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Constructive Feedback - West 2016

zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
Please post civil constructive feedback of the show here

As always, it's fine to disagree and dislike things, just don't be a dick about it.

«13

Posts

  • PurpleSkyPurpleSky Registered User regular
    Putting PC/Console Freeplay/Tourney in Annex was a good idea. I think it helped spread things out because I found myself utilizing all of the Pax space instead of just CC/Sheraton.

  • BearbarossaBearbarossa Registered User regular
    I wish there hadn't been so much floor space devoted to Twitch and Rooster Teeth. I go to PAX to get hands on with games. I love watching streaming and channels, but there are other conventions devoted to their media.

    The enforcers I interacted with were very well organized, communicated clearly, and were very friendly this year.

  • altmannaltmann Registered User regular
    PAX was created because expos like E3 don't allow general public attendees. Twitch is creating a booth that literally excludes the attendees. It's rather odd...

    Imperator of the Gigahorse Jockeys.

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

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  • Rhea_starstormRhea_starstorm Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    Overall it was a great PAX. I had a great time, thanks to the PA staff, Exhibitors, Panelists, Enforcers and everyone who worked to put it on.
    • I loved that tabletop free play was back in the main con center again.
    • The Westin is far away, so maybe have less panels in there. Several of the panels I went to were in the Westin and going back and forth was exhausting.
    • I really liked Sony's sign up in the app for things method and would like too see more exhibitors do this, rather than having to run across the expo hall to get to the right booth when it opens.
    • Get rid of Media badges, I heard several stories of media cutting in line for demos esp ones with Pinny Arcade badges, making it super hard for attendees to get to play the demos, even when arriving first thing. Like others have mentioned, PAX is for attendees and media has E3 and other expos.
    • Get rid of the order on PAX XP, the order was confusing and I didn't not to pursue it after finding a few out of order. Also an XP pin would be a great reward.
    • VR freeplay was really cool.
    • Swag bags were basically all junk this year, I know its tradition but it seems like its time to get rid of them.
    • The passes said con closed at 7pm on Sunday but all the freeplay tabletop rooms closed at 6pm. Either say the con ends earlier or schedule cleanup after con is over.
    • Less vendors like Intel, Razor, Corsair and more games in the expo hall.

  • kylechukylechu Registered User regular
    edited September 2016
    • I wish the classic arcade had been closer to classic console freeplay. I feel like the two belong together.
    • The noisemakers at the final round of the Omegathon were the worst.

    kylechu on
  • krae_mankrae_man Registered User regular
    edited September 2016
    I was surprised by how well the internet worked in the convention center.

    Of course by "well" I mean it worked most of the time at a extremely reduced speed instead of "don't even bother trying".

    I liked that more panels were allowed to be longer then an hour long. Too bad PAX Rumble used it to be even more disorganized and later then normal.

    I'd like more enforcers to use digression with the bunching of the line. Some were like "Okay it's 45 minutes till the panel starts time to start crunch 1", 15 minutes later "Okay no more sittling" then 15 minutes later "okay sardine time" Even if the panel was clearly going to be like 1/4 filled and there was still plenty of room in the panel line.

    Others didn't care and just focused on entertaining the line until bunching was needed. I'd prefer that.

    krae_man on
  • SolelronSolelron Wandering Gamer Cornelius, ORRegistered User regular
    Overall I felt like it was a good year.

    While I thought the pre-signup thing was a nice touch, I didn't even know thats how it worked till Sunday. That makes it hard for someone who is both a fan and an exhibitor to try and juggle time. by the time I wasn't working booths signup was over. Some of the booths (Sony) worked really well with others and I was able to sneak in before the floor, but not all worked that way.

    Enforcers, as always, rocked. I almost was always able to find one.

    tabletop back in the main building helped with our traffic flows, which for a booth runner is a great thing.

    I was bummed about some smaller big name booths, but understood why.

    The Shuttle rocked, though there were times where it was more like 30-40 minutes. I think this iwas due to them using a big bus vs like a passenger van which could navigate traffic better.

    I want to make a special E Call out. I don't know his handle, but my wife (who is partially Deaf) went to Merch lite alone on Saturday to finalize our purchases. The Din in the room was so loud and confusing that she was getting lost. Whomever the E was successsfully was able to sign to her and help her complete the list and get checked out. MAJOR Kudo's for having that even if it wasn't planned.

