Just got home from PAX East, couldn't get a three day badge this year, so I lived with just Friday and Saturday. I just want to discuss a few of the things I liked, and a few that I didn't.
Highlights:
The Concerts. Overall they were way better this year than last. Bit Brigade was phenomenal on the first night, and Anamaguchi was good, but I guess I didn't understand the appeal. Metroid Metal however is quite simply nothing but loud metal noise (and this comes from someone who generally likes loud heavy metal noise). I saw a ton of people leave when MM got on stage, in order to spare their ear drums. I didn't stay for the second night of concerts, but my buddy told me they were great.
The Organization. You can't avoid lines (although there's more that could be done to prevent them, but I'll get to that). Pax overall seemed much more organized this year than in the past. Everything was clearly labeled, as far as where a line begins and ends, and what each line was for. Also I saw a lot more enforcers this year than in the past, which is always a good thing.
The schedule. I know a lot of people complained, but I actually liked that everything closed up at midnight this year. It provided a much greater incentive for things to finish on time, and to stay on schedule.
The lowlights.
The exhibitors. If indy games, and PC gaming is your thing, then this was your year! If more mainstream fare is what you're after, you were out of luck this year. Nothing this year is what I would have described as a AAA title, and almost everything being shown was a first person shooter, so if you don't care for that genre, you're double screwed. For whatever reason lots of companies skipped out this year, no Nintendo, no Sony, no Capcom, Microsoft was there but was only showing stuff that's already out. I enjoyed what I played, but the overall exhibition floor was not so great this year.
The Lines. I know, everyone bitches about the lines, and there's very little that can be done, but is it really that difficult to just tell exhibitors to limit demos / videos to 10-15 minutes, rather than 25-30 minutes? There's no reason at all that a demo needs to go on that long. Capping the lines is also something that needs to be resolved. I was in the exhibition hall literally the moment it opened on Saturday, and all the popular games were filled up already. Put some bright minds together, come up with a solution, I know it can be done. Also, on a similar note, can League of Legends please tone down the noise and crowds that radiate from their area? It's a bit much.
The classic console free play room. I know I've complained about this one in the past, and this year it actually got worse. The number of game stations was reduced, the library of games was smaller than it's ever been, and the wait was longer than ever. This stuff can be sourced from different places if needed. You have two huge rooms dedicated to modern consoles that were always more than half empty. You can't find people to bring in another dozen classic consoles and expand a bit. Let me know where to sign up, I'll bring my stuff next year and loan it out.
Overall it was PAX, not much changes, and that's a good thing. I had lots of fun like always, and met some great people. One thing I did notice when leaving Saturday however which seemed strange was that people were actively trying to rid themselves of their Sunday passes. I don't mean a couple of people in the lobby trying to sell theirs, I mean I saw several instances of people literally trying to get people to take their Sunday pass for free. I'm not sure if it was just a coincidence, or a sign of discontent, but I've never seen this in the past.
The shuttles worked wonderfully. This is the first year I have stayed far enough away to need them and they were fantastic. Props to whoever organizes them!
Indie booth was AWESOME. And I loved the idea of the mini booth! I spent a lot of time here and had a blast.
Lines seemed to be well organized, and the bag check didn't cause any huge delays like I would have expected.
Critiques:
They did it last year and this year: Please try not to put booths that are going to attract HUGE crowds in front of the escalators! Last year it was the Twitch booth, and this year it was the Riot booth. It would be really fantastic if those booths could be moved toward the middle of the room so that people can actually get in and out of the expo hall without having to run a gauntlet.
Maybe it was just the times I was in tabletop, but I felt like a lot of the tables reserved for Magic were never actually full, while as the tabletop freeplay area was PACKED. I would prefer more tabletop freeplay room and less dedicated Magic area.
Agree with Jax. No reason to have League of Legends booth right in front of one escalator and Bethesda in front of the other. I know there are other entrances but those are the two main entrances onto the floor and to have to try and get thru that is a pain. Also seems there is alot of lost space with the "cattle pens" where you start the lines in the morning. Push them back 50-100 ft and you give alot more room between rows so its not so congested. You can easily have the "cattle pens" at each entrance and once one reaches a certain limit send people to another entrance to the floor.
Pros: lines were orderly and well labeled/set out! Panels about mental health and sexism in gamers and gaming were great! The afk lounge was an awesome addition, and I would love to see safe and quiet spaces continue to be offered.
Cons: LADY'S BATHROOMS. This is the first year I noticed a lack of women's bathrooms. On the main floor alone in the tabletop area, there seemed to be ONE women's bathroom and THREE for men. One floor had signs to direct to the lady's rooms since they weren't just paired with the men's rooms. I kept being told all weekend that "this IS a gaming convention" and that the ratio of men to women warrants this bathroom inequality, but I don't accept those answers. As far as I noticed in the past, an equal number of bathrooms always worked out just fine, and unless the male to female ratio is ridiculous, I call sexist shenanigans.
Aside from that, I was disappointed about The Protomen not attending (though I understand how busy they are), but otherwise it was a great year! Lines and panels went especially smoothly.
Much love for PAX with one huge exception and my only major con, the swag bags.
I had Sunday only passes for me and four kids. We showed up on Sunday to find all the bags gone when the kids went to pick theirs up. This is my question: you know EXACTLY how many people bought tickets, how hard would it be to add one coupon per ticket to each packet of tickets you send out?
If that weren't bad enough, I find out that some people grabbed 20? or more bags just to get the CAH oatmeal packs that were being handed out at the CAH booth for free.
<rant to those people>
WTF? Are you that self centered and absorbed? The worst part was later on Sunday, CAH put a huge pile of oatmeal packs on a table in the queue for everyone to grab. No need at all to ruin someone else's day just to complete your collection. Or might I suggest actually talking and trading with the people around you.
</rant>
Again, the solution is simple, 1 bag per ticket, that's it. This is done at other professional events I've attended, I can't believe PAX can't handle it.
Pros: Overall there were lots of good games that I was able to find out about, especially indie ones. Unique swag bag ideas like the oatmeal/CAH cards were fantastic.
Cons: I didn't like the trend towards raffles and "pre-order for swag" that Watchdogs and Borderlands booths were doing. The newegg raffle Sunday at noon was a complete fire hazard disaster as well.
The concerts weren't as good as last year, although VGO really killed it with their new set. On a related note, I think that closing the convention 2 hours earlier than last year wasn't a good idea -- after the concerts there were still a ton of people lined up to meet the bands and buy merch.
Overall it was still a blast though, I really enjoyed it.
-- People who volunteered as enforcers and the people working for the convention center were all excellent; the bag check was not nearly as bad as I was afraid it would be.
-- Lines were managed well, console free play was very efficient, didn't have to wait long.
Dislikes:
-- there was not a single sentence in the guidebook about the diversity lounge, I didn't even know it existed until some of my (non PAX east attending) friends started sharing this photo online and were making comments about the apparent lack of diversity in the diversity lounge.
I headed over on Sunday and thought the booths there were great, there really was a good representation there, but I didn't see anyone else hanging out there when I went by. So I think it would have been more effective and a better place to meet people if it were advertised more.
-- It was a HUGE INCONVIENIENCE that the women's restroom near the expo floor food court & tabletop area was turned into a mens room. There were already two other mens rooms within short walking distance, but getting to the nearest women's rooms meant doubling back across the entire tabletop area or leaving the expo floor entirely. The women's restroom near the handheld area was also turned into a mens room, and it wasn't clearly marked where the next nearest restroom would be. (Note that I'm specifically not complaining about the gender neutral restroom because they didn't take away restrooms from anyone, I'm talking specifically about restrooms that were turned into mens only.)
-- In general, I was also disappointed with the non-indie parts of the expo floor, just because I also don't care for MOBAs and it seemed like non game exhibits like hardware vendors and colleges were taking up a much larger portion this year. I realize everyone has their tastes, but for me it felt like the only place I could really explore and try new things was in indie and tabletop, since the everything else either had a three hour wait or wasn't a game. In general, there were too many times I felt like I wasn't at an event for gamers, but an event for things being sold to gamers.
I hear the same thing every year about the "Swag Bag" and I don't get it. There's nothing in the bag, a box of magic cards, a pack of oatmeal, and some advertisements? I threw mine away except for the Oatmeal which I saved for my wife.
I hear the same thing every year about the "Swag Bag" and I don't get it. There's nothing in the bag, a box of magic cards, a pack of oatmeal, and some advertisements? I threw mine away except for the Oatmeal which I saved for my wife.
When you're a kid, a box a magic cards, a LoL skin and some CAH cards are like Christmas morning. I know it's different for adults, but if PAX is supposed to be family friendly you need to think like a kid sometimes.
I hear the same thing every year about the "Swag Bag" and I don't get it. There's nothing in the bag, a box of magic cards, a pack of oatmeal, and some advertisements? I threw mine away except for the Oatmeal which I saved for my wife.
When you're a kid, a box a magic cards, a LoL skin and some CAH cards are like Christmas morning. I know it's different for adults, but if PAX is supposed to be family friendly you need to think like a kid sometimes.
You're absolutely right, I never really considered that.
Much love for PAX with one huge exception and my only major con, the swag bags.
I had Sunday only passes for me and four kids. We showed up on Sunday to find all the bags gone when the kids went to pick theirs up. This is my question: you know EXACTLY how many people bought tickets, how hard would it be to add one coupon per ticket to each packet of tickets you send out?
If that weren't bad enough, I find out that some people grabbed 20? or more bags just to get the CAH oatmeal packs that were being handed out at the CAH booth for free.
<rant to those people>
WTF? Are you that self centered and absorbed? The worst part was later on Sunday, CAH put a huge pile of oatmeal packs on a table in the queue for everyone to grab. No need at all to ruin someone else's day just to complete your collection. Or might I suggest actually talking and trading with the people around you.
