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PAX Aus 2014 Constructive Feedback
zerzhul
Registered User, Moderator mod
Registered User, Moderator mod
Please post civil constructive feedback of the show here
As always, it's fine to disagree and dislike things and all of that, just don't be a dick about it.
As always, it's fine to disagree and dislike things and all of that, just don't be a dick about it.
+1
Posts
I was also getting confused responses from Security Staff over the use of trolleys to move BYOC computers, etc. One said as a matter of site policy all trolleys were banned from the Main Concourse during the show and that the BYOC computers had to be brought in via the Loading Dock. Another Security Officer said that fold-up trolleys were acceptable on the Main Concourse to bring in BYOC equipment after 10:00am via the Main Concourse. May be a copy of the BYOC email should be included in a BYOC section of the booklet for the Security Guards and also be available at the Ticket Pickup Booths.
After talking to Security Staff at the Loading Dock to clarify early BYOC access there will not be any confusion during the event. Just something that needs clarification in the documentation.
It was clear that lots of audience members had relevant and interesting questions to ask the panel, but no one got a chance.
Old PA forum lookalike style for the new forums | My ko-fi donation thing.
When trying to set up games or let friends know where you are gaming, it is so much easier when you can say "I am at table 14" rather than, "I am kind of near this booth, directly SSW from the games library and will be directly under the earths sun in 43 minutes."
Only a mere 136 pins to go!
Enforcers don't ever arbitrarily delay load-in, generally this is if the speaker needs additional tech time or some other factor is in play.
- The venue is excellent. Jeff's Shed is one of the few great things its nicknamesake bequeathed Melbourne, and the Pax organisers used it to full potential.
- The Enforcers were bright and helpful and well-informed, but some a bit bossy by day three, which is quite forgiveable considering the circumstances.
- The food options were pretty dismal inside the venue, but that's a known peril of booking the MCEC for an event.
- The concerts were great, but audiences disappointingly small - is that the late schedule or the artists' profiles? Sound for MC Frontalot was a bit miffed, with the backing really overwhelming the vocals.
- The organisers will have the numbers, but the free merch seemed a bit over-produced and wasteful. The attendees being what they are, a lot used electronic schedules and guides and didn't need so many guidebooks, and recycling card lanyards is fine.
- Re my butthurt upthread, some moderation guidelines for panel conveners wouldn't go astray.
What stood out was nothing standing out. At most conventions or large seminars you notice a couple of glaring flaws or inconveniences, but that didn't happen this weekend.
5/5. Would Pax again.
A few quick points I may edit to elucidate on later:
- Venue = AWESOME, I did WorldCon here and PAX really shines, and hopefully with room to grow. Queue room seem overly large, especially as people could go straight to panel queues, and it was only for exhibition hall.
- BYOC - More people this year, still empty space, and bump in time was nearly 2 hours...Enforcers were great, but check in could do two items at a time with 30 secs per item. Clever use of pre-reg with enforcers roaming the lines, but still needs some optimising.
- TableTop - Well utilised, but lines just to check out a game, and DOUBLE UPVOTE for table ID's (I resorted to "At the peak of a equilateral triangle between the two rotating circular signs on the roof, pointing west about 10metres)
- Exhibition Hall - Seemed cramped even with that size, lots of lines and enforcers stopping people from lining up to keep paths clear but just had people hovering in a loose cloud at end of line to be the first to grab the foot of clear space of "allowable" queue. Otherwise as well run as something like that can be.
- General VIP's - several times I only found out Game designer/developer/person of interest was there after they ran away. Maybe a loose schedule of "Person X will be around the TT HQ between 10am and 12pm". Or maybe even use one of the many empty smaller meeting rooms in Convention Centre to host meetups. KAFFEEKLATSCH would be a great thing to steal from Worldcon...
- Freeplay - had a permanent 30minute line pretty much everytime I walked past, with that many PC's I was surprised.
- Finale Omegathon Round - We nearly started a revolt to kill the lighting guy. Occasional crowd blinders and roaming spots is OK, but 40mins of non stop light in our eyes had my wife on her knees with a jacket over her head trying to avoid throwing up from induced migraine, guy next to me had to be calmed down from physical assaulting the production booth, and IF my wife had of had a seizure I would have shutdown the whole show getting paramedics into the main theatre. I had others tell me this occurred at other panels in Main theatre as well. Given the slightly higher probability of "autism spectrum" sensory processing/hyper sensitivity people this was really just something that could have really bitten you guys in the arse.
- Packdown - With Finale finishing at 6:30PM, and Cookie Brigade responsibilities i was unable to pack down my BYOC kit until 6:45pm, which by that time suddenly the main hall had suddenly become "SUPER DANGEROUS" and I was denied entry due to lack of high-vis vest. Had to have 3 enforcers talk down the nazi venue security lady and then someone went and got me a vest and I was able to get my kit. Maybe +1 hour before the OHS/UNION nazi's get unleashed?
