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Constructive Feedback - West 2016

2

Posts

  • sdflacksdflack Registered User regular
    1. Final Fantasy's 500 t-shirt & playtest ticket encouraged running in the opening minutes of the expo hall. Then, the playing booths remained empty for the rest of the day b/c only 500 people were allowed to play.
    2. The food booth on the 6th floor was super great
    3. No one knew about the shuttles
    4. Heard there was some pickpocketing going on at the front of the convention center
    5. Swag bags were just pieces of paper.
    6. The website was confusing when tickets went on sale. I think an image that was a link last year was just a image this year. Forced users to hunt for the actual ticket link -- which was confused with the hotel link.
    7. Can all panels be recorded somehow? Even if it means collecting panel videos from attendees?

    Thank you!

  • zenprimezenprime That Cat that ain't a Cat T-Town, WARegistered User regular
    Oh I forgot to add, I only noticed one of the Omegathon banners with headshots of all the contestants, there should be more of them and can we go back to combining final round of the Omegathon and the closing ceramonies, and broadcasting them to unused panel theaters or parts of the expo hall?

    PAXing till I Plotz
    xSBUZyE.png
    PAX Weast 2017 Status: Badges [X] Room [X] Fried Rice [X]
  • ClixClix This guy I know Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    Overall I enjoyed another wonderful PAX. Thank you to the staff, enforcers, vendors, and other attendees that made for another awesome experience!

    But of course I have a few points of feedback:

    Print more PAX West LE pins. The current allotment is just not meeting demand, not even close.

    While having a disability is a terrible thing, I still don't think that it's a reason for med badge folks to get in demo lines before 10 am. Some lines were literally capped before general admittance was even granted access to the building. People that stood in line for hours were beat by people that had special access and only stood in line for minutes.

    Pins were done very well this PAX. I know PA can't control what marketing teams do with their pins, but it felt like there was a good balance of purchase pins to time sink pins.

    The Indy Mega Booth isn't so mega. Every year most of the indies get crammed into that back corner of the expo hall and it's rarely enough space for the crowd that it draws.

    More D&D please! I hadn't played D&D in about 15 years, but I absolutely loved the AI session. If WotC can find enough DM's, they should be granted more space for one of the best attractions of PAX.

    Please stop tweeting the completion percentage of PAX. It's not informative, it's just depressing. Plus it causes attendees to turn off notifications that might be important.

    Clix on
  • The GeekThe Geek Oh-Two Crew, Omeganaut Registered User, ClubPA regular
    Please encourage exhibitors to have better booth accessibility. Having the controller and headphones and control instructions up on a 4 foot high counter is not good for a person in a chair.

    BLM - ACAB
  • Desert LeviathanDesert Leviathan Registered User regular
    I was extremely disappointed with how disorganized and understaffed the D&D games at the Annex were. At this point, Acq. Inc. is a major tentpole of the show, but WotC seems weirdly reluctant to commit real resources to the D&D presence beyond that. I can understand if they were caught off guard by the surge in interest, but they really need to come up with a better plan for next year.

    At the very least, there should have been someone on the door to count the line and tell everyone standing past the cutoff point that there would be no more Acq. Inc. game or regular Adventure League sessions available. And someone on the inside to actually coordinate the line, instead of just letting it sprawl out of control and block the merch booth and the escalators. The second floor of the Annex was the closest I've ever seen to a panicked stampede at PAX, just complete chaos packed shoulder to shoulder in the entire room, easily 250+ people who went from being in line for Adventure League to being a disgruntled mass instantly (and god only knows how many more still lined up outside beyond that), with no indication given by WotC staff until they were full up that the available spaces would be so tight.

    Realizing lately that I don't really trust or respect basically any of the moderators here. So, good luck with life, friends! Hit me up on Twitter @DesertLeviathan
  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    The Geek wrote: »
    Please encourage exhibitors to have better booth accessibility. Having the controller and headphones and control instructions up on a 4 foot high counter is not good for a person in a chair.
    Yeah the counter thing seems to be getting more popular, even though it is less accessible for a whole lot of different folks for different reasons.

