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Honestly, I'd rather have the LoL championships than MTG championships at PAX, because League is a lot more of a spectator friendly game, and with a significant portion of the Annex used up for MTG Worlds, there was less variety in MTG events to sign up for. I'm sad about the lack of Mini-master and Chaos drafts this year, although that feedback is better directed at Cascade Games than PA.
The only thing I would really say needed work is the general congregation outside of Benaroya for Acquisitions. I understand that the enforcers could only do so much, telling people to keep moving and not hang around for the door to open and such, but that whole area was a nightmare for an hour leading up to the door opening.
I know it's really hard for such a big panel event, but maybe next year have more enforcers discouraging people from prematurely hanging around might work. There was only two or three that would tell a few people to move and then give up.
Relatively though, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I really appreciated the enforcers to sticking to a set time and single door (even though the crush to get in was very worrying). Hard work really paid off and most things went very smoothly!
The only real criticism that i have is that the Indie MegaBooth NEEDS more space, The booths are so cramped in back there and me being in a wheelchair, i basically couldn't do anything there because if you try to line up for a game with more than 2 people by it, I would be jutting out into the walkway since not only are the booths so small, they're also too close to eachother across the aisles causing horrible gridlock, Just something i observed this year
I had a great time at PAX this year and I personally thought it was one of the better ones I have been to. The positives I got from the show are:
Strict adherence to the free flow of people within walkways making it a much more pleasant experience to walk the show floor.
Well developed and up to date Guidebook entry for PAX 2015 was a huge boon as it allowed me to navigate the event and be at the right place at the right time.
Expansive use of 6th level of the WSCC gave way to more space on the 4th.
The negatives (which do exist and need to be acknowledged) are:
The policing outside the WSCC was initially non existent leading to aggressive beggars, charity workers, ticket scalpers and unlicensed vendors creating significant problems for those of us attending PAX. I know this was resolved by Sunday, but WSP needs to be more prepared as they clearly weren't this year.
The tucking away of tabletop gaming into remote hotels and small rooms on 3rd floor of WSCC is annoying and not reflective of the status this form of gaming now has. I realise this is more to do with the restrictive nature of WSCC's layout, but perhaps consider a radical revamp by having the area normally occupied by vendors and Nintendo and handlheld on the 3rd and 4th floors be left for tabletop alone. Nintendo and hand held could then be placed into the external area near the escalators to Level 6 with the small rooms handed over to tabletop free-play.
The banishment of D&D to a small section of a hotel seems at odds with Wizards desire to raise the profile of this game. The devotion to MtG to the point of handing over half of the Annex building seemed somewhat excessive.
I feel like the sharking/hovering mechanic for capped lines needs to be addressed, and something better needs to happen. But honestly I'm still brainstorming suggestions as to a solution, as of yet I've not come up with anything that is feasible given what we have to work with.
I feel like it'd be easy to remedy if we could assume that every attendee has a smartphone and decent internet connectivity (not high bandwidth, but reliable low bandwidth). Both are a stretch.
As it stands, though, sharking around for an hour (or two, or more) for a /chance/ at getting into a two-hour line is...meh.
I'm not a line stander. never have been. if its going to be more than 15-20 minutes before I get into a booth, I will watch what ican from the sides than leave the game.
that being said, if I had a recommendation, they should offer a ticketing option (similar to fastpass ala Disney) for those who don't make the initial cap. You know how long its going to take to get to the front on the line, so you set a bar that says
Line opens at 10, fills at 10:30, we know it will take 1 hour to clear the line, so you ticket a group for 11:30, 12:30, 1:30...do it in waves, and you make them aware they will have a spot in line, but not assured they will be first.
This allows you to plan your afternoon around knowing that even though you have an 11:30 ticket, that's when you are losing the hour if you are the last one there. include a buffer of like 5 minutes that says 'if you don't arrive in this window, you forfeit your place'
As far as my own feedback, I LOVED the wider rows. I know people were mad about the queue room, but I could feel the difference. And since I travel with two people who both use a cane AND have severe crowd issues, this was very nice.
An Enforcer at the Elevators to control use for handicaps would have been helpful. There were several times when the escalators were down, and the only option for those with mobility issues was the elevator, you would find the elevator full of people who just were trying to skip walking the stairs.
And other than a Thief at our booth, I think this con went very well overall!
I'm not going to mention specifics, but essentially I found myself in a PAX ruining situation as I was about to pass up into bandland which is right next to the enforcer info station. When I went up to them, they solved my problem like it was absolutely nothing and told me to have a great show. I have always had great respect for the people who volunteer to manage the show but I've really never been as desperate as I was right then. But about 30 seconds and I was back on my way to having fun again.
The enforcers really make PAX. They are absolutely the cornerstone of the culture and they are extremely patient with frustrations and angry con-goers (which I saw with the line capping being a big problem at some booths). Thank you to everyone who helps out at PAX; you are wonderful.
Negatives first because I want to end on a positive note because I'm friggin' Pollyanna, apparently.
- No sitting while waiting for panels at Benaroya (and elsewhere?) was dumb. If we are lined up 1-1.5 hours ahead of time then standing very close to one another for that long period SUCKS ASS.
- Line capping madness... or maybe this should be titled "I Am Kind of Butthurt My Kid Didn't Get to See Minecraft". If you put 20 minutes on your sign, then I should reasonably expect to have a chance to get in line in about 20 minutes. Right? Or not?
- Green Coats were not really checking our badges. If my 9 year old noticed this then surely lots of others did as well. There were plenty of times we got into the Expo Hall where our credentials were not checked.
- Not enough tabletop space. I feel like I say this every year.
- Swag bags. Seriously. Just end them. Or do like they do at The International (Dota2): hole punch the badge so you know someone got one already. Either make them meaningful or do away with them entirely.
- A line for the escalator?? Seriously?
- Broken (upwards) escalator?? Seriously? And for more than one day, too. Inexcusable.
- Indie Megabooth needs more space.
- Having autographs a mere half hour after that same group of people has finished a panel is probably practical for them but not very great for the people wanting to meet/greet/get an autograph. You have to choose between missing some of the panel or standing in a long line.