- PAX PEOPLE ARE MY/OUR PEOPLE - The "Welcome Home" theme from last year still held true, I LOVE being around PAX people, we donate, we volunteer, we help, we assist, we guide, we play together. This coming together should continue to grow!
Brain fade has begun, time for some introvert time...
The positives were many, but the main ones:
* Venue: so much better, roomy, easy to navigate, professional. Location made it easy to duck out and grab some food or just take a break, plus being more central meant people coming from all directions instead of completely overwhelming 1 tram line like last year. The promised reduction in horse smell was also greatly appreciated.
* Panels: This partially comes down to venue too, but I didn't miss a single panel this year that I wanted to see. Compare to last year, when even the most obscure panel would have filled >1hr out and the difference was huge.
* Exhibitors: Some really great displays from a wider variety of vendors, and more big names. Also NO BOOTH BABES!! was so welcoming after last years display from Sennheiser and to a lesser degree Wargaming to see both vendors back with great displays that didn't violate the no booth babes rule. Well done to the companies listening to feedback and the organisers enforcing this rule.
Overall a much better show (and last year was great, so that's really saying something) Look forward to the next 5 years
The only issue that I can see (which I am pretty passionate about about) is I don't think that the Indie developers and attendees got a fair go this year to fully connect with each other. I think it is a knock-on effect from last year to do with the queues, as last year many people were tied up in queues which kept them away from the Indies, giving the false appearance that the space and resources given to Indies last year would be adequate for this year.
There way far too many people floating around Indies than the Indies were able to keep up with to give them a demo and chat to them about their game in depth like they were able to last year.
I saw Indies offering to sell their Pinny Arcade badges for $1 which makes me think that they were either couldn't afford the marketing to press the badges for such a large event, or they were trying to raise cash because they didn't think that leads were being converted into sales. Either of which is an unhealthy predicament that I think deserve help to avoid needing to do that.
The space given to each Indie was tiny and the ones that managed to fill their space with monitors or had games that allowed 4 players on the one screen did far better than the ones that didn't/couldn't, but even still game time had to be limited to very short time.
1 dev I spoke to said that they just didn't have the money or could find a sponsor to get another powerful enough gaming PC to run their demo so they were stuck with only 1 demo even though they would have like to have run at least 3 at a time. Quite sad when when inside a room full of powerful gaming PCs on display without being played because they are only there to look good - I'm sure these vendors would have loaned them if they were asked in exchange for a little bit of free advertising in the Indie area.
The queue room was very underutilised. If the queue room is really required at all prior to 10AM, I would like to see the queue room converted into the tabletop room once it is cleared into the Expo hall which should only require some Tables and Chairs shifted into place with a bit of man power. With the extra space gained, that should be given to other exhibitors with a decent amount of space given to each Indie also.
I wish I could help organised part of the next PAX AUS to liaise with Indies prior to the event to make sure they have everything they need before the show, but I don't know who to contact about that. Is that something that is run by Enforcers? I am more than willing to help - I can't put my money where my mouth is when it comes to constructive criticism.
Pros:
Cons:
Finally, not a negative but just something I found odd. The EA booth. Was it just me, or did anyone else find it weird that in a prime central location, EA decided to create an elaborate booth including an APC only to show off BF4, a game that has been out for over a year? I was even more confused as to why people were lining up to play it. I mean, are there seriously people out there still on the fence about grabbing it? lol It might have made sense if they were holding a tournament or if it was a Battlefield Hardline demo, but as it was, it seemed like a redundant waste of valuable space.
But yeah,I know, I know, up to EA what they want to roll out with but of all the major booths, it just seemed so underwhelming.
Also:
What actually qualifies as a 'booth babe'? Because the Razer girls and Scorptech girls would have surely qualified no? But even excluding them, what was the deal with cosplayers (I'm guessing of the professional variety) standing outside certain unrelated booths, presumably for promotion? There was one girl in particular in a blue and yellow costume who was standing in the same spot outside the Astro booth for the whole convention. Am I to assume promo girls are fine so long as they are cosplayers? Was just curious how all that worked.
http://au.paxsite.com/safety-and-security#booth-babe-policies
I didn't find the Scorptech promoters overtly sexual, honestly didn't notice the Razer staff.
I had problems shutting my phone off during panels, and I'm super sorry. I'm one of these losers who never uses their phone unless going away somewhere for safety reasons and honestly had no idea how to silent my phone and was furiously trying T-T (iphone three) Like, I could turn the ringtone sound right down in sound settings (where I thought silent settings would be?) but then DING DING DING people texting me. I felt really bad and ended up leaving the bioware panel partway through >.<
I'm so bad at phones, forgive me
Haha stress less
Was one person that was on their phone up the back of the room near me having a conversation along the lines of "oh yeah hey, I'm at pax, what are you doing?" Like seriously? -_-
Ah fair enough then. Wasn't sure what the exact rules were. Yeah nah, by that standard they were all fine. I assumed it meant 'hired promotional girls' of any description. Razer girls were dressed the same as the Scroptech girls. Just a t-shirt and jeans so no big deal.
