PAX 2008 Suggestions Thread

Earley

Ahh, c'est domage. PAX 07 is over, but I had a great idea for next year, and I thought everyone could chime in with their ideas to make the show even better, if that's possible.

I really just had the idea that Dr. Scholls should sponsor next year, with small nap rooms that might have quiet music and foot massagers to relax in for half an hour or so during the hectic show. The beanbags were great, but too many of them were in the main path, which made it difficult to relax any day except Friday. Also, get them to put comfy gel foot inserts in the swag bag.

Here's the TV spot they can use. Gamer 1 kills gamer 2 in a violent and overpowered hurricane of pvp. Then he griefs him for a few minutes. After that, they can get up, meet face-to-face at the table, and become friends. "It's no big deal, I'm gellin. Are you Gellin?" "Yeah, I'm gellin" and maybe slap a high five. hahaha Anyone else's feet hurt besides mine?

Houn

Mine are sore, but not too bad. I walk at least a mile or two every day anyway, so my legs and feet hold up fairly well.

My biggest suggestion for next year would be a dedicated "chill room"; take the beanbags and put them in a quieter location, maybe add a TV, and people can just hang out, talk, DS, or whatever.

Druhim

my feet were fine but then I'm used to walking all over Seattle and have good shoes

Kuribo's Shoe

my feet were fine but for pax 2008 could you rebuild seattle on a level plane I'd appreciate that

davidtg

Machinima Film Festival, imo.

---

Dude! Where's my Mount?
www.apt-t.com

Druhim

once the big earthquake hits everything should be leveled and we'll need to rebuild the entire city anyway

Nephirij

and instead of rebuilding seattle, we shall build New New Arcadia. And then we will have PAX all year round. For Free.

Druhim

yeah, whatever

Phanman

Have the camera guys not run out of tape at the concerts so we actually get Minibosses on the PAX08 DVD. I'm pretty bummed most of their concert was not filmed. =/

schenksmill

Overall, I thought things were run pretty well. The tournaments were mostly not delayed too much, so that was a pretty nice. The amount of random BYOC tourneys was also pretty awesome.

Only thing I can say is if there's a Rock Band/Guitar Hero tourney again next year, don't use LCDs that need 40-60ms lag correction, and maybe some headphones so we can hear the music :P

proXimity

I'm amazed that nobody's mentioned this yet- WE NEED BAWLS! Not that shitty $2.50 stuff that the convention center was selling, but pure, unadulterated, dollar a bottle, $20 for a case of 24, OFFICIAL Bawls.

FKGJollyRoger

proXimity wrote: »

I'm amazed that nobody's mentioned this yet- WE NEED BAWLS! Not that shitty $2.50 stuff that the convention center was selling, but pure, unadulterated, dollar a bottle, $20 for a case of 24, OFFICIAL Bawls.

/Agree

That was pretty lame.

Zanken

Though this is my first PAX and I enjoyed it thoroughly, I thought the freeplay rooms were a travesty. There may have been 10-15 screens per room and maybe on average 4 or 5 were being used at any 1 time. Freeplay rooms are great for wasting time between other stuff you wanna do and meeting strangers who play what you do. No one wants to stand in line to play against a group of people they probably play with at home.

This is the suggestions thread though, and all the really makes sense to me is to have all TVs running something that people can just sit down and play, and have the enforcer desk take requests for new games. I'm aware that things were different in past years so I guess there might be something I'm missing.

Stabbity Style

Yeah, I was pretty disappointed at a lack of proper Bawls. I ended up gettting my drinks at the 4th floor Subway, just because it was cheap and convenient.

FKGJollyRoger

A couple of my friends and I went and cleaned a QFC out of their Bawls stock, at the usual $1.50 a bottle.

nintendoFREAK

They should build their own building. An arcade. They could call it Penny Arcade (or Olympus or the Home of the Gods). It should have over 1,337 (or 13,337?) machines open all year long (potentially costing only a penny per play if possible), and then a ton of space to be used but once a year, perfectly constructed to accommodate the needs for PAX. Futuristic (yet possibly archaic at least in design such as in the comic) in both design and function (think of a bathroom that flushes and dispenses soap, water and paper towels automatically --- I've never understood why I've never been to a single bathroom that does all of those things).

I would donate so much money to that building fund. It would be a building of the people. PAX would be for gamers by gamers, and paid for us by us (to a further extent than badge pricing).

