A more innovative approach to dealing with this would have been nice. I see people griping about the queue room being wasted after the show was open; maybe Enforcers could re-use the space for overflow from other queues that unexpectedly outgrow the show-floor space available.
I could swear they did this last year. Wonder why they stopped.
PROS:
- Echoing some of the other comments here, I think the Indies definitely need more space next year. It's one of the most interesting aspects of the show, and clearly the area pulls in a lot of folks who spend a lot of time looking and chatting there. I guess there's probably resistance to reducing the floor space available to the big guys with the big checkbooks, but it seems clear there's enough draw to the indies that they need more breathing room.
Please do share your feedback with Khoo and the gang regarding indies
BTW, was Intel doing their blue button giveaway thing this year?
BTW, was Intel doing their blue button giveaway thing this year?
Sort of, they had a booth on the expo floor where you could take pics with props and get a blinky pen I believe and sign up to win some tablets powered by Intel. A friend went there with his old blue button and got a double USB car charger and the hilarious part is that he doesn't have a car! Their annex booth by the PC Freeplay/BYOC had a passport you could get stamped at PC hardware vendors and redeem for a raffle ticket. Overall I preferred their approach this year rather than getting excited about the blue button prize cards that were seemingly always for the pens.
Out of curiosity does anyone know what those scalpers were asking for day passes? As much hate as they get I was actually heartened by the fact that it would be relatively easy to get into the show if you miss the online ticket sale. We had booked hotel and airfare well in advance and the fact tickets sold out so quickly online really spooked me until I saw how many scalpers were out there with legit passes for sale.
Basically I think I might avoid the hassle of online ordering next time and just show up with cash in hand. My buddy didn't even use his Sunday pass this year as he twisted his ankle and stayed in the hotel all day.
If you showed up Friday, you could get badges for any day at face value. THere was a contingent of attendees that banded together on the corner of 7th and Pike that were selling them at face value, which forced the scalpers to start selling them for $5 below face (for those unaware, buying all the badges online is only half their operation - the other half is trying to convince attendees with extra badges to sell to the scalpers for 10-15 dollars each). The Saturday badges, on Saturday, were in the 60ish range, I think. Sunday was probably in the 50's, and Monday seemed to be 5 dollars below face, judging from the screaming of the scalpers.
Quick feedback on the concerts, since we had a bunch of new acts this year. Who should come back?
Bit Brigade: yes
MegaRan: YES
Protomen: no
Hideo: NO
The Doubleclicks: YES
MC Frontalot: no (I know this will never happen and I like his albums, but you can never understand him live...)
Supergiant: yes (if they had more material)
Adam Warrock: NO
Super Guitar Bros: YES
Super Commuter: YES
If I could put together an ideal PAX band collection, it would look like this (in no particular order):
Super Guitar Bros
Paul and Storm
Jonathan Coulton
Bit Brigade
Metroid Metal
MegaRan
Super Commuter
The Doubleclicks
Anamanaguchi
Freezepop
Now that I have had a little while to put my thoughts together, here's what I thought:
The Good:
- Loved all of the next gen. This PAX really felt like it was about the future of gaming, whether it was serious games like That Dragon, Cancer or the XBOX One and Oculus Rift. I know this isn't controllable by Penny Arcade, I just wanted to say it.
- Indie Mega Booth continues to be where I spend a ton of time. Make it bigger / make it larger / make it the focus of the show.
- Food options in Seattle are always nice, compared to PAX East.
- Line control at Raven Theater especially. It could have gotten confusing with the Nintendo lines, but the Enforcers kept it under control.
- Four days was nice. It has its own downs and ups, but overall I liked the extra day.
- Paramount Theater for final Omegathon was incredible.
- And Geometry Wars pacifism mode for round 3? Great decision. So tense!
The Bad:
- Bethesda and their 25 minutes demos. I think it was inevitable that there always be a capped line at ESO, but it was still disappointing.
- Cards Against Humanity running out of bigger, blacker boxes practically before the show opened.
- The fragmentation of tabletop: I really dislike this. PAX East is partly so incredible because Tabletop is in one giant area, so you can weave between games for hours.
- The Convention Center closing at 12:00am. I feel that it should be open until 2:00am, to accommodate those of us who want to hang out and chill late.
As a first time PAXer, I don't have a lot to draw on as far as "things that were better in previous years", but here are a couple of things I noticed and thought I would throw out into the mix.
I realize that there are always going to be scalpers, but is there any way to keep them away from directly outside the front doors of the Con-centers? Really sad to see so many badges were wasted by these people when there were so many who couldn't make it because the site sold out. Also, these pushy musicians who will literally follow you for a block and a half trying to convince you to buy their CD - if I had mace, I would have used it!! Not a joke!! These guys are creepy and come off aggressive. I don't like walking out of the Con-center and immediately being set upon by this pack of wolves! I realize that a block away or so, I'm in their territory and tread lightly and close to the wall. But right outside the doors? Jeez.
Lines - outside the main theatre, I totally understand crowd-lines, because once you get where you are going, there's not just a single point of interest, the crowd spreads out into the auditorium on three levels. But inside buildings - especially in crowded areas - crowd-lines are stupid. IMO. I'm looking at you, Zelda Wii-U Demo line. It's also too easy for someone to slip ahead of their spot, or slip in from the side in a crowd-line, which is really infuriating for people who have been waiting in proper order. There is a queue-room, and lines can be strung back and forth, and while they may not *actually* move faster single-file, if the final point of interest is singular, they *seem* to move faster, and the psychological benefit is real. If I'm interested in something but there is a massive clog of people, I'm going to skip it. I'm already standing in a crowd. I don't want to stand in a crowd that isn't moving. But a single-file line, even if it's a little long? Sure, I can handle that. One person in front of me, one person behind me, and we're moving a little at a time. No problem.
