WulfDisciple of TzeentchThe Void... (New Jersey)Registered Userregular
One thing I did notice this year, not sure if you would label it a con, but holy hell, why didn't they allow the doors to the sky bridges to be kept propped? They smelled like a gym bag within 15 minutes of the start of PAX this year .
One definite con, which a few people have really poked at was the fact that of the major titles at the show this year, they really REALLY let people stay on too long. I was able to see a grand total of ONE big game and three smaller games I was interested in due to people just staying on the machines forever. For example, Murdered: Soul Suspect, had a ton of machines. I was two people back in line for one, still had to wait for almost 90 minutes just to try it out, but had to leave almost as soon as I had my hands on the controller because of wanting to get to a panel.
Pros: The booth that was doing the VR sphere really had an awesome idea, in that you would sign up to try it, and they would text you when your turn was coming up. Not only did it keep the place from getting congested, it allowed you to go and see panels, or meet people you wanted to touch base with. Certainly wouldn't mind seeing more exhibitors getting on the wagon with that idea!
All the enforcers this year were great too, even if around 80% of the show floor folks ended up having to stand around looking sad and holding Line Capped signs.
Pros:
-Panels were awesome this year. Favorite one was the Royal Rumble panel.
-Indies were amazing. I would rather have more Indies and less "AAA" games but....
-Evolve was cool to watch but didn't look cool enough to wait in a huge line for.
Cons:
-I agree with everyone else that the show floor was wayyyy to packed. One lady went out of her way to chase my brother down and yell at him for "walking all over her" which I thought was funny because it only seemed possible if she was laying down on the show floor.
-A janitor wouldn't let me into the men's bathroom at one point and made me use the gender neutral one. At first seemed awkward but everyone inside seemed alright with it so that helped.
-Bag checked seemed pointless, bags were not being properly searched through.
Comments:
- I never saw the reason for the diversity lounge since everyone has always been wicked friendly at PAX. With that being said, I didn't see any effects from having the diversity lounge either.
- I agree with a previous post that said it feels like PAX is moving away from games in a way and it kinda showed in the types of panels.
The city of Boston forced the bathroom change, but for next year, the reed guys need to say no and if necessary point MCCA people to a map of convention areas on the East Coast if they're going to pull shit like this. I'm male and all the converted restrooms were empty, it shows a level of arrogance and lack of understanding that is totally unacceptable for an event this large, this expensive, and with this many excellent moving parts on Reed/PAX's part. If the MCCA were my vendor I'd be putting it out to bid after pulling crap like this.
But the more key issue: PAX is an ideal 4-day event, going to both prime and east this year made that obvious. Now the 3 day event felt really rushed, and if I had to choose, even though I'm from NY, I'd choose prime 10 out of 10 times. The extra day lets attendees go at their own pace, greatly reduces crowds, and makes waiting in a 90 minute line something you have time to do.
The city of Boston forced the bathroom change, but for next year, the reed guys need to say no and if necessary point MCCA people to a map of convention areas on the East Coast if they're going to pull shit like this. I'm male and all the converted restrooms were empty, it shows a level of arrogance and lack of understanding that is totally unacceptable for an event this large, this expensive, and with this many excellent moving parts on Reed/PAX's part. If the MCCA were my vendor I'd be putting it out to bid after pulling crap like this.
They're contracted in Boston through 2024. Also reed can't just say no to the venue. I agree that it was a crap thing to do on the venue's part, and hopefully they'll come to an agreement in the future, but stomping around and posturing won't help.
The city of Boston forced the bathroom change, but for next year, the reed guys need to say no and if necessary point MCCA people to a map of convention areas on the East Coast if they're going to pull shit like this. I'm male and all the converted restrooms were empty, it shows a level of arrogance and lack of understanding that is totally unacceptable for an event this large, this expensive, and with this many excellent moving parts on Reed/PAX's part. If the MCCA were my vendor I'd be putting it out to bid after pulling crap like this.
They're contracted in Boston through 2024. Also reed can't just say no to the venue. I agree that it was a crap thing to do on the venue's part, and hopefully they'll come to an agreement in the future, but stomping around and posturing won't help.
I work in procurement, including corporate events purchasing, this is a vendor not serving a customer right because of a long contract. You have to have a negotiating position, and that involves at least a bit of the stick to go with candy.
Venues pull this crap all the time, I'm sure whoever the relationship manager is at Reed will be able to do something about it next year, Reed really knows what they are doing with consumer events, this will get resolved.
Yes, I get that it's not all in stone and that people have negotiating positions, but since neither of us know what's in the contract, demanding that they just tell the venue to get fucked may not be solid advice
Also this conversation feels like programmers on MMO forums telling devs "it's just a simple code change".
Yes, I get that it's not all in stone and that people have negotiating positions, but since neither of us know what's in the contract, demanding that they just tell the venue to get fucked may not be solid advice
Also this conversation feels like programmers on MMO forums telling devs "it's just a simple code change".
I came off a bit stronger then I meant to, but man, we all hate it when a vendor makes significant changes we don't like at the last minute, it's an obnoxious shell game.
+2
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surettekill the switchBoston, MARegistered Userregular
This was my first PAX and here is what I thought of it.
Stood in line 40 minutes to get inside, no big deal. Got inside, was going to check our backpacks at the coat check, was over an hour wait on that, so gave up. Stood in line for 45 minutes to watch a 3 minute Nvidia movie about already released tech. Infact, I recieved 3 bags, one from Nvidia, Asus, and New Egg but nowhere was giving away anything to put in them. Waited in line for an hour for the Nvidia panel, which they showed a couple neat tech demos, but it was mostly people screaming and begging for video cards. Give aways are fine, but to the point of BEGGING and jumping up and down on chairs, it was farther than I would go. All of the other things I wanted to see, the Bethesda Booth and the MTG booth had such long lines, we gave up. We flew in half way across the country and couldnt justify spending half of a vacation day in line to see 1 thing. Last gripe, they close down the floor at 6 pm. So basically, in 1 day of PAX, you would have enough time to get in the door, check your coat, get a beer, and see 1 booth before they started shutting it down for the day. I had fun in Boston, but packing people in so damn tight that you cant even move, removed all enjoyment for me. The plane ticket and badge costs would have been better spent on games and a new video card, and watch the panels I wanted to see on livestream.
Really sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your first PAX. Not sure if you were there for one day or the whole weekend, but it's very easy to get lost in the bustle of the expo floor during your first PAX. This is just a suggestion based on my own personal experiences, so feel free to disregard, but I just want to see people come back to PAX and enjoy it as much as I do, which is why I'm replying. I find I have more fun the more I avoid the show floor. All the crazy booths and flashy setups are awesome, but honestly it's not what PAX is about in my opinion. For me, PAX is about the community. You can see that from this forum alone. People are super passionate about PAX and this culture we're all a part of. You're absolutely right, it's totally possible to spend your entire weekend in lines. Two years ago a friend and I waited an hour and a half to play Borderlands 2 months before its release. That was really cool and all, but probably not worth it. If you're really into the AAA stuff, I recommend picking maybe one of them that you can't miss, because you're going to wait a couple of hours for a short demo or a small bag of giveaways. In that same amount of time, you can walk through the entire indie megabooth, play some crazy cool games that people haven't heard of yet (everyone likes to be a hipster sometimes), and even have personal conversations with the developers of the games. I understand indie games aren't for everyone, but you just won't find that kind of connection in the AAA section.
Back to the community: another of my favorite things about PAX is tabletop. Picking up a game you've never played before, and playing with friends or people you've just met is a ton of fun. And then there are other sub-communities, like Pinny Arcade. There are events outside of the convention itself, like the Pokecrawl and the afterparties throughout the weekend. There are a multitude of amazing panels for basically every gaming-related interest you may have. Anyway, I apologize if this comes off as a lecture for how to do PAX right, because that's not my intention. Just want to stress that there's so much more to PAX than the show floor, even outside of the convention itself. But again, if all you're interested in are the AAA booths, that's 100% valid, just want to see people enjoy PAX as much as I (and many others) do!
I'll somewhat echo @RidleyDragon , as especially with conference-type things you have to act like you're going to leave, burn the building and salt the earth for some people to do anything other than say "man we gotta do this". What will likely happen is they will collect all this feedback, go to MCCA and say "Yo, your shit made our show stink, fix it or we bounce" as there's likely a performance clause in there for MCCA showing up and doing their jobs.
The bag check was weird. There were times where they barely looked at my bag and other times where they wanted to see every single pocket. It seemed like depending on the security guard you went to they had a different take on what their job was or how far they needed to take it.