+ Lots more room to maneuver in the Expo Hall. This was awesome! Last year I felt people were aggressively bumping into each other like it was the mosh pit at Metallica. This year, whenever there was an accidental bump there were immediate apologies by all parties.
+ Enforcers keeping the people moving was fantastic and appreciated.
+ Autograph space at the Westin was great! Good idea.
+ Console Freeplay is a best kept secret, I think, of PAX. (Well, not really secret but you know.)
+ The sense of community... the extra events that we, the community, create... that is all so very awesome.
+ PAX has got to be the only super crowded event space I feel 100% comfortable taking a nap in the middle of (in my case it was at Handheld Lounge and then on a chair in a corner of the Annex).
+ Having diverse panels. Having YouTubers there made my daughter's PAX the best ever. I get that it's a generational thing. And I, unlike others, feel that their presence was definitely appropriate because they play video games. Plus, they seem like nice people.
+ Tabletop demos in the Indie Megabooth! I didn't realize this until the last day but I was happy to see it.
+ Juicy Café shoutout! This was the first year I went there and it was so great.
+ Badge authenticity check well marked outside the Convention Center was a good idea. I know something like this has been there before but I don't think it was as well marked as it was this year.
+ LOTS of awesome displays this year! Made me hopeful that the economy is steadily improving.
+ Lady Planeswalkers Society ... thank you.
OK, I think that's it...or, at least, that's all I can think of right now.
I second the sentiments about the sharking/hovering issues. I was most bothered by this on the small lines where the exhibitor hadn't provided enough line space for the popularity of the game. Sharking for 15-20 minutes only to have other people get in the line is a fairly negative experience. I like the idea of "tickets" for assigned times.
More room in the indie megabooth would be fantastic. I may be biased, as I would rather be there than on the main floor most of the time.
More room & prominence for tabletop would be great. This year was better than last year, but that's a low bar.
Benaroya for Acq Inc was an issue, some of which was sound quality (we could hear only half of it), some of it was obvious communication issues with staff of the Hall (there was issues with communication on which floors could be filled and when). As said above, the line up was also an issue. I know PAX was trying to adhere to the 2 hour policy, but easily by 2.5 hrs before there were too many people to "control" and it caused there to be no discernible line at all. So some suggestions:
-Let people into the upper floors immediately. If people were in line early and want to not be orchestra level, let them. But also count people at each door to ensure enough seats/seat filling.
-Adjust audio as best as possible (I know, it's a symphony hall... not really made for some things... I know you guys try though). Perhaps an enforcer or two to go around during events and check with people might be helpful (I would have found an audio person if I knew where the mixer was).
-See if at least a temporary line up can be created in the bottom floor of the Benoraya by the coffee shop, if nothing else than to organize and keep people off the street.
OTHER THAN THAT:
-Good job having the shuttle. I know previous years people complained about distance between. We never used, but thank you for having it there.
-Awesome wide aisles in the expo hall. Best expo hall experience in all 5 PAX Primes, EASILY.
-Enforcers, as always, were awesome.
-It was two friends' first PAX and they had such an amazing time.
I got sick at PAX so I decided to stay in one night, and unfortunately the panel I wanted to watch wasn't on Twitch. That said, there was other stuff that I watched on twitch and that was great.
Edit: One more thing. As mentioned above, badge authenticity checker great. Even better would be an official re-sell area. For example, we didn't need one of our Monday badges. I would happily have put it at some official location to be sold (not sure how you would want to do this, but it would also help with the whole authenticity thing). And I think for sought after days (read as: Not Monday on a non-long weekend :P), a lot of PAXers are perfectly happy selling at face value.
kbschmid on
By day, a mild-mannered charity guy
By night, a gamer.
PAX Prime 09, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18
A few potential improvements:
1) If the autograph sessions are to be right after a panel that is located 10 minutes away, give panel attendees a "pass" that allows them front of the line access (possibly allowing very early birds to keep their front of line positions)
2) Provide an enforcer presence, or work with the local authorities to keep the WSCC main entrance safer. I saw many young attendees getting hustled as they were leaving the convention. One group was very, VERY aggressive in pushing unwanted CD's onto attendees at $20+ a pop. When returning to our hotel, my son was surrounded by 3-4 of them at one time as they took him for most of his cash on hand.
3) Run a better sound test for the Main Theater - we could only make out 1/2 - 3/4 of Acquisitions Inc and had issues with the first Q&A -
Otherwise - GREAT job from the enforcers and staff - the EXPO hall was easier to navigate and most of the exhibitors were in higher spirits - THANKS..!
I'll stick with things people haven't listed (or hadn't gone into as much detail).
Pros: Extra space in the Expo Hall was REAL. Kudos to pulling this off as well as you did. There were very few areas that had bottlenecks. This was much, much better than last year. The main trouble-spot for me was the Capcom booth by the Skyway. Please try and make sure something like that doesn't happen again. Maybe 3 people shoulder-to-shoulder could walk through most of the time when I went through there.
Entry into the Expo Hall was quite easy for me. I showed up on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at a few minutes after 10, walked right in at the Atrium level, and entered the Expo Hall and didn't have to wait in a line.
Cons: Does a rule need to be explicitly written, bolded, and done in flashing lights so people might realize that standing in the middle of a walkway to stop and chat is the dumbest fucking thing they could do in a crowded Expo Hall? It was like a retarded version of "circle the wagons", only they'd face inward instead of outward, and it didn't actually help their self preservation. Having the "no photos of cosplay" rule was nice, but damned if I didn't always get stuck behind a group of people that thought the middle of a walkway (or worse, walkway intersection) was a good place to stop moving and have a nice little chat with one another.
Pin Trading Event - time limit needs to be given to people, or have gated sections to move through. Throughput tends to go down when people hover and get greedy hoping to snag "that one rare pin", but in actuality what they are doing is wasting time and NOT trading, which goes against the entire point of the event.
Pins for trade!
2015 PAX Prime Omeganaut (I will forever hate Katamari)
True about the CD scammers - but we do learn - I am sure that my son will not let that happen again. Maybe we can just increase the awareness of the scam...