</rant>
Again, the solution is simple, 1 bag per ticket, that's it. This is done at other professional events I've attended, I can't believe PAX can't handle it.
Ok, I do feel better knowing that it was a Boston fail and not a PAX fail. If they are forced to do this again in the future I recommend changing some of the ones that are further away from the expo floor, in order to minimize the amount of walking to the next restroom, and having more clear signage. I'd also be willing to sign a petition asking the city to go shove it.
This was my first ever PAX, and I have nothing to base it against, but holy crap did I have a TON of fun
I got to actually talk to devs of little indie games that I really enjoy, I learned about games I didn't know existed and got to talk to those devs as well! Not just like, "Hey this looks cool, and I appreciate your work you're putting into this", but legit 15-20 minutes of questions and answers and I didn't feel like I was being pushed off like I did at the bigger booths with, "sign up for this raffle so we can get your email and bombard you with stuff about our products".
I liked every single little booth that I got to go to, I enjoyed the wildstar demo, and out of left field was star citizen just chillin at logitech I believe. That caught me off guard but that was a treat to actually play as well.
Also, I've never used an oculus before and Enemy Starfighter had a demo going with one, and that was outstanding as well.
Everyone I met, aside from the randoms who just stopped walking in the middle of an isle to stare at their phones and not be aware that they are actually in a traffic pattern, were amazing and fun to hang out with. So many cards against humanity games were played with people I didn't know, that was pretty sweet as well.
Dislikes:
-Big booth companies and their attitude of not really caring what you think, but just kinda pushing you through and asking you to sign up for emails vs listening to you as a consumer.
- Food prices, but eh what can you do
Ok, I do feel better knowing that it was a Boston fail and not a PAX fail. If they are forced to do this again in the future I recommend changing some of the ones that are further away from the expo floor, in order to minimize the amount of walking to the next restroom
Thanks for sharing the link - and I agree. The expo hall bathroom was the most annoying one by far to have changed. I think there should still be men's and women's rooms, but if we're changing things up, I hope they can make all of the changed restrooms into gender neutral for next year.
Ok, I do feel better knowing that it was a Boston fail and not a PAX fail. If they are forced to do this again in the future I recommend changing some of the ones that are further away from the expo floor, in order to minimize the amount of walking to the next restroom
Thanks for sharing the link - and I agree. The expo hall bathroom was the most annoying one by far to have changed. I think there should still be men's and women's rooms, but if we're changing things up, I hope they can make all of the changed restrooms into gender neutral for next year.
I'm not intolerant or anything, and I don't want to have that discussion, but I find the "gender neutral" bathrooms a bit unnerving. I get it, it's just a row of stalls, no one can see you or whatever, but it's still weird to me. I think if you must have them, have like one at a convenient location, and just keep the rest men and women only.
Likes:
-Shuttle buses were great.
-The morning line felt very fast to me. I was mildly concerned that bag checks would slow it down but that did not appear to be the case.
-I felt like there was a strong presence of high quality indie games, and I love that!
-PC Free play was great once again. I hit it up late on Saturday night, no lines no waiting The console freeplay was really fun as well.
-Arcade room!!!!!
-I enjoyed the Take This panel, and the Sex/Sexy/Sexism panel. I was pleased to be part of those conversations and I hope they continue in the years to come.
-AFK room and Diversity Lounge were two things that I didn't realize I needed/wanted until they were there. I was skeptical about the diversity lounge but I had a really nice chat with the organizer about the goals of the space and what they'd like to accomplish in the future. The AFK room was just so pleasant... I get anxious in large groups sometimes, and PAX can be a sensory overload. Having a quiet space to just sit down and close my eyes was very much appreciated.
-I felt like I saw a lot more families this year and in general it seemed like the audience was more, well, "general". I like that! It makes me really happy to meet geeks from other areas of geekdom (comics, board games etc) and I'm so happy about the number of people who get to experience PAX.
Dislikes:
-High price of food. But what can ya do really, it's a convention. However, I got really sick from eating fish from the food court... never again. Ugh.
-A couple times I wanted to use the sky bridge to get into the Westin and found it closed off, and this was in the middle of the day. That was pretty annoying when all I wanted was to go grab some coffee.
-The bathroom thing. I know it was the city of Boston that forced the changes, but ugh... I wish all the bathrooms would just go gender neutral. Like I mentioned above I got really, REALLY sick from some bad fish and was horrified to find myself in the expo queue area walking by not just one but three different bathrooms all labeled as men's before I found the women's. It also happened after the omegathon final - I used a side door expecting to find a bathroom and found myself staring at a sign taped over saying it had been converted to a men's room. When you gotta go you gotta go. I hope that PAX will really push for a better solution next year.
Highlights:
- Indies, including several games I backed at Kickstarter
- The freeplay areas. Got to try the PS4 and Xbox 1
- Bag inspection was very quick, even on the morning of the 1st day the huge line moved super fast
Lowlights:
- Adding my voice to the lack of women's restroom. Being in a bind and seeing 2 men's restrooms on the 2nd floor side by side was really bad
- So many lines! I gave up on Bethesda, Blizzard and Evolve. I wonder if there were more passes on sale this year, the showroom looked crazy packed compared to last year
- Line 4 bus seemed to only have 1 bus? It was always the one with people waiting and I always rode with the same gentleman on the wheel
But overall, it was a great Pax again and I thank the PA team for putting it together.
I was kinda bummed I was unable to get a swag bag this year. I had a three day pass and didnt pick one up the 1st day and when I went to grab one on Saturday they were out, so I made sure to get there earlier on Sunday and was turned away because they were only giving them to Sunday Badges =/. I really think there should be like a hole punch spot or something on the badge that enforcers can punch out when you get a swag bag to stop people from taking more then one. Its lame that people are so open about trying to get more then one too, on Sat when I tried to pick one up there were two guys that heard the enforcer say they were out for the day and remarked that they were able to grab one yesterday and were going to try again on Sunday.
First PAX and had a blast! I agree something needs to improve on the swag bags. Had friday and sat pass, never got one and didnt even see remnants of where they had been. I enjoyed how everything was very well organized, but a few enforcers I asked where bag check was didnt know where it was.
Please don't improve the swag bag ...sorry Dan but they are the root of all evil... Card Against Humanity are like crack to EBay crowd. They hid them in the oatmeal this year.
For next year Dan, then are by the queue lines but not until after 11:00 usually so you go in, see a few things, go back to queue area to get swag bag. Magic and CAH are the big draw for them, the rest are just ads. This year they put LOL codes in them, so that was a plus.. not that I play but believe it or not it made the ROIT booth less crowded as people who just wanted a code for their kid did not have to fight it. You cant fault PAX for the swag that companies brought, they have no control over that.
Better control over the SWAG BAG THIEVES and all would have been right with the world. As long as people see "Profit" in attending PAX, the convention is heading in the wrong direction.
- The indie booth was bigger and better than ever, and has much better line and crowd control. It was a little odd that some large vendors like Newegg were right next to the Indie Megabooth, but overall, much better planned and laid out.
- As usual, the Enforcers were awesome.
- While annoying, the bag check was pretty fast, and had a good number of tables.
- Keeping enough PA merch for all three days of the show! I think I saw some scarves still left over by the end of Sunday.
- The tabletop area seemed larger this year. Reducing the size of the queue line and food area was a smart move.
- I actually thought the swag was better than last year. Certainly the quality was a lot higher. Wolfenstein bags were well made and great, the Magicka hats were awesome, the Wildstar plushies were adorable, Machinima gave out excellent Minecraft blocks - just much higher quality than previous years, where last year was a lot of lanyards, pins, and posters.
Feedback:
- Can we move tabletop next to the Expo Hall, on the other side of the airgap? While the expo hall is the face of PAX, tabletop is the heart, and I'd love for there to be more interaction between the two.
- I understand that MTG needs those tables for their most busy tournaments, but it seems like the space could be trimmed down a little.
- Every year that Bethesda comes they generate huge lines that crowd the aisles. Last year ESO had day-long waits, this year people stopped to watch the trailer in front of the escalator.
- NC Soft was the line offender this year, with capped lines several hours long.
I've been building this in my head all weekend. For reference, this my and my husbands 5th PAXEast. We drive in from NY every year.
Overall: This was an awesome PAX, but felt more crowded yet more low-key than previous years. The crowd seemed different - less panel focused and more expo hall focused. Part of that was the exhibitors were a bit lacking, and part is my theory that a lot of badges went to people who were mostly there for the games and swag of the expo hall and not for the "true PAX" so to speak. This also explains why once the Expo hall closed, it felt like a ghost town compared to previous years. Empty quiet hallways are creepy people! I'm blaming this crowd change on the pre-announced badge registration that seemed to screw a lot of people this year.
Hotel: We stayed at Doubletree Back Bay because I missed the Westin for the first time in 4 years. It was a short 15 minute back road drive to the BCEC. Location was awesome, right near the JFK T stop and a grocery story. Hotel was super pleasant, and had minifridges for only 10$ for the whole weekend so we went to the store and got food. Parking was only 12$ so even with the 12$ daily rate at the BCEC we saved there. Was definitely the next best place to stay after Westin/Seaport. It was home to the Twitch.tv crew among alot of other vendors. Also: Free cookies are awesome.
BCEC: WTF with the bathrooms. I mean, seriously. On the south east side of the building (the Tabletop end of the building, but the queue room side) there was not SINGLE woman's bathroom on the ground or first floor. You had to cross the sky bridge or fight across TT to get to one. It was kind of ridiculous. Way to make me feel unwelcomed BCEC, I can't even find someplace to pee. The general sentiment from the women's bathrooms was often "Oh THANK GOD a women's bathroom!". BCEC staff seemed nicer than previously, so our complaints seem to be getting through. Bag checks went super smooth for us, but their staff are super inconsistent. Some checked every single pouch and pocket, and others just glanced. And one lady pulled our pill bottle and demanded to know what was in it...which y'know, is not part of a *weapons* check. The WiFi seemed to be stronger and vendors had fewer internet problems I also noticed.