I've been to all the PAXes in the BCEC, so all the standard stuff was great. My only complaints really all seem to be about the BCEC/City of Boston, unfortunately. The bathroom issue's been talked to death (I'll just note that, as a guy, the short lines for bathrooms never bothered me in prior years. If the city permits it, I'd just go back to the 50-50 split). Additionally, on Saturday at 9:30 PM, the guy guarding the Westin skybridge wouldn't let us in with food. There's never been a PAX rule I've been aware of regarding outside food (in prior years I've had delivery brought inside the hall, even). If there is a new rule, PAX needs to publicize it. If this is a rent-a-cop going rogue, PAX may need to consider having their own people supervising to ensure new rules aren't made up.
I thought Gabe and Tycho's reduced presence was just fine. I got plenty of them from Make-a-Strip, so I don't feel the loss of the other panels.
I do miss the 2 AM closing. Late night was the best time to get in some more leisurely gaming. But I did appreciate that they were able to do a somewhat "softer" close, i.e., you could sometimes finish games you were in the middle of, because there was no city law obligating everyone to be out at exactly 2 AM.
I think some people need to remember that there is a lot of stuff going on at PAX that a lot of people want to do, which means you likely won't be able to do everything you have planned. That's just the way the game is. If you REALLY want to see all the AAA booths, you CAN stand in line for a few hours every day to hit them all. You can't expect to hit 2 panels, 3 AAA lines, all the Expo Hall, Concerts, and tabletop all in one day unless you have some extreme luck and time management skills.
I waited in two lines for games this year: Transistor which was a little over 2 hours, and The Evil Within which was only about a 30 minute wait on Sunday. They were able to pack quite a few people in their demo room so that helped, but the long looking lines for it on previous days definitely scared me off until Sunday.
On the note of lines - maybe it was just the panels I were going to see or what, but I didn't have any trouble making it into panels or them being too full. Granted, a friend of mine did text us to let us know when they were starting to line up for a future panel and it was starting to get packed, but it just seemed like line management in general was a lot better this year. Thank you to the Enforcers for that.
The bag check was weird. There were times where they barely looked at my bag and other times where they wanted to see every single pocket. It seemed like depending on the security guard you went to they had a different take on what their job was or how far they needed to take it.
Had a similar experience coming in the Westin bridge. The guy on the right (as you come into the BCEC) was barely looking in bags, and the guy on the left was thoroughly checking every pocket. His explanation to me? His position could be watched from the nearby security camera.
Welcome to security theater.
Now, feedback for things that matter:
I thought lines and queuing were handled about as well as previous years. There were some panels that really should have been in the main theater *cough* Giant Bomb *cough* but weren't for various legitimate reasons. It just means that folks who want to attend these panels should be informed way ahead of time that space will be very limited.
The Guidebook app was awesome as always, I do wish it had more advanced reminders available, 1 hour just isn't enough to get in line for the popular panels.
Tabletop overall was great, there seemed to be more vendors than I remembered from 2012. Table space did seem to be at a premium, it would be nice if the MTG tables weren't reserved so aggressively. Perhaps make half of them into regular freeplay tables and then setup additional tournament tables in the adjacent queue area once the morning pre-show queue is over? More labor-intensive, but it would be an efficient use of space that's underutilized for 90% of the day.
I don't think a single panel I was in had a sound or technical issue. I've usually witnessed at least one in the past, so great job there.
I also have enjoyed wandering the tabletop area and playing random games until 2AM at past PAX Easts. It's not a huge loss, since it just means the action moves to the Westin 2 hours earlier, but I do miss the BCEC late-night atmosphere.
i didnt like sitting on the floor to eat the food i bought from the carnival carts near the TT area.
+1
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JlsoikittyLand of Wind and GhostRegistered Userregular
This was my third PAX and after reading this thread I know I'm not alone in saying it was my least favorite. It wasn't terrible; just...meh. See reasons below:
-This is the first year I didn't find a game on the expo floor to be excited about. I know that's totally subjective and would happen eventually anyway, but overall the expo floor left me wanting.
-Speaking of disappointment, my friend and I waited 2 hours for the Evil Within only to be lazily herded into a room to watch a 15 minute demo. The introduction was a pre-recording of some dude thanking his staff and absolutely zero on the game itself. It didn't help that after being let in to start I looked around and saw we were sitting with enough empty space to seat like 5 more people. After that it really felt to me like the exhibitors were completely checked out for this one. I know PAX doesn't have control over this one, but it still made me sad.
-Raffles. I agree that they were poorly executed. In a desperate bid to keep aisles open, enforcers aggressively pushed us in so we could get the full Tokyo-subway-at-rush-hour experience. Oh, and to the guy who's butt had my knee in it for 20 minutes, I'm sorry!
-On the above note, I was elbowed in the tits like 8 times (I'm not even including the awkward body contact from the raffle mess)...which is way more than years past. I'm pretty flat, so that's an accomplishment for the crowd.
-The console freeplay seemed way more congested than last year. I liked the take a ticket for the current gen systems because at least it was a slight change from just waiting in a line. However, in the past my friends and I were never hassled about having a game out for more than half an hour but this year the second we had something over that an enforcer was right on us. It was completely understandable, but it made the freeplay area feel...tense.
-In the tabletop area the "flow" to check out and return the boardgames wasn't very clear. I got snapped at for standing in the wrong place (return the game to one dude then get in another unmarked line to wait for your id) and the lack of open tables to actually play was pretty annoying.
-I don't want to start on the ladies bathroom thing seeing that it's been discussed to death already, but I will complain about how it forced an awkward debate between my friend an I about the merits of gender-neutral bathrooms. Just let me uncheck my privilege for a sec and say that as cis female, I do not give even two sh*ts about seeing a dude in the bathroom with me. Or a genderfluid xir for that matter.
This year felt like an "off" year for PAX, and honestly I don't really know what could have been done about it besides:
-Better traffic patterns for the expo floor
-Make a separate area for raffles
-Make instructions for lines more clear
-Less space for MtG, more for freeplay
-More freeplay consoles
-Whoever mentioned carpeting the floor for lines...brilliant
-Oh, and monitor the swag bags. I got one but it's bullcrap that others didn't.
These are things I thought were good so y'all don't think I'm here just to whine:
-The baggage check people were super nice. They happily retrieved my bag if I needed to get my keys or pills or just to put something in it.
-The few enforcers I dealt with off the expo floor and freeplay areas were also super nice. One stopped my friend and gave him an oatmeal pack just for liking his cos.
-The trolley was great. Finding the trolley pickup was a nightmare because the BCEC person I asked sent me to the wrong entrance.
-The diversity lounge was neato, but it seemed kind of sad and off in a corner compared to everything else.
-Parking was pretty good this year. Weird.
-Despite the choking crowds elsewhere I finally got in to see the saturday concerts. Again, weird.
-I actually liked that it ended at midnight. I'm old, so sue me.
This was my second year at PAX East, and I personally thought it was a great year. Of course, not without some things that I disliked, but overall I left happy and with my monies worth. Im not sure why people complained about the swag this year. I didn't seem to have an issue getting free stuff that was pretty cool, went home with a free tote bad MOUNDED with free!
Positives:
- The shuttle buses!! I was so nervous about this since I was at the Midtown and decently far away. Friday morning, the green line was having issues and I was late to my hotel. We got there at 11:00 on the dot an the bus was there. We needed to go drop off our stuff first at the hotel, and the driver was super nice and waited for us. The drivers were nothing but pleasant. My ONLY request would be to extend the hours. For example, more late day runs (I wanted to go back after the expo to relax before the concert, for example) but the hours were just not there. Also, Sunday evening hours starting earlier would be nice.
- The indy game section was awesome. I went to way more indy booths this year, and talked with some developers. It was very cool, and I actually got a lot of cool swag
- Saturday Night concert. Amazing!
- League of Legends cosplitality lounge. Riot, I will love you forever. This place was perfect. Places to change, repair, rest and get water. It made me so happy to see this.
Negatives:
- The bathrooms. Being a female, you all know why. It has been said 1,000x in here. I know it was not PAX fault, but I don't know how it was even legal to do this Also, really curious where they got the facts of the gender ratios without ASSUMING. I never had to put my gender when buy badges... Walking though a sea of people to get to a bathroom, only to realize there is none and NO signage about where the ladies room is is NOT cool, and made for a panicky situation at times. Please dont ever do that again. Id rather just share with guys than be told I can't use a bathroom.
- Want swag? Gotta pre-order. Im not a fan, at all. This trend is not something I follow. I personally shop around for pre-orders because I tend to get collectors editions and whatnot. I am not going to pre-order and then lose out when GameStop offers a collectors.
- Badge registration. We all remember it. I feel the ONLY way I got tickets without server crashes was because of Twitter announcing it a few minutes before the actual website, and I still waited 45 minutes. Next year, can we please NOT pre-announce the time the sign ups will go live? I think that announcing the DAY is fine. People who are dedicated can monitor the website and whatnot and keep their day open, but not the hour, that was just too much. I do like some advanced notice, because there is no way I could get badges if they went live at work. At least knowing the day, I can request time off and if I want the badges bad enough, check the website throughout the day.
