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PAX PRIME 2012 Information and FAQ (READ THIS FIRST, THEN ASK ALL QUESTIONS HERE)

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Posts

  • Zoroark173Zoroark173 Registered User regular
    I would like to know 2 things-
    BYOC- how exactly does BYOC work? Is it just a little room with Internet acces for people with laptops, do they host BYOC tournaments, ect.
    Parties for >21- Im an under 21, And I am hearing that a lot of the pre/post PAX parties are at bars and the such, and Seattle is pretty strict on the no minors rule (well, Oregon is too)(and not like I would want to go to a bar, Alchohol smells gross to me >.<) Is there any parties and such for minors, because I really want to get social and meet new people

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    Zoroark173 wrote: »
    I would like to know 2 things-
    BYOC- how exactly does BYOC work? Is it just a little room with Internet acces for people with laptops, do they host BYOC tournaments, ect.
    Parties for >21- Im an under 21, And I am hearing that a lot of the pre/post PAX parties are at bars and the such, and Seattle is pretty strict on the no minors rule (well, Oregon is too)(and not like I would want to go to a bar, Alchohol smells gross to me >.<) Is there any parties and such for minors, because I really want to get social and meet new people

    BYOC: It's a casual LAN. It's definitely not just a little room with Internet access, it's a PAX LAN with a lot of LAN activities. That said, it's casual, so there aren't any hardcore tournaments or what have you. There are contests and various LAN-style events, but it's meant to fit in with the overall fun and relaxed nature of PAX (as in, nothing like MLG or any hardcore LANs). Some BYOC people spend the majority of their PAX time in BYOC, some people don't. It's one part of PAX, so even though participants want to do some LANing, they likely want to do other parts of PAX too.

    Parties: There might be parties for under 21, but I wouldn't bet on them being in 100% alcohol free venues. There /may/ be totally dry (alcohol free) parties, but it's not a typical thing considering the average demographic that party-throwers are trying to hit is usually in the 21+ crowd. That doesn't mean they don't want to include under 21, but most venues make it difficult to do both, and the venues make more money when there's booze flowing. If you want to hit up an under 21 friendly party, you'll have to keep your eyes peeled for them (there's usually a party thread close to PAX on these forums that may have information in that regard).

    As far as getting social and meeting new people, that's pretty much ALL of PAX. Participating in community activities that are organized on this forum are a fantastic way to start, as there are lots of pre-pax activities organized by this community. Also, just playing games and talking with other people at PAX is part of the PAX experience and you'll likely meet a ton of new people if you keep yourself open to it during the con.

  • mfcxmfcx Registered User regular
    does anyone have a general ballpark for an average hotel price lets say...within 10 blocks of the convention center?I have searched through the forums, FAQ and last years hotel threads. I am using all of the common sense I can muster, in the sense that I have checked a few of the hotels sites for prices (as of this week) though I have heard that booking through OnPeak has "discounted" rates? I also am aware that the further away from downtown/the convention center, the hotels will probably get much cheaper. I want to say I read on average about 150$/night but I cannot remember correctly...

    Any frequent PAX Primers that could point me in the right direction? I am driving a VERY long way, 2000+ miles, and I am willing to pay a little higher price to be able to be within walking distance (because I dont want to deal with parking and driving downtown). But I also am a college student, thusly I have a limited budget. Less expenses for travel/hotel means more money for fun around the convention. =)

  • whypick1whypick1 PAX [E] Info Booth Manager ~2' from an LCDRegistered User regular
    The OnPeak hotels are generally in the $150-$200/night range. However, you say you're driving, and have a tight budget, so have you accounted for the fact that hotel parking is ~$30/night? That'll definitely screw with your budget.

    Is it PAX <insert nearest future PAX here> yet?
  • mfcxmfcx Registered User regular
    have you accounted for the fact that hotel parking is ~$30/night?
    This was something else I thought I had heard but wasn't sure if I read correctly. I was thinking(hoping) maybe it was for driving from out of the city and finding parking in a parking lot somewhere, and thought(again hoping) that the hotels would just...let you park there if you were spending that kind of money on a room.

    Oh well, nothing is set in stone yet, we are still trying to decide if its worth it to stay in the city and be able to walk to/from everything or stay further away and have to drive in with our car or via taxi/bus. A few of us are leaning towards the city option just because it is our first PAX and think that itll end up being worth it because we can show up earlier and stay later.

  • whypick1whypick1 PAX [E] Info Booth Manager ~2' from an LCDRegistered User regular
    Free long term parking downtown just doesn't exist. Hotels are probably more expensive than the nearby garages.

    What I do, since I drive up from Portland, is drop off my stuff at the hotel, then stash my car at one of my friends' place and bus it back to downtown. If you're staying downtown, there's really no reason to have a car on you (hell, I know people who live in the Seattle area who still get a hotel by the convention center simply because driving to/from home is too much of a drag), so stashing it miles away works out fine. Granted, this does hinge on you finding a place to stow it that you actually trust.