  • PurpleSkyPurpleSky Registered User regular

    [*] Get rid of Media badges, I heard several stories of media cutting in line for demos esp ones with Pinny Arcade badges, making it super hard for attendees to get to play the demos, even when arriving first thing. Like others have mentioned, PAX is for attendees and media has E3 and other expos.

    [/list]

    I agree with this. Media does have their own convention and unless they're at the booth to interview the staff, they need to wait in line like everyone else. The interview should be scheduled and if it isn't then media badge is equivalent to regular badge, not medical badge.

  • MarsDragonMarsDragon Registered User regular
    I got kicked off a VR demo because of media, even though I signed up for an appointment. While I understand it from the game dev's perspective (I'd do the same thing in their shoes) it was a little irritating. I was able to sign up for another appointment later and complete the demo with no problems. I'm not sure killing the media badge would help in this situation, since all the reporter would have to say is "hey I'm from the press, lemme play your game".

    One thing that surprised me at the con was the expansion of the handheld lounge by the disappearance of Nintendo from the 2nd and 3rd floors. Did the Fire Marshal get on someone's case? If this is going to continue in the future, it would be nice if there could be more beanbags in the expanded handheld lounge - they felt very thin on the ground this year.

    I'd also like to have classic console and the arcade closer to each other in the future. I felt like I barely made it to the arcade because it was so out of the way. I don't mind splitting the arcade off to a separate building, but I do think it would be nice if it and classic console could be near each other.

    I like the continuing proliferation of indie games at PAX. It's a great way to find out about these games that aren't going to get covered by the main press. More indies! Bigger megabooth!

    All in all, a great PAX as usual.

  • ReydienReydien Registered User regular
    First-time Attendee:
    • Just Reiterating that the swag bag felt extremely underwhelming. I understand you (the organizers) get what you get, but from my end I did not hear a single positive thing about the official swag bag all weekend, nor did I really have anything positive to say about it after I picked one up myself.
    • The Omegathon Final Round & Pax Closing Ceremony event was so short I felt like I missed something. I thought this was supposed to be the climactic finale to both the Omegathon and PAX as a whole. SMB3 was great, a simple 10-minute point attack was not; I expected that to be like the first of a multipart finale, not the whole finale itself. Then after that the Closing Ceremony was about 60 seconds of "Cookie Brigade raised $22,000, congrats! Bye!" also felt very anticlimactic compared to the energy level of the whole weekend.
    • In a more specific case, I was disappointed at being unable to make it into the "Late Night Dub Fight" panel friday night despite showing up an hour early. when I checked the PAX_Lines account before walking over it said the line was 50% full, when I showed up 10 minutes later it turns out the line was Reported Full 5 minutes after reporting 50% full. I don't know if there was a communication error or delay, or if the line really just filled that fast, but it sucked. Afterwards I overheard that the panelists AND Enforcers have been asking to have that panel moved to a larger room for years, so I would like to join that chorus and request it as well.
    • The Magic: the Gathering setup over at Paramount Theatre was amazing, and definitely one of the highlights of my weekend (as a MTG player). Obviously that's a third party thing, but if I knew WotC was going to have something of that level at PAX next year that would definitely affect my decision to return. I guess the take-away here for the PAX group would be to try and get that sort of thing announced ASAP so people who want to see it have the most time to make plans to attend.

  • capnsanitycapnsanity Professional Awesomer Registered User regular
    The only thing i would suggest is give less space to non actual GAMES booths like intel and such that are just selling equipment and give the indie megabooth MORE space...It's ALWAYS crowded over there and it's hard to actually get into see any games because of the lack of space and how only a couple people can fit into the booths without sticking out into the aisle

  • MissFishMissFish Registered User regular
    I loved the location of console free play! Everything was so nice and spread out that you felt like you had room to actually spread out and a little bit of privacy. Plus having the games away from the check out made everything less chaotic and quieter.

    I'm going to echo what a couple people have said in that booths for games should be given a higher priority than Twitch/Xfinitey etc. twitch was especially weird because so much of it was "partners only" and they were selling their own convention tickets right smack in the middle of PAX.

  • RavenHuskyRavenHusky Registered User regular
    Make sure there is a contingency plan for the morning queue in the case of torrential downpour. I'm pretty sure none of us wanted to be stuck out there Friday morning.