Parking: We got in at like 8:30am every day, so we had no problem parking. It went smoothly and was organized
Dining Trolley: This is the first year we finally did this because there weren't any shows or tournaments in the 5-7pm block we wanted to see. It was AWESOME. We went to Chinatown and had delicious hot pot for a real meal, and then stopped at a bakery for delicious asian goodies to take back and snack on. I highly recommend it, even if you only use the free ride out from the BCEC and walk or taxi back (as a lot of people seemed to be doing just before it ended at 7pm on Sat)
Food: As usual, meh. Seemed to be WAAAAY longer lines at the food trucks in the queue room this year. Didn't go to the actual food court this time, managed to avoid it. A lot of the small corner food stops near the escalators seemed to be closed that were open in previous years. I'm not sure if the huge food truck lines were because it was closest to the Expo Hall and most of the crowd seemed to be expo hallers.
THE SHOW!
Lines: Went super smooth this year. Less yelling and demanding we move up (maybe we're getting to be pros at this). Flowed very well. very organized. Was *shocked* that a lot of panels did not fill and close (Make a Strip, Acquisitions Inc, Gearbox) that did last year or I expected to. Just meant that I over-planned my line time and could have had more show time for the panels I didn't need front row seating for but eh, this is a good thing.
Tabletop: Felt smaller this year, yet less busy. I was able to find space easily. Tabletop HQ either bought a TON more games for borrowing, or people were not borrowing as much because they had an excellent selection even at like 8 and 9pm at night when usually they are cleared out in previous years. I do wish that there were more demos and they were better marked with signage. And a LFG area would be great...I tried looking at the twitter hashtag but it didn't seem to be getting a ton of use.
Magic:The Gathering: Went WAAAAY smoother with the pagers. Why it took them this long, I don't know. this was a huge improvement and their staff seemed way more organized.
D&D: Notably lacking, what gives? No Booth in the expo floor and no WOTC running dungeons. I was so looking for to it. I know there was a small set of D&D Next being run by a game store, but they filled so fast it wasn't even remotely possible to get in.
Front Entrance: was underwhelming....no big displays or mini booths this year. It looked so bland and sad.
Expo hall: Overall felt way better designed and spaced....in general booths with give aways weren't located next to each other. Queue space and raffle space were clearly marked. But it was underwhelming, and missing a lot of annuals (No PopCap, no D&D, no Alienware) and even the vendors there seemed toned down a lot (like fewer overhead hanging displays that scream "we're over here"). It wasn't bad, it was just lower key. Swag was almost non-existent, though there were a lot of cool things being sold.
PWNMEAL: Amazing. Hilarious. I loved it. The fact that people were trying to take multiple swag bags though pisses me off. I saw it happen even on Friday. Seriously? There was nothing in the bag important. You could get the CAH oats by the handful on Sunday from enforcers unloading their bags on queue lines because they had so many left. I also heard people were taking the Strife cards for spinning their wheel out of bags, which is the only other thing in there worth anything (if you wanted a button really, or a shot at the plushie and t-shirt they were <i>also selling</i> if you wanted it so bad). ridiculous.
Panels: Loved the ones I went to. Make a strip went way better with the pre-screened questions, that was a great decision. Gearbox was excellent as always. Acquisitions Inc was amazing, but it ran way long...we had to leave at 3:45 to get home (and spring our dog from boarding before it closed) so I don't know how it ended! But it was great and I hope it comes back next year.
Pros:
-Tabletop seemed improved from last year, less chaotic.I spent more time there this year than I have in all the paxes I've been to.
-Con food seemed improved. Prices unfortunately reflected that, but at least the food was decent.
-While I'd like more Q&As, I like the new format. They got through a ton of questions during the make a strip, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me they got through more in that one panel than they usually do all weekend.
Cons:
-The whole con seemed more congested. This was most obvious in Expo to me. Maybe it was just me though. I think we've hit critical mass with how many people we can fit in until the expansion is done.
-Not PAXes fault since they got the order from the city just a few weeks ago, but there needed to be something more noticable about genders on the bathrooms. More than once I saw women go half way into the bathrooms near the food court only to turn around embarrassed. It was just a habbit for them being that room had been a womans bathroom for years.
Other:
Anyone see the construction a few blocks away from the seaport hotel? I know they are building a new hotel in that general area, not sure if that was it.
I have one complaint, and I highly doubt anyone else will have this.
PAX people, I know there is a serious lack of available real estate, but PLEASE put in a nursing mother's room. Being away from my daughter all day, I had to pump every 3-4 hours. I was told to go to the first aid area. The first time it was fine. The second time, someone was puking in the bathroom, and there were two people occupying the beds in there. I was turned away due to lack of space. I totally understood that people are sick, but where does one go? My choices were a public bathroom (Seriously? Would you make a sandwich in the bathroom?) or go over to the Westin and beg them to find me a place. Luckily I was able to pump in the women's locker room there, with one of the employees guarding the door. On Saturday, I had to pump in a supply closet where I couldn't even shut the door for privacy!
I know lactating moms are the gross minority of PAX, but we NEED to do this. It's medically necessary! Please, please have a room set up next year! All you have to do is request that the BCEC sets one up!
Pros:
Tabletop, freeplay and the indie booths were all excellent. Enforcers, when they were there, were awesome. Riot was awesome as always. It was definitely nice to see a wildstar demo at the freeplay area too! Oh, and PC freeplay had a ton of space. The enforcers at the classic console freeplay were amazing when my friend and I were havvimg issues getting some NES carts to work(damn double dragon 2) and were much appreciated.
Cons:
My biggest complaint this year has to be the lack of enforcers. I know theyre volunteers and there is a definite possibility that there just weren't enough volunteering. Friday I saw plenty of enforcers out on the show floor, but saturday and sunday I saw maybe one or two actually running around the show floor. The other few I saw were stuck at the end of lines with Capped signs. I cant count the amount of times that people straight up would just STOP in the middle of the expo floor for no reason, blocking everyone behind them.
As has been mentioned before, the expo hall doesnt seem to have had the atmosphere it did last year. Felt way more lowkey, and to be honest with some of the bigger developers there I didnt really feel like they were appreciating their fans very well.
And, same as last year the swag bags werenT handled very well. Gone way to quickly if you didnt get one on friday.
Overall still a good experience but not as good as last years.
Cons:
My biggest complaint this year has to be the lack of enforcers. I know theyre volunteers and there is a definite possibility that there just weren't enough volunteering. Friday I saw plenty of enforcers out on the show floor, but saturday and sunday I saw maybe one or two actually running around the show floor. The other few I saw were stuck at the end of lines with Capped signs. I cant count the amount of times that people straight up would just STOP in the middle of the expo floor for no reason, blocking everyone behind them.
I agree with this. For the most part every enforcer I dealt with was awesome, as they typically are. But there seemed to be a lack of them in Expo (while I saw line queues for smaller rooms with a ton). More than once there were a group of people in cross ways in Expo where 2 aisles crossed each other just standing there (obviously trying to figure out where to go) and blocking 2 directions of traffic. This has always happened, and will continue to happen till the end of time because some people aren't self aware enough to realize they should pull over to the side if they are lost, but it would be great to have more enforcers walking around dispersing those road blocks.
My wife and I received terrible service at the food area in the back of the room by tabletop.
There were five registers there, and only a single one open at 1:00 on Sunday. The line to pay went very slow.
By the time we'd reached the front my wife had already eaten her pretzel and I'd eaten my hotdog. The kid dressed as the spy from TF2 in front of us ate his pretzel before getting to the front also. When she asked him what it was he replied "it used to be a pretzel" she gave him a filthy look and mocked him for not bring able to wait.
When it was our turn the woman at the register asked what we had. My wife held up the wrapper her pretzel had been in, and I held the plate my hot dog was on.
She gave my wife a filthy look and said "I guess you just can't wait to eat huh? Had to scarf that real quick?
Then tried to say that since she couldn't tell what is ordered from my empty plate that she had to charge me for a hamburger combo just to make sure I wasn't trying to lie about what I got.
I demanded to talk to her manager, and that gentleman backed her up.
I admit I was very upset at that point and cursed at the pair a bit. I do feel bad because there may have been kids behind me in line.
I placed the rest of the food that we'd intended to buy on the table in front of the register , handed the manager the exact amount they had in the board for a pretzel and a hot dog ($11.00 )and we walked away.
I know that if that's the service we received, that we couldn't have been the only ones.
I liked all of PAX. However I have an intense dislike of the BCEC/MCCA staff and their policies.
The bathroom gender thing should never have happened.
The bag checks were completely useless. First, anyone who actually wanted to sneak a weapon in would just hide it somewhere besides their bag like.. on their person. So what bag check accomplished was it made a huge line even bigger, slowed everything way down, and pissed a lot of people off by confiscating small pocket knives and scissors. I'm willing to bet the number of actual dangerous weapons found was zero. It was entirely security theater, but at least security theater usually provides some semblance of actual security. This did not. On top of everything, I witnessed a lot of MCCA security staff being *very rude* to attendees, and giving a rotten start to someone's first day at pax. I know how hard enforcers work to keep everyone happy, and it pissed me off to see some convention staff ruin it because they simply didn't care about "some video game convention".
i know I focused on the bad, but the only reason I did that was because the good should be obvious to everyone. I had a great time but there is definitely stuff to work on in the attendee relations dept.