    Is it PAX <insert nearest future PAX here> yet?
  • jakers11jakers11 Registered User regular
    Dont know if its been said but the site is now on countdown and the hotel page is updated. Twitter was also active today. Troops, prepare your paypals.

  • SmallLadySmallLady Registered User regular
    SmallLady wrote: »
    Hotels


    How much do the hotels cost?
    Until the hotel website goes live, we don't know. However in the past hotel prices have ranged from $150-$200 per night. If you are driving to Seattle, be aware that hotels will charge you for parking. This ranges from $30-$50 a night.


    Updated!

    "we're just doing what smalllady told us to do" - @Heels
  • mfcxmfcx Registered User regular
    Granted, this does hinge on you finding a place to stow it that you actually trust.
    yeah I dont know anyone in the area, so this wouldn't really work for me. Plus I dont know how everyone would feel just droppin our car off somewhere, even if it would save about a hundred bucks probably. Might just have to suck it up and pay. I think everyone would at least feel safer that way too. Being so far from home if anything happened to the car...wed be screwed

  • Browncoat565Browncoat565 Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    anybody else noticed this yet? is there a way to bring it to their attention so they can fix it I guess it's just still set to last years date and counting down to that

    Browncoat565 on
  • TheMisanthropeTheMisanthrope That's Mr. Misanthrope to you Registered User regular
    For the extremely budget conscious that are planning on driving, there is also the possibility of getting a hotel near Tukwila as they have an extensive Free park and ride down there for the light rail. So, you can drive from the airport to the P&R and leave your car without fear of tickets. The limitations of that is the light rail ride to Tukwila is about 40 minutes and stops their returns around 11-ish. But, it's only $6 for a round trip, and I think hotels down there will give you free parking.

    Again, though, that's for the extremely budget conscious who have a car as the 40 minute ride is a helluva annoyance. You can also park in garages and lots around downtown, but generally not overnight. And the expense of that will probably offset your hotel savings.

    PAX Prime 2012: [X] Pass Purchased [X] Extra Charge Battery Packs for Phone, etc
  • miklepandamiklepanda Registered User regular
    Hi, first time going to PAX,

    I read that the hotels are like 150-200 bucks, but over at Kayak I find that there are Hostels and other Hotels about a mile away that are waaay cheaper. Is there some sort of disadvantage on using these or what? I'm also planning to go since wednesday, since there are a whole bunch of activities since then right?

  • MelesMelesMelesMeles Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    miklepanda wrote: »
    Hi, first time going to PAX,

    I read that the hotels are like 150-200 bucks, but over at Kayak I find that there are Hostels and other Hotels about a mile away that are waaay cheaper. Is there some sort of disadvantage on using these or what? I'm also planning to go since wednesday, since there are a whole bunch of activities since then right?

    There's plenty of community stuff going on from wednesday, so no worries there.

    If you buy a hotel through Kayak, and it turns out that it's one of the ones that PAX has also bought a block at, you could potentially end up getting booted by the hotel out in favour of the official booking block.



    MelesMeles on
  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    MelesMeles wrote: »
    miklepanda wrote: »
    Hi, first time going to PAX,

    I read that the hotels are like 150-200 bucks, but over at Kayak I find that there are Hostels and other Hotels about a mile away that are waaay cheaper. Is there some sort of disadvantage on using these or what? I'm also planning to go since wednesday, since there are a whole bunch of activities since then right?

    There's plenty of community stuff going on from wednesday, so no worries there.

    If you buy a hotel through Kayak, and it turns out that it's one of the ones that PAX has also bought a block at, you could potentially end up getting booted by the hotel out in favour of the official booking block.

    In addition, they're further away. I know that seems obvious, but proximity is a big determination in price, and is often worth paying extra for.

  • adias.angeladias.angel Tech-Savvy Wife Kalamazoo, MIRegistered User regular
    Do the prices for the hotels stay about the same each year? I found some older prices (not from last year) and they appear to be higher than what is being talked about on here. I know they started using OnPeak last year so does that mean OnPeak is getting better rates than before?

    Prime '12, '13, '14, '15, '19 .. East '12
  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited April 2012
    Do the prices for the hotels stay about the same each year? I found some older prices (not from last year) and they appear to be higher than what is being talked about on here. I know they started using OnPeak last year so does that mean OnPeak is getting better rates than before?