Take the idea presented in this post, perpetuate it, become a proponent, and promote it. Let it be heard, but never forget its origins by bookmarking it.

Yeah.

Buraisu

Suggestion: Chairs during all events that require more then 10mins of standing. *Cough* Like the last event. *Cough*

strangemusic

Buraisu wrote: »

Suggestion: Chairs during all events that require more then 10mins of standing. *Cough* Like the last event. *Cough*

It would be unfathomably crazy to try and put out that many chairs, probably the whole con was in that room watching sweet delicious Halo. But yes, more places to sit would be nice! Sumo bags for long lines perhaps? (yes I know it's an insane idea)

KirbyPuckett

Bawls tastes awful.

superjoe

East coast PAX plz?

Buraisu

strangemusic wrote: »

Buraisu wrote: »

Suggestion: Chairs during all events that require more then 10mins of standing. *Cough* Like the last event. *Cough*

It would be unfathomably crazy to try and put out that many chairs, probably the whole con was in that room watching sweet delicious Halo. But yes, more places to sit would be nice! Sumo bags for long lines perhaps? (yes I know it's an insane idea)

I will set them up personally.

Kuribo's Shoe

standing is hard

stiill

Minibosses phoned it in at the concert, but rocked (obviously) at the final ceremony. Maybe give 'em a year off next year to come up with some new material, or just have them do the special events. I'm not blaming them for being bored of playing the same set list year after year, but it's a little depressing to watch them get progressively more bored year after year.

Also on the concert note: I know Saturday's the big night, but maybe spread some of the headliner love to Friday? You want to give the headliners plenty of time to play, but three bands each with full sets is a long-ass concert.

The con-wide games (i.e. TerraDrive, nVidia badge match) are a good idea that could be better with more refinement. Might be worth PA coming up with something official?

PC Freeplay was sweet. Suggestion? Keep it that way.

Panels: awesome panelists this year! The Q&A was hit or miss, though. Maybe cut Q&A to half the session (for expert-filled panels such as the MMO one), and have some more pre-screened questions or something for the first half.

Aiolar

FKGJollyRoger wrote: »

proXimity wrote: »

I'm amazed that nobody's mentioned this yet- WE NEED BAWLS! Not that shitty $2.50 stuff that the convention center was selling, but pure, unadulterated, dollar a bottle, $20 for a case of 24, OFFICIAL Bawls.

/Agree

That was pretty lame.

I have photos each year of the awesome Bawls booth - sculptures with the bottlecaps, or the massive amounts of blue bottles... I was rather dissappointed not to find such a booth this year (I think I may have stumbled across something in the Exhibition Hall that sold Bawls, but I only found it once, and it didn't look very memorable). Also, PAX just isn't the same without a constant supply of Bawls in pill (the mint thingies) or liquid form.

Shin-RYU

Hey all,


I had a great time, but something seemed to be missing....Oh yeah! FIGHTING GAMES! We need tournaments for Street fighter (all types), Soul Calibur, Tekken, Dead, or Alive, etc. I was really bummed that fighting game tournaments took a big back seat at this years PAX. I hope this can be remedied next year. Honestly, this is really my only gripe.

btmspox

First PAX for me. Had an absolutely wonderful time. My suggestions are all venue based. The layout at WSCC sucks, and that's hard to deal with. I hope next year the big rooms used for lines will be used for something else and we'll see less lines with more things to occupy our time. As someone else stated, there was lots of room in the freeplay rooms everytime I went there, but the line at the console freeplay table was always long. Maybe they were out of systems (sponsors?) but I wouldn't think they'd have more screens than systems. Maybe they needed more volunteers. If that's the case, I hope there's a call for more volunteers, I'd certainly help out next year if needed. Also more screens for watching the tourneys and the overcrowded theaters.

I've done networking at cons before, and I understand the desire to have clearwire do the networking to keep it simple, but a better network would have been awesome. Wireless was spotty and really needed to exist in the line rooms.

I've posted on my blog about all of this as well, hoping to garner some attention for PAX. Thanks to everyone for a great con.

jenelle

My only real gripe was the constant badge checking. After you were in, you were in, right? Nope, once at the bottom escalator, once at the third-floor escalator, once at the entrance to the expo hall... and every time getting asked to turn it around because it was swiveling. It was more friendly when enforcers did the checking instead of faceless security, too.