Apart from entering the main hall, I never had to actually show it anywhere I went, and I didn't particularly care for the R18+ restricted areas, so why force me to wear one?
I think we should have the option not to wear one -- at the obvious risk of being refused access to some events.
Alternatively make stickers to apply to the pass (if there's a worry that it could be easily transferred to an under-age person that way, it's almost as easy to transfer a wristband with some tape, so this argument doesn't hold up)
Hope you can make the next one wrist-friendly!
It would be useful to write the pass type (SAT/3DY/etc.) on both sides, so I don't have to try and turn it the right way, when I'm possibly carrying heavy stuff with both hands!
Pros:
- MCEC - I hope PAX continues at this venue. This was a vast improvement on the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds. Panels seemed to benefit the most from this by having a proper theatre.
- The Guidebook app was wonderful for planning my three days. I didn't feel the need to pick up a hard copy schedule this year.
- Enforcers - on the whole, very bright and cheerful people, and generally very helpful.
- Tabletop section (and tabletop volunteers): Pleased this section had expanded on last year, and there were a lot more games to learn and play. The tabletop volunteers teaching the games were friendly and welcoming.
Cons:
- Attending the BioWare panel on Friday evening (which was awesome), and being told that we could go to the EA Community Lounge after the panel to try out Dragon Age Inquisition, and meet the panelists for signings - headed over there when the panel finished, initially was told the lounge was closed, then being able to line up, then being told to "go home and come back on Saturday at 10am". Disappointed.
- Being harassed by security guards who were manning the doors - this happened to me on two occasions over the weekend while I was in cosplay (and I wasn't wearing anything particularly revealing!) I had one security guard wolf-whistle after me as I exited from door 9 (alone), and another call out to me "Hey baby" which I ignored and promptly set on my way. Your job is to man the doors and ensure the safety of attendees, not to make them feel extremely uncomfortable by making inappropriate remarks. I'm not sure if the security guards were employees of MCEC, or whether they were hired by PAX Australia, but either way, this should not have happened.
Suggested Improvements:
- Tabletop table numbering: another upvote - my friends were only able to find me as I was in cosplay and could pick me out based on my wig.
- Wristbands - There was a little inconsistency in how they were handed out - Friday, I had one applied quite tightly around my wrist, Saturday, I was just given the wristband to put on myself, and Sunday, the guard on the door wasn't 100% convinced that my driver's licence was a photo of me (but hey, I was in green body paint and white contacts) but eventually offered me the option to put the wristband on my lanyard as I was wearing long gloves and claws. I never ended up having to use the wristband to access any R18+ content anyway. And turning my pass the right way around at the door was a little difficult when I had claws on my fingers.
- System for lining up for panels - I attended the BioWare panel on Friday. The taped boxes on the ground system wasn't the best system for panel queues. I was at the front of the 3rd or 4th box, and half of our line got directed by an enforcer around the back of the 2nd box to join that line. Got told "make sure you look around you to ensure no randoms cut in line". That was silly. Saw people who hadn't lined up at all, still coming around the back of the lines, and upon entering the Wombat theatre, had an enforcer yelling really loudly "WERE YOU INSIDE THE BOX?!?" to our group. We weren't inside the box because we were directed to stand in the 2nd line behind the box. Ropes/posts/cordons would have been beneficial for the larger queues to ensure those who had been waiting the longest would be the first to enter, and to ensure "no randoms could cut in line"...
I was admitted early to one session as I had made an equipment contribution/donation towards the session so this is just a sample of one. The presenters were basically on hold twiddling their thumbs and joking around while they waited for the people to be allowed to enter the room and be seated. It would have been a significant improvement to have the people seated by the start time and not holding them in a queue to be admitted at the start time.
None of the panels I attended appeared to run out of content and all could have been extended if time permitted. It appeared to be normal Enforcer behaviour to only admit people at the designated start time. I cannot know for most of the panels I attended if this behaviour to admit people at or just after the advertised start time was driven by the session presenters. Or the Enforcers were just following their instructions from PAX Aus Organisers and everybody assumed (Enforcers and Presenters) that the doors would be closed until an advertised session Start time.
It's worth noting that the if a cosplayer isn't a booth babe, the above policies don't actually apply.
Sure, there are other policies, but they differ for attendees.
I really enjoyed PAX last year, this year was even better! I've been to quite a few conventions over the past decade and PAX 2014 was the largest. Never before did I think something like this would happen in Australia. I met up with all my friends and made many many more, some of which were developers whose eyes lit up as you played their very own home cooked game.
First lets talk about everything loved because I loved a lot.