    One booth had counters such that people who are very tall (> 6') could not reach the keyboard and mouse without bending over significantly.

  • godmodegodmode Southeast JapanRegistered User regular
    Overall the show was excellent. I only have small complaints:
    -Ditto what everyone said about the swag bags. A bag full of advertisements is pointless - you can put those ads in the program.
    -Please improve filtering for the Q&A / Make-A-Strip Q&A questions. There were a few repeats, some that were just weird in a not funny way, and some that weren't questions. It felt like not all of them were checked beforehand.

  • pogoplaypogoplay Writer/Blogger/Gamer Calgary, AlbertaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    I have some feedback - My group went as media and attended the event as such so my opinions may be a bit unpopular, but hear me out.

    - Media Badges - There is a huge argument about restrictions on Media. I a lot of people say the Media have no place at PAX. I both agree and disagree. I think there are exclusive things the media can cover at PAX, specifically, this year was the first time I could get our hands on Sonic Mania, Gears of War's Horde Mode and so on. Most media outlets have external appointments, though - Such as Ubisoft and Atari on the seventh floor of the Grand Hyatt this year.

    Something that helps with this is giving Media an hour early on the Friday. IMO, if they want to continue to allow media to go to PAX, they should give this to them at least two out of the four days so they can obtain proper media coverage without conflicting on the regular attendees. If you did this, you can put a firm rule to exhibitors to say "NO PRESS APPOINTMENTS UNLESS BOOKED THROUGH MEDIA HOURS". This would stop a lot of frustrations caused by both sides. Trying to do an interview when there are thousands of people bumping into you is fucking annoying, let alone all of the noise generated by people.

    I've gone as an attendee in the past and know how frustrating it can be to be cut by the media. It sucks, hence why I avoid doing it as much as possible.

    - Freeplay/tournament spots - I love where they were located this year. I found they were out of the way without being a hassle to access. Great job with the positioning here!

    Overall, our experience has been amazing and I want to thank everyone who assisted with making the event amazing.

    pogoplay on
    Attended: PAX Prime 2010, PAX Prime 2011, PAX Prime 2012, PAX Prime 2014.
    Attending: PAX Prime 2016
    Twitter @Pogoplay
  • DasJesterDasJester Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Big Gripe of the Con for me: Razers Panel time running over
    So I waited in line for the “Knights & Nightmares” Horror in RPGs panel and was one of the first five people in line. I’m a big horror fan and honestly didn’t think it was going to be a packed panel…man was I wrong lol. The panel I think ended up being capped towards the end.

    The Problem:
    So when it started getting close to the Panel start time, the Enforcers advised us that the previous panel (What’s new from Razer; Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan) had set-up their own special equipment which would need to be taken down before we could go in. So this did tick me off a little bit since the Knights & Nightmares panel was THE PANEL that I was looking forward to at PAX. Not a huge deal since it would only be a few minutes.

    So the Razer panel ended at its scheduled time and then the taking down their equipment process began. The 10 min delay turned into almost 30 mins before we got to go inside and sit down for our panel. There were people who left the line because it meant how short the panel would likely end up being because of this delay. Luckily, the panel peeps were awesome and were going to stay later to answer any questions. The Enforcers were able to supply us with an unused room so that we could ask the panel peeps questions.

    Final Thoughts on the issue:
    Sorry that is just some straight up BS that Razer pulled. If they want to set-up their special equipment that will affect other panels time slots then they need to have a separate room that’s not scheduled for other panels. My friend was attending another panel at the same time as Razer that shared a wall and she complained about their loud sound was making it rough for her to hear her panel peeps. So Razer ran into another panel’s timeslot and created sound that was an interruption to another panel.


