PAX Prime 2015 BYOC General Info
Hello all!
PAX is approaching quickly and it's that time of year again, BYOC GROUP SEATING! I am running a few weeks behind but that wont phase you super awesome people now will it? The deal is pretty much the same as last year and every PAX before. Check out the details below and get those requests in! Last year we had a packed house and we unfortunately had to split up some groups that did not pre-register (tisk tisk) so I highly advise that if you have a group to sent in a request.
I also want to point out that we have the PC Mod showcase which sits right inside the main BYOC entrance, so if you have an awesome rig that makes others drool send me some pics (OF YOUR RIG) and if it makes us feel good in all the right places we will grant you one of these epic spots.
Group Seating Details:
GROUP SEATING OPEN DATE: CLOSED!
GROUP SEATING CLOSE DATE: CLOSED!
Group Seating Requirements:
Below is a survey by the BYOC Coordinators, if all attendees could take a look at this and fill it out we will have a better idea of what everyone wants to play. Totes thanks!
BYOC Attendee Gaming Survey
To request group seating, use the seating chart below to choose your seats and email pax_pc at paxsite dot com
Include the following information when requesting:
Seating Chart:
PAX is approaching quickly and it's that time of year again, BYOC GROUP SEATING! I am running a few weeks behind but that wont phase you super awesome people now will it? The deal is pretty much the same as last year and every PAX before. Check out the details below and get those requests in! Last year we had a packed house and we unfortunately had to split up some groups that did not pre-register (tisk tisk) so I highly advise that if you have a group to sent in a request.
I also want to point out that we have the PC Mod showcase which sits right inside the main BYOC entrance, so if you have an awesome rig that makes others drool send me some pics (OF YOUR RIG) and if it makes us feel good in all the right places we will grant you one of these epic spots.
Group Seating Details:
GROUP SEATING OPEN DATE: CLOSED!
GROUP SEATING CLOSE DATE: CLOSED!
Group Seating Requirements:
- Your party is considered a group if you have SIX or more people.
- Groups must pre-register seating assignments prior to PAX, or else seats will be based on first come first serve availability.
- Requests are taken on a first come, first serve basis.
- Passes for ALL 4 days of PAX! (recommended to maximize fun, but not a hard requirement)
- If you have multiple BYOC badges, those count as seats (group members) so if you have 6 BYOC passes in your "group" (regardless the number of physical bodies) you qualify for group seating.
Below is a survey by the BYOC Coordinators, if all attendees could take a look at this and fill it out we will have a better idea of what everyone wants to play. Totes thanks!
BYOC Attendee Gaming Survey
To request group seating, use the seating chart below to choose your seats and email pax_pc at paxsite dot com
Include the following information when requesting:
- Group Name
- Number of People (include handles too)
- Desired Location
Seating Chart:
-=Dreggor
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
Dreggor on
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PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
I've been to every pax east since it's inception, however since I wasn't able to attend this year a few friends and I decided to make the trip to prime for the first time. The first few years of pax east the BYOC was amazing, but over the years it really went downhill, now it's nothing more than a spot people go to drop off stuff during pax. There are almost no tournaments in the byoc anymore and and any planned events of any kind seem very poorly planned to say the least. Ive always heard how prime is way bigger and better in every way and I hope that applies to the byoc.
Is the prime BYOC actually going to be worth attending? Are you going to have tournaments/contests for games, and if so which games will they be for so we can download or update them in advance. Will there be prizes for these tournaments/contests? Its not all about winning prizes but it's nice to have an incentive to actually be in the byoc. If there's nothing going on there is rather be out enjoying the rest of pax, ya know?
Will there be early entry for BYOC so we can setup our gear and register? This has always been the case at east, but as I said this is my first time at prime so I'm just checking.
An admin can confirm, but byoc has always had early access TO BYOC (not the rest of pax) on Friday only, to set up gear & whatnot.
The Best in Terms of Pants on JCCC3
Last year at Prime we sold out and filled every seat (over 400), BYOC at Prime has great user support and the LanFest guys are working much more closely with PAX Enforcers to ensure an amazing time to be had by all. We are also working on prizing for tournaments as we speak. The BYOC team will be releasing the game list and tourny list soon (in this thread) so keep your eyes peeled.
Yes, BYOC attendees will have early access into the Annex early on Friday like previous years, or at least we have not been told anything different.