- AAA booths with 20 minute demos. I don't think this is necessary. There are TOO many people. Being turned away from lines because of caps was discouraging. The only AAA booth I went to was Bethesda, and this was on Friday when lines were somewhat manageable. Is there a way to have vendors cut back on their demo lengths? Yes, we all want to see the game, but if the demo is going to be so long that you will never get a chance too, wouldn't you rather see a shorter demo and have a shorter and realistic wait in line?
- Swag bag. Please limit them! I went on Saturday after forgetting to go on Friday, and was so lucky to get a bag. My idea: When you send out the badges, include a TICKED per badge for swag. Bring ticked = redeem for swag. Dont say people will forget, because it is just as easy to forget a badge. If you can remember one, you can remember the other.
- Hours. I am assuming the hours being 10-6 are for legal reasons, with people working 8 hour shifts. If at all possible, extend the expo hall hours to go later. Also, it makes me sad that it was not open until 2am this year, one of the big reasons I went with a 3 day badge and hotel
Mixed Feeling:
- Raffles. I LOVE raffles, however I felt I was spending half my time standing in lines to get raffles tickets, going to the booth early to get close enough to hear, and then being painfully squished for 15-30 minutes during the raffle, while having enforcers yell at everyone to move in. I did win some cool prizes, but why can't vendors use the queue room? I hear Nvidia did that one day. Have them sign up to announce raffle winners. This will bring people off the expo floor, allow people to actually be able to look at stuff at these booths before and during the raffle times. Please make this a requirement for raffles next year.
- Food. I know PAX doesnt have much control over this, but holy $$$ expensive! Also, limited seating. Even trying to eat at weird times like 2:30 it was packed! I also keep hearin about a food trolley, but I have no idea what that is! It sounds cool, if it could be advertised and explained better, that would be cool.
- I love Riot. I cosplay and love how they treat us. Last year, their booth had a HUGE open section in front of it, which was great because we all know how crowded it gets. This year, they put the merch tables! It was a crazy mess. Please don't do that again.
- Badge prices. I think you should increase the price of the badges. I personally would pay a lot more to go, and if paying more means I have a better chance at securing a badge for 2015, I am all for it. You could even use the extra money from it to do things like extend the shuttle hours or maybe keep it open until 2am again. I know alot of people will hate me for suggesting this, but with the demand being as intense as it was this year, something has to change. The people who really want to go will go, instead of the people who lucked out from the server gods. Having PAX East go for 4 days instead of 3 would also help tremendously! I know I needed at least 1 more day to fit in everything I wanted to see.
I brought two work colleagues with me this time around and I stopped counting the number of times their jaws dropped to the floor. As usual, the Enforcers (a big thanks to them) did a wonderful job of making the event a very welcoming and personal one. The booths were often out of this world, the vendors were well chosen, there was (as usual) too much to do in a single weekend, and I knew I would hate myself if I could not go back next year. People can say what they want, but for me this is still the number one convention of all time. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.
Negatives:
The hours felt a bit too constricting and it would be really nice if we could get the old hours back. This comes from a guy who can barely stay awake past 1 am, but having the place close at midnight still managed to greatly influence what we did during evenings. We wanted to play, test and discover big board games, but felt that if we where not already sitting down and ready to go by 8 am then our chances of being able to finish before midnight were very slim. We don't think we where the only ones that took the show floor's closing time as a sign to have dinner and crash for a bit, and I think many of us would have felt more relaxed if the BCEC closed down at 2 am. This also affected the concerts, which in turn affected more panel overlays, etc. I really wish the option of being able to finish later was back. It was one of the great feelings of being at PAX late on Fridays and Saturdays. We all knew that we would not be able to see everything in one weekend, but it felt like it affected us a lot more than we had thought.
Ticket buying and hotel booking is the time of the year I fear the most. I don't even mind doing the taxes. I hope we will get an advanced warning again, and if we do, I also hope that we will have more stable servers and less issues with the hotel bookings. The event becomes more and more popular with each passing year and I know that it's just a question of time when I will not be able to survive the registration process.
Third PAX for me ('12, '13, and '14, all East). Rather than dividing my list into pros/cons I've typed a little about each item instead.
- Bag check: This went so smoothly. I was completely blown away at how much nicer it was to get in the doors in the morning versus the past two years. Keep up those lines/stations whether or not a bag check is part of entering!
- Westin skybridge: I really appreciated the sign telling me when the bridge was opening. That being said, it was tough when the bridge closed randomly throughout the weekend. I wasn't sure what was going on, but it was a pain to walk there to discover it was closed and have to take the long way back to the hotel /firstworldproblems
- Expo floor lines: Some were great, others not so much. There was an [E] monitoring Blizzard's lines on Friday who was great and he made it very clear what was up as far as which lines were open/capped/etc. I also saw later in the weekend Blizzard's lines were marked with waiting periods (2 hours from this point, 3 hours, etc). Whoever did that was a genius.
- Friday night concerts: I had seen Bit Brigade (enjoy) and Metroid Metal (dislike) and planned my time accordingly to see them. The highlight was Anamanaguchi. I was so stoked to see they were on the list this year. I am definitely on the side of the fence for changing the lineups.
- Make-A-Strip: I really, really enjoyed the new format. I hope Mike & Jerry keep it up! I did not enjoy the 10-minute stories and people crying about their sick animals (talk about uncomfortable).
- Acquisitions Inc: Finally! I have been waiting for this to come to East and I was not disappointed! The only issue my group had was one of our members was not handed a pin on her way in and missed out on it. I didn't even notice that it went long until they let us out and I looked at my phone.
- Pinny Arcade: I fell in love. I'm not obsessed by any means, but it was fantastic to have that as a conversation starter! I also loved the pin trading event on Saturday. The "line" was handled perfectly and made for a very low-key environment. I was able to talk with Jerry and not feel freaked out that he's some important dude. It was really nice to chat with the Staff in that super-chill format.
- Kickstarter Lounge/Cards Against Humanity: The lounge was very cool, but it really seems like CAH needs its own space at this point! There was some confusion among people inside the room as to how the CAH line was forming and I ended up standing in line for something completely different.
- Badges/hotels: Advanced warning was great for me. I'm in a job where getting to a computer is nigh impossible and it meant I was able to have someone else handle my arrangements. I would appreciate advance warning in the future! (Obvious remarks about server overload remain obvious.)
- Convention hours: I bought the excuse that Prime is 4 days now so they can get away with closing at midnight, but that is clearly not the case for East. I really missed having that extra time to wind down with some tabletop at the end of the day. It was especially missed this year since no one in my circle of friends was in the same hotel. It also seemed like it caused Anamanaguchi to cut their set short because they wanted to make sure there was enough time for merch/autographs/whatevs.
- Swag bags: I went Friday morning and waited in a very short line to get my bag. I did, unfortunately, notice some people leaving with more than one, but did not witness anyone grabbing "armfuls."
Overall, I had another great experience. I loved some things and didn't love other things, but nothing stood out as a "deal breaker" for my plans to go to future Easts. I can only hope that the addition of South will lighten the demand for East tickets and make my life a little easier come September/October.
The bag check was weird. There were times where they barely looked at my bag and other times where they wanted to see every single pocket. It seemed like depending on the security guard you went to they had a different take on what their job was or how far they needed to take it.
Speaking as someone who works at a venue where we do security checks for every patron, this seems like a common issue. They've all been trained the same way, most likely, but in practice, they all do it differently. It surely doesn't seem "safe" and it does slow entry to the venue (they haven't had this in past years if I remember correctly), but they are ultimately going to do it however each individual wants to.
Pros:
Stop renaming the dang auditoriums. It is much easier to find room 154 then it is "Gryphondor Theater" or whatever. No need to reinvent the wheel.
Actually this year I figured it out. Look at the maps and see that each floor has four locations for a theater, and starting in the upper left corner they go A, B, C, and D. Stuff that flies is on the top level, stuff that walks is on the middle floor, stuff that swims is on the bottom floor. So, I knew that "Condor" was on the top floor, at the bottom left corner of the map, and "Dragonfly" is at the bottom right, just down the hall. Where is Cuttlefish? Two floors directly below Condor. etc.
I will say that signage could be better, though. Like, at the bottom of major escalators and entrances/exits, a quick "Dragonfly, this way" could help. But there was at least ample map displays such that I was rarely completely lost this year. That said, it wouldn't hurt to just put the room number in parentheses on the map, right? So if Condor is 501 (or whatever), we could use the existing signage as well.
Geez. I hadn't clued in on this. Me noticing that would've made life 10x easier! DOH!
I've heard a lot of people mention that the bathrooms negatively impacted their experience, and that it was a demand from the City of Boston. Does anyone have more information about that? Preferably the who, what, when, where, and why of that decision? I'm a Boston resident and would love to ask my Councilperson how unbalancing the bathrooms seemed like a good idea, and could they please not do that anymore, but don't want to start out without some better education.