Edit: The PC Gamer panel was super boring. It was 4 people telling PC gamers that PC gaming is cool. I thought with the guy who runs oculus, and the guy who runs star citizen, we might have something here... but did we talk about those things? Not really. We talked about monitor resolution and v-sync. Super exciting!
Yea the pizza/burger/whatever place had a lady with a major an attitude, when I explained that I couldn't have a regular pepsi and needed either a diet pepsi or water because I was diabetic. She looked at my food (one of the gyros, so as diabetic friendly as it came there other than the salads) and gave me a look like "so why are you eating that" That having been said, this isn't PAX. They don't hire that company, MCAC does. I'd tweet them.
I used the gender-neutral bathroom (as a female person.) I only saw men in there. None of them looked at me, they just went about their business. Only, one dude was peeing in a stall with the door open. Is that a normal thing in a men's room when there are no urinals available? That bit was awkward, but otherwise it just felt like a bathroom, with people in it. Definitely preferable to trekking a half mile to find a women's room, and glad for the inclusivity of the whole thing.
The Royal Rumble "panel" was one of the best PAX events I've ever attended. Chanting! Breakaway bottles! Promos! Al Snow winning a Royal Rumble!(?) There were so many funny people participating, there was so much enthusiasm and positive energy throughout the whole thing. I really hope this or something like it can happen again in future PAXes because it was amazing.
+1
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WolfieeWeb/Graphic Designer and IllustratorMARegistered Userregular
edited April 2014
This was my 5th PAX East and was my least favorite. Still had a great time as usual, but the Expo Hall was a major flop for me.
For one, I'm more interested in AAA titles than I am indie games, which I know isn't what PAX is "about," but the previous years there were a TON of bigger games. This year there were only like 4. With a lot of new games coming out, this surprised and saddened me. Maybe developers knew about PAX South and that's why? Not sure.
Pros:
- Enforcers. As always, awesome job. My group missed out on SWAG bags both days until Sunday. We were standing in line when a group passed us saying three day pass people will be denied. I understand why, but really? We had talked to an enforcer previously about where the line for the SWAG bags were going to be. When we walked back empty handed, he actually spotted us and went out of his way to ask if we got them. When we told him no, he pulled us aside, told us "no promises" and attempted to grab us some. Unfortunately he wasn't able to, but the fact he went out of his way and tried for just 4 measly people was pretty awesome. Thank you!
- Time of the year. Every other PAX except one has been in March, when it's -1000 outside. I REALLY loved how it was help in April this year. I cosplay and sacrifice bringing a hoodie or jacket to save valuable backpack space, so having to walk outside in zero degree weather is no fun in March. We definitely had an unusually warm weekend this PAX for April in Boston, but it's much more comfortable in April nonetheless. I'm disappointed to see it's already planned for March next year.
- Panels. Every year I complain about the lack of developer/gaming panels. They always seem to be stupid "gaming with kids" or "how to be a healthy gamer" or "being a girl in the gaming community" panels instead of actually talking about the industry or upcoming games. This year was much different. I attended 4 panels, which is the most I've done in like 3 years.
- Shuttles were awesome! This was my first year needing one.
- Merch! EVERY year I suggest more merch booths - I want to buy gaming stuff at a gaming convention! This year they did just that. There were tons of merch booths with lots of different things and it was great. I couldn't find Cactuar the plushie I saw, but there was still a great selection of others.
Cons:
- Jesus friggin christ I would be willing to pay $100 for a three day pass if it meant PAX would limit the amount of god damn people that go to this thing. This was the WORST in terms of crowd in all 5 years. Like holy crap. Could barely move through the aisles. Also didn't play one game because no one in my group was willing to wait in 4 hours lines, or any lines really (don't know why they bother coming if they don't want to do lines, but I really don't blame them either). This was my biggest problem this year. And expansions of the building should NOT mean more people, or that the current amount is fine. We'll just have the same exact problem. PLEASE. PLEASE. If you're really just letting this many people attend to make money, up the price of badges. People WILL pay.
- League of Legends booth. This seriously needs it's own section or corner, or a much bigger radius. Too many people are crowded around that booth at all times and it clogs up all the pathways.
- SWAG bags. This was a disaster. Every other year, you would get in the queue line before 10 am. As soon as the expo opened, you walked passed a big row of tables with bags, grabbed your bag, filled it with whatever else was laid out, and off you went. You did this every day. You got three if you were there all three days. No big deal. This year they changed the time to 11:30 - meaning you had to stand in yet another line to even get one. If you had a three day badge like my group had and DIDN'T get one the first day, you waited in that line and then were turned away. A scheduled time for swag bags was a terrible, terrible decision. THIS DID NOT WORK. Last year was much more organized. People were still taking way more than allowed last year, but there was never an issue with them running out or not giving them to three day pass people. Please go back to 10 AM time.
- I have the bladder of a god and didn't use the bathroom once while I was there, but the whole girls bathroom thing would have made me rage. Do enough walking as it is all weekend and with all the damn lines that take up half the day, time is of the essence. Searching for a bathroom is ridiculous.
- I agree that the bag check was a waste of time. They barely looked at what was inside and I could have just hidden one in my jacket or something if I wanted to. All this did was create yet another massive line and slow everyone down.
- Swag. Every other PAX I have walked away with 6-7 shirts, tons of game codes, and lots of other fun stuff. This year? One Wolfenstien bag because I was at the right place at the right time. That's it.
On top of everything, I witnessed a lot of MCCA security staff being *very rude* to attendees, and giving a rotten start to someone's first day at pax. I know how hard enforcers work to keep everyone happy, and it pissed me off to see some convention staff ruin it because they simply didn't care about "some video game convention".
100 percent agree. I've worked security before at a college, and I've also worked lowly customer service positions, and the main thing you have to accomplish is making sure your audience is happy and enjoying themselves while being safe. I don't care if you hate the fact that you're there and that you don't like video games, you were hired to provide security detail and that's it. Don't press your unhappiness with a convention or general "don't give a fuck" attitude into everyone else.
The enforcers did an awesome job and they were super chill when they asked us to move out of isles and whatnot. They did get a little louder and forceful with the voice when people ignored them, but it wasn't over the line, it was more of a "Hey, dude..you need to move or else the fire marshal is gonna ban hammer us all, so do it", and that was cool.
I can't agree with the bathroom thing enough. I had to either drag around my husband to the women's room or venture off by myself and meet him later. It was incredibly inconvenient to have an entire row of bathrooms that were men's. Couldn't it have been every other at the very least? There were several times I was on the verge of just going into the men's rooms. There was one instance where I found a ladies room, but 2/3rds of the stalls were locked with no one inside. What the hell.
Also, as a boston native, I found the "bag check" to be insultingly pointless. The people checking bags could not have cared less. Get a real bag check in place next time.
I had no idea about the AFK lounge thing. It sounds awesome. I typically take the day after the convention off just to de stress from being in the crowd so I would have loved to have known about this.
Also, the expo floor was kind of lack luster this year...I felt like I was done with it about 4 hours into Friday and I felt I could have gone almost completely without my Sunday pass.
The indie booth was the most interesting thing for me on the expo floor. Really enjoyed some stuff there, and all the indie game developers really care what you have to say, which is more than I can say for the big names that were there who couldn't care less and make you pre order or give out your email or facebook likes or whatever.
Riot area being near the escalator was not the best choice. However, of the big name companies I feel like riot really stood out. All the employees really cared what you had to say to them.
More enforcers on the expo floor please. People don't know how to walk. Also, I think equipping enforcers with radios of some sort would be amazing. If one of them can't answer your question, they can radio some one who does. Is the male enforcer always likely to know where the ladies room is? nope so have him radio a lady.
Overall I love PAX east. My Husband and I go every year. We got engaged over a PAX east weekend. I have never had a problem with attendees being rude to each other or being anything other than friendly. However, this year there was very little that I actually wanted to do so the highlight for me was the sanshee party saturday night. Kind of hesitant to spend the money for 3 days next year tbh.
I will temper my previous complaint (made early in the morning just after I'd woken up after flying home) with the praise of the staff handling the cab line.
These people were super nice every time I encountered them, helped with keeping things moving along, helped with bags, everything.
And they wouldn't take my offered tips.
Every other convention hall staffer I encountered treated me like an inconvenience or an idiot.
Enforcers were amazing. Especially Beker, who I've previously stated was basically my PAX Fairy God Father and helped my wife and I feel very welcome.
My first PAX, and I loved it. I'm having a hard time generating my highlights because I had fun all day.
My feedback on the bag-check is that it was mostly fine. If organizers want to check for obvious bombs, I completely understand. I didn't think the lines were unmanageable.
However, I strongly disagree with the suggestion that they should be "improved" or made into "real" security. A convention center is not an airport, and I don't think I'd tollerate being wanded or processed through a metal detector to attend a fun event like this. Never mind the lines...
Bag check shouldn't be confiscating pocket knives or nail clippers, either.
Positive:
- Panels were great, enforcers watching over these were very friendly. Most panels you could walk straight in without waiting in line.
- The concerts ended up being my favorite part, which I did not even expect to attend. (I liked/tolerated all the bands except Metroid Metal, imo that was a very poor choice)
- The classic arcade museum was awesome!
Negative
- The place that was selling hot dogs/pizza/whatever in the food/queue court had a menu on a stand that was no more than 3 feet from the register. I checked out the menu, then went in line. I waited 45 minutes to get my turn, asked for 3 items on the menu, a "shush", a "ice cream sundae", and "wings". Unfortunately all the wings were breaded, and not just sauced (legitimate problem with gluten). That's ok, at least I can get a slush and sundae... Nope! Neither of those were sold "there", even though the menu was clearly for that line/register. Seriously... WTF?! I wasted nearly an hour and had to go wait in another line that actually sold what I needed.