So as not to just be a complainer... I LOVED the cosplayers!! I understand that the LOL panel had all of its attending LOL cosplayers show off? Is there a cosplay panel/area where the cosplayers can show off/take pictures/group up? I would love to see groups of them. So much fun.
Also, I hope that crepe shop outside the Con-center is a permanent fixture. Oh my god, the crepes. So much love.
I only went to two of the concerts (1st and 3rd night) so I can't comment on all the acts, but what I saw was fantastic. Oh my GOD, the PROTOMEN. Had never heard of them before, but I was *SO* moved. They are not just musicians, what they do is theatre, and I was in love! I hope they return next year!!
There's nothing to be done about the scalpers being in front of the convention center. In Seattle, scalping isn't only not illegal, it's specifically allowed by law.
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
@Aioua, I didn't figure there was anything to do about them being there - if they want to sell badges, no problem, they're allowed - but is there nothing that can be done about their proximity of the scalpers and hawkers to the Con-center? Are they really allowed to sell literally on the doorsteps?
@Aioua, I didn't figure there was anything to do about them being there - if they want to sell badges, no problem, they're allowed - but is there nothing that can be done about their proximity of the scalpers and hawkers to the Con-center? Are they really allowed to sell literally on the doorsteps?
Yeah, public street and all. I think the only way would be to completely close the street. It'd be easier to get the law changed, and neither of those are happening.
life's a game that you're bound to lose / like using a hammer to pound in screws
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
Not wanting to derail the thread, and I know you're somewhat joking, but the thought of this scares the crap out of me. Attendees should never ever be aggressive to scalpers/random people on the street. This could lead to a serious problem, potentially involving police & getting other innocent people injured (especially with the use of mace in an overly crowded semi-wind tunnel like in front of the convention center).
If someone feels scalpers or other random people in front of the convention center are being aggressive or hostile, contact an Enforcer/Green Coat/On-Site Security/Seattle Police. If needed the issue will be escalated to whomever needs to address it appropriately.
Attended: Prime 2011, Prime 2012, Prime 13, Prime 2014
Enforced: West 2015, West 2016
-snip- Attendees should never ever be aggressive to scalpers/random people on the street. -snip- If someone feels scalpers or other random people in front of the convention center are being aggressive or hostile, contact an Enforcer/Green Coat/On-Site Security/Seattle Police. If needed the issue will be escalated to whomever needs to address it appropriately.
Something something jokes half meant something.
I don't think I would ever really mace someone (dream about it? definitely), but as aggressive as some of the hawkers/scalpers were (mostly the hawkers, the scalpers were just more abundant), I don't feel like defensively carrying is a bad idea, since pointedly asking to be left alone/indicating 0% interest and moving along is not enough of a deterrent. Absolutely, if something more serious were to happen, I would escalate it to some sort of authority. But bright colors on tiny frogs warn off large predators.
*BACK ON TOPIC*
There were more than a few "normals"/"civilians"/locals/other non-PAXers on the street and in the hotels who wondered at us - Who are all these people, what is going on here? Most hilarious encounter was with an older international gent in the elevator who said, "So, I was told there is a nerd convention going on?" (He wasn't wrong!) Maybe some informational fliers/pamphlets/cards/posters either to hand out to questioning civilians (IDEA: give each PAXer an informational card in their Swag Bag to hand out to a non-PAXer who asks!) or to stick up around the areas where we frequent to inform those who want to know who we are and what we are about!
Aercadia on
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CuvisTheConquerorThey always say "yee haw" but they never ask "haw yee?" Registered Userregular
Just a couple of quick thoughts:
*Queueing up in Freeway Park on the first day was a fantastic idea. I would love to see the queue move out there going forward, and the queue room used to expand the expo floor. I know the Seattle weather isn't always cooperative, but perhaps tarps or tents could be set up?
*The Protomen were phenomenal, and I would love to see them at PAX again!
*I agree with others that the e-sports stuff would be better done off site. Benaroya Hall seems tailor-made for these events. Perhaps additional theaters could be added for them as well? I'm not sure what's available, but it'd be better for everyone involved IMHO.
*The swag-bag issue could be easily solved by including a swag ticket with each badge. One ticket = one bag.
Oh, and if we're going to host things like the Halo 4 World Championships, I would suggest making it possible for people to go to those eSports events *without* buying a full PAX pass.
Mike and Jerry's second Q&A was almost empty and I'm guessing it's because it was up against the Halo 4 championship. It's a shame that people who would really want to attend PAX for Penny Arcade couldn't be there because PAX passes had to be bought in order to attend another event.
One thought that occurred to me as I was asked REPEATEDLY in my office the last two days "What did you dress up as?" Yes cosplay is an element of PAX, just as much as everything else. With the proliferation of Big Bang Theory among the main stream so to speak, everyone assumes I just went to a con of Leonard and Sheldons. PAX is well known among the game/geek community on and offline for the most part but I would love to see a more representative reporting of what PAX is in the mainstream media, even if it's just the local Seattle news. All of the local Seattle news stations mention PAX heck even the department of transportation (WSDOT) tweeted about it on Friday for a traffic congestion warning, but I would love for my colleagues to get a better flavor of what PAX as a whole is. I took my mom and her boyfriend to Emerald City Comicon once, he was a big comic book fan growing up, she was along for the ride. She saw cool things but admitted it wasn't her thing but suddenly understood why I liked going so much. The same idea extends to PAX.
Really sad to see so many badges were wasted by these people when there were so many who couldn't make it because the site sold out
If its any consolation, this is kinda like the swag bag trash; it's highly visible, but small in comparison to the whole con.
There were tens of thousands of attendees each day, if I recall. Compared to the badges put front, that's a huge number (and realizing that some of those badges were sold on the street, not bought to be scalped).
Oh, and if we're going to host things like the Halo 4 World Championships, I would suggest making it possible for people to go to those eSports events *without* buying a full PAX pass.