Kuribo's Shoe

turning your badge around is certainly a painful process

I'd prefer actual security to volunteers at a big event like this

wenchkilla

Mario Strikers Charged Tournament.

This is not an option.

If one does not happen I will personally be organizing an unofficial one in a hotel room or something.

Dyrwen66

Phanman wrote: »

Have the camera guys not run out of tape at the concerts so we actually get Minibosses on the PAX08 DVD. I'm pretty bummed most of their concert was not filmed. =/

I was right by the camera boom operator. He ran out of film about 3 times during the concert, it seemed like, but they replaced each set of film in less than a minute-two max. So thankfully they were filmed with nearly no interruption.

But yes, more film this next time. I'm sure they were being filmed via other means than the one beam operator though.

Edit: I, too, would love some better foot gear or maybe a more secluded area to rest with a multitude of bag chairs and other kinds, if only for a spot to rest in between events. Otherwise this time around, it was 100% better than last year's show because of the venue. The 4 floor travel was tiring, but I like that it at least gave us room to move around.

QuizMaster

I know this has been said before. But here I am, saying it again.
Khoo and A.

If only there was a way to guarentee one more free hour for Khoo in order for him to do this.

Ezzelin

I second the call for more chairs in the concerts. During the Friday night concerts, there were a few rows of chairs in the back, which worked perfectly. Saturday, it was down to 1-2 rows, which was alright, but I always worried about finding a seat if I left mine for a few minutes. Sunday, all the chairs were stacked and we were told not to take them out. Could a few rows be left out until the end? Even though I did stand for some of the concerts, people should be able to sit and enjoy some music / Omegathon if they want to after being on their feet all weekend. Besides, the back of the main theater never filled up, anyway, so there would be plenty of room for a few rows of chairs, especially when they get the huge ballroom on the 6th floor next year. Also, some enforcers handing out earplugs at the main theater would be nice. I had some, but they seemed a prerequisite for that beefy of a sound system and people might not know that. One more note about the sound system: it would be nice if the bass could be turned down a bit so that the screens and my lungs wouldn't vibrate so much. It felt very uncomfortable the times I got close to the stage.

Other than that, I really enjoyed the concerts. The Neskimos were amazing; I hope they come back next year. Also, that they made all new arrangements for PAX was much appreciated and amazing, in contrast to the Minibosses, which seemed to be a tiny bit bored playing the same stuff. I would love to hear them play some new stuff too, but I suppose that's all up to them.

Nephirij

i was at the stage all through Saturday night's concert. and i was without earplugs. i had absolutely no problem with the sound.

Mellzah

Music suggestion: Voltaire would be perfect for PAX, what with many songs about Star Trek, and one of the funniest Star Wars songs ever written; he fills a concert hall by himself at Dragon*Con every year, so the con experience is not a new one for him!

Also, I'm totally beating a dead horse here, but I think nerd comedy would be another great fit!

Eyes5

Considering the increase in space and people this year compared to last year, I was surprised that the Console Freeplay table remained the same size. The lines for freeplay are just as bad as they were last year!

My suggestion is that, since there are various rooms for freeplay, each one of them should have a designated system and a table at the entrance catering specifically to that system. It would speed up organization, and divide the line into manageable portions, and each desk needs only to be staffed by a few people.

Bionic Monkey

My wife had the idea of setting a screen up in the line area to play trailers during the long waits. I know we have DSs and PSPs to play, but goddamnit, we're all a little OC fucking D, and some more distraction wouldn't hurt. Also, please move theater B to an actual theater next year, or move the DDR machine much further away. It was very difficult to actually hear what people were saying, and some of the most interesting panels were held there.

Also, Khoo and A.

PanzeRIV

PAX WAS AWESOME THIS YEAR!!! It had a ton more room than the previous which made lines move fast. the only 2 things i would have changed about it and that would be more tourneys (maybe make it so 2 pc or console tourneys could be going at the same time but different games thus doubling the tourneys) maybe throw in a couple of older games in like Age of Empires 2 wouldn't hurt. and the second make all the theater things actually in a separate room and not just in a corner with a projector we went to the chatter box quiz thing and couldn't hear or see a damn thing in Pax06 it was in a big room with plenty of seats and every one could hear and join in. But still if in Pax08 every thing was the same as this one i would still undoubtedly have an awesome time and would like to thank the people who put this PAX together a HUGE round of Applause THANKS!!!!