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
In the past we had lots of random little events like hard drive shuffleboard, paper airplanes, etc... And for the most part they still do that however it isn't planned very well. It feels like they just get bored and decide to do something. As for actual gaming related events in the BYOC they are almost non-existent now. IF they do run something, take TF2 for example (the most recent example I can think of), it's a complete disaster. No configs on the servers, or passwords to prevent random people in the BYOC or Freeplay from joining during a match, not to mention the admins not understanding how the game functions in a competitive setting. I won't even complain about the fact it was a 5v5 instead of the standard 6v6, and there were no class restrictions or weapon bans... It's not a serious tournament, it's just for fun so honestly that wasn't a problem, but using maps like hydro that don't function in a competitive setting or playing a map like gravelpit which does work, but declaring a winner after one half of one round. It's an attack/ defend map where each team gets to attack and then defend and the team with the faster time wins, but the admins didn't know that. In the middle of it they decided to run a random event ( paper airplanes I think) and everyone got up for that and the tournament never finished. That's only one example but there are many.
In the first few years of the east BYOC, while the show floor was open and it was slow in the BYOC they wouldn't do anything major. Occasionally they would do a quick wiki race for a prize (i7 CPUs for wiki races one year), or a round of gungame on counter-strike, or a timed contest in a flash game like epidemic or QWOP, or a Twitter based scavenger hunt. When the show floor closed they would do tournaments, but always time them in order to prevent overlaps with other tournaments in the BYOC or Freeplay areas so people could play in more than 1. Late night would be the longer non-game related events like paper airplanes and hard drive shuffleboard. It was planned well, and if the admins didn't already know how the games they wanted to run a tournament for worked competitively they would find a good league online and read their rules to at least get an idea, and they would have the necessary config files and test their servers ahead of time so that things ran smoothly.
The pax BYOC isn't a competitive lan, but in the past the east BYOC was always able to accommodate players who preferred casual play as well as those who liked a more structured organized competitive setting. Nobody felt alienated and everyone had fun. Now the admins seem to look down on and ignore competitive players. In that debacle of a TF2 event I mentioned I remember respectfully voicing my concerns over how that (and other events) was run and was told "don't complain, you should be thanking us. We don't have to do this."
Over the years at east the BYOC has become less and less popular. A lot of seats are empty. Some people don't even bring computers anymore, they just get the ticket to have a place to drop stuff off and to avoid the lines on opening day. The majority of people do bring computers but most of them aren't in the BYOC much because there's hardly ever anything going on.
Sorry for the long post. It was not meant to slam east, or the admins. I mainly said all of this to shed some light on how things have become there to hopefully get it heading back in the right direction. It was also said to explain what I mean by "is it worth it".
All I can ask is that you give us another chance and we will show you a good time! (that sounds a little strange out of context).
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
Hey @thr4sher, thanks for the feedback about PAX East BYOC. As @Dreggor mentioned, we appreciate the feedback and use it to help mould the next PAX.
I do want to call out something though. I'm sorry that you weren't able to make it to PAX East 2015. It was a special PAX, because it was, and perhaps I'm a bit biased, so you'll have to excuse me... the best PAX East we've ever put on. BYOC was packed! So packed, that our usual no-show rate was less than 5% which caused us to have to bring in more tables, chairs, and powers, just to sit everyone!
Not to mention, The LANFest crew really stepped it up this year at PAX East and took over the show. Buckley Johnson was the meecee of BYOC this year and was a welcomed personality (pictured below wearing angry cat hat).
So, I can tell you, from PAX East Yester-years.. I've been listening to the feedback received and last PAX East we really stepped up our game.
I will caution you though, that the vibe is different at PAX Prime. Not bad different.. just the room configuration is totally different, and there isn't a centralized stage, like we've had the past couple of years. The BYOC area itself is much bigger than the East counterpart, and I believe this year, we're putting even more seats in.
While, I'm not going to be at PAX Prime this year (me and my wife are expecting our first child literally any day now as of the writing of this post, but officially around August 4th) Alex, Neal and Dreggor are really paying attention and trying to replicate the great experience we had at East.
Thanks again for your feedback. We look forward to seeing you at a PAX soon!
Sincerely,
-Vapok
Vapok
Buckley is the fucking man, he definitely had a hugely positive impact on East BYOC this year. You guys all did an awesome job with it.
