lolligag outside a booth without actually trying to get in close so as to avoid being in the way.
People just didn't care about being in the way, it seemed. Plus, there were a few times I tried to start conversations with folks, or drop my own two cents hearing something, and they'd basically be all "Yeah whatever" and physically move to shut me out of the conversation or just give "meh" responses and not talk.
PAX has honestly gotten enough attention that it's not always the best place in terms of community. Thankfully, most of the folks I met were awesome and willing to chat a bit in line.
PAX East 2014 Checklist:
[X] - Pre-registered | [ ] - Train tickets | [ ] - Time Off
Exactly, I know for a 100% certain fact I will be buying Watch Dogs, so why bother lining up for hours just to play 10 minutes of it?
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Was not happy with people cutting in line (just waiting outside around the queue room until the enforcer was not around/got busy and then walking into an empty space in the room
I only had one HUGE HUGE issue, and that was the LoL'ers. I was in the area where the LoL booth showcase/mini stage was and oh my god, I got shoved around soo much. People trying to get to the front tried to push their way though. Last time I checked this was a Convention and not Ozzfest. I mean ive been in really crazy crowds but I was just trying to get through with my portal gun in one piece.
but whatever, this was my first PAX and it def wont be my last!
I could be wrong, but Ubisoft's big things for PAX are usually long lines to view a video that you can see in a month or so. I never wait in those lines, as I could view and demo 4-5 other games in the same time it takes to view a video.
Square did have the new demo for Metro: Last Light. I was talking to one of the developers asking about the storyline and he put on a completely different level that had little playtime and almost all story (which is what I was more interested in). I was drooling by the end and thanked him for letting me see that.
However, I did notice that most of the big-names were showing either just videos or things that were already out/just released. Regardless, I wasn't too concerned with them. Seeing games like Hawken, Ray's the Dead, City of Steam, and Secret Ponchos is what I'm more in to. I had to go back for seconds and thirds on both Hawken and Secret Ponchos, and the staff for both were pretty cool and very eager to talk to anyone about their game.
In terms of AAA titles I normally try to avoid them because of long lines however Capcom's booth was actually pretty inviting without huge lines so I got to try Remember Me which I will now be buying.
Loved the big tabletop space and specifically the Games On Demand section where you could play a wide variety of tabletop games.
Finally, as always I loved the sense of community and just being able to talk to people about games and the Con while just walking around, hanging out in tabletop or the Westin thursday night or in any line. Sad to hear people encountering those who don't obey Wheaton's Law and I will just count myself lucky that I did not have that experience at all.
Nothing I really didn't like except for the two things I already mentioned in constructive feedback notably the merch booths ran out of shirts much earlier than normal (before 3:00 on Saturday). I couldn't care less about swag but I do like to pick up a PAX East shirt every year and was unable to do so because of low stock.
PAX kicked off for me when I arrived at the Pre-PAX dinner. As I wondered around the tables asking people if they were part of the forums, they initially gave me quizzical looks until they realised who I was and why I was asking this question. Yes that's right, to hand out forum badges. PPD was followed up by Pre-PAX Gaming Night and I had a great time playing Kemet, my tabletop game of choice right now. So much so that I played it again during PAX hours
My regret was not picking up the third expansion to Cards Against Humanity as well as not going to the Dungeon Master panel. As an avid one myself any tips I can pick up are always welcome. Sadly I got distracted by something shiney and forgot the time. Dammit shiney things!
As for lines, I never queue for games as they eventually appear on my computer screen/iPad/phone/3DS/Vita/Charles Babbage Counting Machine. A case in point is the demo of The Last of Us, which I believe was the same one found on God of War: Ascension. So if you really want to play that game, go rent GoW:A and not line up for 4 hours!
The Saints Row 4 line was going at a decent speed all weekend. They didn't waste a single moment in their presentation, and then they moved you along. Same for the MOGA line, for the most part. The size of these lines were intimidating, but they went by really fast.
CliffyB. Storytime was great, and he spent the weekend making PAX more fun for everyone he came across.
The DnD Next event for The Mines of Madness. I was worried about spending 5+ hours of PAX playing an RPG. I should have known better. My table was having way to much fun dying over and over again.
