[PAX Unplugged] 2017 is this week! Post if you will be attending

Goose!

I don't think I'll be able to go, but I wanted to make sure this is known:

They will update this site with the registration link

OR watch the Official PAX twitter.

Good luck.

EDIT: BTW 4.5 hours means 3:00 PM ET.

Desert Leviathan

Sweet! I'll be going! Still planning to do South next January, but probably dropping Prime this year so I can try Unplugged instead.

Desert Leviathan

Tickets are live! Here's the link!

https://showclix.com/event/pax-unplugged-2017/

Desert Leviathan

One 3 day pass obtained, and the official PAX Unplugged Dice Set because why the hell not. Local hotels look expensive as hell though, probably going to sniff around for somewhere cheaper further out from the convention center, or see if a good room share opportunity comes up.

The Geek

Hey everybody, you should go to this.

Cello

If I'm still living in DC by this point maybe I'll come check it out. I think Philly is a train ride away? I definitely want to do South again next year, at the least.

tynic

Philly is spitting distance from D.C. on the train, you should definitely go

Goose!

The cheaper ticket price is enticing, but $130/night for a hotel is too expensive for me.

Desert Leviathan

So WotC has got to have a big presence at this one... it'd be insane not to. So I think instead of bringing my own D&D adventure to run, I might try to volunteer as an Adventurer League DM, depending on how demanding they are with people's time for that.

Der Waffle Mous

oh hey I'm dragging my sister along to this,

zerzhul

I think this will be great fun

Dex Dynamo

The Hanged Man wrote: »

So WotC has got to have a big presence at this one... it'd be insane not to. So I think instead of bringing my own D&D adventure to run, I might try to volunteer as an Adventurer League DM, depending on how demanding they are with people's time for that.

I'm hoping their presence isn't TOO big, honestly--big, sure, but I have some worries about indie RPGs having a space at the con, and I hope the space isn't dominated by the big companies.

Speed Racer

A big tabletop presence was kinda the only unique thing South had going for it

Kinda wondering what the big Thing of next year's South is gonna be now that there's a whole con dedicated to its old Thing

Cello

South could do really well if it leaned much harder into indie games. I mean, we basically all seem to go at this point because of the inexpensive meetup opportunity it presents, but it could be really neat to see it act as a bigger stage for games that won't be promoted as much otherwise. Maybe help to financially support devs in coming out to the show, that kind of thing.

Speed Racer

Cello wrote: »

South could do really well if it leaned much harder into indie games. I mean, we basically all seem to go at this point because of the inexpensive meetup opportunity it presents, but it could be really neat to see it act as a bigger stage for games that won't be promoted as much otherwise. Maybe help to financially support devs in coming out to the show, that kind of thing.

That's sort of East's thing, isn't it? I mean, not that they can't both focus on that, but it seems like there's a goal to give each pax a slightly unique identity

Speed Racer

Maybe we just become The VR Zone

Convention hall is completely empty except for a rack of VR headsets near the entrance that you put on to enter the virtual convention hall

Dex Dynamo

The lack of GM/Facilitator badges is a bit frustrating for me as well--I know it's not a thing the other PAXes do, but it's a thing every other tabletop convention I know of does, as a way to ensure people have games to play that aren't Organized Play games (going back to my smaller games concern).

Virgil_Leads_You

I think it's probably going to be a thing where South is a place for Broader Nerd Culture, with a tabletop focus,
where as Unplugged might not have concerts, console tournaments, Videogame panels, etc.
but much more dedicated spaces for roleplay and wargames, or likegames of diplomacy, or 5+ hrs of Twilight Imperium.

Like I could see South being the boardgame pax,
and unplugged doing stuff way outside the pax format.
With resources allotted to megagames and Larp events, etc.

I dunno what shape they've specified for unplugged though

Zonugal

Speed Racer wrote: »

Maybe we just become The VR Zone

Convention hall is completely empty except for a rack of VR headsets near the entrance that you put on to enter the virtual convention hall

AND JESUS WEPT!

FOR THERE WERE NO MORE SEASONS TO CONQUER

MulysaSempronius

I love these threads. I don't keep in the loop, so I didn't even know about this. Going for Sunday, since we'll have a kiddo with us ( 4 so maybe a little young). But it's in driving distance, so k that's nice.