@Dreggor thanks for the reply. And yeah I know it can't be "everything I want it to be" but I'm fine with that. I don't want it to be everything "I" want it to be because that wouldn't be fair to other people. I wasn't asking for that, it's fun how different things happen each year, I was just hoping for more care being put into it than the last few years of east (excluding 2015 which as I mentioned I didn't attend). Some structure to the events so that we can participate in them, and other events (like Freeplay tournaments) as well, and some planning for said events is all I hope for. What those events end up being is entirely up to you.
Also I just wanted to say thanks for not dismissing my long posts or thinking I was acting like a dick. I used to play TF2 competitively for many years and I used to help, or solo run the TF2 tournaments at the GXL (Philly area lan) so I know how things are behind the scenes at a big lan. There's a lot of work involved that most people don't know about and it's stressful as hell on the day. The east BYOC used to be THE event my friends and I looked forward to all year. One of the few times we could all get together at the same time and have fun. Hopefully prime will be great, and I really hope that east has turned itself around. But yeah... Thanks for reading my long posts and actually taking it into consideration.
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
Also, I would like to add that I really like the fact that with everything going on around us and even the volume of sounds coming from the expo floor it really helped with my anxiety that I had a area all to my self that felt secure. I appreciate everyone that volunteers to put this together and make it run as smoothly as it does.
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
I seriously doubt it, they didn't have them at South or East this year (they had them at East 2014) and the person at BenQ I talked to last year didn't seem enthusiastic about continuing the program.
Man that stinks. I loved not having to bring a monitor. They always get scratched up. Come on BenQ we love you!
I would imagine that's part of the reason they're not so keen to provide them.
PAX. PAX. PAX. Boom.
itweet
PAX. PAX. PAX. Boom.
1) Re: BenQ - The chances are slim to none that they will be back in the PC room at any PAX. Not because of anything other than, the program they were piloting ended. We are definitely sad to see them leave, as it was a great program for the BYOC attendees, but I'm not sure the ROI for BenQ was enough. (Y'all should've bought some monitors! haha)..
2) The Friday morning ritual, as it has been the past few years now, should remain the same for Early BYOC Checkin (8AM entry to TCC). The time that the escalator will open from BYOC to Expo Hall will most likely be done in the same manner as last year, but be aware that anything we say in these threads are ALWAYS subject to change.
3) BYOC Tickets are STILL AVAILABLE! This is gonna be an awesome BYOC year, cause I'm not going to be there to wreck havoc! Mwhahaha.. (Actually in all seriousness, I'm gonna miss y'all at Prime! But a little Vapok is on the way any day now, so PAX Prime has to take a back seat for me! I will see you at PAX East 2016 though!!)
4) Re: Security Network: We use only the best in open source firewall systems and VLAN separation. We also rate limit quite a bit, so over the internet streaming for VoiP or Skype.. might be difficult. @teebone8291 Tell your boss "It Can Wait!" PAX is more important anyhow.
-Vapok Out!
Vapok
From this year's East BYOC FAQ:
Q: Can I bring a switch or my own power strip to increase that?
A: NO! No outside networking devices are allowed. Any spotted will be removed.
What's wrong with just using a VPN?
As @hobbseltoff has mentioned, we do not allow any networking devices of any type on the network. Also keep in mind that the BYOC area may also be very loud at times, and potentially not suitable to any calls. VPN should work, all depends on the quality of the bandwidth this year.
Alternatively, there is a sitting area on the 2nd floor of the TCC, that is off to the side of the escalators that is comfy (couches) and contains some electrical outlets. If you need it just for voice/office connectivity... I recommend tethering to your phone's data connection from that 2nd floor area. It's not heavily populated with attendees, very quiet, and near windows. It's also slightly shielded from the masses of attendees with phones, so your data should be good. (In 2012, I organized a small flashmob in that area and used it to coordinate our dance routine.)
Vapok
This is completely out of our control, this is handled by the Green Coats and sometimes information does not move around that organization as well as we'd like. Last year one of them tried to have me ejected for arguing with her on this very point.
Also: I will verify the load-in time for Friday but I assume it will be 8:00am (I think) like usual.
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
So far we have been told that there will be no BenQ loaners. If I hear differently you all will be the very first to know but at this point I would not count on it.
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
Depending on the mood of the network guys I would not even count on a VPN working unless it's an SSL vpn that uses a standard port. Even then I cannot make any promises to the quality or bandwidth.
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
This is a definite no-no and is against the BYOC rules about network equipment. If we see this we will disconnect your network port until it is removed, sorry.
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy
Vapok
PAX Prime PC Room Deputy
PAX East PC Room Deputy