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Things to do at PAX 2009 when you don't (regularly) game
Trisha Lynn
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
This is probably going to be a very weird post, so please bear with me.
My best friend is a gamer and we live on opposite sides of the U.S. He's near San Francisco, and I live in Brooklyn. This year, I decided that we should make a plan to meet somewhere to have fun together like we did for my 30th birthday when we went to Vegas, and this year we chose to come to PAX 2009.
I've been a Penny Arcade fan for several years and I like to play some video games from time to time. But the only system I have is a PS2 (which I use more for the DVD player than I do for the games) and I'm often so busy that I don't have time to get into "new" games. (Last new game played: Mass Effect on a former boyfriend's Xbox 360.)
I tried a dungeon delve at NYCC this year and had some fun (also, thanks to Penny Arcade making D&D4E sound so much fun to play), but the time spent wasn't long enough for me to really enjoy myself. I'm more used to comics conventions where I can spend a lot of time hanging out with my friends in the Artist Alley or anime cons where I know almost everyone in the industry, the dealer's room, or working the convention and can hang out with them.
The last time I was at a very large convention was SDCC, back in 2001 or 2002 before they broke the 100K mark, and I spent it being the "booth bunny" for an artist-friend of mine while also getting to run off and attend certain panels. I had a lot of fun doing that, but then again, I think it was because I had a home "base" to come back to.
I know my best friend and I won't be at each other's side all the time, and I'm sure we'll be making plans to do some things together, like jumping into a D&D encounter, or go to the concerts or the Q&A panels, or watch some of the Omegathon. But that will only account for some of the time we spend together, and this is a large convention.
So my questions to you are, what could I do at PAX 2009 that will make things fun for me if I find myself with a chunk of time alone?
I don't want to volunteer to be an Enforcer because I want my first PAX to be as an attendee and I plan on applying for Enforcer membership for the 2010 one. (Also, after 4 years of staffing anime conventions, I want to just be an attendee again for a year.)
I've already applied to be a Cookie Brigade volunteer to bring cookies to the masses for Child's Play, but I don't want to be doing that for the entire convention.
The only handheld game system I have is my GBA Advance.
My laptop is not a gaming laptop, and if I do bring it with me, I'll probably be using it to liveblog. (BTW, how's the wireless in the convention center? NYCC sucked for being able to Tweet.)
Any suggestions?
Trisha Lynn
...excited to have purchased her registration...
My best friend is a gamer and we live on opposite sides of the U.S. He's near San Francisco, and I live in Brooklyn. This year, I decided that we should make a plan to meet somewhere to have fun together like we did for my 30th birthday when we went to Vegas, and this year we chose to come to PAX 2009.
I've been a Penny Arcade fan for several years and I like to play some video games from time to time. But the only system I have is a PS2 (which I use more for the DVD player than I do for the games) and I'm often so busy that I don't have time to get into "new" games. (Last new game played: Mass Effect on a former boyfriend's Xbox 360.)
I tried a dungeon delve at NYCC this year and had some fun (also, thanks to Penny Arcade making D&D4E sound so much fun to play), but the time spent wasn't long enough for me to really enjoy myself. I'm more used to comics conventions where I can spend a lot of time hanging out with my friends in the Artist Alley or anime cons where I know almost everyone in the industry, the dealer's room, or working the convention and can hang out with them.
The last time I was at a very large convention was SDCC, back in 2001 or 2002 before they broke the 100K mark, and I spent it being the "booth bunny" for an artist-friend of mine while also getting to run off and attend certain panels. I had a lot of fun doing that, but then again, I think it was because I had a home "base" to come back to.
I know my best friend and I won't be at each other's side all the time, and I'm sure we'll be making plans to do some things together, like jumping into a D&D encounter, or go to the concerts or the Q&A panels, or watch some of the Omegathon. But that will only account for some of the time we spend together, and this is a large convention.
So my questions to you are, what could I do at PAX 2009 that will make things fun for me if I find myself with a chunk of time alone?
I don't want to volunteer to be an Enforcer because I want my first PAX to be as an attendee and I plan on applying for Enforcer membership for the 2010 one. (Also, after 4 years of staffing anime conventions, I want to just be an attendee again for a year.)
I've already applied to be a Cookie Brigade volunteer to bring cookies to the masses for Child's Play, but I don't want to be doing that for the entire convention.
The only handheld game system I have is my GBA Advance.
My laptop is not a gaming laptop, and if I do bring it with me, I'll probably be using it to liveblog. (BTW, how's the wireless in the convention center? NYCC sucked for being able to Tweet.)
Any suggestions?
Trisha Lynn
...excited to have purchased her registration...