    Also, as others have said, either bring back the goodies that used to be in the swag bags, or just do away with them all together. One of my hotel roommates had grabbed one, and told us that there was nothing but advertising in them this year, so I didn't bother grabbing one.

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  • myxmyx Registered User regular
    -I liked that the queue room was added onto the main expo floor, maneuvering the floor this year was a lot better than other years. That could be in part to how things were spread out this year, but props to whomever did the floor layouts this year

    -Back in 2011 (they may have done this before but this is the first year I can remember) vendors used to use a unique punch on your badge when you got a piece of swag, swagbag, etc... So you could only get 1 per day. I know there was some hullaballoo over badges getting marked up but the quality of the items were by far and above anything I can remember from the last few years. I know they don't want to do custom badges as there are costs associated with that, but maybe just a generic swag badge that can be punched out and mangled a bit so vendors aren't handing out 19 shirts to the same greedy ass every day.

    -No league presence was this year was kind of nice, but should they come back, maybe give them a satellite site? They attract a large crowd and would probably do better with dedicated space.

    -Throwing in my hat for more Indie Megabooth space! The 6th floor was a gold mine and giving more room to let some of these indies breathe would be awesome! :)

    -That myxomyosis in the Omegathon final round, what a heart throb! ;p

    -And as for media cutting in lines for Pinny Arcade, collectibles, etc... I was lucky enough to have access during media hour this year and I think it's per vendor policy on how they handle their merch. I grabbed a couple shirts for my friend from bungie and there was a guy trying to get some limited edition stuff and they weren't selling anything limited until after 10am. So maybe the issues of PAX collectibles could be fixed with some simple education and policies for vendors?

  • byakuenbyakuen Somewhere in SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    1. Media/Exh/OMG badges should be allowed 1hr early entrance Friday and Saturday. No swag stuff, just access to games and interviews.

    As an Omeganaut this year, I wasn't able to test out many of the games I was on the fence about buying. From what I understand, years before, Omeganauts were able to cut lines. This helps a lot since there are two rounds on Friday and Saturday.
    I've talked to several exhibitors(volunteers and employees) while I tried to get in lines. They too wish to view other games aside from the ones they work for. When you get 30mins lunch, you really don't get a chance. Plus they get to the hall super early, why not?
    The swag should be given to those enduring the long wait times.

    2. Swag bags should go. This year was the lamest showing. Doesn't even have packs of Magic cards!
    3. Check in times, tickets to come back later, etc are great...if you can get in at 10 to sign up at the booths.
    4. Another hour longer. Close expo hall at 7!

    byakuen on
    ♥ Properly Pleased Participant of Past PAX PrimeWest: '10, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16
  • PurpleSkyPurpleSky Registered User regular
    RavenHusky wrote: »
    Make sure there is a contingency plan for the morning queue in the case of torrential downpour. I'm pretty sure none of us wanted to be stuck out there Friday morning.

    Also, as others have said, either bring back the goodies that used to be in the swag bags, or just do away with them all together. One of my hotel roommates had grabbed one, and told us that there was nothing but advertising in them this year, so I didn't bother grabbing one.

    I called it :biggrin: In the PAX East forum I stated this would be a complaint for West and sure enough it is. This is the never ending complaint and now I kind of want it to be a tradition that the swag bag has junk in it and we complain about it :biggrin:. Let me state it here that this will be a complaint for East 2017.

  • Rhea_starstormRhea_starstorm Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    Also more indie megabooth space, this was the first year I really spent any time checking it out and it was great. I loved getting to chat with the devs for a few of the indie titles. Also the Iran Visual Novel Game from the PAX 10 was great.

  • Rhea_starstormRhea_starstorm Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    byakuen wrote: »
    1. Media/Exh/OMG badges should be allowed 1hr early entrance Friday and Saturday. No swag stuff, just access to games and interviews.

    As an Omeganaut this year, I wasn't able to test out many of the games I was on the fence about buying. From what I understand, years before, Omeganauts were able to cut lines. This helps a lot since there are two rounds on Friday and Saturday.
    I've talked to several exhibitors(volunteers and employees) while I tried to get in lines. They too wish to view other games aside from the ones they work for. When you get 30mins lunch, you really don't get a chance. Plus they get to the hall super early, why not?
    The swag should be given to those enduring the long wait times.