Mike and Jerry's second Q&A was almost empty and I'm guessing it's because it was up against the Halo 4 championship. It's a shame that people who would really want to attend PAX for Penny Arcade couldn't be there because PAX passes had to be bought in order to attend another event.
Just something to consider, but a lot of people find Q&A to be lame. I'm all about PA and PAX but have no desire to see the Q&A (I did Make a Strip, which started right out with Q&A, but I could swear they used to have pre Q&A talk there in previous years).
. So it's not just Halo. It could be that it's because it was the second Q&A, and most people who dig Q&A got their fill with the first one?
Edit: like, what percentage of attendees do you think went to the Halo 4 championship? Or even that and the LoL regionals combined? Was the expo floor empty during that time too? The free play areas?
I liked the giant screen that was set-up in the queue room. Part of me can't help wondering if it could be used better, as a way to connect the off-site events to the main center throughout the day. Checking in live with some of the people standing in lines, showing one of the boardgame tournaments in Olive, things like that. Maybe 60 sec screen shot of the latest Twitter Feed? Just a live stream of PAX.
BTW, was Intel doing their blue button giveaway thing this year?
Sort of, they had a booth on the expo floor where you could take pics with props and get a blinky pen I believe and sign up to win some tablets powered by Intel. A friend went there with his old blue button and got a double USB car charger and the hilarious part is that he doesn't have a car! Their annex booth by the PC Freeplay/BYOC had a passport you could get stamped at PC hardware vendors and redeem for a raffle ticket. Overall I preferred their approach this year rather than getting excited about the blue button prize cards that were seemingly always for the pens.
Ah yes, the pens. Well, glad they are still at it, at least.
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EvilBadmanDO NOT TRUST THIS MANRegistered Userregular
I think the cosplay numbers were certainly up this year, spread over the four days. Also, I believe it's time there was an official cosplay contest, or some sort panel/event for them.
Also, and I'm spitballing here, I think the Halo event at Benaroya didn't draw like they imagined it would. Perfect world, move LoL over there and have floor 6 be Indie Mega Floor.
As a first time PAXer, I don't have a lot to draw on as far as "things that were better in previous years", but here are a couple of things I noticed and thought I would throw out into the mix.
I realize that there are always going to be scalpers, but is there any way to keep them away from directly outside the front doors of the Con-centers? Really sad to see so many badges were wasted by these people when there were so many who couldn't make it because the site sold out. Also, these pushy musicians who will literally follow you for a block and a half trying to convince you to buy their CD - if I had mace, I would have used it!! Not a joke!! These guys are creepy and come off aggressive. I don't like walking out of the Con-center and immediately being set upon by this pack of wolves! I realize that a block away or so, I'm in their territory and tread lightly and close to the wall. But right outside the doors? Jeez.
Lines - outside the main theatre, I totally understand crowd-lines, because once you get where you are going, there's not just a single point of interest, the crowd spreads out into the auditorium on three levels. But inside buildings - especially in crowded areas - crowd-lines are stupid. IMO. I'm looking at you, Zelda Wii-U Demo line. It's also too easy for someone to slip ahead of their spot, or slip in from the side in a crowd-line, which is really infuriating for people who have been waiting in proper order. There is a queue-room, and lines can be strung back and forth, and while they may not *actually* move faster single-file, if the final point of interest is singular, they *seem* to move faster, and the psychological benefit is real. If I'm interested in something but there is a massive clog of people, I'm going to skip it. I'm already standing in a crowd. I don't want to stand in a crowd that isn't moving. But a single-file line, even if it's a little long? Sure, I can handle that. One person in front of me, one person behind me, and we're moving a little at a time. No problem.
So as not to just be a complainer... I LOVED the cosplayers!! I understand that the LOL panel had all of its attending LOL cosplayers show off? Is there a cosplay panel/area where the cosplayers can show off/take pictures/group up? I would love to see groups of them. So much fun.
Also, I hope that crepe shop outside the Con-center is a permanent fixture. Oh my god, the crepes. So much love.
I only went to two of the concerts (1st and 3rd night) so I can't comment on all the acts, but what I saw was fantastic. Oh my GOD, the PROTOMEN. Had never heard of them before, but I was *SO* moved. They are not just musicians, what they do is theatre, and I was in love! I hope they return next year!!
TL;DR street vendors and bums are uncomfortably aggressive.
The law in Seattle is that no one may block your path on the sidewalk. If they prevent you from moving somewhere, you can report it to one of the area cops.
Unfortunately, they can follow you. Until you feel threatened, then you get to report them for harassment! Yay!
I would like to see an SPD officer stationed on Scalper's Corner for the duration of PAX. I just think its a good idea all round.
I would like to see an SPD officer stationed on Scalper's Corner for the duration of PAX. I just think its a good idea all round.
Not sure how feasible this is, but it would be nice and given the density of people isn't a horrible idea anyway. But then you've also got Bumbershoot going on, and there are only so many cops.
And yeah, street vendors and bums can be super aggressive. But for anybody not aware, this isn't really a PAX thing, it's kind of a Seattle thing. You learn to deal with it.
This was my first year going so I don't have any thing to compare it to, but here's what I thought from what I experienced.
Pros:
-4 days felt great, by the end of Sunday I still felt like I was missing something and Monday filled that gap for me perfectly.
everyone who I saw working there was nice and it made everything feel better knowing they were trying to make the experience better for us.
-i loved how big it was compared to the few small cons I've been too
-although I'm not really into tabletop I could tell the people there were welcoming of newcomers instead of being elitist pigs, same goes for the more hardcore games.
lots of cool stuff to see and learn about.
Cons:
-although I'm not into Indies, they definitely need more space.
-so much cosplay but not enough support for it from the convention itself, sure there were individual booths and panels that did small things for cosplay, but they either weren't advertised well or they only had a small amount of space so they couldn't do much. A cosplay panel/contest would be great (because there are definitely enough cosplayers to make it worthwhile) or at least an area in which they could go for pictures because there was no room to do it in the expo hall.
