I would like to thank everyone for being so wonderful to me this year. I was not planning to be in a wheelchair when I scored those tickets. Car accident changed those plans. I had so much fun though and I couldn't have asked for a better experience from the enforcers, security/staff, companies, vendors, and attendees. Enforcers/security/staff were very informative and helpful to all my needs. It was very nice to have the hour early friday for medical passes and five minutes early each day, stopped any trampling. The companies where very helpful by fitting us in so our wait was little better and helping me with my needs. Elder Scrolls, Extraction, and Wildstar fit me in almost immediately. Both Wildstar and Shadow Warrior peoples brought their game to my level. Wildstar had a plexiglass board that velcored into my wheelchair for keyboard and mouse and Shadow Warrior brought the keyboard and mouse to the chair so I could play. Legend of Zelda the picture and the new wiiu game allowed me to come back the next day and enter the front of the line after I got really sick the day before waiting to play and picture. It seemed like the gaming companies knew more about the medical passes and really wanted to let us all experience their games in the same way. Vendors would help me through their items and answer my questions. The cosplayers were awesome too and helped me get many photos with me and just stand alone. I got to experience pretty much everything I wanted to in three days. Thank you everyone that made PAX an amazing experience.
Bad: My friend has a spinal injury too and a medical pass. All weekend was allowed her stroller for her two year old child but last couple hours of expo hall on Sunday she was told to remove it. She can not pick up her child and had medical pass for spinal injury, she even tried explaining that to the enforcers and security but with no avail. She finally just left and was done with it. She was so frustrated and I don't want that to be her experience. Her spine can not handle holding her child if any length of time and that is why she has the medical pass. If we could change this just for those that have the medical needs that would be amazing. Otherwise my friend and her child had a wonderful time so we are hoping that next year is even better.
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School Girl Goodness...Watch for us at future PAX Prime events. If want some of my geek chic collection, click on the etsy link.
The problems with the League of Legends area last year were 100% fixed this year. I especially liked the solution to last year's noise problem being to re-orientate the room. Ultimately whether or not the LoL regionals needs a bigger venue is up to Riot so there's not much more for me to say on this topic.
Beyond that, I like some of the suggestions around turning the queue room into something else after it has cleared out. Either by converting it into more table top space or using it as an auxilary line. Both of those suggestions have some logistics problems but I think they're easily overcome.
Compared to PAX East the amount of people rummaging through swag bags seemed to have decreased. By rummaging, I mean just reaching into the bags and taking the valuable parts but otherwise leaving the bag for some hapless person who legitimately wants a swag bag to take. I do think there needs to be a solution to limit to one bag a person at least for the first few days.
Finally, now that PAX is spreading out more into the downtown it would be nice to have some maps/signs on street corners to help people get around.
I have been going to PAX since 2007 and this the first time I felt like dropping some comments/suggestions.
I have always been a fan of the idea of an inclusive Con, and understand that despite not liking LoL it still has a place.
I think there can be some improvements to the organization. This year it felt less inclusive for me and my friends. Being more tabletop players than video gamers, it felt like the focus was mostly video games.
Most video games are situated in the expo hall, while the tabletop stuff is scattered all over the place. I can think of only two companies demoing board games on the show floor. Then you have a couple rooms on levels 2 and 3 with companies or freeplay. Finally, you have more over in a hotel two blocks down. Some companies had a single table along the escalators.
I would suggest moving LoL to Benaroya hall and WOTC to Olive 8. You could put PC back on level 6 where it was before and all of Annex could be tabletop. It would still feel like part of the Expo. The noise level would be more appropriate for tabletop and more inviting to new players.
Walking into one of the small rooms on 2 or 3 can be intimidating when you are new to board games or have a level of anxiety. Giving the publishers an actual floor to put booths up and have an open air space will be more inviting and comfortable.
Years ago there was plenty of board games on the floor. PAX is what actually brought me from the TV/PC to the table, and I find it harder to expose my friends to this world.
Moving LoL and WOTC won't hurt them since people that want to play Magic and D&D will travel the small distances. Keeping each group together is only beneficial for that audience and will increase enjoyment.
With the queue room, I do like the idea of tables being put up for tabletop freeplay, eating, relaxing, etc. I understand the labor that requires, but seeing how much the barriers seem to get moved regardless it doesn't seem unfeasible.
If nothing else, it should be used for raffles. There is nothing more frustrating, and unsafe than a huge group around a booth for a raffle.
I see no reason a booth could not say, "Raffle at 2pm in the queue room" instead of the usual "Raffle at 2pm right here". The space is there and I can't think of any downsides to it.
Finally, I think the swag bags should go the way of the dodo. As people have said they are hardly SWAG bags. The things that are actually sought after could just as easily given out at the booth from the corresponding company. Those enforcers just watching over the bags could be doing something else.
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TheMisanthropeThat's Mr. Misanthrope to youRegistered Userregular
The good: the increase in days allowed for a wider variety of panels. I like having the option to go to political panels, industry panels, or just plain silly panels.
Still love the classic arcade, classic console. And I loved this years life size games. Yay The Duke and the other one whose name I forgot.
Suggestions: Lines outside? At 10am? I know some of us, including me, aren't in the best of shape and could use the exercise. But by the time I got into the expo hall, after walking six blocks in the sun with 2000% humidity, I felt gross as hell. It was weird. I have friends who are sparklevampires except their sparkle is just fresh coatings of sweat, and...yeah.
The Indie Megabooth needs booth dictatorship. Yeah, part of the problem was increased visibility, but another was terrible booth design. Many of the booths had televisions in the front of the booth, which increased visibility, but also attracted people to stop in the middle of the aisle and watch. If you're going to keep it that small either be a dictator, or double the booth sizes, and halve the companies. There were many games that looked fascinating, but my main thought was "I gotta get out of here, now." Which was sad as I used to love the indie section. Maybe a better setup would be no booths and open mini displays where the devs rent a table or a generic kiosk? It, maybe move half of the booths from the eclectic sixth floor to the indie Megabooth spot and then move the indie up there? While I have no final concrete suggestion, I think something needs to be done, please.
Could we have a bigger theater than the Kraken for the "so large it needs to stream" panels? I missed Inafune because it was in a smaller theater, meanwhile more than a few in the super gigantic ballroom at the Sheraton were like half full. Is it not possible to stream from the Sheraton? I don't want to have to go home to stream things I should be watching at the show.
Also, I loved the YDKJ tourney, but I'm not sure what happened. It was a 64 man tourney played on four consoles at a time. The game was awesome (knocked out in round two), but it was almost 10 by round 2. Maybe not enough games or something, but...blech.