- Board games section was amazing just like last year, this time there were more tables and more teachers and more board games than ever. Enforcers there were friendly, knowledgeable and organized. This was by far the best element of PAX and you get your moneys worth just sitting at a table with 'looking for teacher' with a Settlers Of Catan box.
- Indies had really nice booths and everything felt like it had character and style. Developers were nice and seemed happier than players just to have people there.
- Food and drinks were plentiful, easy to find and had a nice variety (Salads! Not just carnival junk food!). Coffee was also nice and a much needed pick-me-up for the games.
- Toilets were clean for the most part, no more squatting in demountables!
- Seating was fantastic. Bean bags! Quite possibly the best seating arrangement in the handheld section and retro gaming section. The large hallways and having the gaming, display and panel locations all separate prevented a lot of the confusing congestion that happened last year.
- Booths were well decorated and had great sound, things were easy to find with the large sign 'halos' from the roof.
Okay so here's the not so great stuff...
- Tournaments felt rushed and poorly set up. I don't want to have to mention the names or the enforcers who had to deal with it but the Smash Bros 3DS and the Dota2 tournament were particularly shambles with technical issues, issues with players not knowing where or when to be available to play, rules not clearly defined, a lack of communication with entrants and enforcers. Generally it felt like a waste of time and I won't be attending any tournaments next time. I mean really, if one guy at an net cafe can set up a 64 player tournament why can't PAX?
- World Of Tanks. I'm just going to be blunt here, this display sucked the fun out of everything around it. Music (Or brown crackling speaker noise) coming from the event felt like it was going to burst the ear drums of everyone else waiting in lines of other games like say the Nintendo Section, the white pure quiet calm games did not bode well with DOOF DOOF DOOF BUY GOLD BULLETS TO WIN NOW voice over. Not only that but the section was large, unnecessarily so. The announcer was also far to loud but I'm sure he was just trying to out-din the soundtrack. I remember looking at the line of innocent vertebrate waiting to play Splatoon or whatever only to have them wince and pull their chin to their neck over and over as a particularly offencive decibels played over and over and over.
- League Of Legends was cool but the crowd was SO loud and large it really should of been in it's own section all together. Why wasn't there seats or beanbags or anything for people wanting to watch the games? What did you just expect everyone to stand in a neat efficient circle for ~40 minutes? The crowd would often block off entire walk ways around the display.
- Panels were somewhat hit and miss. They weren't nearly as interesting (At least to me) as last years and they certainly weren't as informative. Trivia was a disappointment and there basically should've been a Spicks And Specks game going on every day with video games instead of music. I weep that this does not exist yet...
- Even though the venue was larger and everything fairly well organized I still feel that more games should of been set up and playable
Anyway. I hope this was constructive enough. I'm fully keen to attend again next year and I hope it's enjoyable for everyone.
Queue room:
- Could do with better "free PAX wifi" coverage.
- Was otherwise good, as turning up at 8 on Friday, 8:30 Sat and 9ish Sun all got me near the front of the first line and first to go in at 10. Probably because people queued at the popular theater entrances on the following days.
- Enforcers were enthusiastic. I was not. Good effort though.
- The Cookie Brigade patrol that went down the line on Sunday was the only time I saw them at PAX. I'd definitely support more runs down the line on previous days.
- It did seem under-utilised after 10am though. Although perhaps it was busier during the Good Game signings that I believe happened there?
Main Expo Hall:
- The lines for the main exhibits were pretty long. I bypassed this by just getting into the queue room relatively early, and then hitting Evolve and Battlecry straight out of the gate. I did not attempt to visit any of those booths at any other time, so I'm not sure how fast the lines were actually moving.
- Some more communication between the main exhibitors generating lines and the Enforcers would have been nice. Whilst in the Evolve queue, the organisers were splitting people up into teams and organising the line for the demo, but the Enforcers were focused on cramming people into as little space as possible counteracting the organisation. Ideally, the queue would have set positions marked on the floor for the set team-mates and alien so that the line was both efficient and ready to be loaded into the game.
- The Dick Smith stall was equal bits funny and sad, but that might be my cynicism speaking.
- The Indie game area was again one of the best things about PAX this year, just due to the quality of the product and the people running the stalls. It was definitely busier than last year though, although this may have been because everyone was no longer waiting in line for whatever panels they could lay their hands on.
- At one point I was bothered by a cosplayer causing congestion by standing directly in one of the Main Hall / PC - Console area doors to take photos. The cameraman and the cosplayer were shooting across the walkway and effectively bottlenecking the entrance. Very probably an isolated incident, but could have been fixed by anyone politely asking them to move on.
BYOC:
- Appeared to be more full on the Friday than it did the entire of last year. If the BYOC competitions that were put up (Portal speed run for instance) were somewhat promoted and populated, it can only have been far better than last year.
Speaking of, Minecraft PC tournament:
- Was about as technically problematic as last year.