I saw a lot of enforcers getting people to move. I think it's a numbers game - when an enforcer's around, they break it up. When they're not, they can't. Instead we need a series of cameras and the lanyards should be equipped with shock collars.
By day, a mild-mannered charity guy
By night, a gamer.
PAX Prime 09, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18
Pin Trading Event - time limit needs to be given to people, or have gated sections to move through. Throughput tends to go down when people hover and get greedy hoping to snag "that one rare pin", but in actuality what they are doing is wasting time and NOT trading, which goes against the entire point of the event.
Totally agree. I wasn't negatively affected by this because I was near the front of the line and got in early but I felt bad for all the people at the back of the line because everyone was taking way longer than they needed to.
This was my 10th PAX. I had a fantastic time w/ my friends & my new hubby! We spent a good chunk of our time in BYOC, which was awesome! Here are a few of my observations when I ventured outside BYOC.
1) The shuttles provided were AMAZING! I have a bad back, so tromping over to the Westin even though .3 to .4 miles isn't that much would have ruined me & the rest of PAX for me. However, they were REALLY under advertised. I asked an awesome Enforcer who had to go to another who had to go to another, etc to find out where I could catch said shuttles at the convention center. No one knew about them. The drivers were all super nice & had time to talk. They said the most they saw on their shuttles were under 20 at a time (the shuttles could hold 56 people). I know more people would use these if they knew about them. I sincerely hope they bring them back next year. Just post signs EVERYWHERE for them!
2) Allow us to sit in lines. The aforementioned bad back, while I don't deem it bad enough to get a medical pass, does make it very difficult to stand in one place for long periods of time. I know there are many others that are worse off than me that I'm sure would appreciate being able to sit while waiting in a very long line.
3) Set aside a separate line for BYOC for all the days. I know I & many others go straight there every morning. It would be nice to be able to not stand in the line for the expo when that's not where we're headed.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for another year of time spent with good friends, playing fun games, & meeting new people. It was awesome!
"So, she's added cussing and hurling about of things to her repertoire. She really is a prodigy."
This year was my 5th PAX since my first in 2006. I've seen it grow a lot and get better in a lot of great ways, but also fall victim to some of the pitfalls I had hoped a show with the spirit of the fans would be able to evade. I'll start with my complaints and finish with my compliments. Here we go!
Expo Hall:
No more closing a booth or a section of a booth during the 10-6 hours in order to give exclusive access to press. PAX has always been a show for the regular gamer and I feel like that is changing when you've got press shutting down a demo for 3 hours, even if its just one. I'm specifically referring to Tomb Raider being closed in the Xbox booth from 10-1 on Sunday. The press have literally EVERY OTHER SHOW to get exclusive access. If exhibitors want to do private demos or presentations, please have them do it outside of the 10-6 hours each day! There is nothing worse than finding out that the game you came to see at the show is closed for press on top of being continuously capped! Which brings me to my next issue...
Capped lines! Are they ever NOT capped? Seriously! I came to see Dark Souls 3, The Division, Halo 5, Project Morpheus, Rainbow Six Seige, and a few of the other "big" titles and they all constantly had capped lines. Some of them had DOUBLE the amount of time from what I saw in previous years. Dark Souls was a 3 hour line! How is that even possible? Disneyland has shorter lines! I waited an hour and a half to play Titanfall 2 years ago and it was known to be the longest line at the show that year. So what happened this year? Is PAX just selling more tickets? How is it that the lines are so much longer this year? Also, I have no idea how people get into these demos in the first place because I was constantly met with Enforcers telling me to take a walk and come back, only to rinse and repeat. I got to play Rainbow Six in the Xbox booth out of sheer dumb luck having walked by right as the line moved.
PAX should regulate the content of the booths a little more so there aren't any more overly long demos. I got to play games for about 10 minutes each in previous years. That's fine! I don't need an hour. One year I even gave up my turn at a demo where I got in line for the 2nd time and when I was up, only one person was behind me who hadn't played at all yet. This year I saw people standing at demos for very long periods of time. My Rainbow Six demo must have lasted about 25 minutes. We played 5 rounds at 5 minutes each. I think 2 rounds would have been fine just to keep the line moving faster! I mean more people playing makes for a happier show, right? When I played Titanfall 2 years ago, I think it was about 10 minutes total which was perfect. I went through the line a 2nd time (which only took 45 minutes) and got in another session. That was the BEST PAX experience.
That said, the other end of the spectrum is the Just Cause demo. It was 90 seconds. That's not enough time to even learn the controls. I think after waiting in line for so long, people at the show are owed a little more than that. I want exhibitors to be able to provide the experience they desire to give us, but I think PAX needs to step in at some point and lay down some guidelines. Exhibitors need to understand that what might work for E3 might not fly as well at PAX. It's not work for us, it's recreation, and a lot of us are paying a lot of time, money, and/or PTO to experience it. Nobody is wining and dining us, yknow what I mean? We aren't getting paid to have these experiences. A 3 hour wait for a demo isn't a hazard of the job. And in most cases this year, paying to be there wasn't even enough to get me in the line! The design of each experience should really be considered more thoroughly.
This is a small gripe, but the Bethesda booth was a merch table and a few places to take photos. That was seriously disappointing. They took up a lot of floor space to basically have a photo booth. Maybe others were into that (which is fine) but I wanted to express a little disappointment that they didn't even have so much as a gameplay demonstration for Fallout, Doom, or Dishonored. I remember two years ago, Fable Anniversary had a demo that was just a guy going through the game while people watched. Xenoblade did that this year in the Nintendo booth, and I think last year they did that with Hyrule Warriors too. It would've been nice if Bethesda could've followed those examples.
Again, not trying to be overly negative. Long time PAX goer here! Just want to see the show be the best it can be for all the people who put in so much effort just to be there. Its very hard to even buy passes when they go on sale for all of five minutes on a random Wednesday while most people are at work. Which brings me to:
Buying passes is still really hard!
This will be short, and I don't have a solution which makes me feel bad for complaining, but I hope the process for buying passes is evaluated again and again each year. I'm very lucky to have a job where I can see my twitter notifications go off, drop everything, and dedicate the next half hour of my day to getting passes. However, I have friends who aren't so lucky and miss out each year, only to be faced with buying from scammers outside the building. And honestly, I can't afford to buy a ton of passes at $40 a pop to cover everyone. Which leads me to...