Quirky comment: "Having the Marvel vs Capcom tourney run over the You Don't Know Jack tourney is like when football pre-empts Jeopardy!"
PAX Prime 2012: [X] Pass Purchased [X] Extra Charge Battery Packs for Phone, etc
I appreciated the hand sanitizer stations especially after touching a controller that thousands had touched prior to me. Sadly when the disinfectant sanitizer ran empty, they filled them with regular hand soap which does nothing without water.
Pros:
4 days. It let me spend a whole day on GW2 and another on volunteering and still have two days to see everything I wanted to see.
The expo hall. I'm not sure what's changed, but it felt less busy and easier to walk through.
Stuff that could be better:
We walked around to check out all the other buildings on the Monday. The Halo thing was the furthest building, we get all the way out there in the middle of the day only to discover it's shutting down. Maybe some schedule info on the map if a location isn't going to be open for the whole show?
More signs! If you don't know there's an expo hall up on the sixth floor, you might never find it. Even knowing it was there I had trouble making my way up to it. Some signposts outside the main exits would be good too, to get you started towards the other buildings.
Cons:
Indie megabooth. Normally the indie area is my favourite part of the expo hall, it's quieter, less busy, I can sit down and check out some unique games I might never have heard of. This year it was packed, I could barely get in. What happened?
CaH. Especially in the swag bags. I love the idea of getting people to trade but when you give only 1/10 rare cards per bag it means anyone who wants a full set has to somehow get ahold of at least ten bags. That's just asking for trouble.
- 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.
It was more than just humidity. We are from Michigan and that was nothing compared to what we deal with during the summer. The humity did intensify it a bit but it was bad like that last year also. The problem is cramming that many people together in a small area and then closing the doors with no way to circulate air. For what it's worth never had a single issue with heat in the expo or anywhere else but the queue rooms.
I was never in the queue rooms until they were sparsely populated so I didn't experience that level of hell in there. I just noticed it in the expo hall. I'm a Seattlite so I am a delicate flower when it comes to heat.
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.
They started at twice face value in the early morning and dropped drastically throughout the day. My wife just wanted a peek at PAX and the chance to see the Protomen (concerts should be open to the public) and she paid $10.00 on Friday afternoon at 4pm for a Friday badge. I know this for a fact. At 7pm each day the scalper in the denim shirt was selling next day passes for face value. Scalpers kinda got the shaft this year (reap what you sow). Hell, I would have saved Lodes o' Money by buying passes at the door instead of Stub Hub and E-Bay.
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.
The scalpers got desperate and would sell badges late in the day for the following day at face or $5 - $10 over. Watched a guy buy 2 Saturday passes on Saturday morning for $80.00. The line to get in was still huge so he didn't miss anything.
I think it would be helpful to have a brief guide to specific types of food, especially for anyone with dietary restrictions (maybe some signs at the entrance). The example I'll use is that I was constantly in line with or otherwise around fellow show attendees who were vegetarian or vegan, but had no idea that The Juicy Cafe was on the 2nd floor of the convention centre.
Next year, walk up PIKE Street about 4 blocks to Capital Hill and you will find tons of cafes and niche eateries.
I thought the sweater vest security company (Staff Pro) was fantastic.
One time my badge ended up inside part of my coustume (bathroom duct taping had to happen) and I have never been told so sweetly to "can you take out your badge, dear? I know it's lots of trouble with that coustume of yours" so sweetly by an old woman.
My dad also works in the area and had to travel though the public areas of the WSCC and said they were very considerate in making sure people who weren't con goers could still move through the area.
And I said one nice thing so I can say one bad thing and still sleep at night: the swag bags were a little.... Advertisementy. Maybe it can be made more clear to the sponsors that these are for at least discount codes? At least half of what I got was "buy this computer gamers like it!!" (PS: that iPad game that came in them? It's a fantastic bus time waster. Lots of fun!)
Edit: Sorry I read something about the eye drops people and I needed to comment. At the beginning of the con they were a bit.... Aggressive I guess. Standing in the middle of the path and blocking it. I get they were a sponsor and all but they were getting in the way. They got better by Sunday so I don't know if someone had a chat with them or they got tired.
You know who should be handing out promotional items? Speed Stick, Head & Shoulders, Altoids, and Gold Bond. Good Lord! There were some stinkers this year!!!!
12 AM Closing -> I checked around and apparently you rent the WSCC by the hour after an 8 hour block. Closing 2 hours early on FRI - SUN allowed for additional time on Monday. Not positive but it makes sense.
Did you not see the amount of trash that the swag bags created?
Of course I did.
I think you're underestimating the sheer amount of trash that the show creates. In, like, sheer tonnage per person. The swag bags are a drop in the bucket, man, even if they were highly visible to you. Luckily I believe most of the swag bag is recyclable. More work for the janitors, sure, but if they had less work there'd be less of them. It's not like the WSCC would pay them to hang around.
I was a bit disappointed in our fellow con-goers as they stacked swag bags around (full) public trash cans out on the street, though. Come on, people, take it back to your room/car/whatever, and throw it away there. Don't dirty up the town.
Was that really a comment saying incredible waste is ok cause it gives janitors jobs? Wow. By that logic murder is ok cause cops have to put bread on the table. Less murder = less hours. Really?
Wouldn't you rather....... receiver a voucher with you badge that could be redeemed for something worthwhile? A simple PAX PRIME 2013 pin would have been better than a plastic bag full of Global Warming fuel.
To anyone impressed that Enforcers were still happy and going strong on Monday, please don't ask for the show hours to go back to 2AM. It's not just [E] either, keep in mind that many PA and Reed staff are there from before show open until after closing every day. 2AM may be great for attendees who can sleep in until 10, 11, or noon but it's debilitating for the folks who are working to make the show happen.
I also agree that the Indie megabooth needs more space, but I also understand that a large part of its purpose is to offer those small developers a much cheaper costing space for the very reason that they are butted up against each other and don't have excess aisle-ways. I'm not sure there is a great solution that keeps the costs low for them while making it less congested, but I'd sure like to see it happen somehow.
I'm phone typing so I'll only discuss one point. Start of day entry lines. This deals with 0.5% of PAX (300 of 60,000) but people who come at 4am or sleep the night to be first in line for the expo hall get screwed every year every day.
There are 12 lines in the queue hall, split in three groups that I'll name right, middle, and left. Right line 1 is filled first and is closest to most sections of the expo hall. This contains all of the people who wait overnight up to about 7am. Then that line fills and line 2 (middle) starts with people from 7am to 7:45am. Note the front of this line got there at seven. Then the third line (left) starts and fills quickly, around 8:15. Then the other lines start.