    Pros
    I loved the Indi Game floor area.
    This was my 2nd year at Pax West and I can honestly say that I regret not spending more time there the 1st time around. It was cool not having to wait in long lines to try out a game.

    D&D at the Annex was super cool.
    I hope they get more space next year because they got slammed with people after Friday.

    Magic at the Paramount Theater
    I think having M:tG outside the Annex was a great idea. I didn’t go there myself but I’m seeing a lot of positive feedback about it.

    More RPG & Horror Gaming Panels
    Loved seeing more “Ask a GM Panels” and the “Knights & Nightmares: Horror in RPGs” Panel. The horror panel was pretty much completely full, so I hope that waves flags that it’s a welcomed subject for Pax goers.

    RPGs on Demand
    I got to try this out this year at PAX West and man it was awesome.

    Enforcers being awesome
    Even though I had an issue with another panel cutting into my panels timeslot, the Enforcers were super awesome about keeping us informed. They were also super quick to provider us all with a spot to continue asking questions to our panel peeps.


    Cons
    Raffles were kind of a pain.
    I was in line for Hob at the end of Monday when they did theirs. It was such a pain being in line stuck between the games booth wall and a crowd of people waiting to see if they won anything. Also, why did none of the Vendors have like a whiteboard to write the winning numbers on instead of just yelling over the insanely loud crowd?

    No Ticket, No Demo
    Man, it was disheartening to find out that the Final Fantasy booth required a ticket to get into the line. After reading peoples comments, it looks like I wouldn’t have gotten in line on any of the days since I was not first on the show floor.
    Side Note – I think a system where I get a ticket and come back is not a bad idea, just wished it was better executed. Maybe if they had only given out a few tickets and then you would have to come back at times throughout the day.

    Panels that were far away from the convention center.
    So there was a Horror in Media panel that I was considering going to but when I saw how far it was, I just crossed it off my list. There is WAY too much stuff to do at Pax for me to add travel time to and from the Convention Center. Is there any way they could be at a closer venue?

    Swag Bags
    Was not worth the walk to them. It looks like ads that fall out of a magazine when you first open it. I saw lots of people just throw them into the trash on the way out.

    Indi Space in the Expo Hall
    I agree with everyone; is there a way to give them more space? I had a ton of fun trying out there games but the spaces were so tiny.

    Twitch’s Booth
    Man, it was a huge floor space…that didn’t have anything for non-twitch people. I agree that Twitch is a big deal for gaming but why can’t they have an area outside of the Expo Hall? Media and etc have E3 and other conventions, Pax is supposed to be for the gamers. It really did feel like something going against what Pax was first created for.

  • IncreaseBlueIncreaseBlue Registered User regular
    I was extremely disappointed with how disorganized and understaffed the D&D games at the Annex were. At this point, Acq. Inc. is a major tentpole of the show, but WotC seems weirdly reluctant to commit real resources to the D&D presence beyond that. I can understand if they were caught off guard by the surge in interest, but they really need to come up with a better plan for next year.

    At the very least, there should have been someone on the door to count the line and tell everyone standing past the cutoff point that there would be no more Acq. Inc. game or regular Adventure League sessions available. And someone on the inside to actually coordinate the line, instead of just letting it sprawl out of control and block the merch booth and the escalators.

    I agree with the line coordination and they did seem to have a solid plan by the last day, as the volunteers were very audible about where specific lines were and the likelihood of getting an open slot depending on your line position. It definitely would have been appreciated earlier in the weekend, but hey, at least it improved.

    I also know that D&D areas were short on judges/DMs their last day so they were more than a little frazzled at the sheer amount of folks signing up for Acquisitions and Storm King's Thunder sessions. I myself waited for 1-2 hours outside the Annex building in line twice for a shot at sign ups and was denied because of how quickly everything filled up. Good to see that it was popular, just needs more volunteers and enforcers next year.

  • PurpleSkyPurpleSky Registered User regular
    pogoplay wrote: »
    I have some feedback - My group went as media and attended the event as such so my opinions may be a bit unpopular, but hear me out.