Scammers outside the convention are terrible. This isn't exclusive to PAX, I know, but man isn't there anything to be done with these guys? You walk outside and you see a handful of them with stacks of a dozen passes, just looking to take somebody to the cleaners for one. Its totally shameful and I wish these guys could be stopped because it keeps the real fans from being able to get in.
Alright. Now for the good stuff:
I really liked not having it on Labor Day weekend! My wife was complaining last year that it'd be nice to visit family for the holiday weekend, but she felt like each year I'd be battling for PAX instead. This year we get to do both, so that's awesome. I'm all for having it be the weekend before or after Labor Day again next year.
PAX has a lot going on! I'm a big fan of how many floors there are and how all the space is being used in that convention center. Its pretty great!
The console tournaments were awesome this year! FGC represent! We had a lot of fighting game tournaments. That was nice to see! Also, somebody put on a couple of Vita tournaments too! Unreal. I hope they were successful enough to happen again next year.
Panels are plentiful! I attended the Igarashi panel on Saturday night in the Hydra theater. It was a great experience, aside from having everyone stand nut to butt for way too long. Is there a way to let us in so we can fill seats and wait comfortably? Please think about that for the future.
I'll close by saying I enjoy PAX and look forward to going next year, but I really hope our concerns are taken seriously. Its an awesome show and there is nothing else quite like it in the states, so let's please try to make sure it doesn't become more like San Diego Comic Con. GameStop Expo can say its for the gamers all it wants, but PAX is the real show for gamers and I hope it always stays that way.
PS- Thank you to all the Enforcers! You are all very generous people for giving your time to PAX with no pay in return. I hope the show never takes you all for granted and gives you some perks behind the scenes that we don't know about. Without you, PAX would be crippled!
ClixThis guy I knowSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
The good:
No queue hall. This was my biggest surprise, I thought it was going to be a disaster with people lined up outside but it was actually managed rather well. I think the added space really helped in the expo halls. Although I was not a fan of blocking off 8th street, as I like to use that garage access point.
Making people aware that the expo halls are not a place to take or pose for cosplay photos. I could finally feel free to walk through the frame when people are trying to block busy isles so that they could grab a picture.
Eliminating 4-day passes. Not much to add there, I'm glad they're gone.
The not so good:
Seattle PD needs to have a bigger presence around the WSCC. It's pretty much the opposite of Boston, with scalpers and panhandlers all over the place and no bag checks. The MTG statue outside the annex had more of a police presence then SPD.
Smoking directly outside of entrances. Can there be some designated smoking spots not directly next to doors? Nothing like stepping outdoors, or just walking by one and instantly feeling like vomiting from all the smoke.
Please stop using Guidebook. The app requires an internet connection to use, something that is non-existent at PAX. Please make a downloadable guide that only checks for updates instead of requiring a data connection to even work. Trying to look up maps and event times became a pain, which brings me to my next point...
For the love of God, please stop renaming auditoriums and venues! Why can't the Paramount Theater simply be called the Paramount Theater for program purposes? Just use the given names instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.
I didn't like that the merch lite booth in the Sheraton was the only spot to get limited edition merchandise. I felt like people staying there, or in nearby hotels, had an advantage to the line. Why not put that LE pins in the main merch booth where everyone has the same opportunity to get there?
But as with every PAX, I had a blast and am very grateful for all the hard work that so many people put into the event. It truly is the best four days of gaming.
Please stop using Guidebook. The app requires an internet connection to use, something that is non-existent at PAX. Please make a downloadable guide that only checks for updates instead of requiring a data connection to even work. Trying to look up maps and event times became a pain, which brings me to my next point...
fyi for next year. guidebook doesnt need any net access but if it thinks there is one it will go look for updates. with shitty internet it would choke. i worked around this personally by going into airplane mode when i wanted to look at it. not the best, but hard for any app to handle
fyi for next year. guidebook doesnt need any net access but if it thinks there is one it will go look for updates. with shitty internet it would choke. i worked around this personally by going into airplane mode when i wanted to look at it. not the best, but hard for any app to handle
Good to know! I couldn't even get Guidebook to open without crashing because it would constantly look for an update, then die. Thank goodness for old fashioned paper guidebooks still being used.
Overall, it was an excellent PAX. That being said, there are a few things.
- Scheduling AI and CAH at the same time. I get why it was done, but it still makes me sad.
- Having AI on Friday and concerts on Sat/Sun. As with last year, the performers and attendees were both exhausted by Sunday night. It would be better for all, I believe, if AI was scheduled for Sunday and the concerts for Fri/Sat.
- The hike to the Westin. And the sprint if you wanted to get to an autograph session right after a panel. Either schedule the autograph sessions later, or bring the signing room to a more central location.
One thing I really liked was the off-site merch booth. It made lining up for the booth much easier and less confusing than it has been at the main booth in the past.
"Brilliant! Oh wait, if we were meant to fly, we would have been born with little bags of nuts."
+1
bacon_avengerDefender of Pork ProductsPacific NW, USARegistered Userregular
Please stop using Guidebook. The app requires an internet connection to use, something that is non-existent at PAX. Please make a downloadable guide that only checks for updates instead of requiring a data connection to even work.
FYI: Setting for Guidebook has an option to save the guide to the SDCard. If you use that, you don't need a data connection to use it. I just confirmed this as well by saving the prime guide to my SDCard and turning airplane mode on, no problems launching, loading, and browsing the guide.
I only did the Queue line the last day, otherwise we rolled in later. Friday it actually seemed like the majority of people were aiming to be there around 10 instead of earlier so it felt like there was more traffic. Anyway, the one day we did the early line didn't really work for me. I think the line out the park and then down the street was a great way to make some spacious space, but the glob of people standing in front of the doors wasn't very organized. My brother and I got there at 9 so we were initially about where the room first starts to open up. We were then asked to move to where the merch booth was, so were were half way between the two doors. We had hoped that they'd maybe open the right hand doors first, to let those people who I'm assuming got there early in and to get the line moving without allowing those who came later to put a crush on the left hand doors and bog the whole thing down. Unfortunately they opened both doors at the same time and people who were now standing where we once were surged forward and our part of the line was cut off from the more direct route to the larger part of the expo hall. We were able to go to the right and then cut back at the far wall, but by then people who came later than us were already ahead of us. I would have liked to have seen more management inside the WSCC or to simple queue us all out side in a long line.