    That is my understanding about the Omeganaughts, esp since they are limited number of people. I have don't have an issue if its just the Omgeanaught and they are polite about it (the one I met one year was super nice and polite) but the whole let me and my whole group of friends in is annoying and unfair.

  • bacon_avengerbacon_avenger Defender of Pork Products Pacific NW, USARegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    This year felt a lot more relaxed to me than previous years, which may have been partly due to the apparently 'enhanced' security presence. Seemed to me that there were a lot more people with 'security' emblazoned somewhere on their person, and the new addition of the K9 units (that was a new thing for this year).

    I would have to agree with many others as well. Twitch taking up so much room for, basically, nothing of substance, was odd to me. Rooster teeth was an odd one. Most of their area seemed to be a lounge and merch booth, but they did have some stations for their RWBY game.

    Swag bags were even more disappointing than previous years. At least last year there were magic starter packs, this year there was a single card for superfight (they appeared to be trying to do the X of Y trading thing ala CAH in previous years), some beta and discount codes, and the ever present adverts. And really, an old spice advert? Single sided printing and nothing else? Is someone trying to hint at something? ;) And those poor people running the puff pit there... From what I'm told, they were all but begging people to take as many of those boxes from them... :p

    Having the line indicator in the guidebook was a very good idea and helpful vs checking twitter and potentially having to scroll back through a metric arseload of tweets to find out what the status of a given line is, but it seemed that it wasn't being updated as frequently as it should have been, and having an actual number there showing the capacity of the line would have been more helpful IMO than just a bar that gave a vague indicator of how full a panel was going to be.

    Having the VR stuff out of the main hall. I think it was a shame that it was put over in the Westin, being relatively out of the way, but considering how popular VR is right now, I feel that it really was a good idea and helped a lot to prevent traffic problems on the main floor (I still remember the lines around the oculus booth from previous years).

    Vendors/booths running raffles... This, I think, needs to have a limit, or some area set up specifically for it. Almost every year, I see a vendor doing this at the end of the convention, and it results in huge crowds, clogged walkaways, being unable to talk to any devs who had the misfortune to be near the booth, and stressed out E's trying to keep the walkways cleared. I'm all for winning free stuff as much as the next person, but I also see the problems that happen because of them.

    Edit/addition: The indy area. Yes, oh yes, this needs to be bigger... somehow. It was almost always packed and very hard to get through, much less stop and be able to talk to the devs in there and properly check out their games.

    And after filling out the emailed feedback form from Reed (and a brief discussion with an E), please oh please, NEVER move Pri...West to anywhere but Seattle (but having it in Portland Oregon would be pretty sweet since I live in the area). Myself, I have been attending since 2012, camping the site for passes, making the several hour drive in I5 traffic to the hotel, etc. If it ever moved to somewhere in California, I would not be able to attend as the costs for getting there would skyrocket for me. PAX started in the PNW, and that is where it should remain IMO.

    bacon_avenger on
    PAX Prime 2022 Checklist:[ ]Hotel [ ]Time Off [ ]Bobcats [ ]Challenge Coin [ ]Forum Badge
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  • byakuenbyakuen Somewhere in SeattleRegistered User regular
    myx wrote: »
    -That myxomyosis in the Omegathon final round, what a heart throb! ;p
    Hahaha!! Winner! Winner, chicken dinner!

    ♥ Properly Pleased Participant of Past PAX PrimeWest: '10, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16
  • justagirljustagirl Registered User new member
    This is my 7th year attending and I can say that it was enjoyable as always but.....(yes there is always a but) while most of the enforcers were nice and helpful some let that blue shirt go to their heads. Now Please don't think that I don't appreciate the work they do but they need to understand that there is only so far you can smoosh a line together. I for one do not want to form a human centipede in a hotel hallway. There needs to be a better regulation of how they are treating people. The lines are a headache for everyone involved in them and the interactions of the enforcers tend to make it worse.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    byakuen wrote: »
    As an Omeganaut this year, I wasn't able to test out many of the games I was on the fence about buying. From what I understand, years before, Omeganauts were able to cut lines. This helps a lot since there are two rounds on Friday and Saturday.
    Quick note: Omeganauts have never had expo line cut privs as a perk. Some game devs have permitted omegas to cut the lines for omegathon games so omegas could practice on the floor before their rounds, but that's on the game dev themselves and not a PAX rule.