    - Media Badges - There is a huge argument about restrictions on Media. I a lot of people say the Media have no place at PAX. I both agree and disagree. I think there are exclusive things the media can cover at PAX, specifically, this year was the first time I could get our hands on Sonic Mania, Gears of War's Horde Mode and so on. Most media outlets have external appointments, though - Such as Ubisoft and Atari on the seventh floor of the Grand Hyatt this year.

    Something that helps with this is giving Media an hour early on the Friday. IMO, if they want to continue to allow media to go to PAX, they should give this to them at least two out of the four days so they can obtain proper media coverage without conflicting on the regular attendees. If you did this, you can put a firm rule to exhibitors to say "NO PRESS APPOINTMENTS UNLESS BOOKED THROUGH MEDIA HOURS". This would stop a lot of frustrations caused by both sides. Trying to do an interview when there are thousands of people bumping into you is fucking annoying, let alone all of the noise generated by people.

    I've gone as an attendee in the past and know how frustrating it can be to be cut by the media. It sucks, hence why I avoid doing it as much as possible.

    - Freeplay/tournament spots - I love where they were located this year. I found they were out of the way without being a hassle to access. Great job with the positioning here!

    Overall, our experience has been amazing and I want to thank everyone who assisted with making the event amazing.

    Not allowing media is stupid and I hope that does not happen. I'm an attendee and I love having media there especially when they put on panels like IGN does. My comment earlier in this thread is just to state that attendees come before media. I think requiring booths to schedule appointments with media is the best answer, as mentioned in my earlier post. Not scheduled? Then wait in line. Don't like that? Boo hoo, go to E3.

  • zenprimezenprime That Cat that ain't a Cat T-Town, WARegistered User regular
    Imsorad wrote: »

    While having a disability is a terrible thing, I still don't think that it's a reason for med badge folks to get in demo lines before 10 am. Some lines were literally capped before general admittance was even granted access to the building. People that stood in line for hours were beat by people that had special access and only stood in line for minutes.

    IIRC They only get an early access the first day of the show. Don't forget exhibitors like to check out each others booths as well. I was first in line for the Nvidia Fun House VR demo one day, and there were already people inside trying it out at 10:02AM, all exhibitors from other booths.

    PAXing till I Plotz
    xSBUZyE.png
    PAX Weast 2017 Status: Badges [X] Room [X] Fried Rice [X]
  • SkeleVaderSkeleVader Your Friendly Dark Lord of Destruction Registered User regular
    zenprime wrote: »
    Imsorad wrote: »

    While having a disability is a terrible thing, I still don't think that it's a reason for med badge folks to get in demo lines before 10 am. Some lines were literally capped before general admittance was even granted access to the building. People that stood in line for hours were beat by people that had special access and only stood in line for minutes.

    IIRC They only get an early access the first day of the show. Don't forget exhibitors like to check out each others booths as well. I was first in line for the Nvidia Fun House VR demo one day, and there were already people inside trying it out at 10:02AM, all exhibitors from other booths.

    Medical badges do get to take advantage of the magic hour on Friday, but are also let in a few minutes early on other days from the 4th floor sky bridge entrance.
    There was also a separate medical badge line started on the 6th floor this year (this is the first time I have needed a medical badge so I don't know how other years worked). Since the Rick and Morty game was so popular that is where we went. A lot of exhibitors were also going there early.

    IhtGIyi.png
  • The AviatrixThe Aviatrix Registered User regular
    edited September 2016
    SkeleVader wrote: »
    zenprime wrote: »
    Imsorad wrote: »

    While having a disability is a terrible thing, I still don't think that it's a reason for med badge folks to get in demo lines before 10 am. Some lines were literally capped before general admittance was even granted access to the building. People that stood in line for hours were beat by people that had special access and only stood in line for minutes.

