BYO Computer - why? What's on offer, etc?

PureKrome

Hi - just trying to learn about the offerings for a BYOC. Yes, I understand that specific games might not be confirmed etc. But based on last year .. what was on offer?

Would love to LAN it up with my son with some Overwatch with our PC's. (yes, we do the Overwatch Comp but it might be fun showing him/letting him partake in a more visible comp - seeing the people around him).

Is the BYOC more for a 3 day event? would it be worth it for just one day?

thanks for any help forthcoming

PDP11

I couldn't imagine attending PAX Aus for three days without a BYOC ticket. I'll create a list of advantages in another message. As far as the 1 day/3 day trade-off for competition play, it all depends on how much gear you want to bring and how long you will be utilizing the gear.

Worst 1-day BYOC is Sunday, due to the early close your gear has to be removed before the site closes, I'm talking about 5:30/6:00pm. To enter PAX Aus you have to wear a wristband that on Sunday you collect as you enter via the Queue Room and that is before you can sort out your gear. Note, the venue does not open until 10:00am, Sunday then your equipment has to be tested & tagged for electrical safety, booked in via security and re-assembled at your table. It becomes more painful if you have to make several trips to your car. There may be a very small BYOC queue on Sunday but this should be a trivial issue if you just bring in a laptop or a few minutes delay for PC/monitors, etc. If you are too late or miss the people doing the electrical testing then your gear won't be allowed into the BYOC area.

After subtracting any time for looking at the PAX Aus exhibition space, attending sessions, time out for food/drink, etc., you may have limited time for competition play.

In my opinion the best 1-day BYOC is Friday. The BYOC ticket gets you into PAX Aus at 9:00am, 1 hour before the general public. This allows you to set up your gear before PAX Aus opens. The early years of PAX Aus were a bit of a nightmare for BYOC but now the tagging and electrical testing, processing your gear through the security procedure (bar codes on major items), registration and the LAN/network could not be better. I arrive early on Friday so that I pay early bird rates in the venue car park. This also means I'm at the head of the queue and never suffered from queue delays. May be somebody else can comment.
On Friday and Saturday nights the venue shuts at 11:00pm so you have much more time. Downside is

Saturday is the in-between experience where you don't have the one hour early start but you have the late 11:00pm finish. In theory you start through the Queue Room.

During PAX Aus the Enforcers run competitions (some with prizes) throughout the three days. The schedule is only available in the BYOC area. The other option is to walk around the BYOC room and join other players. I don't play the competitive games the Enforcers organize or support so I can not comment. Somebody else will have to comment on what is available and how successfully these competitions are run by the Enforcers. Another issue needing comment is the actual number of competitors within the BYOC area.

1-day BYOC is viable on Friday and Saturday but questionable on Sunday.