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That said, a lot of people did love South for its more low-key vibe compared to its bigger and bolder siblings. I never got to attend, but I heard it had the same atmosphere as the earlier years of East or West before they blew up, and South managed to maintain that atmosphere throughout its lifespan. Which perhaps was the real niche it provided to the PAX lineup.
All of this. 100% why we always went. The low-key nature was just super chill and vibey. It really did feel like home. It will be sorely missed.
Because that's what people want from video game conventions. Same price for a 1/4 of the content.
My Pinny Pal's Lanyard
"Players are artists who create their own reality within the game." - Shigeru Miyamoto
Like in many cases PAX East or West is waiting six hours to play a game for 15 minutes. There’s more to PAX than that, and I understand that desire for a more intimate convention.
That said, given how long they waited to cancel it, it feels like we would have had a PAX South 22 if Texas hadn't opted to make it impossible to mandate proper safety precautions in the time of Covid.
It's for the best that you didn't go. I missed the inaugural, but made it an annual event afterwards. Each year the crowds got a little bigger, the exhibitors got a little weaker, the Enforcers got a little crankier, and the overall event got a little worse-r. Had covid not killed 2020, I don't know that I would have bothered. This year might have been exciting, but I'm not surprised that it's dead. Reed/Penny Arcade struggled to adapt to the expanding Convention Center space and the end result was frustrated attendees. They struggled to capitalize on increased attendance and didn't really support the ancillary community that grows around the PAX. Actually, I take that back, they capitalized in one way - prices grew by leaps and bounds.
A lot of Penny Arcade folks are really loyal to the comic, the writers, and PAX, but for me it was really just a convention that was a nearby chance to play games with friends over a dedicated weekend. By the end, we were leaning towards pooling our PAX (pass, hotel, gas, food) funds and renting a lake house for a weekend and playing games. It would have been a lot cheaper. We might not have gotten to see game demos, but there wasn't much of that happening by the end anyway, just janky flea market vendors as far as the eye could see.
In the end, PAX South is dead and short of its miraculous resurrection PAX is dead to me. I'm sorry San Antonio, you were far too pretty to host a major gaming convention. BGG-con and Comicpalooza it is.
I feel you, also went to PAX South since 2015. While it was annoying prices for tickets rose, at least the hotels were reasonable. But looking at everything, it was doomed to failure thanks to the idiots in charge.
The date chosen was in January, hard to get hype up just after the holiday season when all their games were finished and being sold on shelves for at least a month, if not longer.
We also had a good chance of being what PAX Unplugged is except that instead of doing that they started the Philadelphia PAX Unplugged and set it the month before.
So yeah, everything that would have stacked in our favor was taken out of the equation.
The way they did South this year (completely ignored with Online and they at least attempted to have East, they made no such attempt with South, not even a "lets see if April can work" to then abandon it) was a huge red flag and indication they were pulling the plug. While I am not going to refuse to attend pax in the future as a result of this, this did dampen my enthusiasm for the events significantly. I think a less ambitious pax is a welcome change from the big spectacle that is West (and I assume East is) but they clearly wanted more out of South, but didn't really put the effort into it. Losing Twitch was a big problem; that Mixer went away for other reasons didn't help things.
No PAX South after that felt as large and impressive. But they were accessible. Not just in that tickets were easy to get, and the accommodations in San Antonio were way cheaper than Boston. But also the security was not as intimidating. Boston PD and the security guards at PAX East left a really bad taste in my mouth. For many years entering the convention hall in San Antonio was easy breezy by comparison.
To say nothing of how amazing the river walk was, all the places to eat, and all the margarita's consumed. Now I'll need to find another excuse to visit and fill up at the "Original Mexican Restaurant" down on the walk. Or enjoy the continental breakfast at the Crocket.
PAX South will be missed.
I feel like they only liked that way because they attended other PAXs throughout the year. But if PAX South was the only one you went to it was like getting the short end of the stick.
My Pinny Pal's Lanyard
"Players are artists who create their own reality within the game." - Shigeru Miyamoto
I guess it depends on why you are at PAX. I used to go to West and South every year prior to the pandemic. The last West I went to before the pandemic hit, I had decided that it was too crowded and chaotic and I was going to only attend South from then on. I did that in 2020 and then the rona hit. Now I've lost South. I'm not going to guarantee that I will not attend West again, but I would have preferred to just attend South from now on. This is mainly because I didn't really care what big names were in the main expo hall. I spent a few hours in the expo hall on Day 1, got some merch, and the rest of my time was spend in the BYOC, table top area (MTG), arcade freeplay, console freeplay, etc. The expo hall was the literally the last reason I went to PAX. I understand that this is different for everyone, but this is why South was perfect for me. Huge convention center with tons of tables and seating for tabletop play, as well as spaced out console and arcade areas. I wish there was a con that focused on these things and did away with the expo hall altogether. Or maybe just make the expo hall vendors selling games/accessories/food/etc. If there is, please let me know, because I would love to attend such a con.