Lynx_

eyes5, I like your idea for Console Freeplay. That would have helped us a LOT when we had to close room 305 for the Shadowrun tourney. Also, that way we could have people watching the doors AND doing checkout, cause the people doing checkout/in were swamped while everyone else was just...watching doors. Enforcers could also work at the station that they know jackshit about as opposed to attendee going "how's Deadrising?" and me going "uh....do you like WarioWare?!" The only issue is that we wouldn't really have enough computers to have a checkout AND in at each room, and trying to run both on the same computer could be painful, but who knows. I can ask Kethenn (he runs CF) closer to next year

Soularis

Ezzelin wrote: »

Also, some enforcers handing out earplugs at the main theater would be nice. I had some, but they seemed a prerequisite for that beefy of a sound system and people might not know that. One more note about the sound system: it would be nice if the bass could be turned down a bit so that the screens and my lungs wouldn't vibrate so much. It felt very uncomfortable the times I got close to the stage.

I kinda agree with the earplugs i too was right next to the speakers and as far as i know my hearing is still fine. But a buffer for the sound may have been nice. As for the bass, Your Crazy that's the whole reason i was by the speakers... I like to FEEL the music too >.>

As for the feet thing. I opted to break in new shoes for PAX! not the best idea but my other ones i wore to work too many times and you should all thank me for not wearing them... >.>

Granted by the time freeze pop finished playing and my jumping around and whatnot during the concert needless to say i felt like i had various blisters started... T_T

I didn't much care for the layout of the event myself either. I think sakuracon had a much better layout earlier this year to be honest. maybe if they had had the walls set up in the PC hall to break it into 2 large rooms (one freeplay one BYOC) with a large hallway between them it would have been a bit better. but those narrow side halls sucked for traffic.

I also think the rooms on lvl 5 where they had the concerts for sakuracon were much better for concert experiences as well. They had the big main screens up front and large plasma screens mounted for ppl further back as well.

I could be wrong but i don't think they used lvl 5 at all and i liked how sakuracon had several smaller panels scattered all around up there.

Now this isn't about how sakuracon is better mind you. I think PAX is a better event i just think sakuracon had a much better layout for the venue...

I Love the bands that are there but i would like to see some of Captain D's Pirate Rap next year! Granted its not really game themed but lets be honest in our hearts we are all pirates...

Also get rid of the stupid wrist bands i got one every day and it never seemed to matter. the concert hall was more than spacious enough and i don't think i was ever once checked for one.

Phanman wrote: »

Have the camera guys not run out of tape at the concerts so we actually get Minibosses on the PAX08 DVD. I'm pretty bummed most of their concert was not filmed. =/

We should go digital! hey they did it for starwars... >.>

proXimity wrote: »

I'm amazed that nobody's mentioned this yet- WE NEED BAWLS! Not that shitty $2.50 stuff that the convention center was selling, but pure, unadulterated, dollar a bottle, $20 for a case of 24, OFFICIAL Bawls.

quoted for truth...

I had an enforcer say that coke had a contract with the venue and that bawls couldn't sell their stuff there but if that's the case i don't know why all the mini places were allowed to sell it at a highly inflated price...

superjoe wrote: »

East coast PAX plz?

Call me selfish but ima have to disagree with this one... Seattle, WA FTW

well that's all i got for right now. All in all i had an outstanding time and now that i have experienced the BYOC room i don't know if i can ever attend again without such a luxury

titanmatrix

what we really need for next year is one, More panels(just because theres a concert, doesn't mean you stop having things happen).
I understand why they couldn't do the bawls thing(it was a union agreement) and frankly, I'll take SCTC over Meydenbuer, I like having room to breath, and not feel like i'm acosting the person in front of me.
We need more Board game tournaments, and we need the freeplay area's to be on the way to the pannels so that we can have something awesome to do in between areas. I know handheld lounges....but.....Some of us don't have handhelds or forget them, so it would be great to have on the way places for those of us without.

Nitpicky things, companies that have minatures but no demos of them...I'm looking at you wizards of the cost)

Oh and can we get real rooms for satalite theater B next year? placing the DDR machines right next to a theater is a pain in the ass to listen to.

There were some good ones at the second GT pannel, such as Using the Ball as a yearly charity.

I think that unless next year explodes in population, I say yay SCTC.

the only thing i'd want more is 2 pax's a year.



I have a bunch of othes but i full for now

Buraisu

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