When pax begins at 10am, all three lines are let in at the same time. People that came at midnight or 4am go in the same time as those who came at 7am as those who came at 7:45. If you're not in the front, if you came at 6:45 and are at the back of line 1, people Who came at 7:45 get in before you. This is not fair. On Saturday, the left line (people who came at 7:45) pushed their way in as soon as the head enforcer talked on the mic. The middle line (7:00am people) saw this and the enforcer had no choice but to let them go ahead. And who's left still waiting to be let in? The right line, full of people who slept in line overnight or has been waiting 5+ hours from 5am or earlier.
They should let people choose which of the three lines to be in for the first 200 people or so so that all who came early are up for front at the orange tape. Or! Let only line 1 in first. Then let line 4 (right), 2(middle), and 3(left) in at the same time.
Next! Medical badges. MTG booth had 10 of a special item for sale each day. All 10 were sold to people with medical badges the first two days, as they get in early. Someone complained and the mtg booth held a few on Sunday (8) for non medical badges after reserving 5 for medical badge people. So that's 25 of 33 items going to people with medical badges. I don't know what to say about that to make it fair. Mtg booth disliked what happened so much that they just aren't going to sell items like that at all next year or ever. (they might raffle it or make it a tourney prize instead.) I don't have any way to improve this aspect of the medical badge situation so I'll bring up a different point.
This is hearsay so I don't know if its true. Someone said they saw three days in a row (I talked to him on Sunday so it's possible it happened all four days) that someone would stand in line and like clockwork around nine start limping and go to an enforcer and get a temporary medical badge for that day. Then they would go in early with the other medical and speedily walk to their objective. Every morning the same person repeated this. If true, maybe make it harder to get a medical badge? I know nothing of medical badge getting process but this story sounded sketchy.
I'm phone typing so I'll only discuss one point. Start of day entry lines. This deals with 0.5% of PAX (300 of 60,000) but people who come at 4am or sleep the night to be first in line for the expo hall get screwed every year every day.
There are 12 lines in the queue hall, split in three groups that I'll name right, middle, and left. Right line 1 is filled first and is closest to most sections of the expo hall. This contains all of the people who wait overnight up to about 7am. Then that line fills and line 2 (middle) starts with people from 7am to 7:45am. Note the front of this line got there at seven. Then the third line (left) starts and fills quickly, around 8:15. Then the other lines start.
When pax begins at 10am, all three lines are let in at the same time. People that came at midnight or 4am go in the same time as those who came at 7am as those who came at 7:45. If you're not in the front, if you came at 6:45 and are at the back of line 1, people Who came at 7:45 get in before you. This is not fair. On Saturday, the left line (people who came at 7:45) pushed their way in as soon as the head enforcer talked on the mic. The middle line (7:00am people) saw this and the enforcer had no choice but to let them go ahead. And who's left still waiting to be let in? The right line, full of people who slept in line overnight or has been waiting 5+ hours from 5am or earlier.
They should let people choose which of the three lines to be in for the first 200 people or so so that all who came early are up for front at the orange tape. Or! Let only line 1 in first. Then let line 4 (right), 2(middle), and 3(left) in at the same time.
See, and my personal solution to this was to just not come so early, since it didn't really matter that much. If waiting in line overnight isn't getting you the advantage you feel it warrants, then...don't? I'm just not sure this is something that we should necessarily be actively encouraging anyway.
Next! Medical badges. MTG booth had 10 of a special item for sale each day. All 10 were sold to people with medical badges the first two days, as they get in early. Someone complained and the mtg booth held a few on Sunday (8) for non medical badges after reserving 5 for medical badge people. So that's 25 of 33 items going to people with medical badges. I don't know what to say about that to make it fair. Mtg booth disliked what happened so much that they just aren't going to sell items like that at all next year or ever. (they might raffle it or make it a tourney prize instead.) I don't have any way to improve this aspect of the medical badge situation so I'll bring up a different point.
Yeah, unfortunately it's hard to justify discriminating against medical badges, so the only other solution would be a raffle or something, where the advantage to medical badges is diminished or eliminated.
I have thought long and hard about what I want to say here, and I've raged, edited, raged, and edited again.
I have some criticisms about the Mtn Dew/Doritos/Xbox One QR Code-scanning promotion that I want the PAX event management to be aware of.
I know this criticism should be directed for the most part at Microsoft, Frito-Lay, and Pepsi, but I do have some feedback that I hope spurs action from PAX event management.
There should not have been codes at the freakin' Space Needle. The Space Needle is NOT PAX, and by their claim that codes were "around PAX", I find that to be false advertising and patently unfair conduct by the organizers. In short, "Shenanigans!!!". And that's not taking into account the moving and removing of codes by certain unscrupulous, cut-throat code hunters. And consider the rampant posting of points codes on reddit, while we're at it. In summation, the lack of integrity in this promotion wasn't just a glitch. It was a feature. For many of us, the time we spend at PAX is the most valuable time we have to spend all year, and wasting the attendees time on fruitless pursuits is NO GOOD **Sonic Finger Wag**.
I know that this request is a long shot, but I'm hoping the management will see fit to take steps to constrain contests like these to some standard of fairness. Perhaps event management should develop guidelines about contests held at PAX and have exhibitors voluntarily post (i.e. a "quality seal") that their competition complies with the promotional competition guidelines.
OTHERWISE, I had a great PAX. Fantastic. I don't even have PPD at the moment.
I have to say that for our group of six, this was easily the worst PAX we have attended.
The utter lack of any table space was a major reason for this. All the areas that used to have tables available are now taken by specific vendors that will only allow you to demo or play their games at the tables. There were at least three times that we checked out board games to play and were unable to find somewhere to play the game. (No, I'm not sitting on the floor in a hallway.) When I checked the game in and they asked us how it went I told them we couldn't find anywhere to play. Their "solution" was to remind us that we were allowed to take the game with us to our hotel or whatever. Really? This is a solution? I can play boardgames at home anytime.
To make things worse, the Rockband stage was setup directly next to the biggest area of tables available. (By the juice place.) Pretty hard to explain rules or get into a game with bad singing and/or extreme bass reverb when no one is playing. I managed to get a table here one day, but after 30 minutes of ear assault (and repeating the rules at least 3 times) we decided it wasn't worth it and just quit the game.
To make things even worse, we got to stare at open tables in rooms or in the open walking area that we were not allowed to use because they were only there for specific companies. There were at least a dozen tables open in the Steven Jackson area but we couldn't use them to play a freeplay game. Then we walk by a conference room with huge tables and a grand total of 4 people in it. I think this was for some roleplaying books.