- Was not much fun once it got started, as the course was brutal. It is really not a fair assumption that whoever doesn't make it through the first maze full of spawners deserves to be stuck at the front of the course forever. People are going to die in the group rush through the maze; To then be left behind to ragequit is just bad.
That said, to get around the technical issues, the 96 player tournament was split into 4 24 player tournaments, so the moderators couldn't be in each run at the same time to rescue people.
Still, the remaining rooms (once I was teleported through the insurmountable death trap) were often far too long, and as a result took forever to beat, even if you didn't die.
After which point the sun would be up, the mod would be in another world, and a creeper would spawn in the bedroom checkpoint to rob you of your progress.
Brutal competitions are fine, but it may have been wiser to let it be known how hard it was beforehand, and then straight eliminate people as they fall behind so they are free to go (although then no-one would have been left).
- To be honest, instead of a death run, Minecraft would be well suited to a moderator led Survivor/Wipeout style obstacle course, where the mod dictates the mini-game, and then cool stuff happens.
- And to that effect, a short description of each tournament in the PAX Guidebook wouldn't have gone astray. 10 - 20 words or TBA.
Retro gaming:
- Seemed quite reasonable. Didn't stick around here too much as I wasn't PAXing with anybody.
Table top freeplay:
- Was great. Great people playing great games is just great. Best part of PAX hands down.
- Werewolves with random people is a bit hit and miss though. Nature of the game I guess.
- As a single person roaming around and attempting to insert myself into already existing groups, I didn't have the table numbering issue, but I can see that other people with more contacts would have. I may have tried to insert myself into the final round of competition Cards against Humanity though, so perhaps that table could have had more labeling.
Panels:
- You could turn up late and get a seat!
- As a result I may have gone to too many panels. I wound up going to a game journalist panel and the retro games you might have missed panel, but then found I wasn't truly interested in either. My bad.
Overall, I enjoyed myself far more this year by getting out and playing tabletop (instead of BYOCing) and not having to queue for every panel.
Everyone was great, and the Enforcers were great especially (even though I might be tired and walk straight past your enthusiastic salutations to my designated line).
And I especially enjoyed hearing everyone's reactions to my Mii.
See everyone again next year.
Giving out of the standard loot bags seemed problematic on a couple of levels. One was that it tended to be set up close to when the convention opened, meaning attendees lining up early might not get the guides and stuff until later. Making them available from 8:00am (or even 7:45am) onwards and more clearly signed might help. Secondly, there were a lot of loot bags discarded on the floor, with overheard rumours being that people were taking the Magic cards out and tossing the bag on the floor afterwards. Seemed wasteful and messy, with bags piling up everywhere. I'm guessing that this is some sort of sponsor deal, but some other solution (like offering the cards separately, on the same table as the bags) might help reduce the litter and waste.
On the PC area:
- A description of each tournament's format would be invaluable. Fighting game tournaments are obvious enough, but for games like Minecraft, Chivalry, or Kerbal Space Program, I had no idea how they were going to be played.
- Since the tournament organisers would have lists of registrants to each tournament, one idea might be to have a screen up with a bar for each tournament, showing how full they are. This would mean you could walk by and see whether you should register early if the registrations are filling up fast, or not bother because they're full without taking up the organiser's time.
- The collection of games installed seemed a little random, and varied across some of the PCs. Maybe a leaflet or list somewhere of what games are available to play? One got hastily taped onto the sign later on, I think.
As much as I enjoyed Wargaming's panel, its sheer size was a little much. The front stage, plus a large walkway (that ended up clogged with people watching most of the time anyway), plus the area for the Xbox/PC/Warships setups, plus the tank. League of Legends being set up next to the entrance to the freeplay/tournament area created some congestion as well, with the crowd of onlookers often edging out into the walkway.
Food was rather average from inside the convention centre, but the promenade food was amazing. Akachochin had admittedly very expensive pricing, but also some of the best damn sushi I've ever had. Also very nice to be able to escape the main hall, have a beer at the Munich Brauhaus to chill out a bit, then go back into the fray.
Also, good move putting the Oculus booth so close to the line room. Most of the people who got there super early (like me; after waiting 4.5 hours to get into Comic Market, the PAX lines were nothing) were there for the Rift and went straight there as soon as we could. This kept the solid and fast-moving line to the Rift booth out of the way of other booths and kept the ballooning line from blocking movement of other attendees.
The convention centre cleaning staff did an impeccable job. Conventions can look (and smell) a total shambles by the end of each day, but everything was kept consistently neat and clean. That familiar sinking feeling of going into a convention toilet stall and catching a whiff of the devil's backside was, thankfully, completely avoided. I noticed them busily moving about constantly during the con, so props to some good work there.
Next year it may be worth using the space outside the convention centre, if it can be used for events. The Wargaming tank would have been a lot cooler to see outside in the sun (and not take up as much space-limited hall room), for example, or some more casual relaxation activities for those needing a break from the busy halls.
