Way too late but some thoughts on BYOC. I was first in and probably about the last to leave so I'll take this in order.
The parking for BYOC was great and made life so much easier. The exhibitors gate was next to the BYOC gate and they opened at different times. Not knowing any better I went through the exhibitors gate and bypassed the closed BYOC gate which caused confusion with parking. I didn't know from the FAQ that we would also be charged for parking by the venue so I had to find an ATM for cash after I had setup my PC on the LAN. I bought my own trolley but a number of people struggled to move their gear. Maybe a trolley could be provided to assist the not so well prepared. To prevent the trolley disappearing it may have to be 'chained' to an Enforcer or use a GPS tracker. There was confusion on the forums as overnight parking has always been an option at the Royal Showgrounds but the organizers didn't seem to be aware this was an option. If the PAX is moving to Jeff's Shed (nickname for Melbourne Exhibition Centre) then overnight parking may not be an option.
Initially the Enforcers didn't know which door would be used to admit BYOC people or what time they were going to open that door therefore a bit of confusion for people trying to queue with their equipment.
Tagging and testing requirements for power cords was not in the FAQ and was an unexpected holdup but not a significant delay. Well I was about first in the line so didn't have to queue for testing.
There were so few people that you could have played table tennis in the BYOC area. Space and electrical power was not a problem so multiple monitors could have been accommodated. If all the positions had been occupied then dual monitors could have been a problem so that restriction would have to stay.
To address the poor attendance I suggest BYOC access is not sold as a separate ticket but an option to add to a standard ticket. This would remove the people who had no intention of bringing a PC but bought BYOC tickets after the 3 day passes sold out. BYOC passes would be sent out in the same way, it is just the sale would be as an extension of a standard pass. Maybe BYOC access could be an option to add to single day passes as some people cannot attend all days. This adds the complication of greater turnover and a bigger security hassle. It may require a separation of the 3 day people from the daily people otherwise there would be continual disruption to the 3 day people.
The BYOC competitions may have been well intentioned but I thought they were lame. A LAN party where the competitions are Windows Mine Sweeper or paper/rock/scissors needs serious attention.
With major exhibitors like World of Tanks it may have been possible to organize competitions and add them to the program. Each day could have included daily mini-tournaments with a major tournament over the three days. Tie the BYOC registration number to a player name e.g. BYOC nnnnnn becomes PAnnnnn ingame (or some other variant). Competitions could be getting to the highest level/Tier, most experience, most tanks destroyed, surviving battles, team competitions, etc. Announce these as part of the program so that people purchasing daily BYOC can select the most appropriate day.
Eve Online competitions or even some roams through LoSec or Null in a fleet of Rifters could be an options. All these games are GByte downloads so it maybe appropriate to distribute a CD of the PAX competition games with the BYOC pass. The idea is everybody has the option to load and play in the tournaments. While Eve Online (30 days) and World of Tanks are free to play other companies may provide time limited access for PAX participants and it would be appropriate to forward CDs from the various companies. My expectation is any participating company provides their own CD and any installation problems are directed to the company. Maybe different competitions on each day then daily BYOC tickets become desirable. I'm just using these two games as an example and the range of games would depend on each company's level of interest. Maybe some companies would be interested interested in donating prizes. It would have been good to run BYOC competitions against the World of Tanks staff, etc.
BYOC tickets on eBay were going for hundreds of dollars over the sale price and next time tickets maybe bought purely for resale. I don't think there is any fair solution that separates the genuine buyers and the speculators with the present pre-sale system. I would like to see a small percentage of tickets held over for sale after passes are mailed out. I'm not talking large numbers of passes, just 1% or 2% to cater for those people who miss out on the first round or didn't know PAX existed until one of their friends receives a pass.
The BYOC firewall setup needs to be tuned the previous day. BYOC LAN access to World of Tanks and Eve Online was initially blocked. World of Tanks was sorted relatively quickly but it took until lunchtime to get Eve Online access. I don't know what other games were blocked. It is appropriate for the firewall default config to block all traffic and Eve Online access would have been an unexpected request.
When purchasing BYOC passes it would have been nice to have captured a list of the games required for the BYOC LAN to enable appropriate firewall configuration. Plus it may highlight where mini-competitions could be added. Also provides a BYOC show and tell opportunity. E.g. I'm not an expert but I have played the Eve Online for eight years and could have run an informal session in the BYOC area to show and discuss Eve Online. Obviously these sessions would have to be informal as it would depend on who is in the room at the time but some blocks of time could have been scheduled for demonstrations.