Cello

Speed Racer wrote: »

Cello wrote: »

South could do really well if it leaned much harder into indie games. I mean, we basically all seem to go at this point because of the inexpensive meetup opportunity it presents, but it could be really neat to see it act as a bigger stage for games that won't be promoted as much otherwise. Maybe help to financially support devs in coming out to the show, that kind of thing.

That's sort of East's thing, isn't it? I mean, not that they can't both focus on that, but it seems like there's a goal to give each pax a slightly unique identity

Is it? I mean, there were sizeable indie sections when I went last year, but it felt like at least spacewise they were outnumbered by the big name booths...

The Geek

Dex Dynamo wrote: »

The lack of GM/Facilitator badges is a bit frustrating for me as well--I know it's not a thing the other PAXes do, but it's a thing every other tabletop convention I know of does, as a way to ensure people have games to play that aren't Organized Play games (going back to my smaller games concern).

What do gm/facilitator badges do?

Ketar

The Geek wrote: »

Dex Dynamo wrote: »

The lack of GM/Facilitator badges is a bit frustrating for me as well--I know it's not a thing the other PAXes do, but it's a thing every other tabletop convention I know of does, as a way to ensure people have games to play that aren't Organized Play games (going back to my smaller games concern).

What do gm/facilitator badges do?

Board game conventions like Gencon usually have a way to get free badges by committing to running a certain number of hours worth of games. Board games, RPG sessions, LARPs...games of all kinds. It increases the variety of games available for attendees to play far beyond what you would get from just the usual tournaments. It also provides a lot more options for people who aren't with larger groups and won't end up using the lending library.

Goose!

Speed Racer wrote: »

Cello wrote: »

South could do really well if it leaned much harder into indie games. I mean, we basically all seem to go at this point because of the inexpensive meetup opportunity it presents, but it could be really neat to see it act as a bigger stage for games that won't be promoted as much otherwise. Maybe help to financially support devs in coming out to the show, that kind of thing.

That's sort of East's thing, isn't it? I mean, not that they can't both focus on that, but it seems like there's a goal to give each pax a slightly unique identity

East doesn't seem to have one particular thing. Tabletop will still be a South thing because the PAX indie showcase there is board/card game only I thought?

Virgil_Leads_You

I'm looking forward to news and announcements.
I wonder how much they are organizing themselves and how much they are just expecting folk to submit something

Zonugal

Ketar wrote: »

The Geek wrote: »

Dex Dynamo wrote: »

The lack of GM/Facilitator badges is a bit frustrating for me as well--I know it's not a thing the other PAXes do, but it's a thing every other tabletop convention I know of does, as a way to ensure people have games to play that aren't Organized Play games (going back to my smaller games concern).

What do gm/facilitator badges do?

Board game conventions like Gencon usually have a way to get free badges by committing to running a certain number of hours worth of games. Board games, RPG sessions, LARPs...games of all kinds. It increases the variety of games available for attendees to play far beyond what you would get from just the usual tournaments. It also provides a lot more options for people who aren't with larger groups and won't end up using the lending library.

Could this not be delegated down to a group of enforcers?

Dex Dynamo

Zonugal wrote: »

Ketar wrote: »

The Geek wrote: »

Dex Dynamo wrote: »

The lack of GM/Facilitator badges is a bit frustrating for me as well--I know it's not a thing the other PAXes do, but it's a thing every other tabletop convention I know of does, as a way to ensure people have games to play that aren't Organized Play games (going back to my smaller games concern).

What do gm/facilitator badges do?

Board game conventions like Gencon usually have a way to get free badges by committing to running a certain number of hours worth of games. Board games, RPG sessions, LARPs...games of all kinds. It increases the variety of games available for attendees to play far beyond what you would get from just the usual tournaments. It also provides a lot more options for people who aren't with larger groups and won't end up using the lending library.

Could this not be delegated down to a group of enforcers?

delegated down in what way?

Ketar

Zonugal wrote: »

Ketar wrote: »

The Geek wrote: »

Dex Dynamo wrote: »

The lack of GM/Facilitator badges is a bit frustrating for me as well--I know it's not a thing the other PAXes do, but it's a thing every other tabletop convention I know of does, as a way to ensure people have games to play that aren't Organized Play games (going back to my smaller games concern).

What do gm/facilitator badges do?

Board game conventions like Gencon usually have a way to get free badges by committing to running a certain number of hours worth of games. Board games, RPG sessions, LARPs...games of all kinds. It increases the variety of games available for attendees to play far beyond what you would get from just the usual tournaments. It also provides a lot more options for people who aren't with larger groups and won't end up using the lending library.