Trisha Lynn on
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If boredom due to lonliness is your worry make a plan to get there Thursday and do some of the prepax events. You'll make fast friends there
NEW ALBUM OUT, NOW WITH 100% MORE SHEEP!, have a listen will ya
Yeah do that if you can, and plan on attending the Pre-PAX Dinner. It's a gathering mostly of forumers and a great way to meet people. Hell, "fast friends" is almost an understatement. :P
I plan on getting there Thursday afternoon, leaving Tuesday morning. Will ask my best friend if he'd be up to meeting random PAX Forum members at dinner.
(Ooh, also forgot about the LRR dinner, too... definitely need to do that.)
But dude, you were behind the Bad Horsing? That was totally awesome to see/read about. I was reading your other threads, too, and if you need basic prank ideas, you should check out www.urbanprankster.com for ideas.
Trisha Lynn
...but some of those are more of the crowd-disruptive types...
-- Publisher, Saucy Goose Press
-- On Twitter @trishalynn
Meet some people, hang out, have fun.
I personally can't empathize with a thought process that leads someone to go to PAX to game.
I noticed that you appreciated having something approximating a base of operations. I don't know if you do much in the way of 'computer games' as you didn't list anything in that vein, but the BYOC (bring your own computer) area makes an awesome home base. The BYOC registration is separate and occurs much later, and entitles you to space enough at a table for a computer of any reasonable size in a secure area accessible only by BYOC peeps. I make sure to get a spot every year. It's a good place to get away from the crowded mess that PAX tends to become, and its reasonably safe to store even loose things there so long as they're not obviously valuable. It's also a good place to meet people. We just went to a wedding last week for a couple we met in the BYOC last year.
Also, try to get in on the community afterparties. There's always plenty in the hotels. (The corporate ones usually aren't worth it. Everybody descends on those like locusts and so they get overcrowded and run out of anything good in the first 15 minutes.)
Don't miss any of the PA Q&As or the Omegathon Final. Seriously.
You just didn't get into the right ones.
Uhm. For '07, my ex and I both bought a Nintendo DS. This was cool b/c you can find other people who want to play games with you.
I'm EXTREMELY shy in large, crowded places, so I spent a lot of time wandering around in '07. I'm not a huge demo person (like, waiting in line for Rock Band), so I spent a good deal of time playing Kill Doctor Lucky and some board games. My gang of boys also played some card games (Ninja Burger!!) and I did a little bit of console freeplay.
Basically, if you are going and your friend wants to go do something else, there are plenty of things to do and plenty of fun people to hang out with on sumos. Nintendo DSes are also good for this b/c you can pictochat and make friends that way.
Also, I think I will be going with a fellow Grad student who will be far more into trying out all the games than I am. So I'll be in the same "find friends/find things to do" boat that you are in.
And finally, Welcome to the Cookie Brigade!
I love the concerts most of all. But there's a lot to do that isn't video game based. Making the forum buttons and collecting everyone else's is a lot of fun and you meet a ton of people int he process. Cookie brigade is one of the most fun ways ever to do a little community service. There's all sorts of cosplay going on as well. There are always some amazing costumes around the WCTC PAX weekend. And a lot of the panels and forums are interesting even for non-gamers. There were also at least two live games I can remember from last year, an assassins game pulled off by one of the forum members here and a mystery clue game at one of the booths. There's always a board game area at PAX as well. Really , there seems to be something going on around every corner between official activities and ones that are entirely the initiative of PAX-goers.
If you get in on the Pre-PAX activities, that will give you a great start and an awesome group of people who you will see/hang out with for the rest of PAX.
Jeff: I see
jsn: and I was like "I wonder how he goes to the washroom, does he just like...brush his loincloth to the side or what?"
jsn: friend was like "DUDE he's BEHIND YOU"
There hasnt been a "sealab" since 07 :P
Stay away from that time rift! You have no idea where it goes!
The Sixth Annual Triwizard Drinking Tournament Part 1 |
Pokecrawl Episode 4: The Power Of One!
Portalflip
Pokemon X: Atlus | 3539-8807-3813
Evidently you forgot about rule 1.
Do not discuss it further :P
I'm a fellow "non-gamer" coming to PAX for the first time this year, and this is something all of my friends have told me. So my two plans thus far are 1) obtain a Nintendo DS (although now there is debate about whether or not I should wait for the DSi) and 2) become a PAX Buttoneer
I'm actually pretty excited for both these plans.
People said this last year as well, and it didn't seem like something you could really "try" to do. I didn't see any at the Sheraton (not that I wandered the halls or anything), and going around asking about one flags you as the kind of guy to not get invited. I know [tiny]sealab[/tiny] had issues in the past, so none of the parties are really public anymore, but all this talk about them as one of the key bits of PAX makes this feel like high school again to me and I'm not one of the cool kids.
</vent>
I had a great time even without drinking it up last year, and my days were packed with hardly any gaming to speak of. In fact, I wanted to do some gaming, but couldn't find the time - there are just that many things to do. Buttoning was fun as hell though.