Once the firewall block list was fixed I never experienced any network dropouts or lag. In the BYOC area the Enforcers and LAN networking people did a great job, couldn't be faulted and hopefully they will all be back next year.
Session queue options have been done to death but I have another solution. I would have liked selected sessions to be streamed over the intertubes. I like the idea of sessions being repeated multiple times although the presenters might not be so enthusiastic.
Given the interest in Strip Search it would have been great to have seen one or more booths. If you ever go for a season two could you surprise some contestants with a relocation to PAX Australia, a limited budget and some booth space. Probably after they have done a 'mock' booth exercise. Three contestants, a booth for a day would work. Alternatively, prize of a booth at each of the three PAXs. Or should that become PAXen.
A move to Jeff's Shed will make public transport much easier but finding the BYOC parking may become an issue.
Organization of the unofficial pre-PAX events were a bit rushed and hopefully more concrete next time.
The booth babes controversy was a bit of a surprise and unexpected. When I saw the World of Tanks area their clothing didn't seem excessive. But I didn't see the justification for the headphone booth babes.
+2
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Yug[ PAX Australia ] Content & Communications ManagerAustraliaRegistered Userregular
Hey people, just wanted to say thanks for the feedback, keep it coming, even the tiny little details. In fact, ESPECIALLY the tiny details. We're going to be working super hard to improve every single part of PAX Aus for next year, and a thread like this absolutely helps!
I think the eating areas could be improved in regards to seating, but i must say for the most part was great.
But I feel the information given by enforcers in regards to wait times for panels was poor though. In particular waiting in line during the Rooster Teeth panel we were told quite a few times that the line would be cut in a variety of different positions. I think clear information in regards to the ques for panels would be helpful as there was a lot of conflicting information given out. Did anyone else experience this?
I understand that its a difficult job because it is not 100% clear that X amount of seats are available but the information varied for me between very close to the front of the line all the way towards the back (like 3/4).
Rapacity on
Interested in some board games the night before Pax Aus for 2014? Check the link below
Hi PDP11, I don't know anything about BYOC, but I know quite a lot about parking at the MCEC, and in fact there is good information on the Convention centre's website MCEC Basically, yes, there is overnight parking. The main thing is to plan your days so you enter the car park at a time that gives you a cheap rate.
I thought your trolley idea was a good one
The other thing that PAX will need to do is to specify what door you need to enter from/ is closest to the BYOC area. Then you can just look for that door number/section in the parking lot. The PAX organisers should make sure the door they specify is one with an elevator near it!
I'm disappointed in how the tickets went on sale, there was no advance notice of when tickets would go live. As I'm flying from Perth any extra I pay does mount up when I'm not going alone. At least ticket sales would have been fair if there was advance notice.
I'm disappointed in how the tickets went on sale, there was no advance notice of when tickets would go live. As I'm flying from Perth any extra I pay does mount up when I'm not going alone. At least ticket sales would have been fair if there was advance notice.
Can understand your question but from the other side.... this is what was in the FAQ....
Why did you give advance notice? The massive crush to get tickets was crazy.
A: Over the years we’ve experimented with a number of distribution methods, and whether we give advance notice or not (we have done both), the fundamental problem still exists - there are more people that want to come to PAX than we can fit into PAX.
I'm disappointed in how the tickets went on sale, there was no advance notice of when tickets would go live. As I'm flying from Perth any extra I pay does mount up when I'm not going alone. At least ticket sales would have been fair if there was advance notice.
Can understand your question but from the other side.... this is what was in the FAQ....
Why did you give advance notice? The massive crush to get tickets was crazy.
A: Over the years we’ve experimented with a number of distribution methods, and whether we give advance notice or not (we have done both), the fundamental problem still exists - there are more people that want to come to PAX than we can fit into PAX.
Ok thanks for that, until now I have never looked at the faq
2014 will be the last time I will be attending PAX even for the 1 day pass I did get for me and friends. This year I had made the mistake of a 1 day pass and could not see and do everything i wanted, bigger venue for next pax will be a lot worse overall. Most of the day this year was taken up by waiting in queues so next year I'll avoid the queues and just go for the displays.
Its really not worth it paying for just a 1 day pass if your wanting to queue for things. As I'm paying for multiple people just an extra $5 per day does mount up especially when in a group.
While I respect your opinion Portrules, it baffles me that someone can quibble over $5 per day per person. That's a coffee. You have a year. Hell even if you work minimum wage that's less than an hour of work. Its 1/40th of a Centrelink wage. Even if you pay for multiple people...you have a year. Posts like this and others you see on Facebook baffle me...