I think more people decided to skip the queue and come later which is great, I just think the front part of the line needed to be thought through a little more. Although, when you're in line you have a lot of time to think about such things and tend to come up with "fair" solutions for your own problem/needs. Otherwise, loved the extra space in the Expo Hall, it was nice to be able to move, although some places could feel cramped. Some booths needs to do a better job at line management within their own space. The Green Coats were fairly chill this year and the Enforcers also seemed more relaxed (you want your Enforcers relaxed). My final criticism is about the Tabletop area - maybe no Magic Tournaments with WotC having two floors of the Annex? Or, if the tournament doesn't fill out the room, those tables can revert back to Freeplay? Sunday night there were wide open tables with signs on them that people could have used. Also no loafing.
I really think more booths should be adopting the whole check-in system that Oculus and Steam VR were using, the lines for things like Morpheous just felt like I'd never get in (and didn't bother trying as a result) since every time I passed by they were at cap. Of course there's nothing that PAX themselves can do about that but it made getting to see the Vive and Oculus much less of a hassle.
Please consider moving the Indie Megabooth though, having it packed into that one tiny corner just cramps the entire thing that much more. I thought that with the extra space from having the queue room turned into expo space that it'd be there instead. It just feels like it's one of the biggest attractions of the show and it's all packed into one of the smaller and harder to get through areas.
+3
nohomeJeromeEmerald City, WA Registered Userregular
The not so good:
Seattle PD needs to have a bigger presence around the WSCC. It's pretty much the opposite of Boston, with scalpers and panhandlers all over the place and no bag checks. The MTG statue outside the annex had more of a police presence then SPD.
You're asking for something the city doesn't necessarily have to offer. It takes money and, more importantly, available police personnel to staff large events like PAX. Boston has roughly 800 more police officers than Seattle. It's also about 30 percent smaller, geographically speaking, which means you might find more officers in the downtown Boston area than you would downtown Seattle on any given day, regardless.
Additionally, scalping is not illegal in Washington state and panhandling not illegal in Seattle. Both are extremely annoying, I'll grant you that. However, until they step outside their legal bounds and start to harass and/or impede pedestrian traffic, SPD has no legal authority to contact them. And trust me, legal authority and police action are being heavily scrutinized in Seattle these days with big brother (DOJ) currently in town.
As for the bag checking, isn't that what the event staff (the non-PA/Enforcer folks) is for? When I go to Mariners games I don't have SPD digging through my pack, I have someone in a bright yellow event staff shirt doing it. Maybe it's different in Boston or other cities in general, but that doesn't happen here. At least not that I'm aware of.
I somewhat rambled there, but I hope it helps answer the initial lack of presence question.
I really think more booths should be adopting the whole check-in system that Oculus and Steam VR were using, the lines for things like Morpheous just felt like I'd never get in (and didn't bother trying as a result) since every time I passed by they were at cap. Of course there's nothing that PAX themselves can do about that but it made getting to see the Vive and Oculus much less of a hassle.
Well, only if they clearly advertise it and follow their own rules. I missed out on Oculus because they only mentioned on their Facebook page (which I don't follow) that you had to download a special app to make an appointment days in advance, so when I found out about it Saturday morning, the entire weekend was filled up, with no new slots ever added. And HTC Vive's page said they wouldn't allow lines before 9am (or 10am at the bus) each day, but I arrived at the Sheridan at 8:45 to check it out, line was already capped, moved over to the bus, line was longer than the number of slots they had available.
Well, only if they clearly advertise it and follow their own rules. I missed out on Oculus because they only mentioned on their Facebook page (which I don't follow) that you had to download a special app to make an appointment days in advance, so when I found out about it Saturday morning, the entire weekend was filled up, with no new slots ever added. And HTC Vive's page said they wouldn't allow lines before 9am (or 10am at the bus) each day, but I arrived at the Sheridan at 8:45 to check it out, line was already capped, moved over to the bus, line was longer than the number of slots they had available.
That sucks you had those problems. I talked to the people at the HTC bus and they said if I showed up later than 8:30 there was no way I was getting a spot for the day, so it seems like they had a real miscommunication between web page and reality. And I heard the same thing about Oculus, that lots of people didn't know about it until all the slots were full, which is a bummer.
But as somebody who did hear about the Oculus thing in time to snag an appointment, man that was a great process. I just showed up a few minutes before my appointment time and waited like 10 minutes for a great demo. If I could have reserved slots for other stuff throughout the show that would've been great.
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I know it's really hard for such a big panel event, but maybe next year have more enforcers discouraging people from prematurely hanging around might work. There was only two or three that would tell a few people to move and then give up.
Relatively though, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I really appreciated the enforcers to sticking to a set time and single door (even though the crush to get in was very worrying). Hard work really paid off and most things went very smoothly!
The negatives (which do exist and need to be acknowledged) are:
I'm not a line stander. never have been. if its going to be more than 15-20 minutes before I get into a booth, I will watch what ican from the sides than leave the game.
that being said, if I had a recommendation, they should offer a ticketing option (similar to fastpass ala Disney) for those who don't make the initial cap. You know how long its going to take to get to the front on the line, so you set a bar that says
Line opens at 10, fills at 10:30, we know it will take 1 hour to clear the line, so you ticket a group for 11:30, 12:30, 1:30...do it in waves, and you make them aware they will have a spot in line, but not assured they will be first.
This allows you to plan your afternoon around knowing that even though you have an 11:30 ticket, that's when you are losing the hour if you are the last one there. include a buffer of like 5 minutes that says 'if you don't arrive in this window, you forfeit your place'
*shrugs*
An Enforcer at the Elevators to control use for handicaps would have been helpful. There were several times when the escalators were down, and the only option for those with mobility issues was the elevator, you would find the elevator full of people who just were trying to skip walking the stairs.