-i think LOL should be handled differently, I like that it's there but it made my experience less fun because my friend spent all of his time up there instead of exploring with me like we'd planned. I think anything they do that is not an actual match should be a seperate panel, because even after the matches were over I couldn't get in there to find my friend or use the. bathroom on that floor because of the crowds wanting to watch how character skins were made. Maybe it could be held off site and have separate to let's sold just for it? Like if you had a PAX badge you could get in, but for the people who wanted to go just for LOL they could have the option to just buy a LOL pass that would only let them into that area, and be cheaper than a PAX badge.
-Swag bags shouldn't be full of ads, on the first day you grabbed the bag which was cull of ads and the cards, then you picked more ads up from the table! If every attendee was given a drawstring bag with their passes, there wouldn't be as much trash. Then to get the stuff that's in the bag you would have a ticket to go into the swag room where you could pick up whatever was supposed to be in there.
there should be more signs saying where you are or which direction to go to get somewhere. Or the signs they had should be a little bigger of more visible because I got turned around so often trying to get somewhere, even if I used the maps they didn't do much to tell me which way to go.
-
I think the cosplay numbers were certainly up this year, spread over the four days. Also, I believe it's time there was an official cosplay contest, or some sort panel/event for them.
Also, and I'm spitballing here, I think the Halo event at Benaroya didn't draw like they imagined it would. Perfect world, move LoL over there and have floor 6 be Indie Mega Floor.
Really? My group was noting that cosplay was noticeably DOWN from previous years. Like, significantly.
I would like to see an SPD officer stationed on Scalper's Corner for the duration of PAX. I just think its a good idea all round.
There were a number of undercover officers there the entire time. A couple of them revealed themselves to me on Friday (after giving me fist bumps) to let me know ppl had my back for something I was doing to the scalpers.
-Swag bags shouldn't be full of ads, on the first day you grabbed the bag which was cull of ads and the cards, then you picked more ads up from the table! If every attendee was given a drawstring bag with their passes, there wouldn't be as much trash. Then to get the stuff that's in the bag you would have a ticket to go into the swag room where you could pick up whatever was supposed to be in there.
I think the cosplay numbers were certainly up this year, spread over the four days. Also, I believe it's time there was an official cosplay contest, or some sort panel/event for them.
Also, and I'm spitballing here, I think the Halo event at Benaroya didn't draw like they imagined it would. Perfect world, move LoL over there and have floor 6 be Indie Mega Floor.
Really? My group was noting that cosplay was noticeably DOWN from previous years. Like, significantly.
This is my third PAX Prime, and I was thinking it felt like there was more cosplay, too. Looking back though, I think I was seeing a lot more casual cosplay, and a lot less really fancy/competition-worthy stuff. Do recall however that I believe last year was LoL's first year with PAX and they had a huge cosplay contest. I didn't hear if they had another one this year so that could've affected the fancy costume rate, as I definitely remember most of the best ones last year being from LoL.
I like seeing more casual cosplayers though, as it means it's becoming more accesible and acceptable. Plus it means you'll actually get to see more than a bunch of Links and Shepards (no offense to anyone who cosplays as them!).
Definitely seconding the idea of finally having some sort of official cosplay contest/panel/photo booth. Cosplayers tend to love the Convention Center gardens, so having some signs and something official out there would probably only help with the crowding inside.
I think everyone would appreciate at least one officer on the corner. With the scalpers coupled with the bums and hawkers, it'd just be a nicer feeling. Plus, could they have any power if the Enforcers caught someone trying to sell fake passes? That'd probably be an even greater deterrent, at least for the most "dangerous" scalpers of all.
Can we go back to mixing up the outside PAX banners? Whoever put them up this year did a pretty miserable job, as I'd go down a whole street seeing only duplicates of the same banner over and over. Someone really needed to hit Shuffle there.
I kind of also like the idea of being given a ticket or something with your bag, so the people that care can go back for bags later, and the people that don't can...not. Of course you'd probably have people trading/giving theirs away, but at least at that point they're probably getting something out of it instead of just losing out to people doing multiple runs.
I also agree that the trend towards more and more ads/coupons and less fun stuff is kind of lame. I get that stuff's expensive but there's a reason more and more of the bags keep being left on the floor.
Who sets the concert times? Last year the Protomen didn't go on til midnight, this year their concert started at 7:30 (though they actually had opening acts in Bit Brigade and Mega Ran whereas before they were solo). 7:30 is pretty dang early for a Friday night concert, while midnight is kind of late. Were the bands choosing this? If not, I'd try for a more middling time. And someone needs to tell the Paramount to make their bathrooms more obvious. Every year I forget where they are.
Fun to attend, great seeing people enjoying the event so indulgingly. I was the one who drove the games in and was doing a lot of the repairs in the classic arcade room this year on the third floor. I also am an active member in SMAC as well as the NW Pinball & Arcade Show. I plan on donating games next year as well as transporting them, thanks for all the positive feedback towards the arcade and we'll try to change it up for next year with some more exciting classics as well as newer games. Thanks PAX for the invite.
I would like to see an SPD officer stationed on Scalper's Corner for the duration of PAX. I just think its a good idea all round.
And yeah, street vendors and bums can be super aggressive. But for anybody not aware, this isn't really a PAX thing, it's kind of a Seattle thing. You learn to deal with it.
Pretty much. I tend to hang out for a day after PAX just to bum around and do random stuff in the city/hang out with friends I won't get to see for another year and the only consistent difference is there aren't any ticket scalpers around. The same musicians, the same street vendors, and the same bums were still all around. You kinda just gotta learn to tune them out unless they're being abnormally dickish in which case yea, call the cops and report it.
There's nothing to be done about the scalpers being in front of the convention center. In Seattle, scalping isn't only not illegal, it's specifically allowed by law.
Well, what could be done is to raise PAX ticket prices and change to personalized passes with your name and photo on them. I'm sure Robert Khoo has considered it. Not sure it will ever happen. PAX is just has more demand than capacity.