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On Friday morning before 9:00am I walked in through the Loading Dock gates on foot to Roller Door 7 without being challenged by security staff. Prior to 9:00am BYOC people started queueing at Roller Door 7. When a very obvious line had formed with the tail of the queue heading out towards the loading dock roadway the MCEC staff realised they had a problem. Bollards and tape was put in place to keep the queue safe and the queue was reformed in a different alignment. I'm guessing nobody warned the Loading Dock staff what was likely to happen with BYOC people arriving prior to 9:00am.
I was in the first group of three people admitted to the BYOC area so I didn't experience the long queue times experienced by later arrivals.
The pretested power leads at each PC station was a great idea, simplified the Testing & Tagging requirements and minimized T&T time delays. The Test and Tagging staff were set up prior to 9:00am which was great for me but they had to be relocated later. The problem seemed to be confined to the BYOC equipment registration process that was overwhelmed by the queue due to equipment (printers) and other issues. Obviously after the initial rush the sign in process would have been trivial. Suggest one less Tag & Tester was required due to the equipment registration procedure was the major bottleneck.
I packed up earlier this year so I had no problems or delays signing out and moving my gear by hand to my car in the underground car park.
The BYOC email could have stated power leads with IEC plus were being supplied.
A significant portion of the BYOC was not populated and it maybe worthwhile to delay the sale of BYOC passes until the last few days before the next PAX Aus. By this I am suggesting in the last 4 days before the PAX. The aim is to get the BYOC passes into the hands of people who would use the passes. Downside is they may not all sell. Therefore one benefit of the existing system is the people who are no shows are providing a subsidy for the people who do attend.
Lots of great things at this PAX, the LAN was great and I didn't have the early config problems that plagued 2013. So congratulations to the LAN team. Access speed to the intertubes was great. Enforcers, Tag and Test guys plus the security staff were great. White boards and display systems for events were great. Seemed the Ventrilo system had some issues but that didn't impact me.
I hear that PAX is here to stay in Melbourne for the next 5 years -- which is amazing -- but is the date of Oct 31-Nov 2 fixed for these next five years?
My girlfriend and I really really wanted to go this year, and I don't know how it is for other students but that date is smack in the middle of our University's exam period. Having it in July last year was perfect because it was during the between-semester breaks. But as the dates stand now, if we have semesters with exams, attending PAX is out of the question.
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It really did suck the fun out of the area and even close to it where i couldn't hear people that were right next to me.
But apart from that, was a fantastic PAX and really shined compared to last year which was still good, but it just shows how much it has grown in a year. Excited for the next 5!!
Only a mere 136 pins to go!
Firstly on the venue: There is no comparison between this year and last. The sheer size of everything this year was improved, which was fantastic. Having come from the other side of the country, being in close proximity to so many hotels and food outlets was brilliant and had the added benefit of reducing the dependence on the food vendors within the convention centre, which meant it was much easier and faster to grab a quick snack or coffee. For those who weren't excited about the selection available in the MCEC, you are more than welcome to experience the much more expensive and lower quality goods in Perth's convention centre any time you'd like to visit :P
It was great having the corridor space and it felt easy to move around all weekend. The MCEC staff did a great job of keeping the bins cleared and toilets in a serviceable state. The staff at the food and drink outlets were friendly and helpful, and the coffee was consistently good. The theatres were all improved, particularly the main theatre (aside from being blinded on occasion by the spotlights while waiting for panels). Having water coolers located in various spots and theatres was excellent.
I queued for a lot of panels, and the queueing was well organised. Marks on the ground were great, and on Saturday one of the Enforcers sprung into a sprint across the floor to redirect a couple of folks to the back of the queue after they snuck in behind a line group walking into the main theatre. It's a small thing, but it makes a big difference being able to see that the Enforcers really care about fairness and it fosters a great sense of respect for their efforts, which is important when you want people to take instructions.
The extra space in the panels was excellent. Out of all the panels I saw, only two were completely full before I arrived (Bioware and Women In Gaming), which is an unbelievable improvement over last year, particularly given that the longest I lined up at any point was probably for 20-30 minutes. Obviously it's hard to work out which panels will draw the biggest crowds, but I never went into one thinking that the space was too big for the number of people attending.
The expo hall and gaming areas were absolutely enormous, which was delightful. I really appreciated the space given to the indie developers, and while it was always crowded in there it was never so over-ful that you couldn't move through. I got to play a lot of very impressive games and speak to a huge number of developers and artists about their work, all of whom were enthusiastic despite some being pretty exhausted and hoarse by the end of day three.
On the topic of things I'm glad to have been wrong about, I was initially pretty indifferent to the idea of the Diversity Lounge, but intended to stick my head in and see what it was all about, and was really, REALLY glad I did. It was great to talk to the groups and charities there, and they had some awesome events there including the discussions about Data Retention with Scott Ludlum and character diversity with Gearbox. The only thing I could complain about was that it should have been so much bigger! The room was always busy, and was overflowing whenever there were events on. Hopefully next year they can have a larger space, as it seemed to be a huge success on all fronts. I also only found out about some of the great things they had on by swinging past and looking at their announcement board.