The point of all this is that they need to limit the vendors and give some of PAX back to the attendees. ALL the tables on level two and three around the walking area were now full of vendors. There were about 3 table near the handheld area that were available but we never managed to snag one of them. (We got so desperate to secure a table that I spent well over an hour walking around and trying to wait for table space while the rest of my group enjoyed the expo hall.)
Have to say it feels like a money grab. It's almost as bad as walking around downtown inside PAX now. Every 10 feet you have some guy asking you for money or trying to get your attention. This is fine in the Expo hall, but it's damn frustrating everywhere else.
I don't disagree with the lack of table space issue, but just as an FYI, I heard that the Olive 8 tabletop area was quite good. Just nobody knew it was there or worth heading to.
I don't disagree with the lack of table space issue, but just as an FYI, I heard that the Olive 8 tabletop area was quite good. Just nobody knew it was there or worth heading to.
Yeah, the space at red lion last year was great, heard olive 8 was even better. Just have to realize that "tabletop hq" isn't in the WSCC proper anymore, for better or worse.
I do take issue with prime real estate being squatted on by vendors, though. I can see keeping one table open at all times for their demos (if all tables are full because demos started, then the next table to clear gets reserved). But seeing multiple tables sit empty because, frankly, nobody wants to demo those games is silly.
And the people checking out games at the tabletop library should be suggesting the offsite space before suggesting your own hotel room. Duh. If they do, and you decline to take advantage of it, then that's on you. But people do need to be made aware.
To anyone impressed that Enforcers were still happy and going strong on Monday, please don't ask for the show hours to go back to 2AM. It's not just [E] either, keep in mind that many PA and Reed staff are there from before show open until after closing every day. 2AM may be great for attendees who can sleep in until 10, 11, or noon but it's debilitating for the folks who are working to make the show happen.
I also agree that the Indie megabooth needs more space, but I also understand that a large part of its purpose is to offer those small developers a much cheaper costing space for the very reason that they are butted up against each other and don't have excess aisle-ways. I'm not sure there is a great solution that keeps the costs low for them while making it less congested, but I'd sure like to see it happen somehow.
I have to agree with this. Having the convention close at midnight is a fair trade off to give us an extra day. Keeping the people who work the convention in mind is very important and expecting them to work till 2am and a 4th day is not practical. I'd rather have the 4th day because it gives everyone more stuff to do, not just the people who stay up past midnight.
I would even be happy with closing at 10pm though I think that'd cause a lot of backlash
There should not have been codes at the freakin' Space Needle. The Space Needle is NOT PAX, and by their claim that codes were "around PAX", I find that to be false advertising and patently unfair conduct by the organizers. In short, "Shenanigans!!!". And that's not taking into account the moving and removing of codes by certain unscrupulous, cut-throat code hunters. And consider the rampant posting of points codes on reddit, while we're at it. In summation, the lack of integrity in this promotion wasn't just a glitch. It was a feature. For many of us, the time we spend at PAX is the most valuable time we have to spend all year, and wasting the attendees time on fruitless pursuits is NO GOOD **Sonic Finger Wag**.
I long ago realized I don't find any of these kind of "swag hunt" promotions fun. So I just ignore them. Like you said, my time there is valuable.
I do find it a little amusing that codes were at the Space Needle though. They were at the base, I hope...they didn't expect you to pay to go up?
But yeah, as to the rest of your complaint about this little contest, including rampant cheating, all I can say is the game is the game. /omar
Next! Medical badges. MTG booth had 10 of a special item for sale each day. All 10 were sold to people with medical badges the first two days, as they get in early. Someone complained and the mtg booth held a few on Sunday (8) for non medical badges after reserving 5 for medical badge people. So that's 25 of 33 items going to people with medical badges. I don't know what to say about that to make it fair. Mtg booth disliked what happened so much that they just aren't going to sell items like that at all next year or ever. (they might raffle it or make it a tourney prize instead.) I don't have any way to improve this aspect of the medical badge situation so I'll bring up a different point.
This is hearsay so I don't know if its true. Someone said they saw three days in a row (I talked to him on Sunday so it's possible it happened all four days) that someone would stand in line and like clockwork around nine start limping and go to an enforcer and get a temporary medical badge for that day. Then they would go in early with the other medical and speedily walk to their objective. Every morning the same person repeated this. If true, maybe make it harder to get a medical badge? I know nothing of medical badge getting process but this story sounded sketchy.
Wait, there are medical badges? How was I not aware of this? Christ, for years I've been gimp-limping around and just accepting the fact that I'll never be able to play any of the in-demand demos because by the time I can hobble my way to the line, it's already going to be 5 hours deep.
I have thought long and hard about what I want to say here, and I've raged, edited, raged, and edited again.
I have some criticisms about the Mtn Dew/Doritos/Xbox One QR Code-scanning promotion that I want the PAX event management to be aware of.
I know this criticism should be directed for the most part at Microsoft, Frito-Lay, and Pepsi, but I do have some feedback that I hope spurs action from PAX event management.
There should not have been codes at the freakin' Space Needle. The Space Needle is NOT PAX, and by their claim that codes were "around PAX", I find that to be false advertising and patently unfair conduct by the organizers. In short, "Shenanigans!!!". And that's not taking into account the moving and removing of codes by certain unscrupulous, cut-throat code hunters. And consider the rampant posting of points codes on reddit, while we're at it. In summation, the lack of integrity in this promotion wasn't just a glitch. It was a feature. For many of us, the time we spend at PAX is the most valuable time we have to spend all year, and wasting the attendees time on fruitless pursuits is NO GOOD **Sonic Finger Wag**.
I know that this request is a long shot, but I'm hoping the management will see fit to take steps to constrain contests like these to some standard of fairness. Perhaps event management should develop guidelines about contests held at PAX and have exhibitors voluntarily post (i.e. a "quality seal") that their competition complies with the promotional competition guidelines.
OTHERWISE, I had a great PAX. Fantastic. I don't even have PPD at the moment.
You have some valid criticisms. The codes should have been put "under glass" to prevent people stealing them or moving them, and the Reddit cheating AND blatant cheat-sheet printout scanning IN THE DEW LINE was absurd (which was a huge problem, and something I already talked about in my original feedback). However, putting them at the Space Needle & at Pike Place Market...that added something to the game, I felt. Kind of an Amazing Race sort of dynamic. My group were the first 3 there to get the Space Needle code. We stayed and watched to see who would come scan the rest of the 10. That code was valid for almost an hour. Know what it took to get there? A 6 dollar cab ride. And you got to check out the Space Needle and the EMP (if you weren't local). Same deal for Pike Place, with the difference being that code only lasted about 15 minutes (and we didn't get it because we were stuck in the Dew line registering for our auction blocks). It added flavour, IMO.