There's nothing to be done about the scalpers being in front of the convention center. In Seattle, scalping isn't only not illegal, it's specifically allowed by law.
Well, what could be done is to raise PAX ticket prices and change to personalized passes with your name and photo on them. I'm sure Robert Khoo has considered it. Not sure it will ever happen. PAX is just has more demand than capacity.
Believe it or not, the ability to re-sell is a healthy thing. One of the biggest problems to the San Diego Comic Con is that if you don't go to their website at the exact right minute, you don't get to go that year no matter what. There should be a market for people to allow the invisible hand to work its magic.....to a point.
Now that said, there is a difference between allowing re-selling and allowing 1 or 2 entities to purchase thousands of tickets of entry and then try to gouge a hungry public.
Honestly, my only real gripe this year was that the concerts were near unintelligible. The only time I understood MC Frontalot was when he played songs I already knew the words to; the rest was just a mess of reverberation. I know nothing about acoustics so this is a shot in the dark, but I feel like there might have been too much amplification? Like, maybe they could cut the number of speakers next time.
I can really only think of three things that stood out for improvement everything else was top notch! Even the expo hall staff was friendlier.
- Cramped Indie Megabooth. This was even more congested than last year. Even on Monday afternoon when the rest of the expo hall was thinning out the indie area was going strong. They need a bigger area for sure. My husband had to walk in front of me through there to make sure I didn't get run over cause I am so small.
- Extreme queue room temperature. In one of the queue rooms we watched a guy literally fall over after getting dizzy from the heat. I even got sick to my stomach because it was so hot (which never happens). And that was all before the doors were closed which increased the tempature even more. PLEASE invest in fans that can be placed in the door way to circulate the cooler air from the outside in. Even just one or two would have made a world of difference.
- Cramped, spread out tabletop area. This is the one thing I miss from East. There never seemed to be any empty spaces so there was always a line of people waiting for a table. An increase in the amount of space for tabletop would be much welcomed. Also a single location. Going from building to building trying to find which library had a specific game or to see if a game was starting up was painful and annoying. Move it all outsîde the WSCC and keep it together. Even if it were on two floors of one building with larger rooms we would be better off.
- Extreme queue room temperature. In one of the queue rooms we watched a guy literally fall over after getting dizzy from the heat. I even got sick to my stomach because it was so hot (which never happens). And that was all before the doors were closed which increased the tempature even more. PLEASE invest in fans that can be placed in the door way to circulate the cooler air from the outside in. Even just one or two would have made a world of difference.
Oh, YES. I agree. But I think this is more due to a higher than normal humidity than actual temperature. I've felt that a lot here the past few weeks. However, I remember feeling physically better just getting into the Skybridge or the 6th floor (which was like A/C nirvana). I'm talking more the actual expo hall space.
Yeah, the weather was humid as fuck this go around. Easily the most that it's been in the five years I've been going.
Bit Brigade: yes
MegaRan: YES
Protomen: no
Hideo: NO
The Doubleclicks: YES
MC Frontalot: no (I know this will never happen and I like his albums, but you can never understand him live...)
Supergiant: yes (if they had more material)
Adam Warrock: NO
Super Guitar Bros: YES
Super Commuter: YES
PURGE THE HERETIC! The Protos sounded better than ever this year and with new material coming out, not having them back would be criminal.
We don't see humidity much in Seattle and you could tell in the few weeks leading up to PAX as we were all quite irritable and what limited air conditioning public buildings have can't really keep up and of course none of us have A/C at home. I saw it mentioned a few times among my friends on twitter that the humidity was going to make PAX gross this year. Fingers crossed we have more normal weather next year!
PRO: As mentioned, the Green Coats have gotten use to the lot of us, so there is a little less glaring. I even made one laugh when I lamented having to walk up a shut down escalator.
The Enforcers brought a much better game this year; last year felt much more spotty in the Expo hall. The Line Cap Enforcers especially were never rude or played favorites in my experienced and that's a tough position to be in. I especially want to thank the Enforcer who worked the early Titanfall queue on Monday on the Microsoft demo side. The mad rush for shirts cut the line, but you kept your calm and got us back on track. Thanks.
The Gearbox panel, not as awesome as years past (and by that I don't me free stuff) but still my must see panel.
The eclectic mix of games throughout the convention.
CON: Respect of place has been a little lacking the past two events, garbage especially. Leave the place better than you found it.
The sheer boredom of the queue room. It was nice in years past to have things going on up front or on the screen to interact with or simply watch - made the time go faster. Heck, even the lady yelling "I AM A SPACE MARINE!" was an improvement to this year's MNT DEW/XBOX two minute shilling before the doors opened.
I love the line entertainment people, but they need to entertain more of the line not just the ends and the gap in the middle. Maybe things that don't pull people out of line but get people to interact as groups? The camp counselor in me wanted to jump the line and spice things up... which means I probably should wear the blue next year to put my money where my mouth is.
The panels were lacking for me, a little too niche or narrow focused in a lot of cases. Just my personal opinion. Panels are a great way to break up a busy PAX, so they are something I care about.
SUGGESTIONS: I am saddened that my queue room as a queue room after being a queue room idea has already been suggested. My friends and I missed ESO by one person because we stopped for a shirt at the WB booth (WE WERE SUCH FOOLS!) and didn't "watch the trailer" for 25 minutes for the line to open. A line in the queue room would be nice for this - shoot have it line up before opening!
I remember a lot of people believing LoL was responsible for the sell-out last year and I think for some its still the whipping boy despite this years evidence to the contrary. While I may not LoL or Gather Magic, I don't begrudge those who do their space at PAX. I for one dislike Cards Against Humanity (too crass for my tastes) but they're welcome too. Not everyone loves what I love about PAX either. Its were I and 80,000 other people want to be over Labor Day Weekend, lets not divide it and put parts of it up on pedestals and others in the trash just because we don't like or want it; because that ultimately diminishes the whole.