  • byakuenbyakuen Somewhere in SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    zerzhul wrote: »
    byakuen wrote: »
    As an Omeganaut this year, I wasn't able to test out many of the games I was on the fence about buying. From what I understand, years before, Omeganauts were able to cut lines. This helps a lot since there are two rounds on Friday and Saturday.
    Quick note: Omeganauts have never had expo line cut privs as a perk. Some game devs have permitted omegas to cut the lines for omegathon games so omegas could practice on the floor before their rounds, but that's on the game dev themselves and not a PAX rule.

    Interesting. Well, several of us would appreciate just having the extra hr for those two days. Makes it a lot less stressful and doesn't feel like we are missing out.

    byakuen on
    ♥ Properly Pleased Participant of Past PAX PrimeWest: '10, '12, '13, '14, '15, '16
  • Sgt.MaysSgt.Mays Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    I agree with the swag bags, was just full of ads it seemed everything went in the garbage i just kept the bag.
    The RoosterTeeth booth was great this year, was awesome that i did not have to wait in a 2-3 hour line (that is if i managed to get in for the 15 seconds when it was not capped all the time) to get merch and i could come back at another time for it to be signed.

    Hard to find any other cons, panel lines were very well managed and expo hall bad great booths.

    Sgt.Mays on
    Gaymer, Nerd and Fan of Freeman's Mind/Half-life/GTA/Red Vs Blue

    Attended: East 14, 15 and West 16
    Attending West 2019
  • PavioPavio Registered User regular
    First of all, great PAX.

    The Expo Hall was a letdown this year, as the AAA titles were few and were pretty much sequels. I get it, a lot of these companies didn't have big games to show off and next year will probably be back to normal. Thankfully there was still a ton of other great stuff to do, but this was easily the least amount of time I spent in the expo hall.

    Also, I'd still like to see the expo hall games with 2-3 hour wait times have 2 lines: one for the 2-3 hour wait with the 30 minute demo, and one with a quick 5 minute demo so that if you can't wait for the huge line you can still get to check out their game. Doing the math, the current setup doesn't get your game out there to many people. If it's a 30 minute demo and you have 20 stations, that means you only are getting 40 people through an hour, or 320 a day, or 1280 through the entirety of PAX! (And less than that if you're at a 3 day PAX...) That's a pretty small audience, even if you double the amount of people to around 2500 by having 15 minute demos, which is just as common. That's still only a fraction of the attendees.
    -Another fix to this is to bring back what has been done in the past. Have the game available in PC freeplay and let people play it there. I have bought games solely because I played them with friends at PC freeplay and it was a blast, and that was after being on the fence after a demo at a booth.

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  • krae_mankrae_man Registered User regular
    Proof read the feedback survey before you email it.

    All those years with 1up still on the "how did you hear about PAX?" list and now this year during the "what parts of PAX did you visit?" part, the wrong theatre names were used.

  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    East veteran; first time at West.

    Pros
    • Enforcers and convention/hotel staff were all very courtesy and helpful.
    • Multiple merch booths was great idea, and it was a relief that I didn't have to sit in a long line just to buy some pin backs.
    • Will Call was quick and easy, which isn't always the case.
    • Magic being contained within the Paramount was pretty cool. They did a great job dressing it up.
    • Boardgame freeplay was great. Easy to borrow games and find a place to play.
    • Expo Hall was largely free of congestion. I feel the enforcers did an excellent job directing traffic and preventing a walk through the hall from becoming a slog.
    • Excellent exposure for indie games. It's great seeing support for the scene.
    • While I'm not a fan of West's spread-out nature, it was fairly easy navigating the city to get to various theatres.
    • They replicated the Wizard setup for Mario 3!

    Cons
    • I assume there's nothing to be done about this, but the street traffic was terrible. Scalpers, religious missionaries, and so forth. They made navigation around pike street near the WSCC a major pain, and I've heard some of these people were also pickpockets. Again, probably a city issue as opposed to PAX, but it was jarring as an East regular where I'm not used to being asked if I wanted to sell my badge every dang time I left the convention center.
    • The swag bag was terrible and there either needs to be serious changes made or just retire it outright. Mediocre coupons are not "swag" and, when I can't even get a 30 card starter deck from Wizards of the Coast, maybe it's time to Old Yeller the swag bag. It's not any better at East.
    • Expo Hall lines are still terrible, and I maintain that it is absolutely not worth it to go to PAX if you wanna go there to play new games from major publishers. The only thing I played at the expo hall was the new Sonic, and for that three minutes of playtime I was in line for about an hour.
    • Navigation was kinda funky at times. Again, this is just East setting up expectations, but I'm adjusted to a merch booth on the first floor of the convention center, so having to go up four floors to the Expo hall to access it was a bit confusing. Maybe just dedicate a floor to shops like We Love Fine and put the convention merch booth there?
    • The Omegathon was pretty weak. I understand the need to put a hard time limit on the final match considering how Omegathon finales of the past have run for 90+ minutes, but 10 minutes of Mario 3 was pretty anticlimatic, particularly given the really cool introduction. I expected there to be a few more 10 minute rounds on other world maps or something, but that was it. Just kind of a weak end to the weekend.