And other than a Thief at our booth, I think this con went very well overall!
The enforcers really make PAX. They are absolutely the cornerstone of the culture and they are extremely patient with frustrations and angry con-goers (which I saw with the line capping being a big problem at some booths). Thank you to everyone who helps out at PAX; you are wonderful.
- No sitting while waiting for panels at Benaroya (and elsewhere?) was dumb. If we are lined up 1-1.5 hours ahead of time then standing very close to one another for that long period SUCKS ASS.
- Line capping madness... or maybe this should be titled "I Am Kind of Butthurt My Kid Didn't Get to See Minecraft". If you put 20 minutes on your sign, then I should reasonably expect to have a chance to get in line in about 20 minutes. Right? Or not?
- Green Coats were not really checking our badges. If my 9 year old noticed this then surely lots of others did as well. There were plenty of times we got into the Expo Hall where our credentials were not checked.
- Not enough tabletop space. I feel like I say this every year.
- Swag bags. Seriously. Just end them. Or do like they do at The International (Dota2): hole punch the badge so you know someone got one already. Either make them meaningful or do away with them entirely.
- A line for the escalator?? Seriously?
- Broken (upwards) escalator?? Seriously? And for more than one day, too. Inexcusable.
- Indie Megabooth needs more space.
- Having autographs a mere half hour after that same group of people has finished a panel is probably practical for them but not very great for the people wanting to meet/greet/get an autograph. You have to choose between missing some of the panel or standing in a long line.
+ Lots more room to maneuver in the Expo Hall. This was awesome! Last year I felt people were aggressively bumping into each other like it was the mosh pit at Metallica. This year, whenever there was an accidental bump there were immediate apologies by all parties.
+ Enforcers keeping the people moving was fantastic and appreciated.
+ Autograph space at the Westin was great! Good idea.
+ Console Freeplay is a best kept secret, I think, of PAX. (Well, not really secret but you know.)
+ The sense of community... the extra events that we, the community, create... that is all so very awesome.
+ PAX has got to be the only super crowded event space I feel 100% comfortable taking a nap in the middle of (in my case it was at Handheld Lounge and then on a chair in a corner of the Annex).
+ Having diverse panels. Having YouTubers there made my daughter's PAX the best ever. I get that it's a generational thing. And I, unlike others, feel that their presence was definitely appropriate because they play video games. Plus, they seem like nice people.
+ Tabletop demos in the Indie Megabooth! I didn't realize this until the last day but I was happy to see it.
+ Juicy Café shoutout! This was the first year I went there and it was so great.
+ Badge authenticity check well marked outside the Convention Center was a good idea. I know something like this has been there before but I don't think it was as well marked as it was this year.
+ LOTS of awesome displays this year! Made me hopeful that the economy is steadily improving.
+ Lady Planeswalkers Society ... thank you.
OK, I think that's it...or, at least, that's all I can think of right now.
The sound mixing at Benaroya was awful. Awful. Like a 17 year old who likes too much bass did it.
-Let people into the upper floors immediately. If people were in line early and want to not be orchestra level, let them. But also count people at each door to ensure enough seats/seat filling.
-Adjust audio as best as possible (I know, it's a symphony hall... not really made for some things... I know you guys try though). Perhaps an enforcer or two to go around during events and check with people might be helpful (I would have found an audio person if I knew where the mixer was).
-See if at least a temporary line up can be created in the bottom floor of the Benoraya by the coffee shop, if nothing else than to organize and keep people off the street.
OTHER THAN THAT:
-Good job having the shuttle. I know previous years people complained about distance between. We never used, but thank you for having it there.
-Awesome wide aisles in the expo hall. Best expo hall experience in all 5 PAX Primes, EASILY.
-Enforcers, as always, were awesome.
-It was two friends' first PAX and they had such an amazing time.
I got sick at PAX so I decided to stay in one night, and unfortunately the panel I wanted to watch wasn't on Twitch. That said, there was other stuff that I watched on twitch and that was great.
Edit: One more thing. As mentioned above, badge authenticity checker great. Even better would be an official re-sell area. For example, we didn't need one of our Monday badges. I would happily have put it at some official location to be sold (not sure how you would want to do this, but it would also help with the whole authenticity thing). And I think for sought after days (read as: Not Monday on a non-long weekend :P), a lot of PAXers are perfectly happy selling at face value.
By night, a gamer.
PAX Prime 09, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18
A few potential improvements:
1) If the autograph sessions are to be right after a panel that is located 10 minutes away, give panel attendees a "pass" that allows them front of the line access (possibly allowing very early birds to keep their front of line positions)
2) Provide an enforcer presence, or work with the local authorities to keep the WSCC main entrance safer. I saw many young attendees getting hustled as they were leaving the convention. One group was very, VERY aggressive in pushing unwanted CD's onto attendees at $20+ a pop. When returning to our hotel, my son was surrounded by 3-4 of them at one time as they took him for most of his cash on hand.
3) Run a better sound test for the Main Theater - we could only make out 1/2 - 3/4 of Acquisitions Inc and had issues with the first Q&A -
Otherwise - GREAT job from the enforcers and staff - the EXPO hall was easier to navigate and most of the exhibitors were in higher spirits - THANKS..!
Pros: Extra space in the Expo Hall was REAL. Kudos to pulling this off as well as you did. There were very few areas that had bottlenecks. This was much, much better than last year. The main trouble-spot for me was the Capcom booth by the Skyway. Please try and make sure something like that doesn't happen again. Maybe 3 people shoulder-to-shoulder could walk through most of the time when I went through there.
Entry into the Expo Hall was quite easy for me. I showed up on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at a few minutes after 10, walked right in at the Atrium level, and entered the Expo Hall and didn't have to wait in a line.
Cons: Does a rule need to be explicitly written, bolded, and done in flashing lights so people might realize that standing in the middle of a walkway to stop and chat is the dumbest fucking thing they could do in a crowded Expo Hall? It was like a retarded version of "circle the wagons", only they'd face inward instead of outward, and it didn't actually help their self preservation. Having the "no photos of cosplay" rule was nice, but damned if I didn't always get stuck behind a group of people that thought the middle of a walkway (or worse, walkway intersection) was a good place to stop moving and have a nice little chat with one another.