    About the same year to year... I wouldn't have expected any DRASTIC changes. Prices vary depending on the hotel, what's being talked about here is /average/.

    zerzhul on
  • SmallLadySmallLady Registered User regular
    Actually they have been using onpeak for a few years now. 'Round 09 I think

    "we're just doing what smalllady told us to do" - @Heels
  • tsrblketsrblke Registered User regular
    mfcx wrote: »
    have you accounted for the fact that hotel parking is ~$30/night?
    This was something else I thought I had heard but wasn't sure if I read correctly. I was thinking(hoping) maybe it was for driving from out of the city and finding parking in a parking lot somewhere, and thought(again hoping) that the hotels would just...let you park there if you were spending that kind of money on a room.

    Oh well, nothing is set in stone yet, we are still trying to decide if its worth it to stay in the city and be able to walk to/from everything or stay further away and have to drive in with our car or via taxi/bus. A few of us are leaning towards the city option just because it is our first PAX and think that itll end up being worth it because we can show up earlier and stay later.

    I stayed that the Grand Hyatt Last year, and I can assure you they didn't include parking and I don't expect them to change this year. And there was no discount either for having a room (in fact I believe it was more expensive than day parking in the exact same garage, they use that one right next to the WSCC.) However, IIRC (and someone else may need to correct me on this) some garages don't allow overnight parking (unless you go through your hotel.) So even though the Hyatt shared a garage with the WSCC, we were under the impression that to park overnight we had to use the Hyatt rate/Valet. (Also that came with 24 hour in/out privledges, which was kinda nice. We didn't know if we'd need them. If was our friends car actually, I don't know if he used them or not.)

    I'll reiterate what I wrote above, depending on where you're coming from my math shows that much above 1500 miles it actually becomes cheaper to fly rather than drive once you take into account the mid-way hotel room, food etc. Granted if you're coming from somewhere very far from a major regional airport that may vary. STL isn't exactly known for it's low low airfares since we lost hub status. Tickets are running ~$400 (round trip) now, but I expect them to drop to well below $350 possibly even below $300. Last year we scored round trip non-stop tickets for $250.

  • mfcxmfcx Registered User regular
    yeah Im gonna have to keep an eye on ticket prices, but right now theres 4 of us coming, Im coming from Houston, the others are driving from Florida and meeting me in Houston to drive the rest of the way. I checked plane tickets for me and they were about 400$. It ended up being cheaper to drive and all split the gas than each of us buy a plane ticket. Its just one of those things Im gonna have to monitor up until its REALLY time to make a decision.

    But im not gonna lie, an epic road trip is kind of enticing...

  • tsrblketsrblke Registered User regular
    mfcx wrote: »
    yeah Im gonna have to keep an eye on ticket prices, but right now theres 4 of us coming, Im coming from Houston, the others are driving from Florida and meeting me in Houston to drive the rest of the way. I checked plane tickets for me and they were about 400$. It ended up being cheaper to drive and all split the gas than each of us buy a plane ticket. Its just one of those things Im gonna have to monitor up until its REALLY time to make a decision.

    But im not gonna lie, an epic road trip is kind of enticing...

    4 was the Magic number I arrived at to get it cheaper. There will be a "Westward aviation" thread closer to PAX where people post what planes their on. Last year I posted significant price drops in there too (Prices *tend* to drop nationwide around the same time, YMMV, Do your own searches and such.) I have Kayak set up to give me a weekly email of prices, when we get closer (mid May-ish?) I'll switch to a daily email.

  • BrenderousBrenderous Registered User regular
    Possibly a dumb question: A friend and I are going, so if I buy two 3-day passes, can I just give one to him, or does he have to get his own?

  • BritalityBritality Registered User regular
    Brenderous wrote: »
    Possibly a dumb question: A friend and I are going, so if I buy two 3-day passes, can I just give one to him, or does he have to get his own?

    If you buy them now, you'll get the actual badges via mail and can physically give it to him.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    Brenderous wrote: »
    Possibly a dumb question: A friend and I are going, so if I buy two 3-day passes, can I just give one to him, or does he have to get his own?

    You can give one to him, but you only get one omegathon entry if you buy them together (and it would be in your name)

  • whypick1whypick1 PAX [E] Info Booth Manager ~2' from an LCDRegistered User regular
    Badges don't have any personally-identifying info on them. The only reason he'd want to buy his own badge instead of you buying for him is if he wants to be eligible for the Omegathon, since only the purchaser of the pass(es) will be selected.

    Is it PAX <insert nearest future PAX here> yet?
  • tsrblketsrblke Registered User regular
    Brenderous wrote: »
    Possibly a dumb question: A friend and I are going, so if I buy two 3-day passes, can I just give one to him, or does he have to get his own?

    You can buy two and just hand him one (that's usually how my wife and I do it) although it's worth noting that buying seperately increases your chances (marginally I suppose) to be chosen for the omegathon.

  • BrenderousBrenderous Registered User regular
    Oh I see. Thanks for the info peeps! Looks like we have some thinking to do.