    IIRC They only get an early access the first day of the show. Don't forget exhibitors like to check out each others booths as well. I was first in line for the Nvidia Fun House VR demo one day, and there were already people inside trying it out at 10:02AM, all exhibitors from other booths.

    Medical badges do get to take advantage of the magic hour on Friday, but are also let in a few minutes early on other days from the 4th floor sky bridge entrance.
    There was also a separate medical badge line started on the 6th floor this year (this is the first time I have needed a medical badge so I don't know how other years worked). Since the Rick and Morty game was so popular that is where we went. A lot of exhibitors were also going there early.

    That 6th floor line may also explain the Star Trek VR being so full... Talking to an enforcer there, on Sunday it already had a fair few lined up before he got there at 9:50 - and a large amount of people that got into the line came in from the secondary escalator direction. The amount of people that came in from the main escalator (and the main queue) were in a minority.
    (I did get in though! But I felt so bad for the enforcer telling everybody it was capped for the entire day... The look of disappointment on so many faces. The goal of the enforcer is to make sure people have a great time! Not make everybody sad :()

    Rick and Morty didn't limit the people to only the initial rush at least :p

    But they really do need to find a balance for all of the things that were "be here right at 10 or miss out all day." It's a nice idea to hand out time slots but... I don't think people having early access was ever this palpable.


    Other input... I felt like there was a general lower level of hype this year. I don't know if I had bad luck in the morning queue (I kept being in awkward places that did not allow enforcer interaction) or if it was all over. And given Magic's massive display last year, D&D's lack of any display was disappointing xD Going into the Annex this year didn't have the wonder of seeing all the decorations inside for the first time. There also seemed to be a general lack of large statues outside of the expo hall...

    The Aviatrix on
    x5XpZBK.pngEz7XjRx.pngml9Z6gf.png
  • havok978havok978 Baltimore, MdRegistered User regular
    PurpleSky wrote: »
    pogoplay wrote: »
    I have some feedback - My group went as media and attended the event as such so my opinions may be a bit unpopular, but hear me out.

    - Media Badges - There is a huge argument about restrictions on Media. I a lot of people say the Media have no place at PAX. I both agree and disagree. I think there are exclusive things the media can cover at PAX, specifically, this year was the first time I could get our hands on Sonic Mania, Gears of War's Horde Mode and so on. Most media outlets have external appointments, though - Such as Ubisoft and Atari on the seventh floor of the Grand Hyatt this year.

    Something that helps with this is giving Media an hour early on the Friday. IMO, if they want to continue to allow media to go to PAX, they should give this to them at least two out of the four days so they can obtain proper media coverage without conflicting on the regular attendees. If you did this, you can put a firm rule to exhibitors to say "NO PRESS APPOINTMENTS UNLESS BOOKED THROUGH MEDIA HOURS". This would stop a lot of frustrations caused by both sides. Trying to do an interview when there are thousands of people bumping into you is fucking annoying, let alone all of the noise generated by people.

    I've gone as an attendee in the past and know how frustrating it can be to be cut by the media. It sucks, hence why I avoid doing it as much as possible.

    - Freeplay/tournament spots - I love where they were located this year. I found they were out of the way without being a hassle to access. Great job with the positioning here!

    Overall, our experience has been amazing and I want to thank everyone who assisted with making the event amazing.

    Not allowing media is stupid and I hope that does not happen. I'm an attendee and I love having media there especially when they put on panels like IGN does. My comment earlier in this thread is just to state that attendees come before media. I think requiring booths to schedule appointments with media is the best answer, as mentioned in my earlier post. Not scheduled? Then wait in line. Don't like that? Boo hoo, go to E3.