Another salient point is that Microsoft had no involvement with the actual promotion. They weren't a sponsor. Hell, you couldn't even participate if you had a Windows phone because the app didn't support them.
Last point is this: My circle won XB1's. Multiples, in fact. And we got most of our code points on Friday before people started manipulating the locations of the codes and posting them online to be exploited. It certainly wasn't a "fruitless pursuit", you just had to be willing to put in the effort (and being there on Friday provided a huge advantage due to all the codes still being in the area, of course).
But the people who are at the Space Needle or Pike Place Market may not necessarily be able to get into PAX so what's the point of putting something in a non-PAX space? There's no point that I could see.
I stopped scanning those codes after every single one had exceeded its limit. Forget that business.
I don't disagree with the lack of table space issue, but just as an FYI, I heard that the Olive 8 tabletop area was quite good. Just nobody knew it was there or worth heading to.
The space at Olive 8 was great, but the library was horrible there. We headed to O8 to play some games after finding the Con space full and they didn't have a copy of a game that we'd seen at least 3 copies of in the Convention center. And it wasn't that the game was checked out - they actually never had it.
Going forward, we checked something out at the TTHQ and then headed down the street - it just made for some logistical nightmares when trying to get the game back where you got it and get to the next *thing* with a group of 7.
Next! Medical badges. MTG booth had 10 of a special item for sale each day. All 10 were sold to people with medical badges the first two days, as they get in early. Someone complained and the mtg booth held a few on Sunday (8) for non medical badges after reserving 5 for medical badge people. So that's 25 of 33 items going to people with medical badges. I don't know what to say about that to make it fair. Mtg booth disliked what happened so much that they just aren't going to sell items like that at all next year or ever. (they might raffle it or make it a tourney prize instead.) I don't have any way to improve this aspect of the medical badge situation so I'll bring up a different point.
This is hearsay so I don't know if its true. Someone said they saw three days in a row (I talked to him on Sunday so it's possible it happened all four days) that someone would stand in line and like clockwork around nine start limping and go to an enforcer and get a temporary medical badge for that day. Then they would go in early with the other medical and speedily walk to their objective. Every morning the same person repeated this. If true, maybe make it harder to get a medical badge? I know nothing of medical badge getting process but this story sounded sketchy.
Wait, there are medical badges? How was I not aware of this? Christ, for years I've been gimp-limping around and just accepting the fact that I'll never be able to play any of the in-demand demos because by the time I can hobble my way to the line, it's already going to be 5 hours deep.
AFAIK, Medical Badges allow you to the front of any line. I don't know how to obtain one, but it is a simple process. My roommate for two years now has used one.
I'm phone typing so I'll only discuss one point. Start of day entry lines. This deals with 0.5% of PAX (300 of 60,000) but people who come at 4am or sleep the night to be first in line for the expo hall get screwed every year every day.
There are 12 lines in the queue hall, split in three groups that I'll name right, middle, and left. Right line 1 is filled first and is closest to most sections of the expo hall. This contains all of the people who wait overnight up to about 7am. Then that line fills and line 2 (middle) starts with people from 7am to 7:45am. Note the front of this line got there at seven. Then the third line (left) starts and fills quickly, around 8:15. Then the other lines start.
When pax begins at 10am, all three lines are let in at the same time. People that came at midnight or 4am go in the same time as those who came at 7am as those who came at 7:45. If you're not in the front, if you came at 6:45 and are at the back of line 1, people Who came at 7:45 get in before you. This is not fair. On Saturday, the left line (people who came at 7:45) pushed their way in as soon as the head enforcer talked on the mic. The middle line (7:00am people) saw this and the enforcer had no choice but to let them go ahead. And who's left still waiting to be let in? The right line, full of people who slept in line overnight or has been waiting 5+ hours from 5am or earlier.
They should let people choose which of the three lines to be in for the first 200 people or so so that all who came early are up for front at the orange tape. Or! Let only line 1 in first. Then let line 4 (right), 2(middle), and 3(left) in at the same time.
See, and my personal solution to this was to just not come so early, since it didn't really matter that much. If waiting in line overnight isn't getting you the advantage you feel it warrants, then...don't? I'm just not sure this is something that we should necessarily be actively encouraging anyway.
Um, so you're part of the 99.5% that have the same opinion as you? Ok. PAX actively encourages people waiting in the queue hall at 7am (sometimes 8am). While they don't support waiting before that, they put measures in place so that type of waiting doesn't cause problems.
Last point is this: My circle won XB1's. Multiples, in fact. And we got most of our code points on Friday before people started manipulating the locations of the codes and posting them online to be exploited. It certainly wasn't a "fruitless pursuit", you just had to be willing to put in the effort (and being there on Friday provided a huge advantage due to all the codes still being in the area, of course).
I don't disagree with the lack of table space issue, but just as an FYI, I heard that the Olive 8 tabletop area was quite good. Just nobody knew it was there or worth heading to.
The space at Olive 8 was great, but the library was horrible there. We headed to O8 to play some games after finding the Con space full and they didn't have a copy of a game that we'd seen at least 3 copies of in the Convention center. And it wasn't that the game was checked out - they actually never had it.
Going forward, we checked something out at the TTHQ and then headed down the street - it just made for some logistical nightmares when trying to get the game back where you got it and get to the next *thing* with a group of 7.
I agree with all of this. The Olive 8 gave us great space and the staff was really pleasant, but the selection of games was... sparse. I actually really like having table top separated from the main expo hall by a block or so. Maybe the main TT Game Library should be at the TT Hotel, with the satellite library in the convention center next year? Just a thought.
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whypick1PAX [E] Info Booth Manager~2' from an LCDRegistered Userregular
AFAIK, Medical Badges allow you to the front of any line. I don't know how to obtain one, but it is a simple process. My roommate for two years now has used one.
That is incorrect. For theater lines, provided you show up before the line is capped or already moving in the building, you are allowed in first. For the expo hall, on Friday those with medical badges were allowed in an hour early during the media hour. For the other days, they could line up in the north lobby area, but they were still let in at the same time as those in the queue room. How the exhibitors want to handle the medical badges is up to them though.
The wording on the medical badges should hopefully be revised to say something to this effect, since the current iteration doesn't and I know it led to one rather irate but understanding attendee not getting into a panel because it was already full when he showed up.
The dialogue in this thread is fantastic. Thank you to all of you.
For the parts referencing the TT HQ library vs. the more sparse library at the Olive 8 location - we hear you and are taking notes. The comments re: the vendor demo space vs. freeplay space are also not falling on deaf ears.