- The expo hall was seriously over-crowded. Which was funny because a lot of big named players did not even show up (Sony, EA, Nintendo, etc). I was wondering if they could adopt a ticket system for some of the lines or extend the expo into the queue area which was empty most of the time?
- I kind of wished the over-head signs had directions to the theater names instead of "room 521 this way". I eventually learned the layout pretty quickly, but still...
- Bathrooms, although I was a guy, even I have to agree our bathroom choices were laughably overstocked. I do not think I ever walked into a bathroom with more than 3 people in it.
- Bag checks, although they were quick and friendly, it was a joke. Anyone with malicious intent could have easily "sneaked" past them with little effort.
- With no concert and lackluster/overcrowded expo hall, I thought Sunday was pointless besides for a few panels.
- Im a bit surprised not a single person checked to see my badge, except when entering a concert. Is this normal? I had my badge fairly concealed on my backpack, and felt like I could have gone to everything except the concert without a badge. I wonder if some people are doing this?
Overall: I had a great experience and will be back again!
First off, I had a lot of fun at PAX East, so in general, good job all around. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the security check went, to get in the door. So props to the PAX crew who convinced BCEC to hire a bunch of gate guards.
My primary criticism is that the queue lines for both the main hall and for events was handled better in previous years.
This year, the enforcers let a lot of people cut in/through line, or opened up queues in ways that latter arrivals got better seats or earlier entrance. It's rather annoying when you see folks who got into line 30-45 minutes after you did, enter the main hall a good 15 minutes before you. In prior years, it seemed like the enforcers just handled the lines better.
Oh, and the blond haired enforcer with glasses manning the evening console returns? He sucked at that job. Someone should have moved him elsewhere.
The pin trading. I loved the idea of a dedicated Pin Training session. It made things a lot easier to obtain from staffers in particular. Now we don't have to run into Mike or Jerry or Khoo and so on by chance and can head to the cue room to get trading going. Nicely done.
Separating The Omegathon from the concerts. In previous years, there were people who would show up to the Saturday Concert just for The Omegathon and then leave immediately after. By splitting Round Three off into its own thing, no stages were stolen and more people got to go to what they wanted to go to, which is always a bonus.
Line management was GREAT this year. I did not experience one choke due to a panel's line spilling out into parts unknown. MAJOR props there.
The Doubleclicks and the return of Anamanaguchi. Bring 'em back, because they were a terrific addition to the concert lineup!
The Handheld Lounge is in the most perfect location. Best way to unwind, take out the 3DS for a bit, go nuts on Streetpass and move on.
The panel lineup this year was strong. Plenty to do with lots of diversity in selection. If one panel filled up, there was always another option out there. That's the sign of strong programming.
The Guidebook App was BEYOND helpful. Updates were speedy, and the search felt further in depth than ever this year. It really is a convention essential.
The Omegathon final. When you say corn, I say hole. Corn...HOLE!
Complaints:
Leading up to the con, the hotel booking site needs a system similar to how you obtain badges for the show. A steady cue with a place in line with a cookie that sets in case your browser somehow crashes or the site refuses to launch properly. Onpeak was simply not ready for the influx of people looking to book, and even their own employees could not assist you when you got through to them on the phones. Although I was lucky enough to get a room via social media inquiry, I know others were not so lucky, and improvements simply need to be made.
The amount of exits at the main entrance were way lacking. Exiting the con had the biggest choke out of anything I experienced, and that included bag check. I think in the future there should be a better balance between entrances and exits, which I know is impossible to really find thanks to bag check.
Speaking of Bag Check, there was inadequate signage leading up to Bag Check. On Saturday, there was a line all the way down the block that formed with people who simply thought this was the line into the con. In reality, this was the line to the nearest bag check, while other lines were way shorter. Some indication that there are multiple lines as you're walking up might be good for next year.
The Classic Console area was weak this time around. Way fewer titles than in the past, a busted NES or two, and line organization needed work. I know the Classic Console area relies heavily on donations, but there was way too slim pickings on games. Simple as that.
The Exhibit Floor felt oddly empty. In previous years, I left the convention feeling as if each day there would be something new to see and find on the floor. This year, I felt like I had seen everything of pertinent value after one day. A better balance between the big-wig developers and the indies would be nice, as would some more diversity in the games on display. Nearly everything was a MOBA.
Swag bags. A lot of us love Cards Against Humanity. Yes, this is a shock to all of you, I'm sure. It was cool seeing these show up in our bags. But it would have been a lot cooler for them to be not in the bags, so people would only take one bag and there would be less of a chance of running out of swag by midday Saturday. Putting the CAH on a table like you did the PAX East booklets might be a better strategy.
I know that PAX East had absolutely no control over this, but turning the women's rooms into men's room was ridiculous. I have NO IDEA what Boston was thinking here. Did someone on city council have to wait to pee last year or something? Hopefully in 2015 this decision will be reversed, or the bathrooms will become neutral rooms, as Khoo suggested.
PAX East ending an midnight instead of 2am was disappointing. It essentially took away one of my favorite times at the convention: wandering after the concerts to console freeplay and elsewhere to see what was still going on. Sad boosh.
Last of Paul & Storm and JoCo. Hope to see you guys back next year, especially if those new albums materialize like Spock returning from an away mission.
Pluses and minuses I had a great time, and am looking forward to next year, and possibly PAX South if I can swing it!
My comments have all already been mentioned, but maybe they can be compiled and given to the city if they try to pass judgements on bathrooms again? Walking half the length of the entire BCEC and still not knowing where you'll find a women's bathroom is an insult.
I agree with those who said that tabletop was overcrowded. The Magic section was too huge, and it was difficult often to find a spot to play a board game.
BCEC: Please have enough soap in the bathrooms! On Sunday, there was none in two different bathrooms I visited. In one, the cleaning lady told me to use hand sanitizer instead. And this after the city issued specific warnings about the flu.
Posts
Highlights:
The Concerts. Overall they were way better this year than last. Bit Brigade was phenomenal on the first night, and Anamaguchi was good, but I guess I didn't understand the appeal. Metroid Metal however is quite simply nothing but loud metal noise (and this comes from someone who generally likes loud heavy metal noise). I saw a ton of people leave when MM got on stage, in order to spare their ear drums. I didn't stay for the second night of concerts, but my buddy told me they were great.
The Organization. You can't avoid lines (although there's more that could be done to prevent them, but I'll get to that). Pax overall seemed much more organized this year than in the past. Everything was clearly labeled, as far as where a line begins and ends, and what each line was for. Also I saw a lot more enforcers this year than in the past, which is always a good thing.
The schedule. I know a lot of people complained, but I actually liked that everything closed up at midnight this year. It provided a much greater incentive for things to finish on time, and to stay on schedule.
The lowlights.
The exhibitors. If indy games, and PC gaming is your thing, then this was your year! If more mainstream fare is what you're after, you were out of luck this year. Nothing this year is what I would have described as a AAA title, and almost everything being shown was a first person shooter, so if you don't care for that genre, you're double screwed. For whatever reason lots of companies skipped out this year, no Nintendo, no Sony, no Capcom, Microsoft was there but was only showing stuff that's already out. I enjoyed what I played, but the overall exhibition floor was not so great this year.
The Lines. I know, everyone bitches about the lines, and there's very little that can be done, but is it really that difficult to just tell exhibitors to limit demos / videos to 10-15 minutes, rather than 25-30 minutes? There's no reason at all that a demo needs to go on that long. Capping the lines is also something that needs to be resolved. I was in the exhibition hall literally the moment it opened on Saturday, and all the popular games were filled up already. Put some bright minds together, come up with a solution, I know it can be done. Also, on a similar note, can League of Legends please tone down the noise and crowds that radiate from their area? It's a bit much.
The classic console free play room. I know I've complained about this one in the past, and this year it actually got worse. The number of game stations was reduced, the library of games was smaller than it's ever been, and the wait was longer than ever. This stuff can be sourced from different places if needed. You have two huge rooms dedicated to modern consoles that were always more than half empty. You can't find people to bring in another dozen classic consoles and expand a bit. Let me know where to sign up, I'll bring my stuff next year and loan it out.
Overall it was PAX, not much changes, and that's a good thing. I had lots of fun like always, and met some great people. One thing I did notice when leaving Saturday however which seemed strange was that people were actively trying to rid themselves of their Sunday passes. I don't mean a couple of people in the lobby trying to sell theirs, I mean I saw several instances of people literally trying to get people to take their Sunday pass for free. I'm not sure if it was just a coincidence, or a sign of discontent, but I've never seen this in the past.
Compliments:
Critiques:
Cons: LADY'S BATHROOMS. This is the first year I noticed a lack of women's bathrooms. On the main floor alone in the tabletop area, there seemed to be ONE women's bathroom and THREE for men. One floor had signs to direct to the lady's rooms since they weren't just paired with the men's rooms. I kept being told all weekend that "this IS a gaming convention" and that the ratio of men to women warrants this bathroom inequality, but I don't accept those answers. As far as I noticed in the past, an equal number of bathrooms always worked out just fine, and unless the male to female ratio is ridiculous, I call sexist shenanigans.
Aside from that, I was disappointed about The Protomen not attending (though I understand how busy they are), but otherwise it was a great year! Lines and panels went especially smoothly.
I had Sunday only passes for me and four kids. We showed up on Sunday to find all the bags gone when the kids went to pick theirs up. This is my question: you know EXACTLY how many people bought tickets, how hard would it be to add one coupon per ticket to each packet of tickets you send out?
If that weren't bad enough, I find out that some people grabbed 20? or more bags just to get the CAH oatmeal packs that were being handed out at the CAH booth for free.