The Enforcers! One drew me a kickin' rad dinosaur riding a rocket ship on Sunday.
The Seaport was fantastic! Probably going to be staying there over the Westin from now on.
I also got to paint a miniature dwarf for free. It was a great way to wind down Sunday afternoon. Had some good times and conversation with my fellow painters, as well.
The Less Good:
Zero tables in the food court. I understand why, but still. Made eating more difficult for a friend of mine with Cerebral Palsy. Sitting on the floor doesn't work out very well for him.
The aisle between EVE Online/Twitch and Shootmania got pretty overcrowded at times.
It's just not the same though =[
1) Coin Lunch! I got to meet more new awesome people.
2) Seeing people I rarely see, playing games sometimes, or just sharing the bounty of my bags!
3) I get to wear my Pirate Hat. With a Bobcat. and a Monkey. And people think it is awesome. I don't really need to go beyond that... But I will.
4) Arham Horror, ran by a friend of mine with a random other couple of game creators playing Saturday. Hell yea!
5) Wandering across Gabe and Tycho while they were recording what must have been a PA episode, and noting with pride that while people were watching and waiting to meet them, they were giving them tons of space. I took a picture, but I didn't come anywhere close to them. Yea Paxers! Let people do their thing, and approach when appropriate!
Cons:
1) Most of the food still sucks.
2) I really hate doing pins instead of cards, but I guess I need to accept this and move on. Shiny metal > information density, I guess.. at least for this.
3) Food. Food. Food. Burning hours just to get real food is really, really obnoxious. It isn't like even if you have a hotel room nearby that you can have real food there... So that means you have to waist hours to just get real food for the same damned price you pay at the con. I get that con food is marked up, but come on! TWELVE DOLLARS for two slices of pizza?? You realize that I can have an entire Pizza DELIVERED TO THE CON for that.. The idea of Con food is to be able to get it fast, have it be filling and not terrible, and go on to the next thing I really want to do. I don't even trust the food at the BCEC to not give me food poisoning. COME ON!
4) This is a far fourth. I was trying to go to lunch one day, and an enforcer tried to force us to stand still if we weren't in some random line. I just wanted to leave. You want your hall less crowded, I want to get out of it.. let me. Again, this isn't a serious con, but it still wasn't nice.
Other than that... I love all the attendees, Enforcers, PA staff, and more that make this awesome. Food is super important to me because it triggers a medical condition if I don't eat right, and often- but other than that... Honestly if the food was the same price, and *actually edible* I'd be fine with it. Hell, it could be twice the price and *good* and I'd be grumbly, but not flat-out angry about it.
If anything can be done, please, please, please, do it.
I suspect we're screwed, but truth: The masses need actual food. Not garbage.
PS: The Turkey Legs were a wonderful addition, and whoever did that needs to be rehired.
Relevant info: #PAX East: 3 Coin Lunch organizer. 2012 Trading card available. Pokecrawl Assistant 2012. Pokecrawl attendee 2011. Cult of the Leaf attendee 2012.
Just for reference, since a couple other people have brought up the dates, I'm going to post this info from Khoo and Jaberwocky from last year when the date choice was brought up. Large events are super hard to find time for.
Thanks for the heads up.
Anything I got to do other than eat. The D&D panels? great! painting a mini in tabletop, awesome...I'd previously sucked at painting and good to see my typically shaky hands didn't ruin it for me this time. Friday night concerts...meeting/seeing again people from the olden days of Penny-Arcade. Talking with some of the DM's late Sunday while waiting for the DM panel and getting some ideas/advice for the campaign I just started running.
the bad
just mild regrets on what I really wanted to do but didn't...couple of missed panels and not getting to do D&D next, and that's all because I didn't want to spend the time in line or couldn't manage to spend time in line or miss something else. Oh and con food, but there's only so much that can be done with that.
slight sidenote: slightly disappointed with most of the prices in tabletop where I had heard things were really good compared to CN prices and finding that my localish shop blows most of them away. No, I was not the guy haggling that was mentioned above :P Did still manage to score a few books late Sunday as part of a "we don't want to pack it up" sale, which was great.