I love the line entertainment people, but they need to entertain more of the line not just the ends and the gap in the middle. Maybe things that don't pull people out of line but get people to interact as groups? The camp counselor in me wanted to jump the line and spice things up... which means I probably should wear the blue next year to put my money where my mouth is.
That is one thing I miss from the older days of PAX when the queue room really was the queue room. They'd have all sorts of in line games and random videos and other contests. Watching people do a caramelldansen dance off for wristbands was hilariously good entertainment.
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I could swear they did this last year. Wonder why they stopped.
Please do share your feedback with Khoo and the gang regarding indies
BTW, was Intel doing their blue button giveaway thing this year?
Sort of, they had a booth on the expo floor where you could take pics with props and get a blinky pen I believe and sign up to win some tablets powered by Intel. A friend went there with his old blue button and got a double USB car charger and the hilarious part is that he doesn't have a car! Their annex booth by the PC Freeplay/BYOC had a passport you could get stamped at PC hardware vendors and redeem for a raffle ticket. Overall I preferred their approach this year rather than getting excited about the blue button prize cards that were seemingly always for the pens.
If you showed up Friday, you could get badges for any day at face value. THere was a contingent of attendees that banded together on the corner of 7th and Pike that were selling them at face value, which forced the scalpers to start selling them for $5 below face (for those unaware, buying all the badges online is only half their operation - the other half is trying to convince attendees with extra badges to sell to the scalpers for 10-15 dollars each). The Saturday badges, on Saturday, were in the 60ish range, I think. Sunday was probably in the 50's, and Monday seemed to be 5 dollars below face, judging from the screaming of the scalpers.
Bit Brigade: yes
MegaRan: YES
Protomen: no
Hideo: NO
The Doubleclicks: YES
MC Frontalot: no (I know this will never happen and I like his albums, but you can never understand him live...)
Supergiant: yes (if they had more material)
Adam Warrock: NO
Super Guitar Bros: YES
Super Commuter: YES
If I could put together an ideal PAX band collection, it would look like this (in no particular order):
Super Guitar Bros
Paul and Storm
Jonathan Coulton
Bit Brigade
Metroid Metal
MegaRan
Super Commuter
The Doubleclicks
Anamanaguchi
Freezepop
The Good:
- Loved all of the next gen. This PAX really felt like it was about the future of gaming, whether it was serious games like That Dragon, Cancer or the XBOX One and Oculus Rift. I know this isn't controllable by Penny Arcade, I just wanted to say it.
- Indie Mega Booth continues to be where I spend a ton of time. Make it bigger / make it larger / make it the focus of the show.
- Food options in Seattle are always nice, compared to PAX East.
- Line control at Raven Theater especially. It could have gotten confusing with the Nintendo lines, but the Enforcers kept it under control.
- Four days was nice. It has its own downs and ups, but overall I liked the extra day.
- Paramount Theater for final Omegathon was incredible.
- And Geometry Wars pacifism mode for round 3? Great decision. So tense!
The Bad:
- Bethesda and their 25 minutes demos. I think it was inevitable that there always be a capped line at ESO, but it was still disappointing.
- Cards Against Humanity running out of bigger, blacker boxes practically before the show opened.
- The fragmentation of tabletop: I really dislike this. PAX East is partly so incredible because Tabletop is in one giant area, so you can weave between games for hours.
- The Convention Center closing at 12:00am. I feel that it should be open until 2:00am, to accommodate those of us who want to hang out and chill late.
I realize that there are always going to be scalpers, but is there any way to keep them away from directly outside the front doors of the Con-centers? Really sad to see so many badges were wasted by these people when there were so many who couldn't make it because the site sold out.
Lines - outside the main theatre, I totally understand crowd-lines, because once you get where you are going, there's not just a single point of interest, the crowd spreads out into the auditorium on three levels. But inside buildings - especially in crowded areas - crowd-lines are stupid. IMO. I'm looking at you, Zelda Wii-U Demo line. It's also too easy for someone to slip ahead of their spot, or slip in from the side in a crowd-line, which is really infuriating for people who have been waiting in proper order. There is a queue-room, and lines can be strung back and forth, and while they may not *actually* move faster single-file, if the final point of interest is singular, they *seem* to move faster, and the psychological benefit is real. If I'm interested in something but there is a massive clog of people, I'm going to skip it. I'm already standing in a crowd. I don't want to stand in a crowd that isn't moving. But a single-file line, even if it's a little long? Sure, I can handle that. One person in front of me, one person behind me, and we're moving a little at a time. No problem.
So as not to just be a complainer...
Also, I hope that crepe shop outside the Con-center is a permanent fixture. Oh my god, the crepes.
I only went to two of the concerts (1st and 3rd night) so I can't comment on all the acts, but what I saw was fantastic. Oh my GOD, the PROTOMEN. Had never heard of them before, but I was *SO* moved. They are not just musicians, what they do is theatre, and I was in love! I hope they return next year!!
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
Yeah, public street and all. I think the only way would be to completely close the street. It'd be easier to get the law changed, and neither of those are happening.
fuck up once and you break your thumb / if you're happy at all then you're god damn dumb
that's right we're on a fucked up cruise / God is dead but at least we have booze
bad things happen, no one knows why / the sun burns out and everyone dies
If someone feels scalpers or other random people in front of the convention center are being aggressive or hostile, contact an Enforcer/Green Coat/On-Site Security/Seattle Police. If needed the issue will be escalated to whomever needs to address it appropriately.
Enforced: West 2015, West 2016
Something something jokes half meant something.
I don't think I would ever really mace someone (dream about it? definitely), but as aggressive as some of the hawkers/scalpers were (mostly the hawkers, the scalpers were just more abundant), I don't feel like defensively carrying is a bad idea, since pointedly asking to be left alone/indicating 0% interest and moving along is not enough of a deterrent. Absolutely, if something more serious were to happen, I would escalate it to some sort of authority. But bright colors on tiny frogs warn off large predators.