While I respect your opinion Portrules, it baffles me that someone can quibble over $5 per day per person. That's a coffee. You have a year. Hell even if you work minimum wage that's less than an hour of work. Its 1/40th of a Centrelink wage. Even if you pay for multiple people...you have a year. Posts like this and others you see on Facebook baffle me...
I am paying for 10 people which mounts up to an extra $150 for the weekend, also tickets will all be gone in a year lol
Think of it this way, I'll need buy tickets all at once before they are sold which currently i do not have the extra $150 on hand. You should try organising to pay for a group. I am not on centrelink and I do also have a new kid and family to support which I'm sure some don't understand.
Also with the date of the expo I will not be attending more if they keep the same time of year from next year on. This year was great as it coincided with football and other things happening but putting it right on Melbourne cup was not a great idea. Melbourne is absolutely chaotic in the city when the cup is on.
Acquisitions inc does go to East, or at least did this year (as that was my first time attending it). Its budget looked less impressive than the prime one (that stuff is pretty hard to top!) but very awesome regardless. Very big +1 to seeing this at Aus.
Last year Aus...
-1 Agree with needing much more space at Tabletop. We found space to play, but we had to camp tables a lot.
+1 Food stalls at the event were very good quality compared to other PAXes I had been to. Lines were pretty good too, except for Friday. Others have complained about seating, and really, there was tons of outside seating - don't you Aussies like eating outside? Oh yea, so it was cold at times, but...
-/+? BYOC seemed very empty. Not really a + or a -. Think it was to do with how the tickets were vended (BYOC came with a 3 day, and wasn't an addition like this year).
+1 Indie booth was great, as great as I have come to expect of PAX. Keep it up!
+1 Protomen, big effort coming over here for the event - potentially at a loss
-1 AAA studio turnout was lacklustre. Is their presence in Aus poor or were they just lazy?
Most of my other concerns (draftiness, remoteness) are irrelevant considering the change of venue. I like other people's suggestion of a beer garden, but really, since the venue is much more central this year, I'll just go to a pub for beer/lunch with some PAXers.
Another minor thing on the merch, I don't necessarily mind the gaudiness of the scarf so much, but agree with another poster who said it would be nicer as a wool blend at least, rather than nasty plasticy stuff.
But I feel the information given by enforcers in regards to wait times for panels was poor though. In particular waiting in line during the Rooster Teeth panel we were told quite a few times that the line would be cut in a variety of different positions. I think clear information in regards to the ques for panels would be helpful as there was a lot of conflicting information given out. Did anyone else experience this?
I understand that its a difficult job because it is not 100% clear that X amount of seats are available but the information varied for me between very close to the front of the line all the way towards the back (like 3/4).
I also experienced the problem Enforcers had estimating seat capacity for sessions. The people in front of me in a queue were repeatedly advised we would not get into a session. I clung to my position in the queue and was rewarded with the last available seat. For two different sessions I was told there was no hope of a seat and I manage to get in the door. Of course The Good Game queue was closed way before the session, probably was a 2 to 2.5 hour queue.
I'm disappointed in how the tickets went on sale, there was no advance notice of when tickets would go live. As I'm flying from Perth any extra I pay does mount up when I'm not going alone. At least ticket sales would have been fair if there was advance notice.
Interestingly the 3-Day passes were sold out very early then they have become available again. I assume these are Enforcer returns and won't be available for long.
I also experienced the problem Enforcers had estimating seat capacity for sessions. The people in front of me in a queue were repeatedly advised we would not get into a session. I clung to my position in the queue and was rewarded with the last available seat. For two different sessions I was told there was no hope of a seat and I manage to get in the door. Of course The Good Game queue was closed way before the session, probably was a 2 to 2.5 hour queue.[/quote]
Actually that is almost always going to be the case. Your enforcers are not math machines! If you turn up late, be aware some panels will have overflow queues.
Actually that is almost always going to be the case. Your enforcers are not math machines! If you turn up late, be aware some panels will have overflow queues.
Always some people would drop out of the queue and it was impossible for the Enforcers to know exactly where the cut off point for a queue would be until the last person went through the door.