AFAIK, Medical Badges allow you to the front of any line. I don't know how to obtain one, but it is a simple process. My roommate for two years now has used one.
That is incorrect. For theater lines, provided you show up before the line is capped or already moving in the building, you are allowed in first. For the expo hall, on Friday those with medical badges were allowed in an hour early during the media hour. For the other days, they could line up in the north lobby area, but they were still let in at the same time as those in the queue room. How the exhibitors want to handle the medical badges is up to them though.
The wording on the medical badges should hopefully be revised to say something to this effect, since the current iteration doesn't and I know it led to one rather irate but understanding attendee not getting into a panel because it was already full when he showed up.
Medical was let in aound 2 minutes early (when they were going for 10 minutes early) on Saturday, and they were let in 10 minutes early on Sunday.
Shoot! I really wish the checkout guys would have mentioned the space at Olive 8. My group stopped doing the tournaments for various reasons a couple years back so we didn't really pay attention to that area. Sounds like a lot of our frustrations could have been relieved if we had gone to this other location.
It's not a perfect solution as it makes check in/out require switching buildings but it certainly better than what we ended up doing. (Not Playing)
Even with this new knowledge, I would still suggest freeing up more of the those community tables.
On the plus side, console freeplay was fantastic. Short waits and having the rows of dedicated sit n play stations was awesome. It would have been nice to see the library expanded a bit but overall we loved console freeplay. (Spent a lot more time there this year mostly due to lack of TT play area.)
We also had a member get burned on the MD code thing. He had a ton of points and tried to get in line numerous times starting very early on Sunday only to get shafted.
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TheMisanthropeThat's Mr. Misanthrope to youRegistered Userregular
Shoot! I really wish the checkout guys would have mentioned the space at Olive 8. My group stopped doing the tournaments for various reasons a couple years back so we didn't really pay attention to that area. Sounds like a lot of our frustrations could have been relieved if we had gone to this other location.
It's not a perfect solution as it makes check in/out require switching buildings but it certainly better than what we ended up doing. (Not Playing)
I thought that there was a separate check in/out over at Olive 8. I suspect that's where Scotland Yard was. That was how the Red Lion operated last year, in that there were two check in/outs: one at Red Lion, one at WSCC.
PAX Prime 2012: [X] Pass Purchased [X] Extra Charge Battery Packs for Phone, etc
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Bad: My friend has a spinal injury too and a medical pass. All weekend was allowed her stroller for her two year old child but last couple hours of expo hall on Sunday she was told to remove it. She can not pick up her child and had medical pass for spinal injury, she even tried explaining that to the enforcers and security but with no avail. She finally just left and was done with it. She was so frustrated and I don't want that to be her experience. Her spine can not handle holding her child if any length of time and that is why she has the medical pass. If we could change this just for those that have the medical needs that would be amazing. Otherwise my friend and her child had a wonderful time so we are hoping that next year is even better.
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Beyond that, I like some of the suggestions around turning the queue room into something else after it has cleared out. Either by converting it into more table top space or using it as an auxilary line. Both of those suggestions have some logistics problems but I think they're easily overcome.
Compared to PAX East the amount of people rummaging through swag bags seemed to have decreased. By rummaging, I mean just reaching into the bags and taking the valuable parts but otherwise leaving the bag for some hapless person who legitimately wants a swag bag to take. I do think there needs to be a solution to limit to one bag a person at least for the first few days.
Finally, now that PAX is spreading out more into the downtown it would be nice to have some maps/signs on street corners to help people get around.
I have always been a fan of the idea of an inclusive Con, and understand that despite not liking LoL it still has a place.
I think there can be some improvements to the organization. This year it felt less inclusive for me and my friends. Being more tabletop players than video gamers, it felt like the focus was mostly video games.
Most video games are situated in the expo hall, while the tabletop stuff is scattered all over the place. I can think of only two companies demoing board games on the show floor. Then you have a couple rooms on levels 2 and 3 with companies or freeplay. Finally, you have more over in a hotel two blocks down. Some companies had a single table along the escalators.
I would suggest moving LoL to Benaroya hall and WOTC to Olive 8. You could put PC back on level 6 where it was before and all of Annex could be tabletop. It would still feel like part of the Expo. The noise level would be more appropriate for tabletop and more inviting to new players.
Walking into one of the small rooms on 2 or 3 can be intimidating when you are new to board games or have a level of anxiety. Giving the publishers an actual floor to put booths up and have an open air space will be more inviting and comfortable.
Years ago there was plenty of board games on the floor. PAX is what actually brought me from the TV/PC to the table, and I find it harder to expose my friends to this world.
Moving LoL and WOTC won't hurt them since people that want to play Magic and D&D will travel the small distances. Keeping each group together is only beneficial for that audience and will increase enjoyment.
With the queue room, I do like the idea of tables being put up for tabletop freeplay, eating, relaxing, etc. I understand the labor that requires, but seeing how much the barriers seem to get moved regardless it doesn't seem unfeasible.
If nothing else, it should be used for raffles. There is nothing more frustrating, and unsafe than a huge group around a booth for a raffle.
I see no reason a booth could not say, "Raffle at 2pm in the queue room" instead of the usual "Raffle at 2pm right here". The space is there and I can't think of any downsides to it.
Finally, I think the swag bags should go the way of the dodo. As people have said they are hardly SWAG bags. The things that are actually sought after could just as easily given out at the booth from the corresponding company. Those enforcers just watching over the bags could be doing something else.
Still love the classic arcade, classic console. And I loved this years life size games. Yay The Duke and the other one whose name I forgot.
Suggestions: Lines outside? At 10am? I know some of us, including me, aren't in the best of shape and could use the exercise. But by the time I got into the expo hall, after walking six blocks in the sun with 2000% humidity, I felt gross as hell. It was weird. I have friends who are sparklevampires except their sparkle is just fresh coatings of sweat, and...yeah.
The Indie Megabooth needs booth dictatorship. Yeah, part of the problem was increased visibility, but another was terrible booth design. Many of the booths had televisions in the front of the booth, which increased visibility, but also attracted people to stop in the middle of the aisle and watch. If you're going to keep it that small either be a dictator, or double the booth sizes, and halve the companies. There were many games that looked fascinating, but my main thought was "I gotta get out of here, now." Which was sad as I used to love the indie section. Maybe a better setup would be no booths and open mini displays where the devs rent a table or a generic kiosk? It, maybe move half of the booths from the eclectic sixth floor to the indie Megabooth spot and then move the indie up there? While I have no final concrete suggestion, I think something needs to be done, please.
