The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Convincing the Mrs. of PAX goodness
VThornheart
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm psyched about this year... I haven't gone since the first year, because I was utterly unable to convince my wife (who wasn't my wife that first year... I went with my roommates) that it was worth going to. She's always been into gaming, but I guess she was afraid that she wasn't "hardcore" enough to go to something like PAX.
Anyways, she's on the fence of finally being willing to give it a try. I imagine since PAX was awesome even at the small convention center the first year, it must be exceptional now that they're in the bigger center.
She's still sitting on the fence though... and I'd like to get us pre-registered if possible, so I need to convince her within the next month or two.
Is there anyone else who has experienced a similar situation? Were you able to convince your better half, and what points did you bring up?
I think for my wife, her biggest fears are that (A) she'll be one of the only women there (which I couldn't honestly defend against... the first year had an exceptionally low girl-to-guy ratio, and I don't know if that's changed much) and (B) Her kind of gaming won't be well represented (She's into things like the Sims, and I can't promise her there'd be any gaming or interesting discussions about things like that around... but also games like World of Warcraft, which I try to tell her that the PA group is into in general). She also isn't a big fan of being around people she doesn't know, which in general I am trying to help her overcome (as it causes her to not want to do many social things at all).
I think she'd have fun playing in (some of, though she might not do very well) the tournaments and seeing the shows and presentations (particularly the music)... but she needs a little nudge in the "give it a try" direction.
Anyways, any advice on the situation? Hopefully I'll see you guys at PAX!
Anyways, she's on the fence of finally being willing to give it a try. I imagine since PAX was awesome even at the small convention center the first year, it must be exceptional now that they're in the bigger center.
She's still sitting on the fence though... and I'd like to get us pre-registered if possible, so I need to convince her within the next month or two.
Is there anyone else who has experienced a similar situation? Were you able to convince your better half, and what points did you bring up?
I think for my wife, her biggest fears are that (A) she'll be one of the only women there (which I couldn't honestly defend against... the first year had an exceptionally low girl-to-guy ratio, and I don't know if that's changed much) and (B) Her kind of gaming won't be well represented (She's into things like the Sims, and I can't promise her there'd be any gaming or interesting discussions about things like that around... but also games like World of Warcraft, which I try to tell her that the PA group is into in general). She also isn't a big fan of being around people she doesn't know, which in general I am trying to help her overcome (as it causes her to not want to do many social things at all).
I think she'd have fun playing in (some of, though she might not do very well) the tournaments and seeing the shows and presentations (particularly the music)... but she needs a little nudge in the "give it a try" direction.
Anyways, any advice on the situation? Hopefully I'll see you guys at PAX!
3DS Friend Code: 1950-8938-9095
VThornheart on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
Secondly, although I would say that games like the Sims are rather less appreciated, you are right in that there are plenty of MMO people and panels and whatnot.
And third, where it comes to socializing, I seriously cannot think of any group more welcoming and inclusive than PAX goers. Whether you meet people at the pre-PAX dinner or breakfast, or in the line, or at an afterparty, everybody is very outgoing and willing to get to know people because of so many common interests. A lot of people have said PAX is like a gathering of tens of thousands of friends, and it's quite true.
A) The female:male ration isn't much of a big deal these days. Pulling some numbers out of my ass based on my wanderings at PAX07 I'd say the ratio of females to males was about 1:3 The vast majority of these numbers come from couples coming to PAX.
B2) If she can't get over interacting with strangers at PAX, she'll never get over it. You are surrounded by a massive crowd of polite, like minded, gamers. You can, and should, strike up random conversations with people as you wander around PAX. It's not like the real world where you have to talk about the weather or sports to try and get a conversation started.
I'm sure more people our little group of PAX-addicts will chime in, but if you want to go the horse's mouth as it were, join us on IRC at irc.slashnet.org in room #paforums_pax
Also, I can safely say that there are girls at PAX. If she wants to meet one, have her talk to me.