<rant to those people>
WTF? Are you that self centered and absorbed? The worst part was later on Sunday, CAH put a huge pile of oatmeal packs on a table in the queue for everyone to grab. No need at all to ruin someone else's day just to complete your collection. Or might I suggest actually talking and trading with the people around you.
</rant>
Again, the solution is simple, 1 bag per ticket, that's it. This is done at other professional events I've attended, I can't believe PAX can't handle it.
Cons: I didn't like the trend towards raffles and "pre-order for swag" that Watchdogs and Borderlands booths were doing. The newegg raffle Sunday at noon was a complete fire hazard disaster as well.
The concerts weren't as good as last year, although VGO really killed it with their new set. On a related note, I think that closing the convention 2 hours earlier than last year wasn't a good idea -- after the concerts there were still a ton of people lined up to meet the bands and buy merch.
Overall it was still a blast though, I really enjoyed it.
-- People who volunteered as enforcers and the people working for the convention center were all excellent; the bag check was not nearly as bad as I was afraid it would be.
-- Lines were managed well, console free play was very efficient, didn't have to wait long.
Dislikes:
-- there was not a single sentence in the guidebook about the diversity lounge, I didn't even know it existed until some of my (non PAX east attending) friends started sharing this photo online and were making comments about the apparent lack of diversity in the diversity lounge.
I headed over on Sunday and thought the booths there were great, there really was a good representation there, but I didn't see anyone else hanging out there when I went by. So I think it would have been more effective and a better place to meet people if it were advertised more.
-- It was a HUGE INCONVIENIENCE that the women's restroom near the expo floor food court & tabletop area was turned into a mens room. There were already two other mens rooms within short walking distance, but getting to the nearest women's rooms meant doubling back across the entire tabletop area or leaving the expo floor entirely. The women's restroom near the handheld area was also turned into a mens room, and it wasn't clearly marked where the next nearest restroom would be. (Note that I'm specifically not complaining about the gender neutral restroom because they didn't take away restrooms from anyone, I'm talking specifically about restrooms that were turned into mens only.)
-- In general, I was also disappointed with the non-indie parts of the expo floor, just because I also don't care for MOBAs and it seemed like non game exhibits like hardware vendors and colleges were taking up a much larger portion this year. I realize everyone has their tastes, but for me it felt like the only place I could really explore and try new things was in indie and tabletop, since the everything else either had a three hour wait or wasn't a game. In general, there were too many times I felt like I wasn't at an event for gamers, but an event for things being sold to gamers.
You're absolutely right, I never really considered that.
Ok, I do feel better knowing that it was a Boston fail and not a PAX fail. If they are forced to do this again in the future I recommend changing some of the ones that are further away from the expo floor, in order to minimize the amount of walking to the next restroom, and having more clear signage. I'd also be willing to sign a petition asking the city to go shove it.
I got to actually talk to devs of little indie games that I really enjoy, I learned about games I didn't know existed and got to talk to those devs as well! Not just like, "Hey this looks cool, and I appreciate your work you're putting into this", but legit 15-20 minutes of questions and answers and I didn't feel like I was being pushed off like I did at the bigger booths with, "sign up for this raffle so we can get your email and bombard you with stuff about our products".
I liked every single little booth that I got to go to, I enjoyed the wildstar demo, and out of left field was star citizen just chillin at logitech I believe. That caught me off guard but that was a treat to actually play as well.
Also, I've never used an oculus before and Enemy Starfighter had a demo going with one, and that was outstanding as well.
Everyone I met, aside from the randoms who just stopped walking in the middle of an isle to stare at their phones and not be aware that they are actually in a traffic pattern, were amazing and fun to hang out with. So many cards against humanity games were played with people I didn't know, that was pretty sweet as well.
Dislikes:
-Big booth companies and their attitude of not really caring what you think, but just kinda pushing you through and asking you to sign up for emails vs listening to you as a consumer.
- Food prices, but eh what can you do
Thanks for sharing the link - and I agree. The expo hall bathroom was the most annoying one by far to have changed. I think there should still be men's and women's rooms, but if we're changing things up, I hope they can make all of the changed restrooms into gender neutral for next year.
I'm not intolerant or anything, and I don't want to have that discussion, but I find the "gender neutral" bathrooms a bit unnerving. I get it, it's just a row of stalls, no one can see you or whatever, but it's still weird to me. I think if you must have them, have like one at a convenient location, and just keep the rest men and women only.
-Shuttle buses were great.
-The morning line felt very fast to me. I was mildly concerned that bag checks would slow it down but that did not appear to be the case.
-I felt like there was a strong presence of high quality indie games, and I love that!
-PC Free play was great once again. I hit it up late on Saturday night, no lines no waiting
-Arcade room!!!!!
-I enjoyed the Take This panel, and the Sex/Sexy/Sexism panel. I was pleased to be part of those conversations and I hope they continue in the years to come.
-AFK room and Diversity Lounge were two things that I didn't realize I needed/wanted until they were there. I was skeptical about the diversity lounge but I had a really nice chat with the organizer about the goals of the space and what they'd like to accomplish in the future. The AFK room was just so pleasant... I get anxious in large groups sometimes, and PAX can be a sensory overload. Having a quiet space to just sit down and close my eyes was very much appreciated.
-I felt like I saw a lot more families this year and in general it seemed like the audience was more, well, "general". I like that! It makes me really happy to meet geeks from other areas of geekdom (comics, board games etc) and I'm so happy about the number of people who get to experience PAX.
Dislikes:
-High price of food. But what can ya do really, it's a convention. However, I got really sick from eating fish from the food court... never again. Ugh.
-A couple times I wanted to use the sky bridge to get into the Westin and found it closed off, and this was in the middle of the day. That was pretty annoying when all I wanted was to go grab some coffee.
-The bathroom thing. I know it was the city of Boston that forced the changes, but ugh... I wish all the bathrooms would just go gender neutral. Like I mentioned above I got really, REALLY sick from some bad fish and was horrified to find myself in the expo queue area walking by not just one but three different bathrooms all labeled as men's before I found the women's. It also happened after the omegathon final - I used a side door expecting to find a bathroom and found myself staring at a sign taped over saying it had been converted to a men's room. When you gotta go you gotta go. I hope that PAX will really push for a better solution next year.
- Indies, including several games I backed at Kickstarter
- The freeplay areas. Got to try the PS4 and Xbox 1
- Bag inspection was very quick, even on the morning of the 1st day the huge line moved super fast
Lowlights:
- Adding my voice to the lack of women's restroom. Being in a bind and seeing 2 men's restrooms on the 2nd floor side by side was really bad
- So many lines! I gave up on Bethesda, Blizzard and Evolve. I wonder if there were more passes on sale this year, the showroom looked crazy packed compared to last year
- Line 4 bus seemed to only have 1 bus? It was always the one with people waiting and I always rode with the same gentleman on the wheel
But overall, it was a great Pax again and I thank the PA team for putting it together.
For next year Dan, then are by the queue lines but not until after 11:00 usually so you go in, see a few things, go back to queue area to get swag bag. Magic and CAH are the big draw for them, the rest are just ads. This year they put LOL codes in them, so that was a plus.. not that I play but believe it or not it made the ROIT booth less crowded as people who just wanted a code for their kid did not have to fight it. You cant fault PAX for the swag that companies brought, they have no control over that.
Better control over the SWAG BAG THIEVES and all would have been right with the world. As long as people see "Profit" in attending PAX, the convention is heading in the wrong direction.
Likes:
- The indie booth was bigger and better than ever, and has much better line and crowd control. It was a little odd that some large vendors like Newegg were right next to the Indie Megabooth, but overall, much better planned and laid out.
- As usual, the Enforcers were awesome.
- While annoying, the bag check was pretty fast, and had a good number of tables.
- Keeping enough PA merch for all three days of the show! I think I saw some scarves still left over by the end of Sunday.
- The tabletop area seemed larger this year. Reducing the size of the queue line and food area was a smart move.
- I actually thought the swag was better than last year. Certainly the quality was a lot higher. Wolfenstein bags were well made and great, the Magicka hats were awesome, the Wildstar plushies were adorable, Machinima gave out excellent Minecraft blocks - just much higher quality than previous years, where last year was a lot of lanyards, pins, and posters.
Feedback:
- Can we move tabletop next to the Expo Hall, on the other side of the airgap? While the expo hall is the face of PAX, tabletop is the heart, and I'd love for there to be more interaction between the two.
- I understand that MTG needs those tables for their most busy tournaments, but it seems like the space could be trimmed down a little.
- Every year that Bethesda comes they generate huge lines that crowd the aisles. Last year ESO had day-long waits, this year people stopped to watch the trailer in front of the escalator.
- NC Soft was the line offender this year, with capped lines several hours long.
Overall, another great year! 4.5 / 5.
Overall: This was an awesome PAX, but felt more crowded yet more low-key than previous years. The crowd seemed different - less panel focused and more expo hall focused. Part of that was the exhibitors were a bit lacking, and part is my theory that a lot of badges went to people who were mostly there for the games and swag of the expo hall and not for the "true PAX" so to speak. This also explains why once the Expo hall closed, it felt like a ghost town compared to previous years. Empty quiet hallways are creepy people! I'm blaming this crowd change on the pre-announced badge registration that seemed to screw a lot of people this year.
Hotel: We stayed at Doubletree Back Bay because I missed the Westin for the first time in 4 years. It was a short 15 minute back road drive to the BCEC. Location was awesome, right near the JFK T stop and a grocery story. Hotel was super pleasant, and had minifridges for only 10$ for the whole weekend so we went to the store and got food. Parking was only 12$ so even with the 12$ daily rate at the BCEC we saved there. Was definitely the next best place to stay after Westin/Seaport. It was home to the Twitch.tv crew among alot of other vendors. Also: Free cookies are awesome.