Posts
The parking for BYOC was great and made life so much easier. The exhibitors gate was next to the BYOC gate and they opened at different times. Not knowing any better I went through the exhibitors gate and bypassed the closed BYOC gate which caused confusion with parking. I didn't know from the FAQ that we would also be charged for parking by the venue so I had to find an ATM for cash after I had setup my PC on the LAN. I bought my own trolley but a number of people struggled to move their gear. Maybe a trolley could be provided to assist the not so well prepared. To prevent the trolley disappearing it may have to be 'chained' to an Enforcer or use a GPS tracker. There was confusion on the forums as overnight parking has always been an option at the Royal Showgrounds but the organizers didn't seem to be aware this was an option. If the PAX is moving to Jeff's Shed (nickname for Melbourne Exhibition Centre) then overnight parking may not be an option.
Initially the Enforcers didn't know which door would be used to admit BYOC people or what time they were going to open that door therefore a bit of confusion for people trying to queue with their equipment.
Tagging and testing requirements for power cords was not in the FAQ and was an unexpected holdup but not a significant delay. Well I was about first in the line so didn't have to queue for testing.
There were so few people that you could have played table tennis in the BYOC area. Space and electrical power was not a problem so multiple monitors could have been accommodated. If all the positions had been occupied then dual monitors could have been a problem so that restriction would have to stay.
To address the poor attendance I suggest BYOC access is not sold as a separate ticket but an option to add to a standard ticket. This would remove the people who had no intention of bringing a PC but bought BYOC tickets after the 3 day passes sold out. BYOC passes would be sent out in the same way, it is just the sale would be as an extension of a standard pass. Maybe BYOC access could be an option to add to single day passes as some people cannot attend all days. This adds the complication of greater turnover and a bigger security hassle. It may require a separation of the 3 day people from the daily people otherwise there would be continual disruption to the 3 day people.
The BYOC competitions may have been well intentioned but I thought they were lame. A LAN party where the competitions are Windows Mine Sweeper or paper/rock/scissors needs serious attention.
With major exhibitors like World of Tanks it may have been possible to organize competitions and add them to the program. Each day could have included daily mini-tournaments with a major tournament over the three days. Tie the BYOC registration number to a player name e.g. BYOC nnnnnn becomes PAnnnnn ingame (or some other variant). Competitions could be getting to the highest level/Tier, most experience, most tanks destroyed, surviving battles, team competitions, etc. Announce these as part of the program so that people purchasing daily BYOC can select the most appropriate day.
Eve Online competitions or even some roams through LoSec or Null in a fleet of Rifters could be an options. All these games are GByte downloads so it maybe appropriate to distribute a CD of the PAX competition games with the BYOC pass. The idea is everybody has the option to load and play in the tournaments. While Eve Online (30 days) and World of Tanks are free to play other companies may provide time limited access for PAX participants and it would be appropriate to forward CDs from the various companies. My expectation is any participating company provides their own CD and any installation problems are directed to the company. Maybe different competitions on each day then daily BYOC tickets become desirable. I'm just using these two games as an example and the range of games would depend on each company's level of interest. Maybe some companies would be interested interested in donating prizes. It would have been good to run BYOC competitions against the World of Tanks staff, etc.
BYOC tickets on eBay were going for hundreds of dollars over the sale price and next time tickets maybe bought purely for resale. I don't think there is any fair solution that separates the genuine buyers and the speculators with the present pre-sale system. I would like to see a small percentage of tickets held over for sale after passes are mailed out. I'm not talking large numbers of passes, just 1% or 2% to cater for those people who miss out on the first round or didn't know PAX existed until one of their friends receives a pass.
The BYOC firewall setup needs to be tuned the previous day. BYOC LAN access to World of Tanks and Eve Online was initially blocked. World of Tanks was sorted relatively quickly but it took until lunchtime to get Eve Online access. I don't know what other games were blocked. It is appropriate for the firewall default config to block all traffic and Eve Online access would have been an unexpected request.
When purchasing BYOC passes it would have been nice to have captured a list of the games required for the BYOC LAN to enable appropriate firewall configuration. Plus it may highlight where mini-competitions could be added. Also provides a BYOC show and tell opportunity. E.g. I'm not an expert but I have played the Eve Online for eight years and could have run an informal session in the BYOC area to show and discuss Eve Online. Obviously these sessions would have to be informal as it would depend on who is in the room at the time but some blocks of time could have been scheduled for demonstrations.
Once the firewall block list was fixed I never experienced any network dropouts or lag. In the BYOC area the Enforcers and LAN networking people did a great job, couldn't be faulted and hopefully they will all be back next year.
Session queue options have been done to death but I have another solution. I would have liked selected sessions to be streamed over the intertubes. I like the idea of sessions being repeated multiple times although the presenters might not be so enthusiastic.
