Line estimation?

Aerothorn

Long story short, I didn't pre-reg. There is a Mechwarrior event I want to go to on Friday. Stupidly, it's at 3:00. How early would I have to go to get my tickets and get in in time? What percentage of the attendees (estimated, of course) are pre-regs vs. people buying at the door?

Officer

To be honest, once the doors open and the line starts moving, it really moves. It will take less than an hour to get the line inside. Not sure about how long the purchase process takes on an at-the-door badges, but as long as people have cash and a no-nonsense attitude, I would bet on getting in plenty early to be in the Mechwarrior event

TrainwreckX

Recruit wrote: »

To be honest, once the doors open and the line starts moving, it really moves. It will take less than an hour to get the line inside. Not sure about how long the purchase process takes on an at-the-door badges, but as long as people have cash and a no-nonsense attitude, I would bet on getting in plenty early to be in the Mechwarrior event

Not sure about this. At the first PAX there was an early Warcraft III tournament on the first day, and I didn't pre-reg. Suffice it to say, by the time I got in there the tournament was well underway, and I went straight up there when I got in.

Officer

TrainwreckX wrote: »

Recruit wrote: »

To be honest, once the doors open and the line starts moving, it really moves. It will take less than an hour to get the line inside. Not sure about how long the purchase process takes on an at-the-door badges, but as long as people have cash and a no-nonsense attitude, I would bet on getting in plenty early to be in the Mechwarrior event

Not sure about this. At the first PAX there was an early Warcraft III tournament on the first day, and I didn't pre-reg. Suffice it to say, by the time I got in there the tournament was well underway, and I went straight up there when I got in.

Ahh well, I was just basing my info off of my experience in the Pre-Reg line from last year. The doors opened and everyone was inside in about 30 minutes. I don't really know how efficient the purchasing at the door will be, so it is a bit of a toss up. It also depends on your place in line. If you really want to be at that Mechwarrior event, you need to be there pretty early.

TrainwreckX

Recruit wrote: »

TrainwreckX wrote: »

Recruit wrote: »

To be honest, once the doors open and the line starts moving, it really moves. It will take less than an hour to get the line inside. Not sure about how long the purchase process takes on an at-the-door badges, but as long as people have cash and a no-nonsense attitude, I would bet on getting in plenty early to be in the Mechwarrior event

Not sure about this. At the first PAX there was an early Warcraft III tournament on the first day, and I didn't pre-reg. Suffice it to say, by the time I got in there the tournament was well underway, and I went straight up there when I got in.

Ahh well, I was just basing my info off of my experience in the Pre-Reg line from last year. The doors opened and everyone was inside in about 30 minutes. I don't really know how efficient the purchasing at the door will be, so it is a bit of a toss up. It also depends on your place in line. If you really want to be at that Mechwarrior event, you need to be there pretty early.

Well, like I said, my issue was at the very first PAX. They've probably sped it all up by now.

Snickers

Recruit wrote: »

Ahh well, I was just basing my info off of my experience in the Pre-Reg line from last year. The doors opened and everyone was inside in about 30 minutes. I don't really know how efficient the purchasing at the door will be, so it is a bit of a toss up. It also depends on your place in line. If you really want to be at that Mechwarrior event, you need to be there pretty early.

I dunno, 30 minutes sounds too optimistic. I remember being relatively close, and getting in in about 20 minutes. But I also remember there being a LOT of people behind me in the line. It went around the corner if I remember right. The lines at PAX have always been long. I would suggest showing up, at the bare minimum, 1-2 hours beforehand. I personally will be there much earlier then that, since I will have to get my tickets at the door as well. I will be trying for about... 10-10:30 AM on Friday.

Shauk

well as I posted in another thread, I think the fact that this convention center is bigger than what the PA guys have been dealing with in the previous years will be making the lines move a little faster, mainly the biggest slowdown at meydenbauer was the 3 way bottleneck to 2 of the exhibition halls and the escalators. I think it should go faster this year.

Aerothorn

I hope so. I'm not one for waiting in lines, so if the wait really was an hour+, I'd probably just skip the mechwarrior tournament (and sadly, the storylines in games panel) and go later in the day when the line was less.

Thanks for the estimations. Guess I'll show up at 1:00 and see how things go. I read somewhere on these boards that they start selling tickets at 10 - is this true? So could I waltz in early, buy a ticket, go somewhere else, and come back later when the doors opened?

JCRooks

This is going to be my first PAX too. That said, I was just at the convention center when they held Gamefest last week (MS's developer-centric conference). There were roughly 1,000 people there and the 6th floor area, where it all took place, was extremely spacious.

That said, I've heard estimates of 30,000+ attendees. That's ... amazing. I'm excited to see how it all turns out.

Aerothorn

It's actually my third PAX, but I was barely present at the last two, as the first one I just did Mechwarrior with some friends, and the next one, well, I had to leave in a hurry. So I always feel like a newbie even if by most standards I'm a vet.

BigRed

Aerothorn wrote: »

I hope so. I'm not one for waiting in lines, so if the wait really was an hour+, I'd probably just skip the mechwarrior tournament (and sadly, the storylines in games panel) and go later in the day when the line was less.

Thanks for the estimations. Guess I'll show up at 1:00 and see how things go. I read somewhere on these boards that they start selling tickets at 10 - is this true? So could I waltz in early, buy a ticket, go somewhere else, and come back later when the doors opened?

Even the day of purchase ticket line will be massive.

There isnt escaping lines. Even though PAX is in a much larger building, there are just that many more people.
The lines will be better managed this year though

Icithis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMEAfqrp1-Q That speaks for itself. Enjoy.

phamtq

Icithis wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMEAfqrp1-Q That speaks for itself. Enjoy.

Hopefully it won't be as bad due to the bigger area. More shade too probably.