BCEC: WTF with the bathrooms. I mean, seriously. On the south east side of the building (the Tabletop end of the building, but the queue room side) there was not SINGLE woman's bathroom on the ground or first floor. You had to cross the sky bridge or fight across TT to get to one. It was kind of ridiculous. Way to make me feel unwelcomed BCEC, I can't even find someplace to pee. The general sentiment from the women's bathrooms was often "Oh THANK GOD a women's bathroom!". BCEC staff seemed nicer than previously, so our complaints seem to be getting through. Bag checks went super smooth for us, but their staff are super inconsistent. Some checked every single pouch and pocket, and others just glanced. And one lady pulled our pill bottle and demanded to know what was in it...which y'know, is not part of a *weapons* check. The WiFi seemed to be stronger and vendors had fewer internet problems I also noticed.
Parking: We got in at like 8:30am every day, so we had no problem parking. It went smoothly and was organized
Dining Trolley: This is the first year we finally did this because there weren't any shows or tournaments in the 5-7pm block we wanted to see. It was AWESOME. We went to Chinatown and had delicious hot pot for a real meal, and then stopped at a bakery for delicious asian goodies to take back and snack on. I highly recommend it, even if you only use the free ride out from the BCEC and walk or taxi back (as a lot of people seemed to be doing just before it ended at 7pm on Sat)
Food: As usual, meh. Seemed to be WAAAAY longer lines at the food trucks in the queue room this year. Didn't go to the actual food court this time, managed to avoid it. A lot of the small corner food stops near the escalators seemed to be closed that were open in previous years. I'm not sure if the huge food truck lines were because it was closest to the Expo Hall and most of the crowd seemed to be expo hallers.
THE SHOW!
Lines: Went super smooth this year. Less yelling and demanding we move up (maybe we're getting to be pros at this). Flowed very well. very organized. Was *shocked* that a lot of panels did not fill and close (Make a Strip, Acquisitions Inc, Gearbox) that did last year or I expected to. Just meant that I over-planned my line time and could have had more show time for the panels I didn't need front row seating for but eh, this is a good thing.
Tabletop: Felt smaller this year, yet less busy. I was able to find space easily. Tabletop HQ either bought a TON more games for borrowing, or people were not borrowing as much because they had an excellent selection even at like 8 and 9pm at night when usually they are cleared out in previous years. I do wish that there were more demos and they were better marked with signage. And a LFG area would be great...I tried looking at the twitter hashtag but it didn't seem to be getting a ton of use.
Magic:The Gathering: Went WAAAAY smoother with the pagers. Why it took them this long, I don't know. this was a huge improvement and their staff seemed way more organized.
D&D: Notably lacking, what gives? No Booth in the expo floor and no WOTC running dungeons. I was so looking for to it. I know there was a small set of D&D Next being run by a game store, but they filled so fast it wasn't even remotely possible to get in.
Front Entrance: was underwhelming....no big displays or mini booths this year. It looked so bland and sad.
Expo hall: Overall felt way better designed and spaced....in general booths with give aways weren't located next to each other. Queue space and raffle space were clearly marked. But it was underwhelming, and missing a lot of annuals (No PopCap, no D&D, no Alienware) and even the vendors there seemed toned down a lot (like fewer overhead hanging displays that scream "we're over here"). It wasn't bad, it was just lower key. Swag was almost non-existent, though there were a lot of cool things being sold.
PWNMEAL: Amazing. Hilarious. I loved it. The fact that people were trying to take multiple swag bags though pisses me off. I saw it happen even on Friday. Seriously? There was nothing in the bag important. You could get the CAH oats by the handful on Sunday from enforcers unloading their bags on queue lines because they had so many left. I also heard people were taking the Strife cards for spinning their wheel out of bags, which is the only other thing in there worth anything (if you wanted a button really, or a shot at the plushie and t-shirt they were <i>also selling</i> if you wanted it so bad). ridiculous.
Panels: Loved the ones I went to. Make a strip went way better with the pre-screened questions, that was a great decision. Gearbox was excellent as always. Acquisitions Inc was amazing, but it ran way long...we had to leave at 3:45 to get home (and spring our dog from boarding before it closed) so I don't know how it ended! But it was great and I hope it comes back next year.
-Tabletop seemed improved from last year, less chaotic.I spent more time there this year than I have in all the paxes I've been to.
-Con food seemed improved. Prices unfortunately reflected that, but at least the food was decent.
-While I'd like more Q&As, I like the new format. They got through a ton of questions during the make a strip, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me they got through more in that one panel than they usually do all weekend.
Cons:
-The whole con seemed more congested. This was most obvious in Expo to me. Maybe it was just me though. I think we've hit critical mass with how many people we can fit in until the expansion is done.
-Not PAXes fault since they got the order from the city just a few weeks ago, but there needed to be something more noticable about genders on the bathrooms. More than once I saw women go half way into the bathrooms near the food court only to turn around embarrassed. It was just a habbit for them being that room had been a womans bathroom for years.
Other:
Anyone see the construction a few blocks away from the seaport hotel? I know they are building a new hotel in that general area, not sure if that was it.
PAX people, I know there is a serious lack of available real estate, but PLEASE put in a nursing mother's room. Being away from my daughter all day, I had to pump every 3-4 hours. I was told to go to the first aid area. The first time it was fine. The second time, someone was puking in the bathroom, and there were two people occupying the beds in there. I was turned away due to lack of space. I totally understood that people are sick, but where does one go? My choices were a public bathroom (Seriously? Would you make a sandwich in the bathroom?) or go over to the Westin and beg them to find me a place. Luckily I was able to pump in the women's locker room there, with one of the employees guarding the door. On Saturday, I had to pump in a supply closet where I couldn't even shut the door for privacy!
I know lactating moms are the gross minority of PAX, but we NEED to do this. It's medically necessary! Please, please have a room set up next year!
Tabletop, freeplay and the indie booths were all excellent. Enforcers, when they were there, were awesome. Riot was awesome as always. It was definitely nice to see a wildstar demo at the freeplay area too! Oh, and PC freeplay had a ton of space. The enforcers at the classic console freeplay were amazing when my friend and I were havvimg issues getting some NES carts to work(damn double dragon 2) and were much appreciated.
Cons:
My biggest complaint this year has to be the lack of enforcers. I know theyre volunteers and there is a definite possibility that there just weren't enough volunteering. Friday I saw plenty of enforcers out on the show floor, but saturday and sunday I saw maybe one or two actually running around the show floor. The other few I saw were stuck at the end of lines with Capped signs. I cant count the amount of times that people straight up would just STOP in the middle of the expo floor for no reason, blocking everyone behind them.
As has been mentioned before, the expo hall doesnt seem to have had the atmosphere it did last year. Felt way more lowkey, and to be honest with some of the bigger developers there I didnt really feel like they were appreciating their fans very well.
And, same as last year the swag bags werenT handled very well. Gone way to quickly if you didnt get one on friday.
Overall still a good experience but not as good as last years.
I agree with this. For the most part every enforcer I dealt with was awesome, as they typically are. But there seemed to be a lack of them in Expo (while I saw line queues for smaller rooms with a ton). More than once there were a group of people in cross ways in Expo where 2 aisles crossed each other just standing there (obviously trying to figure out where to go) and blocking 2 directions of traffic. This has always happened, and will continue to happen till the end of time because some people aren't self aware enough to realize they should pull over to the side if they are lost, but it would be great to have more enforcers walking around dispersing those road blocks.
There were five registers there, and only a single one open at 1:00 on Sunday. The line to pay went very slow.
By the time we'd reached the front my wife had already eaten her pretzel and I'd eaten my hotdog. The kid dressed as the spy from TF2 in front of us ate his pretzel before getting to the front also. When she asked him what it was he replied "it used to be a pretzel" she gave him a filthy look and mocked him for not bring able to wait.
When it was our turn the woman at the register asked what we had. My wife held up the wrapper her pretzel had been in, and I held the plate my hot dog was on.
She gave my wife a filthy look and said "I guess you just can't wait to eat huh? Had to scarf that real quick?
Then tried to say that since she couldn't tell what is ordered from my empty plate that she had to charge me for a hamburger combo just to make sure I wasn't trying to lie about what I got.
I demanded to talk to her manager, and that gentleman backed her up.
I admit I was very upset at that point and cursed at the pair a bit. I do feel bad because there may have been kids behind me in line.
I placed the rest of the food that we'd intended to buy on the table in front of the register , handed the manager the exact amount they had in the board for a pretzel and a hot dog ($11.00 )and we walked away.
I know that if that's the service we received, that we couldn't have been the only ones.
The bathroom gender thing should never have happened.
The bag checks were completely useless. First, anyone who actually wanted to sneak a weapon in would just hide it somewhere besides their bag like.. on their person. So what bag check accomplished was it made a huge line even bigger, slowed everything way down, and pissed a lot of people off by confiscating small pocket knives and scissors. I'm willing to bet the number of actual dangerous weapons found was zero. It was entirely security theater, but at least security theater usually provides some semblance of actual security. This did not. On top of everything, I witnessed a lot of MCCA security staff being *very rude* to attendees, and giving a rotten start to someone's first day at pax. I know how hard enforcers work to keep everyone happy, and it pissed me off to see some convention staff ruin it because they simply didn't care about "some video game convention".
i know I focused on the bad, but the only reason I did that was because the good should be obvious to everyone. I had a great time but there is definitely stuff to work on in the attendee relations dept.
Edit: The PC Gamer panel was super boring. It was 4 people telling PC gamers that PC gaming is cool. I thought with the guy who runs oculus, and the guy who runs star citizen, we might have something here... but did we talk about those things? Not really. We talked about monitor resolution and v-sync. Super exciting!
