The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
PAX Prime 2013 PC Tournament Schedule
Calling All PC Gamers!
We are excited to announce the PAX Prime 2013 PC Tournament Lineup!
This PAX, we have FOUR days of tournament FUN-ness! Tournaments at PAX Prime are intended to be FUN and not taken as competitive in nature (i.e. no pro teams needed, no big prize at the end, nor general competitive expectations). All Tournaments will be held in PC Freeplay Area.
We are still working on max players for each tournament, but the times are set in stone. This should match up with the PAX Prime Official Program Schedule (eventually).
PAX Prime 2013 PC Tournaments
FRIDAY - August 30th
SATURDAY - August 31st
SUNDAY - September 1st
MONDAY - September 2nd
* Registration will be required for all tournaments and will be available at all times prior to Tournament Start time. Registration Times are subject to change. See the Tournament Desk at PAX Prime 2013 for more information.
We are excited to announce the PAX Prime 2013 PC Tournament Lineup!
This PAX, we have FOUR days of tournament FUN-ness! Tournaments at PAX Prime are intended to be FUN and not taken as competitive in nature (i.e. no pro teams needed, no big prize at the end, nor general competitive expectations). All Tournaments will be held in PC Freeplay Area.
We are still working on max players for each tournament, but the times are set in stone. This should match up with the PAX Prime Official Program Schedule (eventually).
PAX Prime 2013 PC Tournaments
FRIDAY - August 30th
Magicka
Start Time: 1PM
Format: 4 Player Co-Op
Armagetron
Start Time: 4PM
Format: PVP
Kerbal Space Program
Start Time: 6PM
Format: Objective Based Competition
SATURDAY - August 31st
Team Fortress 2
Start Time: 1PM
Format: Team Battle (5v5)
QWOP
Start Time: 4PM
Format: Speed Run Competition
Minecraft
Start Time: 6PM
Format: FFA Competition
Left4Dead 2
Start Time: 8PM
Format: Team Survival
SUNDAY - September 1st
CANCELLED
Shootmania
Start Time: 1PM
Format: Team Battle (3v3)
Plants vs. Zombies
Start Time: 4PM
Format: Objective Based
Plants vs. Zombies
Start Time: 4PM
Format: Objective Based
Warsow
Start Time: 6PM
Format: FFA 1,000 Frag Endurance
MONDAY - September 2nd
Alienswarm
Start Time: 1PM
Format: Team Speed Run (4v4)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Start Time: 4PM
Format: Gun Game (Fast!)
* Registration will be required for all tournaments and will be available at all times prior to Tournament Start time. Registration Times are subject to change. See the Tournament Desk at PAX Prime 2013 for more information.
Vapok
Vapok on
0
Posts
Thanks for finding the typo!
Vapok
It's like if the Tabletop tournaments left out Magic and Catan but left everything else in. Why neglect the most popular games?
Cheers none the less, cause PAX is awesome anyways.
Philosophically, I like it that way (fun), but I'm not going to argue that position here. There are plenty of venues for the competitive kind of gaming.
Though I will point out the presence of Shootmania, which is rather e-sporty to me.
Having said that, there are other factors. For instance, which games are being loaded on to the machines, which exhibitors want to sponsor certain tournaments, and then the most important factor, what's the bandwidth usage like. Bandwidth is a tough problem to handle when you have 350+ Freeplay machines and 450+ BYOC machines all operating on the same internet pipe. We've been making huge improvements over the past couple of PAX's by implementing better Steam Proxies, rate limiting actual seats, and just being mindful what games are being played.
Another requirement that we started making a few PAX's ago, for the sake of bandwidth conservation, is that all Freeplay and Tournament games that are played, must have locally install-able servers or sponsored bandwidth. This did cut out a few titles (such as Battlefield 3) that simply didn't offer a local server option. Other companies have in the past opted to sponsor internet. That is why there are a few titles that are popular in the eSports arena that are not being played. It's not that we don't want them, just that we have to ensure that the network experience for both the Freeplayer's and the BYOC users meets expectations.
