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Pre-PAX Boardgame night at the Sheraton
LexiconGrrl
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
WHAT: A coordinated meetup the night before PAX for anyone with board games, or anyone who wants to play boardgames.
WHERE: The 2nd Floor of the Seattle Sheraton Hotel: 1400 6th Ave.
WHEN: Thursday August 30 @ 4:00 PM until Midnight (Games can continue after midnight, just not upstairs, so the hotel can set up for Friday).
This event is ALL AGES!! It's also FREE! And there are NO SIGNUPS!!! Just show up and have a great time. Feel free to bring your spawn, but remember that PAXers have filthy, filthy mouths and your wee ones may be subject to some exciting new vocabulary.
DEETS:
-400 seats in and around the Grand B Ballroom on the 2nd floor.
-The gaming area will be open until midnight. Any games will need to be moved to the downstairs lobbies after midnight.
-There will be a bar upstairs, by the gaming area. You're also welcome to order food/booze and bring it up from the restaurant/bar downstairs. There will not be table service.
-This event is not paid for, endorsed by, or affiliated with Official Penny Arcade. It is a community-run event.
-The Cookie Brigade will be at the info table en masse. Cookie dropoffs and taste testing to ensure nothing is poisonous will be there.
THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Buy your food and drinks from the hotel. No outside food. It's how we pay for this event that they give us for free.
THE OTHER RULES
- This is important enough to list twice: The hotel gives us this space for free: they don't owe us this event. In return we give them a good bar and restaurant take. Please plan to purchase food and/or drink from the hotel. We all know it's expensive, so plan appropriately. Takeout pizza or outside food is discouraged in the strongest possible terms, and I will be asking people who have food to take it elsewhere. If your budget is tight and you can't afford hotel food, please eat before or go to your room to eat. Thank you in advance for understanding how this whole free-game-night-barter-system-politics thing works.
- Because of fire code restrictions, please game in the designated areas instead of in the hotel lobbies. If you see people gaming in the lobbies, roll a knowledge check to see if they know there's a designated gaming area. Gaming in the bar and restaurant is fine as long as you're not tablesquatting (ie: make sure you continue to order as if the table is turning each hour). Note that the hotel security staff may be policing the downstairs main lobby and asking people to move upstairs so that the non-PAX guests can use the downstairs lobby.
- Please don't be an egregious douchebag. For example, one year some guy decided it would be a great idea to smoke a vape in the ballroom and the hotel manager came and had an unpleasant chat with me about it. This isn't your buddy's garage man cave, please act appropriately. We pride ourselves on being a responsible, self-policing community, so if you see someone acting inappropriately (eating takeout food, smoking, vandalizing or just being a dick), it's a good idea to nicely recommend they knock it the fuck off before management does.
- Be Excellent to each other. We freaks and geeks can be a socially maladroit group, so if someone is shyly lurking by your table, invite them to join. Be patient, be nice. Please don't flip your table.
- Lastly, do not anger LexiconGrrl by breaking the rules. We have worked hard for this event, don't piss on it. There is an excellent possibility that I may be exhausted, half-drunk, and resentful about missing PAX so if I have to intervene between you and the hotel I will ensure that Game Night is the most memorable part of your PAX experience, along with everyone else within a 5 table radius.
-
HOW IT WORKS on the thread
1. If you have games to bring, please post what you're bringing.
2. If you're looking to play a specific game, please post your request.
HOW IT WORKS at the Hotel
1. Your coordinator for the night is LexiconGrrl. You can find her at the Info table with the Cookie Brigade if you have any questions.
2. If you've got a game and are looking for players, put the box top of the game vertically on your table. This is the universal sign for "I don't care who you are, please join us"
3. If you're looking to join a game, look for vertical box tops.
4. We will have a hosted checkout system at the info table. You can drop off games to loan or borrow games there. If you're dropping off, I recommend doing this:
GAME ON!!
WHERE: The 2nd Floor of the Seattle Sheraton Hotel: 1400 6th Ave.
WHEN: Thursday August 30 @ 4:00 PM until Midnight (Games can continue after midnight, just not upstairs, so the hotel can set up for Friday).
This event is ALL AGES!! It's also FREE! And there are NO SIGNUPS!!! Just show up and have a great time. Feel free to bring your spawn, but remember that PAXers have filthy, filthy mouths and your wee ones may be subject to some exciting new vocabulary.
DEETS:
-400 seats in and around the Grand B Ballroom on the 2nd floor.
-The gaming area will be open until midnight. Any games will need to be moved to the downstairs lobbies after midnight.
-There will be a bar upstairs, by the gaming area. You're also welcome to order food/booze and bring it up from the restaurant/bar downstairs. There will not be table service.
-This event is not paid for, endorsed by, or affiliated with Official Penny Arcade. It is a community-run event.
-The Cookie Brigade will be at the info table en masse. Cookie dropoffs and taste testing to ensure nothing is poisonous will be there.
THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Buy your food and drinks from the hotel. No outside food. It's how we pay for this event that they give us for free.
THE OTHER RULES
- This is important enough to list twice: The hotel gives us this space for free: they don't owe us this event. In return we give them a good bar and restaurant take. Please plan to purchase food and/or drink from the hotel. We all know it's expensive, so plan appropriately. Takeout pizza or outside food is discouraged in the strongest possible terms, and I will be asking people who have food to take it elsewhere. If your budget is tight and you can't afford hotel food, please eat before or go to your room to eat. Thank you in advance for understanding how this whole free-game-night-barter-system-politics thing works.
- Because of fire code restrictions, please game in the designated areas instead of in the hotel lobbies. If you see people gaming in the lobbies, roll a knowledge check to see if they know there's a designated gaming area. Gaming in the bar and restaurant is fine as long as you're not tablesquatting (ie: make sure you continue to order as if the table is turning each hour). Note that the hotel security staff may be policing the downstairs main lobby and asking people to move upstairs so that the non-PAX guests can use the downstairs lobby.
- Please don't be an egregious douchebag. For example, one year some guy decided it would be a great idea to smoke a vape in the ballroom and the hotel manager came and had an unpleasant chat with me about it. This isn't your buddy's garage man cave, please act appropriately. We pride ourselves on being a responsible, self-policing community, so if you see someone acting inappropriately (eating takeout food, smoking, vandalizing or just being a dick), it's a good idea to nicely recommend they knock it the fuck off before management does.
- Be Excellent to each other. We freaks and geeks can be a socially maladroit group, so if someone is shyly lurking by your table, invite them to join. Be patient, be nice. Please don't flip your table.
- Lastly, do not anger LexiconGrrl by breaking the rules. We have worked hard for this event, don't piss on it. There is an excellent possibility that I may be exhausted, half-drunk, and resentful about missing PAX so if I have to intervene between you and the hotel I will ensure that Game Night is the most memorable part of your PAX experience, along with everyone else within a 5 table radius.
-
HOW IT WORKS on the thread
1. If you have games to bring, please post what you're bringing.
2. If you're looking to play a specific game, please post your request.
HOW IT WORKS at the Hotel
1. Your coordinator for the night is LexiconGrrl. You can find her at the Info table with the Cookie Brigade if you have any questions.
2. If you've got a game and are looking for players, put the box top of the game vertically on your table. This is the universal sign for "I don't care who you are, please join us"
3. If you're looking to join a game, look for vertical box tops.
4. We will have a hosted checkout system at the info table. You can drop off games to loan or borrow games there. If you're dropping off, I recommend doing this:
GAME ON!!
Happily on Sabbatical. Don't bug me.
LexiconGrrl on
+8
Posts
Will there be any sort of matchmaking system if you are looking for (or open to) additional players joining your game and/or looking for a game to join yourself? I don't recall if there was a system in the past but it might be useful to have something, even if it's just a whiteboard/bulletin board or a google docs spreadsheet of time/game/table number/players needed/etc..
Also it's fun to learn to play new games - it would be cool to find out if anyone is interested in teaching a particular game (maybe your favorite game?) to new players, or maybe trying to play a new game you've never played before.
Also.... what do you think about possibly adding Switch (and/or other mobile/handheld) gaming to the mix for those who might be interested?
https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/212733/pre-pax-dont-call-me-a-peck-boardgame-night-in-ballroom-willow-official/p1
To answer your specific questions:
There is always a matchmaking system
Teaching people to play new games is always a thing at this event
People are welcome to bring handheld games themselves but no e-game official setup is available.
Also, please note the update to the OP for this year's Special Challenge.
Thanks @LexiconGrrl for your reply!! I attended the pre-PAX gaming night in 2016 and I stopped by last year, but I still have a few questions. This is sounding pretty good though!!
1. Great! How will the onsite matchmaking system work? Is there going to be a bulletin board/whiteboard/google doc or ??? (I don't recommend using the PAX forum or twitter because things get buried and out of date quickly and can't be updated easily!) Last time I went there didn't seem to be a functional matchmaking system, but maybe it has improved?
2. Great! How can I find people who are teaching games and/or let people know I want to teach my favorite game? I might like to see something like a board with a list of "Learn to Play!" and a list of games and tables to go to, for example.
3. Great! I'd like to suggest that people who are interested in handheld/portable gaming use the matchmaking system and also put some sort of stand-up sign on their tables to show what game they're playing. It might be nice to have a board listing which games are being played at which tables.
and one new question for tabletop enthusiasts and organizers:
4. Will there be ongoing tabletop matchmaking organization somewhere throughout PAX? That would be nice! Last year I saw lots of empty free play rooms in the WSCC and stacks of games waiting to be checked out from the game libraries and played. The WSCC is open until midnight so we should really take advantage of it!!
Regarding the Special Challenge problem (no contact at the Sheraton) - I wish I could help!! Maybe someone who is local??