    Personally, my issue has never been with the presence of media in and of itself. It was really only a matter of time before PAX reached "major gaming show" status necessitating gaming media coverage. My problem has always been with the folks that tend to be dicks with their media status. Showing up to a booth like 5-10 people deep locking it down for a demo cycle, presumably because you don't want attendees "ruining your shot." Bragging at the airport, on your podcast, etc about getting a media pass so that "you don't have to stand in any lines." Stuff like that. During a previous PAX, I was cut multiple times in a row by media at a demo when I was literally next to play. I think the shift to the appointment system a few years ago has helped quite a bit. I also think the somewhat tightening of the conditions of who qualifies for media badges has also helped a bit, although it did unfortunately effect some of the smaller sites that I go to. I feel like a lot of the issues that I've personally had in the past with this were with folks who it almost seems like they became "media" just to get into shows like PAX and E3 and get easy access. And I think in the past few years exhibitors have been very good about saying, "Do you have an appointment? Well, sorry you're gonna have to get in line then..." from what I've witnessed.

    All that being said, I know its been mentioned before but, that whole Twitch Partner Lounge thing was really weird to me. I get Twitch having a presence, but it just seemed weird to take up additional space on the expo floor for "partners" to chill or whatever. What were they doing before? Is there not a better place for that than on the show floor? It just felt out of place.

    XyqJPIp.png
  • YakivegasYakivegas Registered User regular
    The Good:

    Really enjoy the number of smaller developers
    Overall crowds seemed lighter, not sure if attendance was down or just better laid out show floor
    Liked the merchant tents outside the Paramount. Fun to watch blacksmiths and glass blowers
    Location of the console free play was nice
    Great to have (albeit slow at times) WiFi in the lobby area. Saved a bit of strain on my data plan.
    Love the Diversity Lounge (kicking myself for not picking up a rainbow Pokeball t-shirt on the first day)

    The Not So Good:

    The Twitch set up was very puzzling, agree that it could move elsewhere.
    Swag bags need to go, waste of space
    Dear god Razer, do not throw things into the crowd at your raffles. I have no desire to get crushed because a zealous fan wants a scarf
    Just an off year, I guess, but very little of the AAA titles were of any interest.
    Lots of VR (not good for me, I get way too motion sick, but I see the appeal overall)
    Blizzard's booth puzzled me. No Overwatch? Would have been nice to have Overwatch demos, maybe a code for an in-game item
    Really did seem like fewer cosplayers overall.
    Need more space for the Indie booths on main showfloor. Always the most crowded place at PAX, enforcers trying to get people to step into (already packed) booths.
    Would love to have more seating for the tabletop free play
    Agree with an earlier poster that it would be nice to have an option for a shorter demo, might shorten some of the lines.

    All bleeding stops...eventually.
  • ambrousisambrousis Registered User regular
    This was the second year that me and my wife has been able to ge tickets, last time being in 2013. In between that time she suffered a medical issue that put her in a wheel chair. Over all we had a great experience all 4 days, though she wasn't a fan of constantly being bumped into by people not looking where they were going.

    One of the few issues we had was the two panels we attended in the main theatre, for Cards Against Humanity and NVIDIA. In both cases we were lead in through a side entrance to avoid the crowd wich was nice, but in both cases we missed out on the items that were being handed out to everyone else as they entered (the blank cad from CAH and the raffle ticket from NVIDIA.) One of the enforcrs also at the end of the NVIDIA panel tried to suggest that my wife use the stairs to leave. The last issue we had was a lot of people using the elevators just because they ddin't want to use the escalators, wich at times made it difficult to get from one floor to another.

  • kropotkinkropotkin Forum Badge Creator London UKRegistered User regular
    I have read through these comments and those made in the Facebook group and I do see a trend that is somewhat worrying. That being the sense of entitlement for 'free stuff'. There is a definite demand of 'why wasn't I showered with stuff as soon as I stepped into the expo hall?' I do not know where this comes from as free stuff is not what PAX is about. PAX is about the love of games in all of their forms. It's about sharing that enthusiasm with others and playing games, irregardless of what they are, with those same people. If this is not something you subscribe to then I would reconsider attending PAX at all. Yes that's pretty damning I know, but not attending allows those who do understand the core premise of PAX to go.