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  • every day's greatevery day's great Registered User regular
    edited September 2016
    I had an awful time with the "be inside the expo hall at our booth at 9:59 AM to get a ticket or you can't play the game" system which several booths seem to have switched to this year. I talked to multiple people who had gotten in line at 5:30 in the morning but still lost the race to the booth before the line was "capped" and/or all the tickets were gone.

    It's really frustrating to have to line up outside hours in advance - and of course there is only one place you can be inside at 10:00 AM sharp. Somehow I managed to get into the FFXV demo the second day, but it was really painful - basically you had to be at the booth (!) before 10:02 or you were out of luck. Same with D&D - line up hours in advance, run to the line as quickly as you can only to find out it's "capped" or all the slots have been filled and you're just lining up for the waiting list. More people should get the chance to play.

    I greatly preferred previous years where you could show up later in the day and still have a chance to play if you were willing to wait.

    The swag bags have dwindled to almost nothing at all - and the Amazon bags ran out early. I miss real swag bags that had good things inside of them. I'd also be happier with fewer sponsored tweets and less promotion of Amazon.

    Lines seemed worse as far as being told to "compress, compress!" was concerned. I like it when they let us spread out more so that we can play games while we're waiting in line for hours rather than being subject to a human compression algorithm. I was also surprised at how the line for Acquisitions Inc. opened up 2 hours (!) before and then was 50% full or more almost immediately. I wish I hadn't had to burn 2 hours of expo hall time waiting in that line.

    I've given up on trying to get the limited edition PAX pins - I tried 3 days last year and didn't get them, and this year I had to line up for the "be there at 10 AM or you're out of luck" tickets.

    I agree about prioritizing playable games over non-game things like Twitch or intel. Some good merch booths are OK though.

    Tabletop gaming is still much more relaxed, other than the horror of D&D signups at least!

    I don't know why but it really did seem hard to get around - part of that might be that the expo hall entrances and exits aren't well marked and there aren't obvious paths to take. The 6th floor seemed tricky to get to, and that's probably one reason it was less crowded! It also had more space and was well lit.

    And I'll say it again: please, please, don't ever send out any more of those obnoxious "PAX is x% complete" tweets - they are awful.

    every day's great on
  • every day's greatevery day's great Registered User regular
    krae_man wrote: »
    All those years with 1up still on the "how did you hear about PAX?" list and now this year during the "what parts of PAX did you visit?" part, the wrong theatre names were used.
    I assumed those were secret theaters I'd never been to. Or perhaps it was a test.

  • PavioPavio Registered User regular
    krae_man wrote: »
    All those years with 1up still on the "how did you hear about PAX?" list and now this year during the "what parts of PAX did you visit?" part, the wrong theatre names were used.
    I assumed those were secret theaters I'd never been to. Or perhaps it was a test.

    Yeah those were the theater names for East. Looks like a copy and paste job gone wrong.

    Oh, and as far as D&D goes, I talked to a few of the people running it and they said they had no idea AI D&D would be this popular and that clearly next time they'll have to add a bunch more space for it. They also hadn't anticipated most people going on to part 2, so even though on Monday I finally managed (after 3 attempts!) to get into a game, I was surprised to find out that part 2 was even more full. So, here's hoping next year they've got the space for it.
    -I will say, though, that they did an awesome job with it. It's hard to anticipate something like that, but now they know.

    And another AI thing--it would be awesome if it didn't start until later. The previous years it has been later in the day and that worked out so much better for doing everything else. East this year was probably the worst for that though since it was in the middle of the day.