*BACK ON TOPIC*
There were more than a few "normals"/"civilians"/locals/other non-PAXers on the street and in the hotels who wondered at us - Who are all these people, what is going on here? Most hilarious encounter was with an older international gent in the elevator who said, "So, I was told there is a nerd convention going on?" (He wasn't wrong!) Maybe some informational fliers/pamphlets/cards/posters either to hand out to questioning civilians (IDEA: give each PAXer an informational card in their Swag Bag to hand out to a non-PAXer who asks!) or to stick up around the areas where we frequent to inform those who want to know who we are and what we are about!
*Queueing up in Freeway Park on the first day was a fantastic idea. I would love to see the queue move out there going forward, and the queue room used to expand the expo floor. I know the Seattle weather isn't always cooperative, but perhaps tarps or tents could be set up?
*The Protomen were phenomenal, and I would love to see them at PAX again!
*I agree with others that the e-sports stuff would be better done off site. Benaroya Hall seems tailor-made for these events. Perhaps additional theaters could be added for them as well? I'm not sure what's available, but it'd be better for everyone involved IMHO.
*The swag-bag issue could be easily solved by including a swag ticket with each badge. One ticket = one bag.
Mike and Jerry's second Q&A was almost empty and I'm guessing it's because it was up against the Halo 4 championship. It's a shame that people who would really want to attend PAX for Penny Arcade couldn't be there because PAX passes had to be bought in order to attend another event.
If its any consolation, this is kinda like the swag bag trash; it's highly visible, but small in comparison to the whole con.
There were tens of thousands of attendees each day, if I recall. Compared to the badges put front, that's a huge number (and realizing that some of those badges were sold on the street, not bought to be scalped).
Just something to consider, but a lot of people find Q&A to be lame. I'm all about PA and PAX but have no desire to see the Q&A (I did Make a Strip, which started right out with Q&A, but I could swear they used to have pre Q&A talk there in previous years).
. So it's not just Halo. It could be that it's because it was the second Q&A, and most people who dig Q&A got their fill with the first one?
Edit: like, what percentage of attendees do you think went to the Halo 4 championship? Or even that and the LoL regionals combined? Was the expo floor empty during that time too? The free play areas?
Ah yes, the pens.
Also, and I'm spitballing here, I think the Halo event at Benaroya didn't draw like they imagined it would. Perfect world, move LoL over there and have floor 6 be Indie Mega Floor.
TL;DR street vendors and bums are uncomfortably aggressive.
The law in Seattle is that no one may block your path on the sidewalk. If they prevent you from moving somewhere, you can report it to one of the area cops.
Unfortunately, they can follow you. Until you feel threatened, then you get to report them for harassment! Yay!
I would like to see an SPD officer stationed on Scalper's Corner for the duration of PAX. I just think its a good idea all round.
Not sure how feasible this is, but it would be nice and given the density of people isn't a horrible idea anyway. But then you've also got Bumbershoot going on, and there are only so many cops.
And yeah, street vendors and bums can be super aggressive. But for anybody not aware, this isn't really a PAX thing, it's kind of a Seattle thing. You learn to deal with it.
Pros:
-4 days felt great, by the end of Sunday I still felt like I was missing something and Monday filled that gap for me perfectly.
everyone who I saw working there was nice and it made everything feel better knowing they were trying to make the experience better for us.
-i loved how big it was compared to the few small cons I've been too
-although I'm not really into tabletop I could tell the people there were welcoming of newcomers instead of being elitist pigs, same goes for the more hardcore games.
lots of cool stuff to see and learn about.
Cons:
-although I'm not into Indies, they definitely need more space.
-so much cosplay but not enough support for it from the convention itself, sure there were individual booths and panels that did small things for cosplay, but they either weren't advertised well or they only had a small amount of space so they couldn't do much. A cosplay panel/contest would be great (because there are definitely enough cosplayers to make it worthwhile) or at least an area in which they could go for pictures because there was no room to do it in the expo hall.
-i think LOL should be handled differently, I like that it's there but it made my experience less fun because my friend spent all of his time up there instead of exploring with me like we'd planned. I think anything they do that is not an actual match should be a seperate panel, because even after the matches were over I couldn't get in there to find my friend or use the. bathroom on that floor because of the crowds wanting to watch how character skins were made. Maybe it could be held off site and have separate to let's sold just for it? Like if you had a PAX badge you could get in, but for the people who wanted to go just for LOL they could have the option to just buy a LOL pass that would only let them into that area, and be cheaper than a PAX badge.
-Swag bags shouldn't be full of ads, on the first day you grabbed the bag which was cull of ads and the cards, then you picked more ads up from the table! If every attendee was given a drawstring bag with their passes, there wouldn't be as much trash. Then to get the stuff that's in the bag you would have a ticket to go into the swag room where you could pick up whatever was supposed to be in there.
there should be more signs saying where you are or which direction to go to get somewhere. Or the signs they had should be a little bigger of more visible because I got turned around so often trying to get somewhere, even if I used the maps they didn't do much to tell me which way to go.
-
Really? My group was noting that cosplay was noticeably DOWN from previous years. Like, significantly.
There were a number of undercover officers there the entire time. A couple of them revealed themselves to me on Friday (after giving me fist bumps) to let me know ppl had my back for something I was doing to the scalpers.
Tried that last year, did not go well...
I like seeing more casual cosplayers though, as it means it's becoming more accesible and acceptable. Plus it means you'll actually get to see more than a bunch of Links and Shepards (no offense to anyone who cosplays as them!).
Definitely seconding the idea of finally having some sort of official cosplay contest/panel/photo booth. Cosplayers tend to love the Convention Center gardens, so having some signs and something official out there would probably only help with the crowding inside.