Given the interest in Strip Search it would have been great to have seen one or more booths. If you ever go for a season two could you surprise some contestants with a relocation to PAX Australia, a limited budget and some booth space. Probably after they have done a 'mock' booth exercise. Three contestants, a booth for a day would work. Alternatively, prize of a booth at each of the three PAXs. Or should that become PAXen.
A move to Jeff's Shed will make public transport much easier but finding the BYOC parking may become an issue.
Organization of the unofficial pre-PAX events were a bit rushed and hopefully more concrete next time.
The booth babes controversy was a bit of a surprise and unexpected. When I saw the World of Tanks area their clothing didn't seem excessive. But I didn't see the justification for the headphone booth babes.
Cheers,
Facebook.com/PAXAus
Twitter.com/PAXAus
But I feel the information given by enforcers in regards to wait times for panels was poor though. In particular waiting in line during the Rooster Teeth panel we were told quite a few times that the line would be cut in a variety of different positions. I think clear information in regards to the ques for panels would be helpful as there was a lot of conflicting information given out. Did anyone else experience this?
I understand that its a difficult job because it is not 100% clear that X amount of seats are available but the information varied for me between very close to the front of the line all the way towards the back (like 3/4).
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/184666/traditional-pre-pax-boardgames-night-2014
I thought your trolley idea was a good one
The other thing that PAX will need to do is to specify what door you need to enter from/ is closest to the BYOC area. Then you can just look for that door number/section in the parking lot. The PAX organisers should make sure the door they specify is one with an elevator near it!
Can understand your question but from the other side.... this is what was in the FAQ....
Why did you give advance notice? The massive crush to get tickets was crazy.
A: Over the years we’ve experimented with a number of distribution methods, and whether we give advance notice or not (we have done both), the fundamental problem still exists - there are more people that want to come to PAX than we can fit into PAX.
Ok thanks for that, until now I have never looked at the faq
2014 will be the last time I will be attending PAX even for the 1 day pass I did get for me and friends. This year I had made the mistake of a 1 day pass and could not see and do everything i wanted, bigger venue for next pax will be a lot worse overall. Most of the day this year was taken up by waiting in queues so next year I'll avoid the queues and just go for the displays.
Its really not worth it paying for just a 1 day pass if your wanting to queue for things. As I'm paying for multiple people just an extra $5 per day does mount up especially when in a group.
I am paying for 10 people which mounts up to an extra $150 for the weekend, also tickets will all be gone in a year lol
Think of it this way, I'll need buy tickets all at once before they are sold which currently i do not have the extra $150 on hand. You should try organising to pay for a group. I am not on centrelink and I do also have a new kid and family to support which I'm sure some don't understand.
Also with the date of the expo I will not be attending more if they keep the same time of year from next year on. This year was great as it coincided with football and other things happening but putting it right on Melbourne cup was not a great idea. Melbourne is absolutely chaotic in the city when the cup is on.
Last year Aus...
-1 Agree with needing much more space at Tabletop. We found space to play, but we had to camp tables a lot.
+1 Food stalls at the event were very good quality compared to other PAXes I had been to. Lines were pretty good too, except for Friday. Others have complained about seating, and really, there was tons of outside seating - don't you Aussies like eating outside?
-/+? BYOC seemed very empty. Not really a + or a -. Think it was to do with how the tickets were vended (BYOC came with a 3 day, and wasn't an addition like this year).
+1 Indie booth was great, as great as I have come to expect of PAX. Keep it up!
+1 Protomen, big effort coming over here for the event - potentially at a loss
-1 AAA studio turnout was lacklustre. Is their presence in Aus poor or were they just lazy?
Most of my other concerns (draftiness, remoteness) are irrelevant considering the change of venue. I like other people's suggestion of a beer garden, but really, since the venue is much more central this year, I'll just go to a pub for beer/lunch with some PAXers.
Another minor thing on the merch, I don't necessarily mind the gaudiness of the scarf so much, but agree with another poster who said it would be nicer as a wool blend at least, rather than nasty plasticy stuff.
I also experienced the problem Enforcers had estimating seat capacity for sessions. The people in front of me in a queue were repeatedly advised we would not get into a session. I clung to my position in the queue and was rewarded with the last available seat. For two different sessions I was told there was no hope of a seat and I manage to get in the door. Of course The Good Game queue was closed way before the session, probably was a 2 to 2.5 hour queue.
Interestingly the 3-Day passes were sold out very early then they have become available again. I assume these are Enforcer returns and won't be available for long.
Actually that is almost always going to be the case. Your enforcers are not math machines! If you turn up late, be aware some panels will have overflow queues.