  • TraitoriousTraitorious Registered User regular
    So, when is the Prime info page gonna be all updated and snazzy like East's was?

  • janellembcjanellembc B.C., CanadaRegistered User regular
    I was wondering, if I buy the tickets today (when they become available), could I still book the hotel in a week or so after they put it on their website and still get the discount and everything?

  • whypick1whypick1 PAX [E] Info Booth Manager ~2' from an LCDRegistered User regular
    The two processes are completely separate. As long as you can reserve through OnPeak, you're fine.

    Is it PAX <insert nearest future PAX here> yet?
  • janellembcjanellembc B.C., CanadaRegistered User regular
    Ok thanks!

  • Jonny09Jonny09 Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Im new to these forums and I believe im following the forum guidelines, but would anyone want to get together to Play Halo Wars in a LAN party? The only place I can think of to do this is during console free play as I'm not sure how to submit a tournament idea

    Jonny09 on
  • ptriz21_teamkillptriz21_teamkill Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    About parking:

    It is $25 or $30 (per 24 hrs) to leave your car in the parking garage across from the Convention Center. We stayed at the Sheraton but put the car in this garage instead. The Sheraton was charging the same amount to park, but would not let you have access to the garage. If you wanted anything from your car, the valet would have to go get your car. This isn't a big deal if your car will just sit all weekend and you don't need anything in there, and it is more secure this way I'm sure. However, it is polite to tip them, so really it is more expensive to valet the car in this situation.

    ptriz21_teamkill on
    3DS: 3325-2059-2105
  • ptriz21_teamkillptriz21_teamkill Registered User regular
    Anybody know off hand how quickly hotel reg went up after passes?

    3DS: 3325-2059-2105
  • adias.angeladias.angel Tech-Savvy Wife Kalamazoo, MIRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Anybody know off hand how quickly hotel reg went up after passes?

    Looks like next week or the week after. Here is what the site says:
    Looking for a place to stay? Unfortunately our housing registration system isn't quite ready. If you try to book hotels now, don't be afraid if everything is reserved...it's reserved FOR US. You'll get better luck (and savings) in a week or two when we can push out the hotels system.

    adias.angel on
    Prime '12, '13, '14, '15, '19 .. East '12
  • altmannaltmann Registered User regular
    Who do I contact about putting on a warhammer 40k tournament as the organizer? I would like to do this as PA has a pretty good 40k following and we've decided to put on our own tourney for this (tabletob miniatures game).

    Imperator of the Gigahorse Jockeys.

    "Oh what a day, what a LOVELY DAY!"

    signature.png
  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    Anybody know off hand how quickly hotel reg went up after passes?

    I thought last year hotels went up before passes. I know they did for east this year ;) According to paxsite though it says a week or two.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    altmann wrote: »
    Who do I contact about putting on a warhammer 40k tournament as the organizer? I would like to do this as PA has a pretty good 40k following and we've decided to put on our own tourney for this (tabletob miniatures game).

    if you want to have reserved space for it, etc, I assume you have to register as an exhibitor or be an enforcer... I could be wrong though. Email pax_questions@paxsite.com for an official answer.

  • alegriaalegria Registered User regular
    I went through all the registration steps and the site died when I clicked "confirm payment." I've confirmed with my credit card that there is a charge pending (of the appropriate amount), but I have not yet received a confirmation email and it's been over an hour and a half. Should I buy another set of 3-Day/BYOC tickets just in case? I've sent an email to pax_questions but I'm sure they're swamped too. :)

    Rw4xnu6.png
    PAX Prime Attendee since 2006, BYOC Attendee 2008-2012, Buttoneer 2010-2014
    https://www.pinnypals.com/pals/alegria
  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    alegria wrote: »
    I went through all the registration steps and the site died when I clicked "confirm payment." I've confirmed with my credit card that there is a charge pending (of the appropriate amount), but I have not yet received a confirmation email and it's been over an hour and a half. Should I buy another set of 3-Day/BYOC tickets just in case? I've sent an email to pax_questions but I'm sure they're swamped too. :)
    OSB wrote: »
    Same here I would really like to know as well since I have purchased quite a few tickets for my family/friends and am out of funds.

    If you got charged, I think an email to pax_questions@paxsite.com is probably enough to get this resolved. I sincerely doubt they would not fix it when you already have a charge pending.

  • OSBOSB Registered User new member
    alegria wrote: »
    I went through all the registration steps and the site died when I clicked "confirm payment." I've confirmed with my credit card that there is a charge pending (of the appropriate amount), but I have not yet received a confirmation email and it's been over an hour and a half. Should I buy another set of 3-Day/BYOC tickets just in case? I've sent an email to pax_questions but I'm sure they're swamped too. :)

    Same here I would really like to know as well since I have purchased quite a few tickets for my family/friends and am out of funds.

This discussion has been closed.