Pin Trading Event - time limit needs to be given to people, or have gated sections to move through. Throughput tends to go down when people hover and get greedy hoping to snag "that one rare pin", but in actuality what they are doing is wasting time and NOT trading, which goes against the entire point of the event.
2015 PAX Prime Omeganaut (I will forever hate Katamari)
By night, a gamer.
PAX Prime 09, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18
1) The shuttles provided were AMAZING! I have a bad back, so tromping over to the Westin even though .3 to .4 miles isn't that much would have ruined me & the rest of PAX for me. However, they were REALLY under advertised. I asked an awesome Enforcer who had to go to another who had to go to another, etc to find out where I could catch said shuttles at the convention center. No one knew about them. The drivers were all super nice & had time to talk. They said the most they saw on their shuttles were under 20 at a time (the shuttles could hold 56 people). I know more people would use these if they knew about them. I sincerely hope they bring them back next year. Just post signs EVERYWHERE for them!
2) Allow us to sit in lines. The aforementioned bad back, while I don't deem it bad enough to get a medical pass, does make it very difficult to stand in one place for long periods of time. I know there are many others that are worse off than me that I'm sure would appreciate being able to sit while waiting in a very long line.
3) Set aside a separate line for BYOC for all the days. I know I & many others go straight there every morning. It would be nice to be able to not stand in the line for the expo when that's not where we're headed.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for another year of time spent with good friends, playing fun games, & meeting new people. It was awesome!
Expo Hall:
No more closing a booth or a section of a booth during the 10-6 hours in order to give exclusive access to press. PAX has always been a show for the regular gamer and I feel like that is changing when you've got press shutting down a demo for 3 hours, even if its just one. I'm specifically referring to Tomb Raider being closed in the Xbox booth from 10-1 on Sunday. The press have literally EVERY OTHER SHOW to get exclusive access. If exhibitors want to do private demos or presentations, please have them do it outside of the 10-6 hours each day! There is nothing worse than finding out that the game you came to see at the show is closed for press on top of being continuously capped! Which brings me to my next issue...
Capped lines! Are they ever NOT capped? Seriously! I came to see Dark Souls 3, The Division, Halo 5, Project Morpheus, Rainbow Six Seige, and a few of the other "big" titles and they all constantly had capped lines. Some of them had DOUBLE the amount of time from what I saw in previous years. Dark Souls was a 3 hour line! How is that even possible? Disneyland has shorter lines! I waited an hour and a half to play Titanfall 2 years ago and it was known to be the longest line at the show that year. So what happened this year? Is PAX just selling more tickets? How is it that the lines are so much longer this year? Also, I have no idea how people get into these demos in the first place because I was constantly met with Enforcers telling me to take a walk and come back, only to rinse and repeat. I got to play Rainbow Six in the Xbox booth out of sheer dumb luck having walked by right as the line moved.
PAX should regulate the content of the booths a little more so there aren't any more overly long demos. I got to play games for about 10 minutes each in previous years. That's fine! I don't need an hour. One year I even gave up my turn at a demo where I got in line for the 2nd time and when I was up, only one person was behind me who hadn't played at all yet. This year I saw people standing at demos for very long periods of time. My Rainbow Six demo must have lasted about 25 minutes. We played 5 rounds at 5 minutes each. I think 2 rounds would have been fine just to keep the line moving faster! I mean more people playing makes for a happier show, right? When I played Titanfall 2 years ago, I think it was about 10 minutes total which was perfect. I went through the line a 2nd time (which only took 45 minutes) and got in another session. That was the BEST PAX experience.
That said, the other end of the spectrum is the Just Cause demo. It was 90 seconds. That's not enough time to even learn the controls. I think after waiting in line for so long, people at the show are owed a little more than that. I want exhibitors to be able to provide the experience they desire to give us, but I think PAX needs to step in at some point and lay down some guidelines. Exhibitors need to understand that what might work for E3 might not fly as well at PAX. It's not work for us, it's recreation, and a lot of us are paying a lot of time, money, and/or PTO to experience it. Nobody is wining and dining us, yknow what I mean? We aren't getting paid to have these experiences. A 3 hour wait for a demo isn't a hazard of the job. And in most cases this year, paying to be there wasn't even enough to get me in the line! The design of each experience should really be considered more thoroughly.
This is a small gripe, but the Bethesda booth was a merch table and a few places to take photos. That was seriously disappointing. They took up a lot of floor space to basically have a photo booth. Maybe others were into that (which is fine) but I wanted to express a little disappointment that they didn't even have so much as a gameplay demonstration for Fallout, Doom, or Dishonored. I remember two years ago, Fable Anniversary had a demo that was just a guy going through the game while people watched. Xenoblade did that this year in the Nintendo booth, and I think last year they did that with Hyrule Warriors too. It would've been nice if Bethesda could've followed those examples.
Again, not trying to be overly negative. Long time PAX goer here! Just want to see the show be the best it can be for all the people who put in so much effort just to be there. Its very hard to even buy passes when they go on sale for all of five minutes on a random Wednesday while most people are at work. Which brings me to:
Buying passes is still really hard!
This will be short, and I don't have a solution which makes me feel bad for complaining, but I hope the process for buying passes is evaluated again and again each year. I'm very lucky to have a job where I can see my twitter notifications go off, drop everything, and dedicate the next half hour of my day to getting passes. However, I have friends who aren't so lucky and miss out each year, only to be faced with buying from scammers outside the building. And honestly, I can't afford to buy a ton of passes at $40 a pop to cover everyone. Which leads me to...
Scammers outside the convention are terrible. This isn't exclusive to PAX, I know, but man isn't there anything to be done with these guys? You walk outside and you see a handful of them with stacks of a dozen passes, just looking to take somebody to the cleaners for one. Its totally shameful and I wish these guys could be stopped because it keeps the real fans from being able to get in.
Alright. Now for the good stuff:
I really liked not having it on Labor Day weekend! My wife was complaining last year that it'd be nice to visit family for the holiday weekend, but she felt like each year I'd be battling for PAX instead. This year we get to do both, so that's awesome. I'm all for having it be the weekend before or after Labor Day again next year.