(B) While theres not much sim-style things con wise, there bound to be TONS of people who share her interest in it to chat with. I had so much fun just having random talks in line with the people around me. And WoW is EVERYWHERE. so there is no lack of stuff for her to see and do on that front
As for the not liking to be around a lot of people, if there was ever a place to ever get over that, it's PAX. As the others said, PAX is one of the most friendly and cheerful places you can imagine. And if she'd like to get to know some people beforehand, tell her to come to the forums or chat and get to know some of us regulars. These guys are like family to me now
yes, yes, yes!
I'll be sure to bring that up... she might end up spending the whole weekend going to other towns in Animal Crossing.
I'll pass along the other points you guys made too. The higher girl/guy ratio might put her more at ease, and the DS idea (I didn't realize it was big at PAX... I'll have to bring mine as well
Thanks for the help guys!
...
VICTORY!
She got excited when I told her about the DS gaming, and when I told her about the possibility of going there by train (brought up by another thread), that seems to have sealed the deal. She's gung ho about it now, which means I'm finally going back to PAX!
Sounds like it's about ten times larger than it was before... I might be overwhelmed, as I thought PAX was huge when I went the first time (when it was about 3000 people). Should be fun.
Now I have another problem to contend with. She wants to find a way to make this a "two-fer" trip... she's been wanting to go to Alaska for a long time, and she figures since we'd be about halfway there when we get to Seattle, we can go the other leg of the journey and make it up to that frozen tundra.
So, that being said... anyone know of an inexpensive way to get to Alaska from Seattle? Since we'll be taking the train, we won't have our car to drive the journey. =( I suppose we could rent one though, but I don't know what the law is about taking rental cars across country borders (since we'd have to go through Canada to reach Alaska by car).
Maybe this should be for its own post in the Advice board. I'll pull it over there.
Aye, I tried looking it up for about an hour earlier today when we got excited about the train thing. It looks like there's no line that goes further than about halfway up the canada leg as far as I could find. Nothing that would go directly (or even indirectly) into Alaska itself.
But I may have been looking in the wrong places... I'll continue the search.
Ah, lol, we must be looking at the same website!
I JUST (as in, just a minute ago or less) looked over there too... took the link to ferryalaska.com. Looks like the fare from Bellevue to Juneau is almost 400 bucks per person per way... which throws us up to the astronomical rate of 1600 bucks for the 2 day trip each way... and that's without a room during those two days. =( Suckfest. Though perhaps that's the only game in town... my next step is to look at airfare, I'll be doing that right now.
EDIT: Thanks for helping me with this, by the way. It's very good of you, I appreciate it!
I just looked, and if I could find a way to get to Prince Rupert in Canada, it'd only be ~150 one-way per person, which would bring it up to a much more manageable 600 dollars for the two of us round trip. Maybe it's wishful thinking (because now I'd need a way to get to Prince Rupert), but I'll have to keep it as a possibility.
EDIT 2: I just noticed that same website says that flying will be the cheapest by far. I guess it's the game in town for me.
EDIT 3: I find it ironic that a 5 night cruise with a room overlooking the ocean is cheaper than the ferry ride without ANY room.
so i take it you'd be joining us on the coast starlight then? awesome! the West Coast Train Trip or TrainCon is a journey of epic proportions. . . . i think I'm going to start making a promotional vid to entice other potential train goers. 8-) until then enjoy these two vids
{Fondly remembers the PAXTrain}
Woot! Yeah, my wife's pumped about it now. She's actually okay with not going to Alaska either now (it seems way out of our price range after you take into account hotels etc...), as long as I can (A) Find the restaurant of the so-called "Gluten-Free Girl" (who's apparently some kind of gluten free baking celebrity that has a restaurant with her husband in Seattle), and (B) make sure she gets on the train.
Word. PAX is practically DS Nation. Anytime you think you even *might* be a leeeeeetle bored (highly unlikely btw), fire up the DS and turn on Pictochat.
I, too am a female who went to PAX. In fact, I launched a full scale mission to get my bf to go last year (His big thing is not so much being into crowds and strangers). And he loved every second of it; he felt like he finally belonged and was the norm vs the anomaly.