We do have some eSport titles (like League of Legends) on the Freeplay machines that will be available to play, but no tournament. This is possibly because Riot may do something on their own. If you recall last years Riot Room, (which was freakin' awesome). I don't know if they are doing that again, but you never know.
I'm personally looking forward to the QWOP Tournament. I think lots of lawlz will be had!
Vapok
It'd be cool to have the most popular game representation even if it wasn't a serious mode. Like for LoL, you could do ARAM, for Starcraft 2 you could do team melee, etc. What games are represented are great and I may well participate in some of them, it's just disappointing that some of the most popular multiplayer PC games were left out.
Nobody was saying that esports games aren't fun games, but there's a difference in having a friendly "for fun" tourney and an actual competitive tourney. Trying to play semantics on that isn't going to get you very far.
Yeah, I totally didn't mean to indicate that my feeling or the feeling behind why games are chosen were to mean that eSports games weren't fun. They're hellafun! Man, back in the day, I used to play in CAL for Counter-Strike. I know exactly how competitive (and fun) those types of games are. That brings me back. Anyways, I think you get the gist of what I saying.
Vapok
As Vapok mentioned, you have to realize the setup of the room before making comments that the selection is "bizarre". We can't just shut down the whole room and have all of the bandwidth focused on tournaments - this will shun the free-play gamers - the majority of the players that play at PAX. Having a tournament with LoL / DOTA2 with potential lags / rubber-banding will bring on the raging - trust me we have seen this in the past and do not want to deal with it.
The tournaments this year have been scaled from the previous year's setup (Only have 3-4 massive tournaments that would take 4-6+ hours) to this year's setup of having more tournaments that take up a shorter amount of time that would apply to a broader audience than just eSports / pro gamers. This way you can enjoy PAX and participate in a game of your choice... not just play the game from 12pm - 6pm and miss out on your favorite panels. You will have more variety of games to participate in and if you're not a Minecraft player, then just don't sign up for it.
There's always going to be trade-offs in this decision. With this list we can incorporate the beginner gamers (idk how else to put this, but the people that have played simple games like Plants Vs. Zombies, QWOP, etc), casual gamers (Kerbal Space Program, Magicka, CSGO gungame), as well as the "hardcore" competitive esports gamers (TF2, Shootmania, etc.). PC gamers are not all eSports gamers.
Being the "popular games", League of Legends and DOTA2 usually do some sort of event / gameplay during PAX (As Vapok mentioned - ie. LoL tournament / Internationals last Prime, and gameplay at their booth in previous East's). So us having to compete with other vendors is not within our scope. However, Valve and Riot have contacted / worked with us in the past to run some of their tournaments, in which we gladfully work out the details.
I will have to disagree with including "popular games" in the list. You overlook TF2, Minecraft, L4D2 as being included in your list and with the other games rising in popularity (Kerbal Space Program, Shootmania, PvZ, Magicka).
If you still are not happy with this list in terms of your standards, please come by our desk this year. We are a staff of about 5 that have been handling all of these tournaments the past few years. And if you would like to influence the future list or even work with us, we are open to suggestions.
It's pretty crazy the amount of pro players that actually do come and play. I mean I encourage everyone to come and have fun but they shouldn't be raging after the tournament because they didn't get the prize they wanted or the prize isn't as big as 27+ million dollars O_o.
Ok that makes sense, I wasn't sure if you were just talking about the popular mobas or the popular games ever.
Minecraft tournament is actually really cool this year. Our admin is structuring the tournament to be a tower race - everyone starts on top of this huge tower and first one to the bottom wins. PVP / fall damage enabled. Pretty creative considering last years was also just as creative (hunger games style).
PvZ will be more targeted for a race / competition for the high score. These details still being finalized.