I've heard a lot of people mention that the bathrooms negatively impacted their experience, and that it was a demand from the City of Boston. Does anyone have more information about that? Preferably the who, what, when, where, and why of that decision? I'm a Boston resident and would love to ask my Councilperson how unbalancing the bathrooms seemed like a good idea, and could they please not do that anymore, but don't want to start out without some better education.
You could email Robert about that. In addition there was a polygon article linked earlier in this thread regarding it.
Positive
- Pre-screened questions at the Draw a Strip panel was a huge improvement. It removed the people awkwardly talking nonsense for 5-10 minutes and then end with a question of "Will you sign my badge?".
- Acquisitions Incorporated was the best panel I have ever been to at PAX East.
Yes, yes, and yes. When Mike & Jerry asked if people wanted them to go back to the old format and a bunch of people cheered and clapped I wanted to shout "NOOOOO!"
I don't want to hear 37 people give a sob story, say thank you, ask them to sign stuff, and give them snack cakes. No offense, I'm sure you're an interesting person and you have a great story, but I'm here because I want to hear from Mike & Jerry; and after hearing the 1853rd person talk about how PA's humor helped them get through tough times, it all starts to blend together. Please for the love of god keep doing this format.
Couldn't agree more, especially since it was THE ONLY MIKE AND JERRY PANEL!!!
Of course, I could be biased because I got two of my questions answered, in a row.
Shayde
Ex-Agent to the Stars, ex a lot of other things too.
Pax East 2011, 2012 Veteran. 2014 now loading.
After reading over this thread so far I've noticed a few things.
1. I didn't even know there were swag bags that I wasn't getting. My wife and I attended Saturday and Sunday and had no idea we'd missed out on anything.
2. Didn't know there was a diversity lunge or handheld lounge either. I'm sure my wife would have enjoyed the latter because she discovered the joys of the 3ds on this trip.
3. I understand that Mike and Jerry want to take more of a back seat to PAX and enjoy it themselves, and I can't fault them for that. I would have liked that the make a strip wasn't first thing on Saturday. There are too many things happening first thing in the morning. People are getting in line to try to get merch/pins. People are stuck in the horde of fans trying to get into the building. I was building my balloon FF in the lobby for most of the morning, and the line outside remained huge well past noon. I think that it would make more sense to schedule it in the afternoon or evening like they did with Acquisitions Inc.
I can say from my experience as a former plumber there are health code requirements for the number of available bathrooms. Each county will have its own specifics but there are hard requirements for the number of bathrooms available per sex. Hell I've even done jobs in areas that had specifics of the number of urinals vs stalls in the mens rooms.
Most likely last year there was some form of informal polling down, along with the survey put out by reedpop showed a rough estimate of the sex breakdown of attendees meaning the split is what was required by law. I doubt too much will be able to change, though this was the first year they did it, even if they can't change the split too much, they may be able to change locations to be more convenient spots. Just keep in mind not only is it not a decision of PAX, the BCEC or possibly the city itself, but that if it is due to building/health codes there is a legit reason behind the change.
My feedback now:
- Said it previous years that the queue room needs some tables moved in. Maybe after 11-11:30ish bring a few tables and chairs in near the food carts. It's pretty much unused space after the doors open anyway.
- I tried to be a trooper with my back condition but by Sunday I was just hobbling around. Went and got a medical badge no problem. Used it once for the AI panel, not to get in early but just to sit up front while the rest of my group who were way back in line caught up. When they got the escalator and I hoped back in line the E over there popped by to make sure I was all taken care of and doing ok. Those guys are fucking rad. I was really expecting the whole thing to be so much more complicated.
- Bag checks were quick as hell and they all seemed pretty friendly. Friday and Saturday I ended up with the same guy most of the time. Sunday I took the parking shuttle so entered downstairs and that dude was working that door now. Props to you my bag check stalker for keeping things moving quick. Also the people saying they could easily sneak weapons in... yeah you probably could. From a security stand point those things weren't the primary concern. It sounds bad but if a bad guy brings in some sort of weapon he can potentially hurt a bunch of people before the many cops and security stop him. The reason for the checks was to make sure nothing was being brought in that would cause massive damage... like a bomb in a backpack.
-Really liked the fact Mike and Jerry made themselves less of a focus. Them pulling away makes the event its stand alone thing just like childs play is. At the same time they were much more available one on one throughout the weekend.
- It was kind of weird having the CAH indie booth on the expo floor an not in TT. I know it gave more exposure, it just made TT feel a little empty and small.
- Also think it might be time for CAH to move out of the kickstarter lounge. They've blown up enough that it may be time for them to have a space of there own so the other kickstarter games aren't getting hidden by a mob of people buying cards.
The city of Boston forced the bathroom change, but for next year, the reed guys need to say no and if necessary point MCCA people to a map of convention areas on the East Coast if they're going to pull shit like this. I'm male and all the converted restrooms were empty, it shows a level of arrogance and lack of understanding that is totally unacceptable for an event this large, this expensive, and with this many excellent moving parts on Reed/PAX's part. If the MCCA were my vendor I'd be putting it out to bid after pulling crap like this.
They're contracted in Boston through 2024. Also reed can't just say no to the venue. I agree that it was a crap thing to do on the venue's part, and hopefully they'll come to an agreement in the future, but stomping around and posturing won't help.
While I understand they did sign a 10 year agreement, doesn't the BCEC have to maintain some sort of minimum standard of professionalism?
Or is there attitude is "PAX sells out every year, whether you go or not".
Something I forgot to mention - I miss the days when there were nice panels that would be of obvious interest to certain gamers. I remember a panel that showed how to make your own arcade fighting stick. What about modding controllers and consoles? Stuff like that would be nice to have.
Late night panels where the best panels for me and they provided some of the best memories I had of the event.
After reading over this thread so far I've noticed a few things.
1. I didn't even know there were swag bags that I wasn't getting. My wife and I attended Saturday and Sunday and had no idea we'd missed out on anything.
2. Didn't know there was a diversity lunge or handheld lounge either. I'm sure my wife would have enjoyed the latter because she discovered the joys of the 3ds on this trip.
3. I understand that Mike and Jerry want to take more of a back seat to PAX and enjoy it themselves, and I can't fault them for that. I would have liked that the make a strip wasn't first thing on Saturday. There are too many things happening first thing in the morning. People are getting in line to try to get merch/pins. People are stuck in the horde of fans trying to get into the building. I was building my balloon FF in the lobby for most of the morning, and the line outside remained huge well past noon. I think that it would make more sense to schedule it in the afternoon or evening like they did with Acquisitions Inc.
Re swag bags ... the communication on these was terrible. I was there all three days and we never got a bag at all because it was so poorly communicated. There was no signage as you came to the event telling when and where these would be. We arrived everyday at 8am and proceeded to the queue, the bags should have been there and handled out to attendees as they arrived. Having to come back at some obscure uncommunicated time meant a complete miss for us. Information desk was less than useless for info on this as I asked on all three days and no one seemed to have a clue. I am sure I did not miss out on too much but to not really even have the opportunity was a bit much.
PAX East 2016 .... gots my Passes [x] Hotel [x] Flights [x] Packed [..] .... ok we're all good !!!!!
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whypick1PAX [E] Info Booth Manager~2' from an LCDRegistered Userregular
Re swag bags ... the communication on these was terrible. I was there all three days and we never got a bag at all because it was so poorly communicated. There was no signage as you came to the event telling when and where these would be. We arrived everyday at 8am and proceeded to the queue, the bags should have been there and handled out to attendees as they arrived. Having to come back at some obscure uncommunicated time meant a complete miss for us. Information desk was less than useless for info on this as I asked on all three days and no one seemed to have a clue. I am sure I did not miss out on too much but to not really even have the opportunity was a bit much.
1. We used to hand out swag bags in the morning, but that created even bigger traffic problems and didn't cut down on hoarding them at all.
2. As someone who worked Info Booth for most of the show, I'm highly dubious of your claim that we were less than useless regarding this info. We told everyone they would be available 11:30 in the Queue Room, which was true. Now, we might have told people when they were still available when in fact they weren't, but that would only be because we were not immediately told when they ran out for the day.
I've seen a LOT of people whinging about the swag bags, and all I can think is "how the hell were you NOT able to get one?" They were, quite literally, available for HOURS on Friday and Saturday (Sunday might be another matter, we weren't paying attention). All you had to do was walk past that area sometime between about 11 and 3 each day, and there were stacks of them. There was always a long initial line for people who just couldn't wait, and then if you were willing to come back half an hour later, you could just walk up and grab some. I'm just not understanding where all the rage on these is coming from. What more could they do? Announce it in the expo hall every 15 minutes between 11-1 each day that they were available?