Also for 4, I haven't seen anything particularly useful for matchmaking at west, since TT is so spread out.
"Brilliant! Oh wait, if we were meant to fly, we would have been born with little bags of nuts."
The matchmaking system is always at the info table. You have to stop by to sign up. That said, the problem is that there are always WAY more (like probably 500% more) people looking for games than available games open. People also don’t come back to mark off when a game is full, so any system is only useful for about 5 minutes before it becomes inaccurate. After seven or eight years coordinating this event, it’s become clear that there is no *really effective* matchmaking system at an event this big.
Stop by the info table.
People are always welcome to do this but don’t. There’s just not a lot of handheld presence at a board game event. Plus, most people just use the built in matchmaking on their devices. An analog system is redundant and probably won’t get used.
The folks who organize TT for PAX proper are probably not on this thread. There should be another thread on the forums for official TT. This suggestion should be posted there.
Is there anything we (I) can do to assist?
Gah! I wish. The F’ing city took FIVE MONTHS to issue our construction permits, so we just started construction a couple weeks ago. Maybe October?
Noooo! Darn City dragging their heels.
Anyway, back to on topic, it sucks that Sheraton is dragging its feet! Surely SOMEONE there knows that this happens every year?
Re: The Sheraton. This isn’t a big revenue generator for the hotel, so when it happens during a whole-facility buyout, I think it gets eclipsed by all the other Reed/PA activity over the weekend. I also got super busy closing my place in July and didn’t start planning as early as I should have, so there’s that. Hopefully any headaches this year will translate into smooth sailing next year.
Hmm, that is too bad.
Perhaps having a whiteboard (and a stack of markers and erasers) might help - maybe an improved ad hoc matching system might emerge? Being able to see things from a distance rather than having to look at a small piece of paper might also help. Maybe it could help with matching up those extra people based on games they have or are interested in playing. I wonder what other conventions or self-organizing game meetups do.....
Or maybe an effective matchmaking system really is impossible, so we should just give up on the idea?
Edit: Aha! Discord channel sounds like a good idea!!
Could also make a Slack or IRC channel or something?!?!
Maybe some other tools from the internets could be used somehow....
The system we have works reasonably well. I feel no need to put loads of time and energy into changing it for an infinitesimal difference in effectiveness.
Changing the format won’t make people get up and come back to update their game once they’ve sat down. And a lot of people stumble into this event without knowing about it beforehand, don’t have games, and prefer to skip matchmaking because they want to wander around, talk to folks about the games, and use the upturned box tops system instead. A strict matchmaking list assumes everyone is familiar with every game and that’s never, ever going to be the case. People will always want to wander and check the tables out in person.
Games fill up really fast. There’s honestly not a need for a matching system at all; I just provide one because a few folks are shy and don’t want to go query strangers about games, they’d rather be sent to a table in a more structured way, Again, the bigger challenge is that there are waaaay more players looking to join games than games open. Even when the matchmaking works perfectly, there still aren’t seats available.
I’d recommend you attend the event and see how it works firsthand.
game: ShadowRift
why it's awesome: Fantasy co-op deckbuilding, hard to win!
players needed/welcome: YES! (or sorry, we're full)
observers welcome: YES! (or sorry, we're shy/don't have space/etc.)
You could also have sheets or mini-signs for "Learn To Play: <insert your favorite game here>" if people want to run learn-to-play tables. Last year I came by but I was kind of put off because there didn't seem to be an effective matchmaking system or people who wanted to start a new game, and I wasn't enthusiastic about going from table to table asking to join games that already seemed to be in progress, or asking if people wanted to leave their game and join mine. I had better luck two years ago though.
The difficulty here is people being their own games to play. The organizers don’t know what is going to be there.
People do this voluntarily sometimes, especially game devs who are demoing their games. But most people won't use them simply because the game will fill up before they're done writing everything out. We do have a table-to-table code, which is that if you're looking for people to play a game with you, you put the box top vertically on the table. That's the universal code for, "please join us!". If the top isn't vertical, the game isn't looking.
I'm sorry to hear that. Last year we only had like two people bring game libraries and it was an especially bad year for finding people to host games. I think your experience had more to do with the crowd demographic than the matching system; each year that goes by, the forum community comprises a smaller and smaller percentage of this event, while walk-in attendees increase. That means even MORE people who want to join games but not host them, and don't bring games with them. I try to encourage people when they stop by the info table, to start up new games but it's a very organic event and sometimes you just don't get that many willing hosts. I think a lot of people come to this event expecting it to be like a structured, demo-style exhibition - which it's not - it's a community event. If nobody is taking the lead to host a game for strangers, there just aren't any games available to join.
@kropotkin , if you get in early I'd be happy to meet you somewhere to grab badges, if you want to head out for dinner or something and then come game at your leisure.
(Oh maybe I will loan a game or two to the collective if I am not playing it - that is a good idea!)