Could we have a bigger theater than the Kraken for the "so large it needs to stream" panels? I missed Inafune because it was in a smaller theater, meanwhile more than a few in the super gigantic ballroom at the Sheraton were like half full. Is it not possible to stream from the Sheraton? I don't want to have to go home to stream things I should be watching at the show.
Also, I loved the YDKJ tourney, but I'm not sure what happened. It was a 64 man tourney played on four consoles at a time. The game was awesome (knocked out in round two), but it was almost 10 by round 2. Maybe not enough games or something, but...blech.
Quirky comment: "Having the Marvel vs Capcom tourney run over the You Don't Know Jack tourney is like when football pre-empts Jeopardy!"
4 days. It let me spend a whole day on GW2 and another on volunteering and still have two days to see everything I wanted to see.
The expo hall. I'm not sure what's changed, but it felt less busy and easier to walk through.
Stuff that could be better:
We walked around to check out all the other buildings on the Monday. The Halo thing was the furthest building, we get all the way out there in the middle of the day only to discover it's shutting down. Maybe some schedule info on the map if a location isn't going to be open for the whole show?
More signs! If you don't know there's an expo hall up on the sixth floor, you might never find it. Even knowing it was there I had trouble making my way up to it. Some signposts outside the main exits would be good too, to get you started towards the other buildings.
Cons:
Indie megabooth. Normally the indie area is my favourite part of the expo hall, it's quieter, less busy, I can sit down and check out some unique games I might never have heard of. This year it was packed, I could barely get in. What happened?
CaH. Especially in the swag bags. I love the idea of getting people to trade but when you give only 1/10 rare cards per bag it means anyone who wants a full set has to somehow get ahold of at least ten bags. That's just asking for trouble.
It was more than just humidity. We are from Michigan and that was nothing compared to what we deal with during the summer. The humity did intensify it a bit but it was bad like that last year also. The problem is cramming that many people together in a small area and then closing the doors with no way to circulate air. For what it's worth never had a single issue with heat in the expo or anywhere else but the queue rooms.
The scalpers got desperate and would sell badges late in the day for the following day at face or $5 - $10 over. Watched a guy buy 2 Saturday passes on Saturday morning for $80.00. The line to get in was still huge so he didn't miss anything.
I also agree that the Indie megabooth needs more space, but I also understand that a large part of its purpose is to offer those small developers a much cheaper costing space for the very reason that they are butted up against each other and don't have excess aisle-ways. I'm not sure there is a great solution that keeps the costs low for them while making it less congested, but I'd sure like to see it happen somehow.
There are 12 lines in the queue hall, split in three groups that I'll name right, middle, and left. Right line 1 is filled first and is closest to most sections of the expo hall. This contains all of the people who wait overnight up to about 7am. Then that line fills and line 2 (middle) starts with people from 7am to 7:45am. Note the front of this line got there at seven. Then the third line (left) starts and fills quickly, around 8:15. Then the other lines start.
When pax begins at 10am, all three lines are let in at the same time. People that came at midnight or 4am go in the same time as those who came at 7am as those who came at 7:45. If you're not in the front, if you came at 6:45 and are at the back of line 1, people Who came at 7:45 get in before you. This is not fair. On Saturday, the left line (people who came at 7:45) pushed their way in as soon as the head enforcer talked on the mic. The middle line (7:00am people) saw this and the enforcer had no choice but to let them go ahead. And who's left still waiting to be let in? The right line, full of people who slept in line overnight or has been waiting 5+ hours from 5am or earlier.
They should let people choose which of the three lines to be in for the first 200 people or so so that all who came early are up for front at the orange tape. Or! Let only line 1 in first. Then let line 4 (right), 2(middle), and 3(left) in at the same time.
Next! Medical badges. MTG booth had 10 of a special item for sale each day. All 10 were sold to people with medical badges the first two days, as they get in early. Someone complained and the mtg booth held a few on Sunday (8) for non medical badges after reserving 5 for medical badge people. So that's 25 of 33 items going to people with medical badges. I don't know what to say about that to make it fair. Mtg booth disliked what happened so much that they just aren't going to sell items like that at all next year or ever. (they might raffle it or make it a tourney prize instead.) I don't have any way to improve this aspect of the medical badge situation so I'll bring up a different point.
This is hearsay so I don't know if its true. Someone said they saw three days in a row (I talked to him on Sunday so it's possible it happened all four days) that someone would stand in line and like clockwork around nine start limping and go to an enforcer and get a temporary medical badge for that day. Then they would go in early with the other medical and speedily walk to their objective. Every morning the same person repeated this. If true, maybe make it harder to get a medical badge? I know nothing of medical badge getting process but this story sounded sketchy.
See, and my personal solution to this was to just not come so early, since it didn't really matter that much. If waiting in line overnight isn't getting you the advantage you feel it warrants, then...don't? I'm just not sure this is something that we should necessarily be actively encouraging anyway.
Yeah, unfortunately it's hard to justify discriminating against medical badges, so the only other solution would be a raffle or something, where the advantage to medical badges is diminished or eliminated.
I have some criticisms about the Mtn Dew/Doritos/Xbox One QR Code-scanning promotion that I want the PAX event management to be aware of.
I know this criticism should be directed for the most part at Microsoft, Frito-Lay, and Pepsi, but I do have some feedback that I hope spurs action from PAX event management.
There should not have been codes at the freakin' Space Needle. The Space Needle is NOT PAX, and by their claim that codes were "around PAX", I find that to be false advertising and patently unfair conduct by the organizers. In short, "Shenanigans!!!". And that's not taking into account the moving and removing of codes by certain unscrupulous, cut-throat code hunters. And consider the rampant posting of points codes on reddit, while we're at it. In summation, the lack of integrity in this promotion wasn't just a glitch. It was a feature. For many of us, the time we spend at PAX is the most valuable time we have to spend all year, and wasting the attendees time on fruitless pursuits is NO GOOD **Sonic Finger Wag**.
I know that this request is a long shot, but I'm hoping the management will see fit to take steps to constrain contests like these to some standard of fairness. Perhaps event management should develop guidelines about contests held at PAX and have exhibitors voluntarily post (i.e. a "quality seal") that their competition complies with the promotional competition guidelines.
OTHERWISE, I had a great PAX. Fantastic. I don't even have PPD at the moment.
The utter lack of any table space was a major reason for this. All the areas that used to have tables available are now taken by specific vendors that will only allow you to demo or play their games at the tables. There were at least three times that we checked out board games to play and were unable to find somewhere to play the game. (No, I'm not sitting on the floor in a hallway.) When I checked the game in and they asked us how it went I told them we couldn't find anywhere to play. Their "solution" was to remind us that we were allowed to take the game with us to our hotel or whatever. Really? This is a solution? I can play boardgames at home anytime.