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  • ReydienReydien Registered User regular
    Pavio wrote: »
    And another AI thing--it would be awesome if it didn't start until later. The previous years it has been later in the day and that worked out so much better for doing everything else. East this year was probably the worst for that though since it was in the middle of the day.

    I mean, it already ran until 9pm, I doubt they can really push it much later...

  • nevermore13nevermore13 Registered User regular
    Reydien wrote: »
    Pavio wrote: »
    And another AI thing--it would be awesome if it didn't start until later. The previous years it has been later in the day and that worked out so much better for doing everything else. East this year was probably the worst for that though since it was in the middle of the day.

    I mean, it already ran until 9pm, I doubt they can really push it much later...

    I would imagine part of the reason for starting when they did was due to showing it in theaters. It went to almost midnight on the east coast. A later start might lessen east coast sales. I know I personally may not have gone with a later start.

  • PurpleSkyPurpleSky Registered User regular
    krae_man wrote: »
    All those years with 1up still on the "how did you hear about PAX?" list and now this year during the "what parts of PAX did you visit?" part, the wrong theatre names were used.
    I assumed those were secret theaters I'd never been to. Or perhaps it was a test.

    I wonder if this implies that they don't even read the survey :\

  • Rabid DogRabid Dog Registered User regular
    edited September 2016
    PAX East vet as well here. Finally saved enough to make the trip all the way to the "bigger and better" PAX on the west coast. I think I'll steal the format of the previous pax east vet above:

    PROS:
    • Bigger area leads to more events
    • Location; All the hotels surrounded the convention center as opposed to East where they're practically on another island.
    • spread out over Seattle means we got to see some cool places and dine at unique restaurants as opposed to my usual pizza binges at East! x)
    • Expo hall was HUUUUUGE
    • TWO expo halls!
    • Huge PC Freeplay area and console freeplay
    • Excellent enforcer attitudes and vibes
    • Pax tweets were actually informative this year

    CONS:
    • Bigger area leads to more confusion. I couldn't understand where I was going half the time. x(
    • Cosplay seemed almost discouraged this year
    • Not to insult the existing musical line-up, but I feel like some key bands were missing this year. Was pretty disappointed.
    • There were a ton of panels, but nothing really exciting to go see.
    • Might not be a PAX issue per se, but I was disappointed with how some lines were handled:
      1. Theater lines were ridiculous. I do not appreciate people being squeezed in to a tightly packed "line" and forced to stay that way for over an hour and a half. Especially when the queue isn't even half full for the event.
      2. Expo Hall Lines were actually really good with the exception of a few of the notable exhibits. The worst offender was the Resident Evil VR line. Twice somehow, even though we were among the first hundred waiting to get into the expo hall and were among the first to make it to the booth, others found a way ahead of the line and tickets/schedules were full before we even got there. Even the enforcer there was perplexed as to how that happened, commenting that he's not sure how so many people made it ahead of the line.
    • oh, and STOP WITH THE "Pax is xx% done!" TWEETS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. There is nothing more depressing than being reminded that your fun is almost over. Seriously. STOP. There is no point to them. Literally not one good reason to constantly tweet that!

    Overall, I think I'm sticking with East. I had a blast at Pax West, dont get me wrong, but overall I see why the "Prime" title was dropped. I'm looking forward to March for PAX East. It will be cheaper and some of the exhibits that were lacking at west seem to be a staple at East now.

    Rabid Dog on
  • PurpleSkyPurpleSky Registered User regular
    Rabid Dog wrote: »

    oh, and STOP WITH THE "Pax is xx% done!" TWEETS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. There is nothing more depressing than being reminded that your fun is almost over. Seriously. STOP. There is no point to them. Literally not one good reason to constantly tweet that!

    I agree with this, it is more disappointing than anything else. I hated being reminded that Pax is almost over. Was gonna turn tweets off because of this but kept forgetting to.

  • PurpleSkyPurpleSky Registered User regular
    Maybe they send that tweet to remind the hard working show floor exhibitors that their long 4 days are almost up. But if you hate working Pax that much that you need to be reminded that it's almost over, you probably shouldn't be working Pax :bigfrown:

  • zenprimezenprime That Cat that ain't a Cat T-Town, WARegistered User regular
    This was my 8th PAX Prime West, will not be my last. Pros is short because I'm limiting to things I noticed this year.