I think everyone would appreciate at least one officer on the corner. With the scalpers coupled with the bums and hawkers, it'd just be a nicer feeling. Plus, could they have any power if the Enforcers caught someone trying to sell fake passes? That'd probably be an even greater deterrent, at least for the most "dangerous" scalpers of all.
Can we go back to mixing up the outside PAX banners? Whoever put them up this year did a pretty miserable job, as I'd go down a whole street seeing only duplicates of the same banner over and over. Someone really needed to hit Shuffle there.
I kind of also like the idea of being given a ticket or something with your bag, so the people that care can go back for bags later, and the people that don't can...not. Of course you'd probably have people trading/giving theirs away, but at least at that point they're probably getting something out of it instead of just losing out to people doing multiple runs.
I also agree that the trend towards more and more ads/coupons and less fun stuff is kind of lame. I get that stuff's expensive but there's a reason more and more of the bags keep being left on the floor.
Who sets the concert times? Last year the Protomen didn't go on til midnight, this year their concert started at 7:30 (though they actually had opening acts in Bit Brigade and Mega Ran whereas before they were solo). 7:30 is pretty dang early for a Friday night concert, while midnight is kind of late. Were the bands choosing this? If not, I'd try for a more middling time. And someone needs to tell the Paramount to make their bathrooms more obvious. Every year I forget where they are.
I'll probably think of more but I'll Edit it in.
Pretty much. I tend to hang out for a day after PAX just to bum around and do random stuff in the city/hang out with friends I won't get to see for another year and the only consistent difference is there aren't any ticket scalpers around. The same musicians, the same street vendors, and the same bums were still all around. You kinda just gotta learn to tune them out unless they're being abnormally dickish in which case yea, call the cops and report it.
Well, what could be done is to raise PAX ticket prices and change to personalized passes with your name and photo on them. I'm sure Robert Khoo has considered it. Not sure it will ever happen. PAX is just has more demand than capacity.
Believe it or not, the ability to re-sell is a healthy thing. One of the biggest problems to the San Diego Comic Con is that if you don't go to their website at the exact right minute, you don't get to go that year no matter what. There should be a market for people to allow the invisible hand to work its magic.....to a point.
Now that said, there is a difference between allowing re-selling and allowing 1 or 2 entities to purchase thousands of tickets of entry and then try to gouge a hungry public.
- Cramped Indie Megabooth. This was even more congested than last year. Even on Monday afternoon when the rest of the expo hall was thinning out the indie area was going strong. They need a bigger area for sure. My husband had to walk in front of me through there to make sure I didn't get run over cause I am so small.
- Extreme queue room temperature. In one of the queue rooms we watched a guy literally fall over after getting dizzy from the heat. I even got sick to my stomach because it was so hot (which never happens). And that was all before the doors were closed which increased the tempature even more. PLEASE invest in fans that can be placed in the door way to circulate the cooler air from the outside in. Even just one or two would have made a world of difference.
- Cramped, spread out tabletop area. This is the one thing I miss from East. There never seemed to be any empty spaces so there was always a line of people waiting for a table. An increase in the amount of space for tabletop would be much welcomed. Also a single location. Going from building to building trying to find which library had a specific game or to see if a game was starting up was painful and annoying. Move it all outsîde the WSCC and keep it together. Even if it were on two floors of one building with larger rooms we would be better off.
Oh, YES. I agree. But I think this is more due to a higher than normal humidity than actual temperature. I've felt that a lot here the past few weeks. However, I remember feeling physically better just getting into the Skybridge or the 6th floor (which was like A/C nirvana). I'm talking more the actual expo hall space.
PURGE THE HERETIC! The Protos sounded better than ever this year and with new material coming out, not having them back would be criminal.
The Enforcers brought a much better game this year; last year felt much more spotty in the Expo hall. The Line Cap Enforcers especially were never rude or played favorites in my experienced and that's a tough position to be in. I especially want to thank the Enforcer who worked the early Titanfall queue on Monday on the Microsoft demo side. The mad rush for shirts cut the line, but you kept your calm and got us back on track. Thanks.
The Gearbox panel, not as awesome as years past (and by that I don't me free stuff) but still my must see panel.
The eclectic mix of games throughout the convention.
CON: Respect of place has been a little lacking the past two events, garbage especially. Leave the place better than you found it.
The sheer boredom of the queue room. It was nice in years past to have things going on up front or on the screen to interact with or simply watch - made the time go faster. Heck, even the lady yelling "I AM A SPACE MARINE!" was an improvement to this year's MNT DEW/XBOX two minute shilling before the doors opened.
I love the line entertainment people, but they need to entertain more of the line not just the ends and the gap in the middle. Maybe things that don't pull people out of line but get people to interact as groups? The camp counselor in me wanted to jump the line and spice things up... which means I probably should wear the blue next year to put my money where my mouth is.
The panels were lacking for me, a little too niche or narrow focused in a lot of cases. Just my personal opinion. Panels are a great way to break up a busy PAX, so they are something I care about.
SUGGESTIONS: I am saddened that my queue room as a queue room after being a queue room idea has already been suggested. My friends and I missed ESO by one person because we stopped for a shirt at the WB booth (WE WERE SUCH FOOLS!) and didn't "watch the trailer" for 25 minutes for the line to open. A line in the queue room would be nice for this - shoot have it line up before opening!
I remember a lot of people believing LoL was responsible for the sell-out last year and I think for some its still the whipping boy despite this years evidence to the contrary. While I may not LoL or Gather Magic, I don't begrudge those who do their space at PAX. I for one dislike Cards Against Humanity (too crass for my tastes) but they're welcome too. Not everyone loves what I love about PAX either. Its were I and 80,000 other people want to be over Labor Day Weekend, lets not divide it and put parts of it up on pedestals and others in the trash just because we don't like or want it; because that ultimately diminishes the whole.
That is one thing I miss from the older days of PAX when the queue room really was the queue room. They'd have all sorts of in line games and random videos and other contests. Watching people do a caramelldansen dance off for wristbands was hilariously good entertainment.