There will always be queues and lines for things, so I don't really have any gripes about those. Panel lines were well organised, people were informed when they were joining a queue that was already at capacity, and Enforcers were helpful and friendly. Queues in the expo hall were generally pretty well managed and didn't impede the thoroughfares, and most exhibitors had a good idea of wait times when asked so you could make a decision about whether you wanted to play something enough to wait that long (that's something I really appreciate). I never got out of bed in time to be in the queue room (home is 3 hours out of sync from Melbourne), so I can't comment on the space, though the ball hoops looked very cool.
Signage was good, there were plenty of World Maps about the place, and the guidebook was really helpful for both the maps and the festival-style schedules. The app this year was very handy too. The 'Now' button in the schedule got a proper work-out. I didn't have any trouble finding things I was looking for.
The only two moans I really have are about a couple of somewhat obnoxious expo hall stands. The World of Tanks stand was unpleasantly loud and went a bit overboard on the sub-woofer doof. The League of Legends stand was also loud, but I have no complaints about it because they had good reason with the size of the crowd, and it was clearly so everyone who wanted to could hear (and there seemed to be plenty) and not so that those who didn't want to hear had no option but to (which is my Wargaming complaint, particularly given it was next to an eatery and a lot of seating). The other stand I found a bit irritating was the Razer booth, which seemed to be trying to hold a rave mostly in the walkways and not so much in their own space, which made it hard to move around. Enforcers tried to keep the thoroughfares clear, but there were simply too many people wanting to be at the booth than there was space for during giveaways. I also have an aversion to the "Dance, monkey, dance"-style giveaways. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy seeing Stormtroopers getting jiggy with it (or whatever the young people say these days) as much as the next person, but it seemed a little demeaning to me. I accept that I'm not the arbiter of good taste though.
Those two minor whinges aside, everything was delightful. I never ran out of things to see and do, and the other attendees were (as I'm now coming to expect) the most friendly and co-operative conference/festival-goers that I've ever had the pleasure of being part of a crowd with. People were patient, fair, courteous and friendly.
The charging stations in the gaming area were a great idea, and I had a lot of fun playing on a couple of old Atari consoles in the retro gaming area.
All-in-all, great improvements all over the shop, and I'm really looking forward to next year.
My only complaint is that the coffee in the MCEC was terrible compared to the boutique coffee stands you had last year. But I guess that particularly vendor (nspresso?) is part of the convention package.
I am also not sure why I am forced, as a 42 year old, to wear an armband that says I am over 18 or I can't enter. It seems silly - is this some legal requirement? In the end it's inconsistently enforced anyway - some enforcers are anal about it most just wave you through. And no one checks in the exhibition hall anyway.
Finally, with Saturday being the busiest day it maybe worthwhile to convert the queue room to a tabletop area for the day?
It's been done VERY poorly for the past two times now. Despite waiting patiently in line to play against the pro's, there are people who get to play a second time in a row over others who have been standing in the hot crowd for at least an hour for their turn.
I'm not a fan of having to scream "STEELSERIESSSSSSSSSSS!" and other random trivial bullshit just to be able to play. It gets very tiring and repetitive.
The Good:
- The enforcers were great, helpful and entertaining.
- The Balloon Man that was part of the Cards Against Humanity booth was AMAZING, please get him to come back, I'm sure that plenty of people would have been happy to give a donation to Child's Play in exchange for one of his fantastic creations.
- The table cloths in the table top area were nice to play on.
- The Wargaming booth was big dumb fun for me, it drew big crowds and was too loud but it was out of the way and the crowd didn't seem to spill out and block the walkways around it.
Please consider for next year:
- The Queue room was unused for the majority of the day, could this space be used for the cosplayers to get their photos rather than the main walkway?
- I never saw anyone from the cookie brigade :bigfrown: could they get somewhere (like the Queue room) to set up and sell from, even if it is only for a short time each day so that they can be easily found?
- Please make the indy area bigger, it was very cramped.
- On Friday there were two different places to get R18+ armbands and it was quick and easy to do, on Saturday and Sunday we could only get them in the Queue room which was not as quick.
The Bad:
- The Razer booth was not in a good place because the crowd it drew were constantly blocking an entrance / exit even with the enforcers moving people on.
We also had a stash of them over at bandland, since we had about a hundred people ask where to get them or badges each day.
That's really awful and unprofessional behavior. You should have reported them to someone on the day. I'm pretty sure they'd be employed by MCEC but could be wrong.