To make things worse, the Rockband stage was setup directly next to the biggest area of tables available. (By the juice place.) Pretty hard to explain rules or get into a game with bad singing and/or extreme bass reverb when no one is playing. I managed to get a table here one day, but after 30 minutes of ear assault (and repeating the rules at least 3 times) we decided it wasn't worth it and just quit the game.
To make things even worse, we got to stare at open tables in rooms or in the open walking area that we were not allowed to use because they were only there for specific companies. There were at least a dozen tables open in the Steven Jackson area but we couldn't use them to play a freeplay game. Then we walk by a conference room with huge tables and a grand total of 4 people in it. I think this was for some roleplaying books.
The point of all this is that they need to limit the vendors and give some of PAX back to the attendees. ALL the tables on level two and three around the walking area were now full of vendors. There were about 3 table near the handheld area that were available but we never managed to snag one of them. (We got so desperate to secure a table that I spent well over an hour walking around and trying to wait for table space while the rest of my group enjoyed the expo hall.)
Have to say it feels like a money grab. It's almost as bad as walking around downtown inside PAX now. Every 10 feet you have some guy asking you for money or trying to get your attention. This is fine in the Expo hall, but it's damn frustrating everywhere else.
Yeah, the space at red lion last year was great, heard olive 8 was even better. Just have to realize that "tabletop hq" isn't in the WSCC proper anymore, for better or worse.
I do take issue with prime real estate being squatted on by vendors, though. I can see keeping one table open at all times for their demos (if all tables are full because demos started, then the next table to clear gets reserved). But seeing multiple tables sit empty because, frankly, nobody wants to demo those games is silly.
I have to agree with this. Having the convention close at midnight is a fair trade off to give us an extra day. Keeping the people who work the convention in mind is very important and expecting them to work till 2am and a 4th day is not practical. I'd rather have the 4th day because it gives everyone more stuff to do, not just the people who stay up past midnight.
I would even be happy with closing at 10pm though I think that'd cause a lot of backlash
I long ago realized I don't find any of these kind of "swag hunt" promotions fun. So I just ignore them. Like you said, my time there is valuable.
I do find it a little amusing that codes were at the Space Needle though. They were at the base, I hope...they didn't expect you to pay to go up?
But yeah, as to the rest of your complaint about this little contest, including rampant cheating, all I can say is the game is the game. /omar
Wait, there are medical badges? How was I not aware of this? Christ, for years I've been gimp-limping around and just accepting the fact that I'll never be able to play any of the in-demand demos because by the time I can hobble my way to the line, it's already going to be 5 hours deep.
You have some valid criticisms. The codes should have been put "under glass" to prevent people stealing them or moving them, and the Reddit cheating AND blatant cheat-sheet printout scanning IN THE DEW LINE was absurd (which was a huge problem, and something I already talked about in my original feedback). However, putting them at the Space Needle & at Pike Place Market...that added something to the game, I felt. Kind of an Amazing Race sort of dynamic. My group were the first 3 there to get the Space Needle code. We stayed and watched to see who would come scan the rest of the 10. That code was valid for almost an hour. Know what it took to get there? A 6 dollar cab ride. And you got to check out the Space Needle and the EMP (if you weren't local). Same deal for Pike Place, with the difference being that code only lasted about 15 minutes (and we didn't get it because we were stuck in the Dew line registering for our auction blocks). It added flavour, IMO.
Another salient point is that Microsoft had no involvement with the actual promotion. They weren't a sponsor. Hell, you couldn't even participate if you had a Windows phone because the app didn't support them.
Last point is this: My circle won XB1's. Multiples, in fact. And we got most of our code points on Friday before people started manipulating the locations of the codes and posting them online to be exploited. It certainly wasn't a "fruitless pursuit", you just had to be willing to put in the effort (and being there on Friday provided a huge advantage due to all the codes still being in the area, of course).
I stopped scanning those codes after every single one had exceeded its limit. Forget that business.
The space at Olive 8 was great, but the library was horrible there. We headed to O8 to play some games after finding the Con space full and they didn't have a copy of a game that we'd seen at least 3 copies of in the Convention center. And it wasn't that the game was checked out - they actually never had it.
Going forward, we checked something out at the TTHQ and then headed down the street - it just made for some logistical nightmares when trying to get the game back where you got it and get to the next *thing* with a group of 7.
Then I will say congrats on your haul. :-)
I agree with all of this. The Olive 8 gave us great space and the staff was really pleasant, but the selection of games was... sparse. I actually really like having table top separated from the main expo hall by a block or so. Maybe the main TT Game Library should be at the TT Hotel, with the satellite library in the convention center next year? Just a thought.
That is incorrect. For theater lines, provided you show up before the line is capped or already moving in the building, you are allowed in first. For the expo hall, on Friday those with medical badges were allowed in an hour early during the media hour. For the other days, they could line up in the north lobby area, but they were still let in at the same time as those in the queue room. How the exhibitors want to handle the medical badges is up to them though.
The wording on the medical badges should hopefully be revised to say something to this effect, since the current iteration doesn't and I know it led to one rather irate but understanding attendee not getting into a panel because it was already full when he showed up.
For the parts referencing the TT HQ library vs. the more sparse library at the Olive 8 location - we hear you and are taking notes. The comments re: the vendor demo space vs. freeplay space are also not falling on deaf ears.
There's been little mention of the Tabletop Tournaments though - if you participated in a Tabletop Tournament over at the Olive 8 Ballroom, I'd love it if you could take a moment to fill out our feedback form, at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KKdhf6U-EBwZ3DJtBY1_8aez8csYLEV3_K-dRqZic7g/viewform
Thanks!
-Lackey
TT Tournaments Co-Coordinator
It's not a perfect solution as it makes check in/out require switching buildings but it certainly better than what we ended up doing. (Not Playing)
Even with this new knowledge, I would still suggest freeing up more of the those community tables.
On the plus side, console freeplay was fantastic. Short waits and having the rows of dedicated sit n play stations was awesome. It would have been nice to see the library expanded a bit but overall we loved console freeplay. (Spent a lot more time there this year mostly due to lack of TT play area.)
We also had a member get burned on the MD code thing. He had a ton of points and tried to get in line numerous times starting very early on Sunday only to get shafted.
I thought that there was a separate check in/out over at Olive 8. I suspect that's where Scotland Yard was. That was how the Red Lion operated last year, in that there were two check in/outs: one at Red Lion, one at WSCC.