We'd see people lined up for those things at about 11 and ignore it. We'd LEAVE the BCEC (on foot, usually to Quincy) to go to lunch around noon or so, eat, walk back and see them still being handed out upon our arrival, and would walk up and grab one. I'm sorry, but if somebody failed to get a swag bag, they've got nobody to blame but themselves, because there always appeared to be plenty.
Further, handing them out as people arrive would have been nigh impossible, given that there are a number of ingress points they'd have to man. The swag bags are in the exact same spot. Every year. Without fail. If it was your first PAX and you didn't know this, then you probably didn't know to look for them anyways. If it's not your first PAX, you had no excuse for not knowing where they were.
To be clear I am not raging or griping, I honestly could care less about the giveaways and freebies. My only issue was how this aspect was communicated or indeed not communicated. We were almost never back in the queue room after we left it at 10. I can only state it based on my own experience of it but to the uninitiated I found that aspect of the con to be disappointing and to me it seemed to be a communication issue - unless you knew about it, asked the right people or happened upon it there was indeed a chance to miss it. To say it was our own fault is a cop out. It was my first Pax, but I had heard of them through the forums and despite my best efforts we still managed never to find them. That being said, we had a great time and the other 99% of the convention was excellent and we really enjoyed the experience.
PAX East 2016 .... gots my Passes [x] Hotel [x] Flights [x] Packed [..] .... ok we're all good !!!!!
2) People misusing the handheld lounge and tabletop freeplay areas. Are you tired? Did you stay up too late last night and you're now running on fumes? GO BACK TO YOUR HOTEL. Don't hog the limited space available to sleep for an hour plus because you're too lazy/out of shape to take the shuttle/T/walk back to your hotel.
I just want to point out that while I totally get your frustration, that this is a direct quote from the program this year: "You may notice a few beanbags lying around. Move them around, take a nap in them, play some DS games..." It was definitely a bit tough to find space there when it was super busy, but I would cut the people who were just relaxing some slack.
After reading your thoughtful response (as well as the others who mentioned the same thing above), I just wanted to clarify my point. I have no problem with folks taking a quick power nap on the beanbags, 30-45 minutes is more than reasonable and it's nice to offer a comfortable place off the floor for people to do so. My frustration comes from seeing the exact same group of 4 people in the lounge near the ACAM exit over a two and a half hour period dead asleep the entire time. Now it's possible that they took a series of naps and I just happened to come across them each time leaving and entering the area during a nap break, but I'd argue that it's far more likely they were out cold the majority of that time.
To be clear I am not raging or griping, I honestly could care less about the giveaways and freebies. My only issue was how this aspect was communicated or indeed not communicated. We were almost never back in the queue room after we left it at 10. I can only state it based on my own experience of it but to the uninitiated I found that aspect of the con to be disappointing and to me it seemed to be a communication issue - unless you knew about it, asked the right people or happened upon it there was indeed a chance to miss it. To say it was our own fault is a cop out. It was my first Pax, but I had heard of them through the forums and despite my best efforts we still managed never to find them. That being said, we had a great time and the other 99% of the convention was excellent and we really enjoyed the experience.
Your options:
1) See someone with a swag bag and go "hey, where did you get that?"
2) Wander around the convention centre if you didn't have your bearings, and it would have been made very obvious where they were
3) Ask any red-shirt anywhere
4) Look for a giant trash can full of swag bag plastic
5) (This one might not be a solution, but I'd imagine it was in there somewhere) look in the Guidebook
6) Come on the forum and go "hey, where are you guys getting the swag bags"?
7) Tweet #WheresTheSwag or some other such thing directed at the PAX Twitter account
I'm usually at least a little sympathetic on issues of convention awareness, but if people could not locate these bags "despite their BEST efforts" (your quote), then either their best is very low or else they weren't giving their best. You had to almost try to miss them.
The swag bag availability was tweeted from the official pax twitter. This is how they communicate all their important event information. It's unfortunate if you can't access twitter at the con, but that's how things are communicated at pax.
Now, I will say that for someone who hasn't been on the forums and it's their first pax, things are very under-communicated. However, many things like the handheld lounge or roll for diversity area or whatever were shown on the pax maps in guidebook prior to pax and parts of them are described in the "what is pax" on the pax website.
I would never argue that communication couldn't be improved, but knowing you were on the forums and how often we tell people that the official_pax twitter is where info comes from, you had all the information that anyone else could have had.
Like most people said tho swag bags need to be fixed. Like most people suggested the coupon idea is the smart way to go. 1 coupon per badge. If you got a 3 day badge 3 coupons 1 for each day. Send them with the badges and have some kind of scan bar on them to help prevent fraud. Simple fix. I was one of the ones told I couldnt get one after I didnt get one Friday. And while to be honest its not a huge deal to me its honestly sad to hear people taking more then a handful while others got none.
Over, loved PAX East this year, but I wouldn't be here unless I had some feedback.
Cons:
MC Frontalot - Couldn't make out what he was saying during his songs. The audio levels were off, and the instruments overpowered his voice.
Omegathon Round 1 - What a disaster, so many people walked out early. The guide promised 6 foot tall pieces, and instead they played regular perfection. However, the presentation was the biggest failing. The on screen action was only at the very bottom of the screen, making viewing from the back very difficult, as much of the action was blocked by people sitting in front of you. Their heads tend to only block the bottom part of the screen, so some repositioning could have made everything watchable. Also, the perfection board itself was very imprecise. If set to 1 minute, some players would be allowed 1 minute 30 seconds instead, and some less. Not only that, but the expected time to complete perfection was not estimated well. First, players were given 40 seconds as the standard, and no one came close. Then, everyone was given a minute, but since the board allowed much more time, everyone was completing it. There was no tension, no exciting close calls anymore. The omegathon deserves better.
Omegathon final round - It was an epic slaughter and over very quickly.
Suggestions:
I think Omegnauts need to be given a way to distinguish themselves better. It is hard to find a team to become invested in when no one stands out. Please give omegathon teams all different colored shirts so we can at least think "I'm routing for green". Secondly, have them pick a team nickname. I would follow the standard laid down by Legends of the Hidden Temple. So, team shirt color + nickname. Red ghosts, blue roflcopters, pink death, silver surfers etc.
While doing the survey a few minor gripes just popped in my head.
ACAM and Strife were in handheld. I LOVE ACAM but I think they should been somewhere else. For one, having those rooms open cut down on wall space for sumos and I've been saying for a while I would really like it if the opened up those conference rooms for more lounge space.
So many companies are coming out with MOBAs now and they all were pushing the esports thing. Not really a fan of how focused it's becoming on the expo floor. I'd rather see a designated stage somewhere that they all share and rotate tournaments. Probably a pipe dream.
Biggest concern for me was the extra signings, meet and greets or photo ops in the main queue room. It just felt weird. Mike and Jerry signing is a staple but the other ones not so much. If anyone noticed, during the lead up to PAX there was a higher than normal number of people asking what celebs would be there. It worries me that PAX may go too far that direction and turn in to Comicon. It has always been more about us and what we do there rather than who we get to see there and I really don't want to lose that.
This was my first PAX, and definitely not my last! I had a great time, met great people, and saw some great panels. I actually only have one small issue.
I know it has been mentioned from a hygiene/cleaning standpoint, but the oatmeal (Pwnmeal) was a very bad move.....talk about a heinous waste of food, especially in these food insecure times for millions of people worldwide. I know that Penny Arcade is a gaming organization, and not one promoting any sort of social agenda, but any large organization should promote good general values on an institutional level. I saw SO much oatmeal on the floor and in the garbage. Having worked in the developing world for a long time, it almost made me cry to see that much food wasted. PAX has a hugely diverse attendance base, and watching young people toss food in the garbage......
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One definite con, which a few people have really poked at was the fact that of the major titles at the show this year, they really REALLY let people stay on too long. I was able to see a grand total of ONE big game and three smaller games I was interested in due to people just staying on the machines forever. For example, Murdered: Soul Suspect, had a ton of machines. I was two people back in line for one, still had to wait for almost 90 minutes just to try it out, but had to leave almost as soon as I had my hands on the controller because of wanting to get to a panel.
Pros: The booth that was doing the VR sphere really had an awesome idea, in that you would sign up to try it, and they would text you when your turn was coming up. Not only did it keep the place from getting congested, it allowed you to go and see panels, or meet people you wanted to touch base with. Certainly wouldn't mind seeing more exhibitors getting on the wagon with that idea!
All the enforcers this year were great too, even if around 80% of the show floor folks ended up having to stand around looking sad and holding Line Capped signs.
-Panels were awesome this year. Favorite one was the Royal Rumble panel.
-Indies were amazing. I would rather have more Indies and less "AAA" games but....
-Evolve was cool to watch but didn't look cool enough to wait in a huge line for.
Cons:
-I agree with everyone else that the show floor was wayyyy to packed. One lady went out of her way to chase my brother down and yell at him for "walking all over her" which I thought was funny because it only seemed possible if she was laying down on the show floor.