    CONS
    • The Swag bag, either needs to go or needs a buff. This is the third(?) year since it's been removed from being handed out to everyone as they enter in the morning and made more optional. Quality has decreased (No Magic deck or eye drop sample!) steadily, and it's just a bag of adds that get thrown away now. It either needs to be worth a trip out of the convention center site (At least it was closer then last year when it was in the WESTIN) or done away with.
    • Rain Plan Needed! We got a jump start on Confunk due to the Friday crowd spending an hour in the pouring rain before the show opened. I was out there last year, and I remember they let us inside to queue up outside the hall doors when it sprinkled. This year, it felt like after 5 minutes the Enforcers abandoned the folks way in the back.
    • Does the Con close at 6 or 7 on Monday? In years past, I've ridden out the last hours in Freeplay after the expo hall closed, but was flabbergasted to hear that folks were being turned away from everything. The badges said we had another hour, the message seemed to be "Get Out!"
    • The Expo hall seemed to be filled with a lost of wasted space booth, where large amounts of floor space wasn't for attendees. Twitch especially. It's time for them to have someplace else in the Convention Center. I don't deny their importance, and right of access to the Expo hall floor, but their main booth should really be off the floor. Same for the PAX arena
    • The PAX 10 should have a spotlight location. Maybe on the Main Expo hall, maybe the 6th floor, or maybe someplace else in the Convention Center, but it should not change year to year.
    • Can anything be done to persuade local food trucks to park near the convention center for PAX?
    • Can we stopping sardine packing lines that don't need it?
    • Advertise the Shuttle Buses Better!

    PROS
    • Shuttle Buses! OMG never knew about these till year.
    • D&D in the Annex. This was great. Initially I missed having MtG there, but being right around the corner in the paramount was fine. These two always need to either in or close by to the Convention Center.
    • Enforcers keeping the walkways clear in the Expo hall. A lot less traffic jams this year!
    • 6th Floor seemed to be better laid out this year as well.

    PAXing till I Plotz
    xSBUZyE.png
    PAX Weast 2017 Status: Badges [X] Room [X] Fried Rice [X]
  • DapperPumpkinDapperPumpkin Registered User regular
    Pavio wrote: »
    And another AI thing--it would be awesome if it didn't start until later. The previous years it has been later in the day and that worked out so much better for doing everything else. East this year was probably the worst for that though since it was in the middle of the day.

    I very much disagree. Last year AI started at 8:30pm and it was a mess because people weren't "allowed" to line up until 2 hours before, but everyone was done at the expo by 6 so it created a huge disorganized mess of people trying to line up and security and enforcers telling them they weren't allowed to be there yet. The line was basically capped as soon as it was created at 6:30.

    I decided not to go this year, but I did check the line status and 1.5 hours before AI started the line wasn't quite capped yet. That is much more manageable for staff and enforcers and leads to a lot less spectator frustration.

  • PavioPavio Registered User regular
    Pavio wrote: »
    And another AI thing--it would be awesome if it didn't start until later. The previous years it has been later in the day and that worked out so much better for doing everything else. East this year was probably the worst for that though since it was in the middle of the day.

    I very much disagree. Last year AI started at 8:30pm and it was a mess because people weren't "allowed" to line up until 2 hours before, but everyone was done at the expo by 6 so it created a huge disorganized mess of people trying to line up and security and enforcers telling them they weren't allowed to be there yet. The line was basically capped as soon as it was created at 6:30.

    I decided not to go this year, but I did check the line status and 1.5 hours before AI started the line wasn't quite capped yet. That is much more manageable for staff and enforcers and leads to a lot less spectator frustration.

    I agree last year's line was awful, but they let us in 3 hours before this year (I was there at 3:10 pm this year and I was already a few hundred people back) and that largely fixed the problem. They also intentionally scheduled a large chunk of time before the show which helped so that the line wasn't conflicting with anything.

    However, to the other points, with it being broadcast in theaters I can definitely see that as it would be very late for the East coast if it started later.

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  • OozOoz SeattleRegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    Good stuff: The Acquisitions Inc. D&D Interns campaign was super fun! (Not the panel, but the one where you got to play as an intern on the 2nd floor of the Annex). I liked how there were signups, so you didn't have to spend a lot of time figuring out whether or not you could get into the event that day.

    Not So Great: The PAX XP event was not that fun this year. I think it's okay to have them in a specific order, but have each one give you clues about where the next one might be located!

    Ooz on
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