PAX has a lot going on! I'm a big fan of how many floors there are and how all the space is being used in that convention center. Its pretty great!
The console tournaments were awesome this year! FGC represent! We had a lot of fighting game tournaments. That was nice to see! Also, somebody put on a couple of Vita tournaments too! Unreal. I hope they were successful enough to happen again next year.
Panels are plentiful! I attended the Igarashi panel on Saturday night in the Hydra theater. It was a great experience, aside from having everyone stand nut to butt for way too long. Is there a way to let us in so we can fill seats and wait comfortably? Please think about that for the future.
I'll close by saying I enjoy PAX and look forward to going next year, but I really hope our concerns are taken seriously. Its an awesome show and there is nothing else quite like it in the states, so let's please try to make sure it doesn't become more like San Diego Comic Con. GameStop Expo can say its for the gamers all it wants, but PAX is the real show for gamers and I hope it always stays that way.
PS- Thank you to all the Enforcers! You are all very generous people for giving your time to PAX with no pay in return. I hope the show never takes you all for granted and gives you some perks behind the scenes that we don't know about. Without you, PAX would be crippled!
No queue hall. This was my biggest surprise, I thought it was going to be a disaster with people lined up outside but it was actually managed rather well. I think the added space really helped in the expo halls. Although I was not a fan of blocking off 8th street, as I like to use that garage access point.
Making people aware that the expo halls are not a place to take or pose for cosplay photos. I could finally feel free to walk through the frame when people are trying to block busy isles so that they could grab a picture.
Eliminating 4-day passes. Not much to add there, I'm glad they're gone.
The not so good:
Seattle PD needs to have a bigger presence around the WSCC. It's pretty much the opposite of Boston, with scalpers and panhandlers all over the place and no bag checks. The MTG statue outside the annex had more of a police presence then SPD.
Smoking directly outside of entrances. Can there be some designated smoking spots not directly next to doors? Nothing like stepping outdoors, or just walking by one and instantly feeling like vomiting from all the smoke.
Please stop using Guidebook. The app requires an internet connection to use, something that is non-existent at PAX. Please make a downloadable guide that only checks for updates instead of requiring a data connection to even work. Trying to look up maps and event times became a pain, which brings me to my next point...
For the love of God, please stop renaming auditoriums and venues! Why can't the Paramount Theater simply be called the Paramount Theater for program purposes? Just use the given names instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.
I didn't like that the merch lite booth in the Sheraton was the only spot to get limited edition merchandise. I felt like people staying there, or in nearby hotels, had an advantage to the line. Why not put that LE pins in the main merch booth where everyone has the same opportunity to get there?
But as with every PAX, I had a blast and am very grateful for all the hard work that so many people put into the event. It truly is the best four days of gaming.
Good to know! I couldn't even get Guidebook to open without crashing because it would constantly look for an update, then die. Thank goodness for old fashioned paper guidebooks still being used.
- Scheduling AI and CAH at the same time. I get why it was done, but it still makes me sad.
- Having AI on Friday and concerts on Sat/Sun. As with last year, the performers and attendees were both exhausted by Sunday night. It would be better for all, I believe, if AI was scheduled for Sunday and the concerts for Fri/Sat.
- The hike to the Westin. And the sprint if you wanted to get to an autograph session right after a panel. Either schedule the autograph sessions later, or bring the signing room to a more central location.
One thing I really liked was the off-site merch booth. It made lining up for the booth much easier and less confusing than it has been at the main booth in the past.
"Brilliant! Oh wait, if we were meant to fly, we would have been born with little bags of nuts."
I think more people decided to skip the queue and come later which is great, I just think the front part of the line needed to be thought through a little more. Although, when you're in line you have a lot of time to think about such things and tend to come up with "fair" solutions for your own problem/needs. Otherwise, loved the extra space in the Expo Hall, it was nice to be able to move, although some places could feel cramped. Some booths needs to do a better job at line management within their own space. The Green Coats were fairly chill this year and the Enforcers also seemed more relaxed (you want your Enforcers relaxed). My final criticism is about the Tabletop area - maybe no Magic Tournaments with WotC having two floors of the Annex? Or, if the tournament doesn't fill out the room, those tables can revert back to Freeplay? Sunday night there were wide open tables with signs on them that people could have used. Also no loafing.
Please consider moving the Indie Megabooth though, having it packed into that one tiny corner just cramps the entire thing that much more. I thought that with the extra space from having the queue room turned into expo space that it'd be there instead. It just feels like it's one of the biggest attractions of the show and it's all packed into one of the smaller and harder to get through areas.
You're asking for something the city doesn't necessarily have to offer. It takes money and, more importantly, available police personnel to staff large events like PAX. Boston has roughly 800 more police officers than Seattle. It's also about 30 percent smaller, geographically speaking, which means you might find more officers in the downtown Boston area than you would downtown Seattle on any given day, regardless.
Additionally, scalping is not illegal in Washington state and panhandling not illegal in Seattle. Both are extremely annoying, I'll grant you that. However, until they step outside their legal bounds and start to harass and/or impede pedestrian traffic, SPD has no legal authority to contact them. And trust me, legal authority and police action are being heavily scrutinized in Seattle these days with big brother (DOJ) currently in town.
As for the bag checking, isn't that what the event staff (the non-PA/Enforcer folks) is for? When I go to Mariners games I don't have SPD digging through my pack, I have someone in a bright yellow event staff shirt doing it. Maybe it's different in Boston or other cities in general, but that doesn't happen here. At least not that I'm aware of.
I somewhat rambled there, but I hope it helps answer the initial lack of presence question.
That sucks you had those problems. I talked to the people at the HTC bus and they said if I showed up later than 8:30 there was no way I was getting a spot for the day, so it seems like they had a real miscommunication between web page and reality. And I heard the same thing about Oculus, that lots of people didn't know about it until all the slots were full, which is a bummer.
But as somebody who did hear about the Oculus thing in time to snag an appointment, man that was a great process. I just showed up a few minutes before my appointment time and waited like 10 minutes for a great demo. If I could have reserved slots for other stuff throughout the show that would've been great.