Amongst other things I can vouch for Liger's awesomeness. And I *FINALLY* got my Nookington's after meeting up with someone at PAX who'd brought Animal Crossing. Plus getting other things I needed for the game. Also spent much time playing GW, visiting panels, hanging out in the Exhibition Hall and generally meeting cool ass people nearly every single moment.
Best of all, with all the things I got to do last year? There's still a metric ton of crap I forgot about or was too tired to do or whatever. That means more to do for this year!
p.s. Tetris and MarioKart seemed to be the most popular multi-player games at PAX. Though spending hours in Pictochat is far more entertaining than it should be.
[15:02] Tajah: I like you BR but I'm not letting you nom my box
[15:02] BigRed-Worky: Did I mention I hate you all? cause i do
PAX Twitter Shitter~*~ Retired Bar Liaison: 2nd, 3rd, & 4th Annual Triwizard Drinking Tournament~*~
Hmm... we have Mario Kart but my wife doesn't like it much.... she might like Tetris though, I've never seen her try to play it. I may have to pick it up sometime and see if she likes it.
I have to agree and think that this is one of the man reason this event is so huge.
(B) I
(C) Everyone is really friendly! If nothing else, track me down and I'll hang out with her!
IT'S ALL A LIE. ;P
I don't think I met any of the wonderful female forum persons (WFFP!) last year. I look forward to hanging out with them this year though.
PS3: Mentok || Steam: mentok1982 || Diablo 3: mentok1982#1212
Links: GPUReview.com My IGN activity My IGN Blog [H]ard|Forum
Really? I met almost all the forum girls but Aubrie (But I did see her and wave at one of the concerts!) and Roxy. Were you hiding? Or maybe you accidentally put on cootie repellent? Girls are loaded with cooties.
I may have seen you at the dinner but we did not have a conversation. There was a female or two at the breakfast but I don't remember who they were. I lost a lot of pictures I took during PAX last year due to some user error.
Also, check out my latest post in the Sealab thread. I took your joke and ran with it. I have links to the Seattle aquarium and to where you can buy orange jump suits.
PS3: Mentok || Steam: mentok1982 || Diablo 3: mentok1982#1212
Links: GPUReview.com My IGN activity My IGN Blog [H]ard|Forum
Hee! You rode with us to the Pre PAX Breakfast =P. It was our first day so we were a bit nervous.
[15:02] Tajah: I like you BR but I'm not letting you nom my box
[15:02] BigRed-Worky: Did I mention I hate you all? cause i do
PAX Twitter Shitter~*~ Retired Bar Liaison: 2nd, 3rd, & 4th Annual Triwizard Drinking Tournament~*~
And for a 47-year-old guy from Jersey, we have a very nice collective rack o' mewbs. O_o Come say hi if you see me this year. I'll be wearing Black and a pair of Quidditch goggles, although I'm not sure where I'll be working yet.
I'm sure my wife will be pleased to know that she isn't very memorable... :P
Anyways, we're definitely a go for PAX. We'll be there for the train ride back which should be a blast, but we'll be going a week or so early for her birthday dinner at wherever this gluten free restaurant is... I've got to figure it out before then.
If this is the "Gluten-Free Girl" than this may be the resturant, which is only 3 miles from PAX.
She was! But she's a different guy pretending to be a gamer girl ;P
(Actually, I just was listing the girls that were posting in this particular thread, because there are too many to list EVERY girl on the forums. But I
WOOT! That's the one!
You rock! Thanks!
Well shit. I do remember talking to you after PAX was over on the last day. I asked if you guys had plans to do something. I think there was a female standing there with you.
To be fair there are only a few people that I met at PAX that I can still recall their names and their appearance. They include (but are not limited to), ElectricTurtle, Tonkka, timecruisermike, skwisgar skwigelf, Nikolis and Citrus. At any rate... I apologize for my crappy memory.
PS3: Mentok || Steam: mentok1982 || Diablo 3: mentok1982#1212
Links: GPUReview.com My IGN activity My IGN Blog [H]ard|Forum
back before I could grow a real beard
I was hiding. I have really debilitating shyness. Hopefully I can overcome it next year.
That's positively goovy, baby.
I thought so. You are welcome.
Moe, that shirt was perfect for the context!:P