If we want to go with today's Twitter hashtag storm of #ConfessYourUnpopularOpinions, I hold one opinion that pro-gaming and so called "esports" is a blight on gaming and a mockery of sport. It's simply an opinion I hold. I don't expect nor require that everyone hold it as well, but I do want to speak up in support of those things I do support.
Second, will there be a loner pool for individuals who want to join a pick-up team or fill in on teams where all the players don't show? I would love to be part of a Shootmania team, but don't know anyone who would want to form a team.
Oh, and Third, will Shootmania be Elite format or Battle format?
link: http://na.lolesports.com/season3/split2/articles/gamescom-and-pax-schedule-announcement
steam: Nemesis_21
origin: Ghandi5
twitter: @maxaguirre5
RCTID
We are working directly with the devs to provide a really awesome tournament. So a lot of that is still being finalized but do expect some sort of list of objectives contest.
Shootmania will be Elite format, and there is always usually a bunch of free agents before the tournament. Please get there as early as possible to find a team member.
To clarify @Kmess comments: The Tourneys have been restructured for faster play. I think the longest tourney is about 4 hours long. The rest are between 1 and 3 hours long. Of course, this information is subject to change.
Vapok
You also state that the bandwidth is a problem, but every time there was a major tournament hosted in the past, it was handled fairly well and with minimal hiccups, what makes this year so different?
Also, to add, just because you shorten the time for tournaments, doesn't mean it's a better thing. A lot of people didn't mind being in a tournament for half a day, or better yet, why not just shorten tournaments for the big eSports games?
In a convention where thousands of people attend, pretending that we can please everyone isn't really our thing. We understand that no matter what we do, there's going to be people who think we're being unfair or short-sighted about something. I feel as though both myself and @Kmess have done a pretty good job at being transparent about why decisions were made for various things. Every PAX (East, Prime, Aus) we're continually trying to improve upon the previous experience. We take this feedback and consider it for future PAX's.
So, having said that, I apologize that you feel this way. I hope that you can see past what you feel is terrible news and still enjoy your PAX experience.
Vapok
I believe the comment about being competitive isn't fun has been clarified. Tournaments of all kinds, competitive and non-competitive can be fun.... that's it. In terms of leaving out the popular games, please see the discussion in this thread for more details.
We have had some bandwidth issues in the past - so that's actually really awesome that our end audience has not seen these problems and only see them as minimal hiccups.
We have received a lot of complaints in the past about people staying for a long period of time in tournaments as well as people mentioning they would like to see more of a variety. This way we can please both parties - but of course, we cannot please everyone.
PAX PRIME 2018 Status: Badges [√] Room [√] Waiting [ :x ]
PoGo Trainer Code:4505 8413 2232
Second is this the best place to start soliciting to be on a TF2 pickup team. Cause I love me some medic.
Excited to get to cheer on our favorite Minecrafters!
Server first.
Like Nidhogg, it's a minimalist fighting game with platforming elements. In fact, the gameplay is stolen more or less wholesale from Nidhogg. Everyone here who's tried it has loved the game, even the very casual gamers. It's hard to describe why it's fun, but the controls are simple (only 2 buttons + d-pad) but hide a suprising amount of depth, and the strategy feels immediately accessible. Plus the various ways you end up dying are just hilarious.
It could also probably fit in as a console tourney game, since while it's technically a PC game, it's best played with a controller. I bring it up because I know everyone seems to love Nidhogg (even when they haven't played it themselves, which is most of the time), but very few know about this surprisingly competent (and free) clone.
Vapok
Just checked out the game - not bad at all. We can definitely look into this for PAX East / next prime.
This thread will have the correct details as we update it first whenever there are changes. So far, the thread stands correct. I've sent an email to get this corrected.
Thanks for pointing this out.
Format: 4 Player Co-Op
Wait how do you do a tournament for Magicka with 4 player Co-op?
1) Uh, I'll let @Kmess chime in.
2)The tourney's listed here are for the PC Freeplay area. BYOC is having their own list of contests, tourney's, and activities.
Vapok
I'm looking to join a L4D2 team, if you've still got room.