The Royal Rumble "panel" was one of the best PAX events I've ever attended. Chanting! Breakaway bottles! Promos! Al Snow winning a Royal Rumble!(?) There were so many funny people participating, there was so much enthusiasm and positive energy throughout the whole thing. I really hope this or something like it can happen again in future PAXes because it was amazing.
For one, I'm more interested in AAA titles than I am indie games, which I know isn't what PAX is "about," but the previous years there were a TON of bigger games. This year there were only like 4. With a lot of new games coming out, this surprised and saddened me. Maybe developers knew about PAX South and that's why? Not sure.
Pros:
- Enforcers. As always, awesome job. My group missed out on SWAG bags both days until Sunday. We were standing in line when a group passed us saying three day pass people will be denied. I understand why, but really? We had talked to an enforcer previously about where the line for the SWAG bags were going to be. When we walked back empty handed, he actually spotted us and went out of his way to ask if we got them. When we told him no, he pulled us aside, told us "no promises" and attempted to grab us some. Unfortunately he wasn't able to, but the fact he went out of his way and tried for just 4 measly people was pretty awesome. Thank you!
- Time of the year. Every other PAX except one has been in March, when it's -1000 outside. I REALLY loved how it was help in April this year. I cosplay and sacrifice bringing a hoodie or jacket to save valuable backpack space, so having to walk outside in zero degree weather is no fun in March. We definitely had an unusually warm weekend this PAX for April in Boston, but it's much more comfortable in April nonetheless. I'm disappointed to see it's already planned for March next year.
- Panels. Every year I complain about the lack of developer/gaming panels. They always seem to be stupid "gaming with kids" or "how to be a healthy gamer" or "being a girl in the gaming community" panels instead of actually talking about the industry or upcoming games. This year was much different. I attended 4 panels, which is the most I've done in like 3 years.
- Shuttles were awesome! This was my first year needing one.
- Merch! EVERY year I suggest more merch booths - I want to buy gaming stuff at a gaming convention! This year they did just that. There were tons of merch booths with lots of different things and it was great. I couldn't find Cactuar the plushie I saw, but there was still a great selection of others.
Cons:
- Jesus friggin christ I would be willing to pay $100 for a three day pass if it meant PAX would limit the amount of god damn people that go to this thing. This was the WORST in terms of crowd in all 5 years. Like holy crap. Could barely move through the aisles. Also didn't play one game because no one in my group was willing to wait in 4 hours lines, or any lines really (don't know why they bother coming if they don't want to do lines, but I really don't blame them either). This was my biggest problem this year. And expansions of the building should NOT mean more people, or that the current amount is fine. We'll just have the same exact problem. PLEASE. PLEASE. If you're really just letting this many people attend to make money, up the price of badges. People WILL pay.
- League of Legends booth. This seriously needs it's own section or corner, or a much bigger radius. Too many people are crowded around that booth at all times and it clogs up all the pathways.
- SWAG bags. This was a disaster. Every other year, you would get in the queue line before 10 am. As soon as the expo opened, you walked passed a big row of tables with bags, grabbed your bag, filled it with whatever else was laid out, and off you went. You did this every day. You got three if you were there all three days. No big deal. This year they changed the time to 11:30 - meaning you had to stand in yet another line to even get one. If you had a three day badge like my group had and DIDN'T get one the first day, you waited in that line and then were turned away. A scheduled time for swag bags was a terrible, terrible decision. THIS DID NOT WORK. Last year was much more organized. People were still taking way more than allowed last year, but there was never an issue with them running out or not giving them to three day pass people. Please go back to 10 AM time.
- I have the bladder of a god and didn't use the bathroom once while I was there, but the whole girls bathroom thing would have made me rage. Do enough walking as it is all weekend and with all the damn lines that take up half the day, time is of the essence. Searching for a bathroom is ridiculous.
- I agree that the bag check was a waste of time. They barely looked at what was inside and I could have just hidden one in my jacket or something if I wanted to. All this did was create yet another massive line and slow everyone down.
- Swag. Every other PAX I have walked away with 6-7 shirts, tons of game codes, and lots of other fun stuff. This year? One Wolfenstien bag because I was at the right place at the right time. That's it.
Badges [ ] Hotel [ ] Complete Pixelist.net [x] Excitement [x]
100 percent agree. I've worked security before at a college, and I've also worked lowly customer service positions, and the main thing you have to accomplish is making sure your audience is happy and enjoying themselves while being safe. I don't care if you hate the fact that you're there and that you don't like video games, you were hired to provide security detail and that's it. Don't press your unhappiness with a convention or general "don't give a fuck" attitude into everyone else.
The enforcers did an awesome job and they were super chill when they asked us to move out of isles and whatnot. They did get a little louder and forceful with the voice when people ignored them, but it wasn't over the line, it was more of a "Hey, dude..you need to move or else the fire marshal is gonna ban hammer us all, so do it", and that was cool.
Also, as a boston native, I found the "bag check" to be insultingly pointless. The people checking bags could not have cared less. Get a real bag check in place next time.
I had no idea about the AFK lounge thing. It sounds awesome. I typically take the day after the convention off just to de stress from being in the crowd so I would have loved to have known about this.
Also, the expo floor was kind of lack luster this year...I felt like I was done with it about 4 hours into Friday and I felt I could have gone almost completely without my Sunday pass.
The indie booth was the most interesting thing for me on the expo floor. Really enjoyed some stuff there, and all the indie game developers really care what you have to say, which is more than I can say for the big names that were there who couldn't care less and make you pre order or give out your email or facebook likes or whatever.
Riot area being near the escalator was not the best choice. However, of the big name companies I feel like riot really stood out. All the employees really cared what you had to say to them.
More enforcers on the expo floor please. People don't know how to walk. Also, I think equipping enforcers with radios of some sort would be amazing. If one of them can't answer your question, they can radio some one who does. Is the male enforcer always likely to know where the ladies room is? nope so have him radio a lady.
Overall I love PAX east. My Husband and I go every year. We got engaged over a PAX east weekend. I have never had a problem with attendees being rude to each other or being anything other than friendly. However, this year there was very little that I actually wanted to do so the highlight for me was the sanshee party saturday night. Kind of hesitant to spend the money for 3 days next year tbh.
These people were super nice every time I encountered them, helped with keeping things moving along, helped with bags, everything.
And they wouldn't take my offered tips.
Every other convention hall staffer I encountered treated me like an inconvenience or an idiot.
Enforcers were amazing. Especially Beker, who I've previously stated was basically my PAX Fairy God Father and helped my wife and I feel very welcome.
My feedback on the bag-check is that it was mostly fine. If organizers want to check for obvious bombs, I completely understand. I didn't think the lines were unmanageable.
However, I strongly disagree with the suggestion that they should be "improved" or made into "real" security. A convention center is not an airport, and I don't think I'd tollerate being wanded or processed through a metal detector to attend a fun event like this. Never mind the lines...
Bag check shouldn't be confiscating pocket knives or nail clippers, either.
Positive:
- Panels were great, enforcers watching over these were very friendly. Most panels you could walk straight in without waiting in line.
- The concerts ended up being my favorite part, which I did not even expect to attend. (I liked/tolerated all the bands except Metroid Metal, imo that was a very poor choice)
- The classic arcade museum was awesome!
Negative
- The place that was selling hot dogs/pizza/whatever in the food/queue court had a menu on a stand that was no more than 3 feet from the register. I checked out the menu, then went in line. I waited 45 minutes to get my turn, asked for 3 items on the menu, a "shush", a "ice cream sundae", and "wings". Unfortunately all the wings were breaded, and not just sauced (legitimate problem with gluten). That's ok, at least I can get a slush and sundae... Nope! Neither of those were sold "there", even though the menu was clearly for that line/register. Seriously... WTF?! I wasted nearly an hour and had to go wait in another line that actually sold what I needed.
- The expo hall was seriously over-crowded. Which was funny because a lot of big named players did not even show up (Sony, EA, Nintendo, etc). I was wondering if they could adopt a ticket system for some of the lines or extend the expo into the queue area which was empty most of the time?
- I kind of wished the over-head signs had directions to the theater names instead of "room 521 this way". I eventually learned the layout pretty quickly, but still...
- Bathrooms, although I was a guy, even I have to agree our bathroom choices were laughably overstocked. I do not think I ever walked into a bathroom with more than 3 people in it.
- Bag checks, although they were quick and friendly, it was a joke. Anyone with malicious intent could have easily "sneaked" past them with little effort.
- With no concert and lackluster/overcrowded expo hall, I thought Sunday was pointless besides for a few panels.
- Im a bit surprised not a single person checked to see my badge, except when entering a concert. Is this normal? I had my badge fairly concealed on my backpack, and felt like I could have gone to everything except the concert without a badge. I wonder if some people are doing this?
Overall: I had a great experience and will be back again!
My primary criticism is that the queue lines for both the main hall and for events was handled better in previous years.
This year, the enforcers let a lot of people cut in/through line, or opened up queues in ways that latter arrivals got better seats or earlier entrance. It's rather annoying when you see folks who got into line 30-45 minutes after you did, enter the main hall a good 15 minutes before you. In prior years, it seemed like the enforcers just handled the lines better.
Oh, and the blond haired enforcer with glasses manning the evening console returns? He sucked at that job. Someone should have moved him elsewhere.
Complaints:
Pluses and minuses I had a great time, and am looking forward to next year, and possibly PAX South if I can swing it!
Host, Comic Timing Podcast
I agree with those who said that tabletop was overcrowded. The Magic section was too huge, and it was difficult often to find a spot to play a board game.
BCEC: Please have enough soap in the bathrooms! On Sunday, there was none in two different bathrooms I visited. In one, the cleaning lady told me to use hand sanitizer instead. And this after the city issued specific warnings about the flu.