-A janitor wouldn't let me into the men's bathroom at one point and made me use the gender neutral one. At first seemed awkward but everyone inside seemed alright with it so that helped.
-Bag checked seemed pointless, bags were not being properly searched through.
Comments:
- I never saw the reason for the diversity lounge since everyone has always been wicked friendly at PAX. With that being said, I didn't see any effects from having the diversity lounge either.
- I agree with a previous post that said it feels like PAX is moving away from games in a way and it kinda showed in the types of panels.
PAX East 2019!
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The city of Boston forced the bathroom change, but for next year, the reed guys need to say no and if necessary point MCCA people to a map of convention areas on the East Coast if they're going to pull shit like this. I'm male and all the converted restrooms were empty, it shows a level of arrogance and lack of understanding that is totally unacceptable for an event this large, this expensive, and with this many excellent moving parts on Reed/PAX's part. If the MCCA were my vendor I'd be putting it out to bid after pulling crap like this.
But the more key issue: PAX is an ideal 4-day event, going to both prime and east this year made that obvious. Now the 3 day event felt really rushed, and if I had to choose, even though I'm from NY, I'd choose prime 10 out of 10 times. The extra day lets attendees go at their own pace, greatly reduces crowds, and makes waiting in a 90 minute line something you have time to do.
I work in procurement, including corporate events purchasing, this is a vendor not serving a customer right because of a long contract. You have to have a negotiating position, and that involves at least a bit of the stick to go with candy.
Venues pull this crap all the time, I'm sure whoever the relationship manager is at Reed will be able to do something about it next year, Reed really knows what they are doing with consumer events, this will get resolved.
Also this conversation feels like programmers on MMO forums telling devs "it's just a simple code change".
I came off a bit stronger then I meant to, but man, we all hate it when a vendor makes significant changes we don't like at the last minute, it's an obnoxious shell game.
Back to the community: another of my favorite things about PAX is tabletop. Picking up a game you've never played before, and playing with friends or people you've just met is a ton of fun. And then there are other sub-communities, like Pinny Arcade. There are events outside of the convention itself, like the Pokecrawl and the afterparties throughout the weekend. There are a multitude of amazing panels for basically every gaming-related interest you may have. Anyway, I apologize if this comes off as a lecture for how to do PAX right, because that's not my intention. Just want to stress that there's so much more to PAX than the show floor, even outside of the convention itself. But again, if all you're interested in are the AAA booths, that's 100% valid, just want to see people enjoy PAX as much as I (and many others) do!
I thought Gabe and Tycho's reduced presence was just fine. I got plenty of them from Make-a-Strip, so I don't feel the loss of the other panels.
I do miss the 2 AM closing. Late night was the best time to get in some more leisurely gaming. But I did appreciate that they were able to do a somewhat "softer" close, i.e., you could sometimes finish games you were in the middle of, because there was no city law obligating everyone to be out at exactly 2 AM.
I waited in two lines for games this year: Transistor which was a little over 2 hours, and The Evil Within which was only about a 30 minute wait on Sunday. They were able to pack quite a few people in their demo room so that helped, but the long looking lines for it on previous days definitely scared me off until Sunday.
On the note of lines - maybe it was just the panels I were going to see or what, but I didn't have any trouble making it into panels or them being too full. Granted, a friend of mine did text us to let us know when they were starting to line up for a future panel and it was starting to get packed, but it just seemed like line management in general was a lot better this year. Thank you to the Enforcers for that.
Had a similar experience coming in the Westin bridge. The guy on the right (as you come into the BCEC) was barely looking in bags, and the guy on the left was thoroughly checking every pocket. His explanation to me? His position could be watched from the nearby security camera.
Welcome to security theater.
Now, feedback for things that matter:
I thought lines and queuing were handled about as well as previous years. There were some panels that really should have been in the main theater *cough* Giant Bomb *cough* but weren't for various legitimate reasons. It just means that folks who want to attend these panels should be informed way ahead of time that space will be very limited.
The Guidebook app was awesome as always, I do wish it had more advanced reminders available, 1 hour just isn't enough to get in line for the popular panels.
Tabletop overall was great, there seemed to be more vendors than I remembered from 2012. Table space did seem to be at a premium, it would be nice if the MTG tables weren't reserved so aggressively. Perhaps make half of them into regular freeplay tables and then setup additional tournament tables in the adjacent queue area once the morning pre-show queue is over? More labor-intensive, but it would be an efficient use of space that's underutilized for 90% of the day.
I don't think a single panel I was in had a sound or technical issue. I've usually witnessed at least one in the past, so great job there.
I also have enjoyed wandering the tabletop area and playing random games until 2AM at past PAX Easts. It's not a huge loss, since it just means the action moves to the Westin 2 hours earlier, but I do miss the BCEC late-night atmosphere.
-This is the first year I didn't find a game on the expo floor to be excited about. I know that's totally subjective and would happen eventually anyway, but overall the expo floor left me wanting.
-Speaking of disappointment, my friend and I waited 2 hours for the Evil Within only to be lazily herded into a room to watch a 15 minute demo. The introduction was a pre-recording of some dude thanking his staff and absolutely zero on the game itself. It didn't help that after being let in to start I looked around and saw we were sitting with enough empty space to seat like 5 more people. After that it really felt to me like the exhibitors were completely checked out for this one. I know PAX doesn't have control over this one, but it still made me sad.
-Raffles. I agree that they were poorly executed. In a desperate bid to keep aisles open, enforcers aggressively pushed us in so we could get the full Tokyo-subway-at-rush-hour experience. Oh, and to the guy who's butt had my knee in it for 20 minutes, I'm sorry!
-On the above note, I was elbowed in the tits like 8 times (I'm not even including the awkward body contact from the raffle mess)...which is way more than years past. I'm pretty flat, so that's an accomplishment for the crowd.
-The console freeplay seemed way more congested than last year. I liked the take a ticket for the current gen systems because at least it was a slight change from just waiting in a line. However, in the past my friends and I were never hassled about having a game out for more than half an hour but this year the second we had something over that an enforcer was right on us. It was completely understandable, but it made the freeplay area feel...tense.
-In the tabletop area the "flow" to check out and return the boardgames wasn't very clear. I got snapped at for standing in the wrong place (return the game to one dude then get in another unmarked line to wait for your id) and the lack of open tables to actually play was pretty annoying.
-I don't want to start on the ladies bathroom thing seeing that it's been discussed to death already, but I will complain about how it forced an awkward debate between my friend an I about the merits of gender-neutral bathrooms. Just let me uncheck my privilege for a sec and say that as cis female, I do not give even two sh*ts about seeing a dude in the bathroom with me. Or a genderfluid xir for that matter.
This year felt like an "off" year for PAX, and honestly I don't really know what could have been done about it besides:
-Better traffic patterns for the expo floor
-Make a separate area for raffles
-Make instructions for lines more clear
-Less space for MtG, more for freeplay
-More freeplay consoles
-Whoever mentioned carpeting the floor for lines...brilliant
-Oh, and monitor the swag bags. I got one but it's bullcrap that others didn't.
These are things I thought were good so y'all don't think I'm here just to whine:
-The baggage check people were super nice. They happily retrieved my bag if I needed to get my keys or pills or just to put something in it.
-The few enforcers I dealt with off the expo floor and freeplay areas were also super nice. One stopped my friend and gave him an oatmeal pack just for liking his cos.
-The trolley was great. Finding the trolley pickup was a nightmare because the BCEC person I asked sent me to the wrong entrance.
-The diversity lounge was neato, but it seemed kind of sad and off in a corner compared to everything else.
-Parking was pretty good this year. Weird.
-Despite the choking crowds elsewhere I finally got in to see the saturday concerts. Again, weird.
-I actually liked that it ended at midnight. I'm old, so sue me.
Positives:
- The shuttle buses!! I was so nervous about this since I was at the Midtown and decently far away. Friday morning, the green line was having issues and I was late to my hotel. We got there at 11:00 on the dot an the bus was there. We needed to go drop off our stuff first at the hotel, and the driver was super nice and waited for us. The drivers were nothing but pleasant. My ONLY request would be to extend the hours. For example, more late day runs (I wanted to go back after the expo to relax before the concert, for example) but the hours were just not there. Also, Sunday evening hours starting earlier would be nice.
- The indy game section was awesome. I went to way more indy booths this year, and talked with some developers. It was very cool, and I actually got a lot of cool swag
- Saturday Night concert. Amazing!
- League of Legends cosplitality lounge. Riot, I will love you forever. This place was perfect. Places to change, repair, rest and get water. It made me so happy to see this.