LRR = Loading Ready Run = Guys in Victoria, BC who played "Desert Bus" for 5 days to raise mad cash for Child's Play
When it comes to computer games, I'm very much a casual gamer. Zuma, Bejeweled, Desktop Tower Defense, and Kingdom of Loathing? All over that, but in a very casual way. There were only two times I ever installed a computer game:
1) When I turned 25 and bought Baldur's Gate: Throne of Whatever or Something Like That. I was confused because I was expecting PS2-style controls, got frustrated, uninstalled it, and sold it to a friend.
2) When I was with my last boyfriend who got me sucked into Final Fantasy XI. I was a Mithra on the Siren server, and only managed to crack lvl 20 on two or three classes before we broke up and I didn't want to play anymore.
Besides, the rig I'm on right now? Is held together with spit and bailing wire and couldn't handle any of the new games at all.
*whispers to computer... I didn't mean it Baby, you know I still love you... be good for Mommy, okay?*
Oh, Lord... I think my best friend and I will have to end up trading which one of us has to be the sober one if we start hitting parties, considering that we met at a party in the penthouse of the Disneyland Hotel when Anime Expo rolled through that place 8 years ago.
Quoted for truth! I was at the Q & A at NYCC and loved it.
Trisha Lynn
...loved the love-fest, you know...?
-- Publisher, Saucy Goose Press
-- On Twitter @trishalynn
My problem is that a) I don't want to have to buy a DS I'm hardly ever going to use just for a weekend and b) I have almost $6K in taxes I have to pay this year and can't really justify the expense. So any DS-related fun is going to end up going over my head.
The board games sound interesting, and if I can convince people to merge decks and do a Mega-Fluxx game, that would be so awesome.
Yay! A semi-kindred spirit!
Trisha Lynn
...wish I could bring cookies cross-country...
-- Publisher, Saucy Goose Press
-- On Twitter @trishalynn
Has anyone ever attempted a scavenger hunt?
Trisha Lynn
...oh dear... stupid organizing bug...
-- Publisher, Saucy Goose Press
-- On Twitter @trishalynn
Already on Twitter! Will add name to Twitter thread.
Trisha Lynn
...just take out the space...
-- Publisher, Saucy Goose Press
-- On Twitter @trishalynn
What if you're the kind of person who sucks HARD at driving and/or racing games? Honestly, the only parts of Ratchet and Clank I hate are the parts where you either have to fly or race the hoverbikes.
Trisha Lynn
...so glad there's not so much of that...
-- Publisher, Saucy Goose Press
-- On Twitter @trishalynn
Hey I'll play mario kart with you! I'm not very good either......
Oh, duh. That makes three live games. Because there was a scavenger hunt that was based right here in the forums. I think it had about 40 items on it. I forgot about it because I had so many other things going on I had to start nixxing possible fun ideas. And, FTR, I don't game much either beyond a slight Warcraft addiction. I think the only gaming I did all weekend was checking my auctions, which took about five minutes.
For me, part of the fun of playing driving games is how much i suck at them... and so my focus isn't winning... it's messing other people up too.. :P
here's a 3rd for mario kart....!
Well... You might be able to find a DS uber-cheap once the DSi hits the market. Keep your eyes peeled and think about it. You still have several months to go.
I actually am not going with video gaming in mind. I enjoy it, but I suck. I'll bring my DS for Mario Kart and the ilk, but really, I want to rock the board games. I'm bringing some old school (not the hardcover bullcrap) Kobolds Ate My Baby (and will demand that people are intoxicated in some way), ZOMBIES!!!, Illuminati, Hacker, CAR WARS BABY, and just about any other board game/RPG I think I might be able to con people into playing. Hell, if I knew someone would play it, I'd bring Close Action, which is an age of sail naval combat game (Trafalgar? With 30 players on each side? oh yes... oooooh yes...), or Starfleet Battles, aka one of the most complicated games ever written. Fluxx is beautiful, and I have my ultra-uber huge 2 deck + 2 expansion set of Lunch Money that I take everywhere with me to throw down with.
I actually am frothing at the mouth to run a one-shot of Spycraft 2.0.
Point being, it shouldn't be a big issue to find *something* to do. The problem with being a first timer is not knowing what to expect. I'm in the same boat as you.
I had seen male and female fans with DS systems at anime cons, so I brought mine to a con for the first time during MangaNext 2007. It was surprisingly fun to Pictochat with other con-goers. I didn't think other people knew about stupid internet memes...
So these days, I keep my DS system handy if I'm at a con, in a long line, and there's no one interesting (especially of the right age) to talk with.
But isn't Pictochat phallocentric in general, not just at PAX? But yes, it is very NSFW or NSFC.
Steam: Rogue_hunter
Games for Windows Live: Roguality
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