PAX Aus 2015 Pinny Arcade Staff Trading Feedback
Beker
Child's Play Program DirectorSeattleRegistered User, Penny Arcade Staff regular
Child's Play Program DirectorSeattleRegistered User, Penny Arcade Staff regular
in Pinny Arcade
We tried some different things at the Pinny Arcade staff trading session this Aus, and I would be interested in your constructive feedback. If you didn't like something about, the why, and suggestions for changes would be great. Love to hear from people that have been at them before, and people for which this was your first. Feel free to email me at eblandin@penny-arcade.com if you prefer.
-Beker/Erick
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Posts
Interested to know how many Q's duckie/Draven got?
Most people just seemed to treat the "coral" area like a second line, but it certainly wasn't "bad" in anyway.
Pinny Pals Lanyard
The waiting area info table I think worked well, to the extent that maybe having one on the other side as well might be a good idea next year.
Peoples eyes lit up a little more when they could also check out the variety of pins on the computer as well.
"Damn fine pins!"
It was nice to have a quick chat, and I really appreciated Robert going to the (ultimately fruitless) effort of looking for his hobby pin from last year when I asked.
I also didn't feel pressured to get in there and get out - which was nice. I know things could easily get rushed along.
I wouldn't mind something that could facilitate more trading in the queue. There was some but it was kind of hard to do. That feedback isn't all that constructive since I couldn't think of a way you'd do that, but food for thought.
http://pinmash.info - Two pins enter, one pins leaves... then the other pin leaves with a lower Elo rating
Aus14 Omeganaut - Nef
Ok spoilers, but Broderick wasn't available, so they had me hack into the POPR (Pin Operation Plan Response).
"Damn fine pins!"
I'm guessing the idea was that it was a slightly bigger area people could more freely move around in since it wasn't a line, and exchange pins and ask questions about trading from the community members at the table that would otherwise slow down staff trading if they were asked.
Might have been better if they'd had an [E] say something like that or asked Duckie etc to tell the group.
Assuming that was the idea, maybe announce to the group that they can mingle and trade and not have to worry about losing their place in line, since they'd all get in at the same time?
Pinny Pals Lanyard
Hope this helps.
I kept asking you guys if you had the elusive DLC pin and I still believe you do xD
Pinny Pals Lanyard
They did have it. They auctioned it off. :P
I definitely think that the tables could be spaced a bit further apart.
I didn't feel rushed through, so the timing seemed pretty good to me.
I had no idea what the corral area was for and just assumed it was a second line up before going in so maybe some explanation before going in would be good.
I suggest though that maybe you could have another one of those corral areas so that people have a little bit of room to trade while waiting if they want because the enforcers had us all move up to condense the line which is great to fit more people in but no good for trading in line.
Overall it was a good experience but has room for improvements
I appreciated the wider variety of pins to trade, and that the new aus set was there also so people had the option to trade for it instead of buying.
There were a few public trade tables which was good, but it got a little crowded i felt as more people went in.
Apologies if this appeared negative. I was impressed by line management.
One Brigadier did come through the line when I was still queuing, but I think a little table setup (around where the community table was) could be cool, especially if they still had the donation pins available.
Personally I had a good time. This was the first trading session I'd been to, and taking my less experienced pin trader friend around was fun, I gave him a couple of pins to trade for (almost) the full Acquisitions Inc. set and he came out of the session pretty happy (plus I got another Tin Man/Medius from him in return).
I definitely agree that the tables could be further apart. I really liked the amount of time we were allowed to stick around, I got through all the tables twice browsing at a relatively slow pace, but y'all are right in that the Enforcers weren't really taking charge.
[/br]https://www.pinnypals.com/pals/misskass
Well yeah, someone was always going to be at the back of those crowds, I was in my group, but I guess the aim was that there wouldn't be more people coming in and getting in front of you before you had to a chance to get to the front yourself. Def need to let the coral group know they could be trading amongst themselves/moving about/asking questions though.
Pinny Pals Lanyard
Aus14 Omeganaut - Nef
Yes! A large digital timer. I also suggest a 'game show host' guy to comment on trades to help keep those waiting entertained. Kris Straub as host would be seriously funny.