Could this not be delegated down to a group of enforcers?

I'm sure they could, but I'm not sure that it would work as well. With the kind of GM/event system that a con like Gencon has, you get people bringing games from their own collections to run or even creating brand new games or RPG campaigns. You get people signing up to run exactly the number of hours they want to at or beyond the minimum required for a free badge, without having to make a larger commitment. I can't recall what kind of time commitment is required of Enforcers, but I think it's more significant.

You also get plenty of people who sign up to run events just to run them because they love a particular game and want to share it or teach it, or indie game developers running play-test sessions of their current prototype. Folks who sign up to run events for an even more limited number of hours because they don't care about getting the free badge, they just want to run a game of X for people. Making it an official event gives it a set time and place and allows attendees to sign up for it in advance, as opposed to just grabbing some free play table space and putting up a sign and hoping for the best.

Desert Leviathan

If I could get a special badge for doing my thing of writing up an adventure or two for each PAX and then running it as many times as I can scrape together players for, that would be pretty neat.

But I'm still going to keep doing it anyway.

Goose!

FYI, Southwest airlines is running a special 3 day sale on airfare for August through December. Check it out if you're flying to this thing.

EDIT: Also, Amtrak is running special saver fare on NE travel: https://www.amtrak.com/northeast-travel-by-train-discounts?WT.mc_t=NERSaverFaresNYPJune6th2017_AGR&WT.mc_n=NERSaverFaresPage&WT.mc_r=365

Desert Leviathan

Holy crap, had to go back eight pages to find this.

Anyway, Omeganaut surveys seem to be going out! I just finished mine. On the one hand, a whole new style of PAX demands thorough investigation so I worry about the time constraints of an Omeganaut. On the other hand, they've got to have some kind of bonkers shit in mind for a fully-tabletop Omegathon. So I put my name in the hat, and I'll be happy either way if I get in or if I don't.

Goose!

http://unplugged.paxsite.com/schedule/

Schedule is live! League of Heels are gonna be there with a tabletop show! Dice, Camera, Action Live! in the Friday Night Concert slot! Acquisitions Inc Live in the Saturday Night Concert slot with @World as Myth which I was hoping would happen at South but should have figured would be happening there! Critical Role are also gonna be there! C Team also going to be doing a live show Sunday at 11 AM! Man I wish I had the money to attend.

Desert Leviathan

Seems pretty packed, but so far literally half the events listed are D&D Adventure League, so my sense of how many actual different items are listed may be pretty badly skewed. The most important news for me is AcqInc and the C Team there! Got to show them my folder full of OC Beestingers!

admanb

The Hanged Man wrote: »

Seems pretty packed, but so far literally half the events listed are D&D Adventure League, so my sense of how many actual different items are listed may be pretty badly skewed. The most important news for me is AcqInc and the C Team there! Got to show them my folder full of OC Beestingers!

You're not wrong, but Indie RPGs on Demand is there and they are legit.

Ringo

admanb wrote: »

The Hanged Man wrote: »

Seems pretty packed, but so far literally half the events listed are D&D Adventure League, so my sense of how many actual different items are listed may be pretty badly skewed. The most important news for me is AcqInc and the C Team there! Got to show them my folder full of OC Beestingers!

You're not wrong, but Indie RPGs on Demand is there and they are legit.

Glad you posted this, I was bummed that all I was seeing was DnD

Goose!

DND is surging pretty good right now thanks to the popularity of the twitch streamed sessions (which I think Acq Inc had a very heavy hand in making a thing, if I'm not mistaken).

Desert Leviathan

TEN DAYS

Or eleven. I guess. Depends when everybody's flying/driving/whatevering out.

I am already 100% useless at work. Been sitting here at my desk, half-assing whatever tickets get escalated to me, repairing old equipment with my brain on autopilot, and trying to decide if I'm going to take one character through three days of Adventure League stuff, or pull someone new out of the character file every time so a bunch of these old concepts can finally see some daylight.

Goose!

Still wish I was able to afford going to this. Have fun!

Desert Leviathan

So we're less than a week away. Who else is actually going? I've got a three day pass, and since I'm mostly hearing about other people dropping in for a day, I can probably set up the GroupMe if one's needed.

Ringo

Three day pass! Staying in an Airbnb

zerzhul

I will be there, not sure of my plans yet.