Negatives:
- The bathrooms. Being a female, you all know why. It has been said 1,000x in here. I know it was not PAX fault, but I don't know how it was even legal to do this Also, really curious where they got the facts of the gender ratios without ASSUMING. I never had to put my gender when buy badges... Walking though a sea of people to get to a bathroom, only to realize there is none and NO signage about where the ladies room is is NOT cool, and made for a panicky situation at times. Please dont ever do that again. Id rather just share with guys than be told I can't use a bathroom.
- Want swag? Gotta pre-order. Im not a fan, at all. This trend is not something I follow. I personally shop around for pre-orders because I tend to get collectors editions and whatnot. I am not going to pre-order and then lose out when GameStop offers a collectors.
- Badge registration. We all remember it. I feel the ONLY way I got tickets without server crashes was because of Twitter announcing it a few minutes before the actual website, and I still waited 45 minutes. Next year, can we please NOT pre-announce the time the sign ups will go live? I think that announcing the DAY is fine. People who are dedicated can monitor the website and whatnot and keep their day open, but not the hour, that was just too much. I do like some advanced notice, because there is no way I could get badges if they went live at work. At least knowing the day, I can request time off and if I want the badges bad enough, check the website throughout the day.
- AAA booths with 20 minute demos. I don't think this is necessary. There are TOO many people. Being turned away from lines because of caps was discouraging. The only AAA booth I went to was Bethesda, and this was on Friday when lines were somewhat manageable. Is there a way to have vendors cut back on their demo lengths? Yes, we all want to see the game, but if the demo is going to be so long that you will never get a chance too, wouldn't you rather see a shorter demo and have a shorter and realistic wait in line?
- Swag bag. Please limit them! I went on Saturday after forgetting to go on Friday, and was so lucky to get a bag. My idea: When you send out the badges, include a TICKED per badge for swag. Bring ticked = redeem for swag. Dont say people will forget, because it is just as easy to forget a badge. If you can remember one, you can remember the other.
- Hours. I am assuming the hours being 10-6 are for legal reasons, with people working 8 hour shifts. If at all possible, extend the expo hall hours to go later. Also, it makes me sad that it was not open until 2am this year, one of the big reasons I went with a 3 day badge and hotel
Mixed Feeling:
- Raffles. I LOVE raffles, however I felt I was spending half my time standing in lines to get raffles tickets, going to the booth early to get close enough to hear, and then being painfully squished for 15-30 minutes during the raffle, while having enforcers yell at everyone to move in. I did win some cool prizes, but why can't vendors use the queue room? I hear Nvidia did that one day. Have them sign up to announce raffle winners. This will bring people off the expo floor, allow people to actually be able to look at stuff at these booths before and during the raffle times. Please make this a requirement for raffles next year.
- Food. I know PAX doesnt have much control over this, but holy $$$ expensive! Also, limited seating. Even trying to eat at weird times like 2:30 it was packed! I also keep hearin about a food trolley, but I have no idea what that is! It sounds cool, if it could be advertised and explained better, that would be cool.
- I love Riot. I cosplay and love how they treat us. Last year, their booth had a HUGE open section in front of it, which was great because we all know how crowded it gets. This year, they put the merch tables! It was a crazy mess. Please don't do that again.
- Badge prices. I think you should increase the price of the badges. I personally would pay a lot more to go, and if paying more means I have a better chance at securing a badge for 2015, I am all for it. You could even use the extra money from it to do things like extend the shuttle hours or maybe keep it open until 2am again. I know alot of people will hate me for suggesting this, but with the demand being as intense as it was this year, something has to change. The people who really want to go will go, instead of the people who lucked out from the server gods. Having PAX East go for 4 days instead of 3 would also help tremendously! I know I needed at least 1 more day to fit in everything I wanted to see.
I brought two work colleagues with me this time around and I stopped counting the number of times their jaws dropped to the floor. As usual, the Enforcers (a big thanks to them) did a wonderful job of making the event a very welcoming and personal one. The booths were often out of this world, the vendors were well chosen, there was (as usual) too much to do in a single weekend, and I knew I would hate myself if I could not go back next year. People can say what they want, but for me this is still the number one convention of all time. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.
Negatives:
The hours felt a bit too constricting and it would be really nice if we could get the old hours back. This comes from a guy who can barely stay awake past 1 am, but having the place close at midnight still managed to greatly influence what we did during evenings. We wanted to play, test and discover big board games, but felt that if we where not already sitting down and ready to go by 8 am then our chances of being able to finish before midnight were very slim. We don't think we where the only ones that took the show floor's closing time as a sign to have dinner and crash for a bit, and I think many of us would have felt more relaxed if the BCEC closed down at 2 am. This also affected the concerts, which in turn affected more panel overlays, etc. I really wish the option of being able to finish later was back. It was one of the great feelings of being at PAX late on Fridays and Saturdays. We all knew that we would not be able to see everything in one weekend, but it felt like it affected us a lot more than we had thought.
Ticket buying and hotel booking is the time of the year I fear the most. I don't even mind doing the taxes. I hope we will get an advanced warning again, and if we do, I also hope that we will have more stable servers and less issues with the hotel bookings. The event becomes more and more popular with each passing year and I know that it's just a question of time when I will not be able to survive the registration process.
- Bag check: This went so smoothly. I was completely blown away at how much nicer it was to get in the doors in the morning versus the past two years. Keep up those lines/stations whether or not a bag check is part of entering!
- Westin skybridge: I really appreciated the sign telling me when the bridge was opening. That being said, it was tough when the bridge closed randomly throughout the weekend. I wasn't sure what was going on, but it was a pain to walk there to discover it was closed and have to take the long way back to the hotel /firstworldproblems
- Expo floor lines: Some were great, others not so much. There was an [E] monitoring Blizzard's lines on Friday who was great and he made it very clear what was up as far as which lines were open/capped/etc. I also saw later in the weekend Blizzard's lines were marked with waiting periods (2 hours from this point, 3 hours, etc). Whoever did that was a genius.
- Friday night concerts: I had seen Bit Brigade (enjoy) and Metroid Metal (dislike) and planned my time accordingly to see them. The highlight was Anamanaguchi. I was so stoked to see they were on the list this year. I am definitely on the side of the fence for changing the lineups.
- Make-A-Strip: I really, really enjoyed the new format. I hope Mike & Jerry keep it up! I did not enjoy the 10-minute stories and people crying about their sick animals (talk about uncomfortable).
- Acquisitions Inc: Finally! I have been waiting for this to come to East and I was not disappointed! The only issue my group had was one of our members was not handed a pin on her way in and missed out on it. I didn't even notice that it went long until they let us out and I looked at my phone.
- Pinny Arcade: I fell in love. I'm not obsessed by any means, but it was fantastic to have that as a conversation starter! I also loved the pin trading event on Saturday. The "line" was handled perfectly and made for a very low-key environment. I was able to talk with Jerry and not feel freaked out that he's some important dude. It was really nice to chat with the Staff in that super-chill format.
- Kickstarter Lounge/Cards Against Humanity: The lounge was very cool, but it really seems like CAH needs its own space at this point! There was some confusion among people inside the room as to how the CAH line was forming and I ended up standing in line for something completely different.
- Badges/hotels: Advanced warning was great for me. I'm in a job where getting to a computer is nigh impossible and it meant I was able to have someone else handle my arrangements. I would appreciate advance warning in the future! (Obvious remarks about server overload remain obvious.)
- Convention hours: I bought the excuse that Prime is 4 days now so they can get away with closing at midnight, but that is clearly not the case for East. I really missed having that extra time to wind down with some tabletop at the end of the day. It was especially missed this year since no one in my circle of friends was in the same hotel. It also seemed like it caused Anamanaguchi to cut their set short because they wanted to make sure there was enough time for merch/autographs/whatevs.
- Swag bags: I went Friday morning and waited in a very short line to get my bag. I did, unfortunately, notice some people leaving with more than one, but did not witness anyone grabbing "armfuls."
Overall, I had another great experience. I loved some things and didn't love other things, but nothing stood out as a "deal breaker" for my plans to go to future Easts. I can only hope that the addition of South will lighten the demand for East tickets and make my life a little easier come September/October.
Speaking as someone who works at a venue where we do security checks for every patron, this seems like a common issue. They've all been trained the same way, most likely, but in practice, they all do it differently. It surely doesn't seem "safe" and it does slow entry to the venue (they haven't had this in past years if I remember correctly), but they are ultimately going to do it however each individual wants to.
Geez. I hadn't clued in on this. Me noticing that would've made life 10x easier! DOH!
PSN: L00nyEclip
Steam: Loony Eclipse
Twitter: @Loonyeclipse
Couldn't agree more, especially since it was THE ONLY MIKE AND JERRY PANEL!!!
Of course, I could be biased because I got two of my questions answered, in a row.
Ex-Agent to the Stars, ex a lot of other things too.
Pax East 2011, 2012 Veteran. 2014 now loading.
1. I didn't even know there were swag bags that I wasn't getting. My wife and I attended Saturday and Sunday and had no idea we'd missed out on anything.