News flash, you can trade with people wherever you want, please don't wait for us to tell you when you can trade. And there was a big whiteboard that said "Ask questions here". That being said, questions and trading was the intention of the holding corral, but we did not have a chance to make signage, and the LM people were new and busy with the line and I did not want to confuse them. If we do it again we shall work on explaining it better.
For reference, and in case I forget we did 40 people at a time with 20 minute intervals. At a PAX where there are more traders we will likely have to increase the numbers (thankfully we will also have more staff tables) and maybe shorten the time (iffy, 20 minutes did seem to be good, and will get harder with more tables).
I love all the feedback. Since we don't get to leave our table its hard for us to tell how things are going during the event.
Nobody uses whiteboard technology any more! It's just lucky one of them at least had a laptop to get the attention of "the youth".
Pinny Pals Lanyard
I didn't see that whiteboard until I was waved past it through the corral area due to being on the other side of the mob in there. Maybe it needs to be taller or off to the other side away from the rope where people were bunching so they could get through into the 'actual' trade area. Putting it next to the rules banner on the right of the questions table would have worked better.
I couldn't understand the need to bunch up to zero personal space in the queue when we had a whole queue room to use, the bunching actively prevented trading. TBH I think having a deli style ticket system, or colour coding us somehow so you could maintain your 'corral group' position but still move a bit and do some trades in the longer queue would work really well for this.
That's certainly what I know a few of us used the space for :-)
Agreed with the comment that we can of course trade with anyone whenever, wherever. I only learned after the fact that the tables i the far corner of the queue room were intended to help with pin trades (correct me if I'm wrong). If there was a sign there (again, correct me if there was one and I didn't notice it), that may mean more people would use it. Alternatively/in-addition, maybe we could schedule in daily "Pin Trade Free-For-Alls" in that area, so we know when we're all going to be in the same place for trades. It's a nice easy way for us to meet some of our fellow pinny-pals and of course some new ones.
Long story short: Loved the opportunity for the trading mechanism and support, looking forward to it improving in the future (I especially enjoyed the meta experience of getting @Beker 's staff pin, as he was the person that first explained the whole pin thing to me in the first place many many moons ago)
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Having the tables a little further apart would be awesome too. Agreed! I knew I would see people on Saturday, but Friday and Sun was all luck to see anyone from the group. I would also suggest moving the 'Pin Trading Area' from the Queue Room to out in the hallway past the merch light booth or even a little farther. The Queue Room was a long way to walk to see if anyone was there, and rarely anyone was who was trading. I found random people using the area for a quiet place to chat and would leave trash all the time. It wasn't an inviting place. Having it out closer to the center would encourage more trading, socializing and we'll get more interest from people passing by and ask questions!
Being near a Merch Booth could be cool. That way all the people that ask us what we're doing and what is this "Pinny Arcade thing", could go straight to Merch and get started themselves. I'm sure that's beneficial to PA eh @Beker ? Eh? Eh?
I'm pretty sure you and I were discussing this in the "first" line at the trading event @luckycharm and then you were kind enough to trade me your duplicate Baby Gabe pin that I'd been on the hunt for :biggrin:
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Being closer to a merch booth isn't a bad idea to me but again it's tough to work out, the pin trading area is transient and really only around for a few hours of the convention, and to put it near the merch booth in the PC/console area would take up a lot of real estate that's better used by other bits of PAX.
[/br]https://www.pinnypals.com/pals/misskass
I think a little more info about how it works could be good for noobs like me. The two-stage queueing process was probably a good way to promote conversation, trading etc, although I didn't see a huge amount of that happening when I was there.
Nusquam Findi Factionis
My Digital Pin Lanyard
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Have you considered investigating the possibilities of fourth dimensional tesseract space?
Pinny Pals Lanyard
This is what I assumed and what I was referring too also. Just the area for the ad-hoc / informal trading. Of course, being in a more prominent location, it's likely to get used by people just having lunch or a rest
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Problem with the trading in the que from my angle was that everyone was more interested in the rope cut than milling off to the side or spreading out to trade. Maybe we can Push people a bit more to do that next year, than just leaving the que to themselves?