Either way, people have been fired or suspended for a lot less.
http://aus.paxsite.com/safety-and-security#age-restriction-policies
For constructive criticism from myself, I'd like to echo some previous comments:
The queue area seemed like a huge waste of space for most of the day. I get why it had to be so big for the opening, but it seems like some other uses could be put to it with some minor mods for the rest of the day after the initial rush.
It'd be awesome if the back of the passes had the 3DY/etc either printed on it, or even colour coded for the respective kind of pass (*I had a 3-day, but from my seeing other peoples passes, it seemed each day was colour coded). For my friends and I it was mostly a nuisance thing of having to turn the pass ov er when we didn't realise it was the wrong way; but as others have said - for those with cosplay hands or carrying heavy items, it becomes less practical when there's a simple solution.
Loved the overall organisation of the whole event, especially the PAX Aus App. This thing was a life saver and definitely favourable over carrying the guide book for all 3 days, however the guide book was great and is an excellent souvenir of the day. I know schedules don't get locked until closer to the date but either having the book posted out, or even made available as a PDF a few days before the event would be great. While the schedule information on the website was good, it required you click through each session. If I wanted to read the session summaries cover to cover there was no way to do that.
The wrist bands were a bit annoying for both the attendees and I imagine the enforcers, either being able to pre-register your age in the purchasing process or being able to apply a sticker to your badge sound like great options. Of course, much like with the wrist bands you can be challenged by an enforcer at any time to provide your ID because people could trade badges in much the same way as someone can obtain an 18+ band and give it to someone or they can be tapped back together etc. Double sided badges sound like a great idea too. Most of the info on the back was something that could be supplied on a card with the badge or via the app.
I enjoyed the PAX Aus XP treasure hunt thing, it was a cool way to get people exploring the whole venue and also meeting other attendees. The pay-off at the end was pretty average so perhaps next year it might be worth putting a pin behind it. I understand that these are pricey but perhaps offer a freebie reward or the option to buy a pin for say $10 or $15 and even then that could go to Child's Play. It would probably also be good to see this promoted in the entry/queue room. My wife and I missed it on Friday and only discovered it reading the guide book when we got back to our hotel on Friday night. A more significant reward and greater awareness would probably lead to better community building/interaction.
The queue room did seem like wasted space during the day. I'm sure it takes up quite some time to setup the barriers but if there was a way to have some furniture that can be moved to the outside of the room during queuing and redeployed from say 11am onwards that would be awesome. Generally having a bit of a quieter area to sit and just take a break would be great.
I want to preface this by saying that I'm purely talking about the exceptions here. On the whole I think the enforcers and the community as a whole were great regarding queuing. That said in the signature lines I found that people tended to push ahead far more often. My wife and I entered one queue at the same time and by the time we got to the signature tables there were 10 people between me and her. Simple solution to this one is to just setup single file lines from the get go or have rows of chairs that people sit in (to queue) and empty them out a row at a time.
The Indie area seemed like it had been allotted too small a space. Some of the popular games' crowds seemed to be encroaching on the space of others around them. Would be great to see more space given to these guys in future to let them spread out a little.
The whole volumetric queuing thing is kind of clever but if you could expand the area you allot to 100 attendees by say 20% that would be awesome. The place can get kind of warm when you're involved in the world's largest involuntary group hug and for the long queuing sessions (i.e. an hour before doors open) being able to move about a little or even sit down is great.
Final note, the EA community lounge and the theatre upstairs near the entrance weren't really signposted that well. You could find them easily enough after consulting a map but there wasn't any general awareness.
I agree with this, during the final game on Sunday both walkways between each set of benches were full of people and I saw one person nearly trip over trying to get out. There were no enforcers in sight.
Which day was this? When I wandered over to watch the final on Sunday there were definitely seats - heaps of benches that seated about 100 people at least. Made it easy for people to stand behind the last bench and not have anything block their view.
Venue. Keep using both the exhibition centre and the convention centre, I didn't miss a single panel this year it was great to be able to wander around then only having to queue 20-30 minutes beforehand. I even got to leave one panel and walk right into another, now that would never have happened last year.
Using columns for queues and enforcers to direct queue traffic worked very well I felt. By the 3rd day you could see they had the routine down pat. All the queues I was in flowed smoothly.
The Aus&NZ / Int'l indie pavilions and the ID@XBOX section could do with more room. These two areas were super interesting - both because of the developers' passion and the games on demo. I don't think the Aus & NZ indie developers should be separated from their international counterparts, as I feel it discourages dialogue between them. The whole area should just be as one and simply labelled Indie Pavilion.
Queue Room - doing away with it entirely and using that space for something else. I believe with this venue you have enough room to allow people to walk straight in and go directly to their area of interest ie Expo Hall, panels, table top, etc. How about getting all the food and beverage carts to setup there from 11am onwards, as well as the merch booth lite plus the artists.
Lighting in Expo Hall was inconsistent... some areas were quite dark as those booths relied on the overhead lights (which were high up) and I noticed not all the overhead lights were on. Would you consider turning more lights on next time?