2. Didn't know there was a diversity lunge or handheld lounge either. I'm sure my wife would have enjoyed the latter because she discovered the joys of the 3ds on this trip.
3. I understand that Mike and Jerry want to take more of a back seat to PAX and enjoy it themselves, and I can't fault them for that. I would have liked that the make a strip wasn't first thing on Saturday. There are too many things happening first thing in the morning. People are getting in line to try to get merch/pins. People are stuck in the horde of fans trying to get into the building. I was building my balloon FF in the lobby for most of the morning, and the line outside remained huge well past noon. I think that it would make more sense to schedule it in the afternoon or evening like they did with Acquisitions Inc.
Most likely last year there was some form of informal polling down, along with the survey put out by reedpop showed a rough estimate of the sex breakdown of attendees meaning the split is what was required by law. I doubt too much will be able to change, though this was the first year they did it, even if they can't change the split too much, they may be able to change locations to be more convenient spots. Just keep in mind not only is it not a decision of PAX, the BCEC or possibly the city itself, but that if it is due to building/health codes there is a legit reason behind the change.
My feedback now:
- Said it previous years that the queue room needs some tables moved in. Maybe after 11-11:30ish bring a few tables and chairs in near the food carts. It's pretty much unused space after the doors open anyway.
- I tried to be a trooper with my back condition but by Sunday I was just hobbling around. Went and got a medical badge no problem. Used it once for the AI panel, not to get in early but just to sit up front while the rest of my group who were way back in line caught up. When they got the escalator and I hoped back in line the E over there popped by to make sure I was all taken care of and doing ok. Those guys are fucking rad. I was really expecting the whole thing to be so much more complicated.
- Bag checks were quick as hell and they all seemed pretty friendly. Friday and Saturday I ended up with the same guy most of the time. Sunday I took the parking shuttle so entered downstairs and that dude was working that door now. Props to you my bag check stalker for keeping things moving quick. Also the people saying they could easily sneak weapons in... yeah you probably could. From a security stand point those things weren't the primary concern. It sounds bad but if a bad guy brings in some sort of weapon he can potentially hurt a bunch of people before the many cops and security stop him. The reason for the checks was to make sure nothing was being brought in that would cause massive damage... like a bomb in a backpack.
-Really liked the fact Mike and Jerry made themselves less of a focus. Them pulling away makes the event its stand alone thing just like childs play is. At the same time they were much more available one on one throughout the weekend.
- It was kind of weird having the CAH indie booth on the expo floor an not in TT. I know it gave more exposure, it just made TT feel a little empty and small.
- Also think it might be time for CAH to move out of the kickstarter lounge. They've blown up enough that it may be time for them to have a space of there own so the other kickstarter games aren't getting hidden by a mob of people buying cards.
While I understand they did sign a 10 year agreement, doesn't the BCEC have to maintain some sort of minimum standard of professionalism?
Or is there attitude is "PAX sells out every year, whether you go or not".
Late night panels where the best panels for me and they provided some of the best memories I had of the event.
Re swag bags ... the communication on these was terrible. I was there all three days and we never got a bag at all because it was so poorly communicated. There was no signage as you came to the event telling when and where these would be. We arrived everyday at 8am and proceeded to the queue, the bags should have been there and handled out to attendees as they arrived. Having to come back at some obscure uncommunicated time meant a complete miss for us. Information desk was less than useless for info on this as I asked on all three days and no one seemed to have a clue. I am sure I did not miss out on too much but to not really even have the opportunity was a bit much.
1. We used to hand out swag bags in the morning, but that created even bigger traffic problems and didn't cut down on hoarding them at all.
2. As someone who worked Info Booth for most of the show, I'm highly dubious of your claim that we were less than useless regarding this info. We told everyone they would be available 11:30 in the Queue Room, which was true. Now, we might have told people when they were still available when in fact they weren't, but that would only be because we were not immediately told when they ran out for the day.
We'd see people lined up for those things at about 11 and ignore it. We'd LEAVE the BCEC (on foot, usually to Quincy) to go to lunch around noon or so, eat, walk back and see them still being handed out upon our arrival, and would walk up and grab one. I'm sorry, but if somebody failed to get a swag bag, they've got nobody to blame but themselves, because there always appeared to be plenty.
Further, handing them out as people arrive would have been nigh impossible, given that there are a number of ingress points they'd have to man. The swag bags are in the exact same spot. Every year. Without fail. If it was your first PAX and you didn't know this, then you probably didn't know to look for them anyways. If it's not your first PAX, you had no excuse for not knowing where they were.
After reading your thoughtful response (as well as the others who mentioned the same thing above), I just wanted to clarify my point. I have no problem with folks taking a quick power nap on the beanbags, 30-45 minutes is more than reasonable and it's nice to offer a comfortable place off the floor for people to do so. My frustration comes from seeing the exact same group of 4 people in the lounge near the ACAM exit over a two and a half hour period dead asleep the entire time. Now it's possible that they took a series of naps and I just happened to come across them each time leaving and entering the area during a nap break, but I'd argue that it's far more likely they were out cold the majority of that time.
Your options:
1) See someone with a swag bag and go "hey, where did you get that?"
2) Wander around the convention centre if you didn't have your bearings, and it would have been made very obvious where they were
3) Ask any red-shirt anywhere
4) Look for a giant trash can full of swag bag plastic
5) (This one might not be a solution, but I'd imagine it was in there somewhere) look in the Guidebook
6) Come on the forum and go "hey, where are you guys getting the swag bags"?
7) Tweet #WheresTheSwag or some other such thing directed at the PAX Twitter account
I'm usually at least a little sympathetic on issues of convention awareness, but if people could not locate these bags "despite their BEST efforts" (your quote), then either their best is very low or else they weren't giving their best. You had to almost try to miss them.
Now, I will say that for someone who hasn't been on the forums and it's their first pax, things are very under-communicated. However, many things like the handheld lounge or roll for diversity area or whatever were shown on the pax maps in guidebook prior to pax and parts of them are described in the "what is pax" on the pax website.
I would never argue that communication couldn't be improved, but knowing you were on the forums and how often we tell people that the official_pax twitter is where info comes from, you had all the information that anyone else could have had.
Cons:
MC Frontalot - Couldn't make out what he was saying during his songs. The audio levels were off, and the instruments overpowered his voice.
Omegathon Round 1 - What a disaster, so many people walked out early. The guide promised 6 foot tall pieces, and instead they played regular perfection. However, the presentation was the biggest failing. The on screen action was only at the very bottom of the screen, making viewing from the back very difficult, as much of the action was blocked by people sitting in front of you. Their heads tend to only block the bottom part of the screen, so some repositioning could have made everything watchable. Also, the perfection board itself was very imprecise. If set to 1 minute, some players would be allowed 1 minute 30 seconds instead, and some less. Not only that, but the expected time to complete perfection was not estimated well. First, players were given 40 seconds as the standard, and no one came close. Then, everyone was given a minute, but since the board allowed much more time, everyone was completing it. There was no tension, no exciting close calls anymore. The omegathon deserves better.
Omegathon final round - It was an epic slaughter and over very quickly.
Suggestions:
I think Omegnauts need to be given a way to distinguish themselves better. It is hard to find a team to become invested in when no one stands out. Please give omegathon teams all different colored shirts so we can at least think "I'm routing for green". Secondly, have them pick a team nickname. I would follow the standard laid down by Legends of the Hidden Temple. So, team shirt color + nickname. Red ghosts, blue roflcopters, pink death, silver surfers etc.
ACAM and Strife were in handheld. I LOVE ACAM but I think they should been somewhere else. For one, having those rooms open cut down on wall space for sumos and I've been saying for a while I would really like it if the opened up those conference rooms for more lounge space.
So many companies are coming out with MOBAs now and they all were pushing the esports thing. Not really a fan of how focused it's becoming on the expo floor. I'd rather see a designated stage somewhere that they all share and rotate tournaments. Probably a pipe dream.
Biggest concern for me was the extra signings, meet and greets or photo ops in the main queue room. It just felt weird. Mike and Jerry signing is a staple but the other ones not so much. If anyone noticed, during the lead up to PAX there was a higher than normal number of people asking what celebs would be there. It worries me that PAX may go too far that direction and turn in to Comicon. It has always been more about us and what we do there rather than who we get to see there and I really don't want to lose that.
I know it has been mentioned from a hygiene/cleaning standpoint, but the oatmeal (Pwnmeal) was a very bad move.....talk about a heinous waste of food, especially in these food insecure times for millions of people worldwide. I know that Penny Arcade is a gaming organization, and not one promoting any sort of social agenda, but any large organization should promote good general values on an institutional level. I saw SO much oatmeal on the floor and in the garbage. Having worked in the developing world for a long time, it almost made me cry to see that much food wasted. PAX has a hugely diverse attendance base, and watching young people toss food in the garbage......
Well, I'll stop now....you get my point!