    With that addressed I would like to tackle the media badge wearers as there has been some things said about them and how many regard them as an anathema to PAX in that it is inclusive. Speaking as someone who has worn a yellow badge since 2008 I can vouch that I have not cut a line in any way in all the years I have attended. The only exception to this is a pre-booked appointment from many weeks prior and even then they are organised so that the station we are directed to are for media appointments only. In many cases they are in side booths near the main one or secreted away in some hotel suite that cannot be accessed by anyone other than media who have received appointments to be there.

    It is good for media to be present at PAX as that way the indie studios get the coverage they so desperately need. In these times of new games appearing on Steam every 40 seconds or so developers need to get the word out there about their games by any legal means necessary. Catching the eye of someone from a media outlet is vital for their survival and they know this. Also, to those that demand media only attend E3 and other trade shows, that doesn't help indie studios as they are not present at them due to the high costs of attending. As someone who represents a media outlet I do my best to straddle the line of respecting other PAX attendee's time and the time I spend with developers and their games. I do not want to be 'that guy' who bullies themselves around PAX just because they have a little yellow badge. Sadly there are who overstep this line and are ogres, but their actions do a great deal of harm and I will never subscribe to them.

    Finally to back to the point of the thread, my feedback!

    Pros
    • D&D returned to its rightful place in the annexe to reasonable success although it was nigh on impossible to book a slot for a session.
    • Having the Paramount handed over the MtG was an amazing sight and as someone who doesn't play even I was impressed.
    • Free flowing of people within the expo hall as directed by the enforcers
    • The senseless destruction of stuff via the use of tanks was a sight to behold.

    Cons
    • Westin is too far away as a viable venue for panels.
    • Tabletop gaming vendors are too scattered throughout WSCC to the point where a lot of sales were lost because of it.
    • Classic console and arcade split between corners of 6th floor and the Hyatt meant that most people didn't know they were there at all.
    • Adult Swim Games booth being tucked away along a wall with VR demo units behind it was a very bad idea. Enforcers were struggling to keep the area free for movement due primarily to the quality of games there; they were all incredible!
    • Main theatre is a pain to get to and to line up for.

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  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    kropotkin wrote: »
    I have read through these comments and those made in the Facebook group and I do see a trend that is somewhat worrying. That being the sense of entitlement for 'free stuff'. There is a definite demand of 'why wasn't I showered with stuff as soon as I stepped into the expo hall?' I do not know where this comes from as free stuff is not what PAX is about. PAX is about the love of games in all of their forms. It's about sharing that enthusiasm with others and playing games, irregardless of what they are, with those same people. If this is not something you subscribe to then I would reconsider attending PAX at all. Yes that's pretty damning I know, but not attending allows those who do understand the core premise of PAX to go.

    In last year's feedback thread I pointed out that a fair amount of newer attendees seemed to be primarily driven by swag and that as a result the booths were getting lazier because why wouldn't they? If people are gonna line up anyway to get their carrot why not see how small of a carrot you can give them? This year, it seems like the trend finally hit the breaking point and now this newer gen of attendees is making their true motivation known. These people aren't going to PAX for the love of gaming and all that, they're going to just get free shit.

    Personally I am currently doing my best to push a community first attitude via my events (with more to come!) and by trying to push others to do small group things too to help bring new PAXers together but things have slipped enough over time that it'll be a pretty big boulder to push up hill. That said, I won't be sad to see some of these people cycle out. We won't lose anything if they don't come back because they aren't contributing anything anyway. They just wanna stand in lines to get free swag and there will always be someone eager to take their place next year at badge sale time.

    Anyway, my feedback for this year is actually pretty light! I had a pretty great time and as an eight year PAX Prime West veteran this year just felt a little more old school to me.

    GOOD
    -It was really nice that the Expo Hall was quieter with no warring sound systems this year.
    -Expo Hall looked like it was primarily all games or things about games/hardware and had more smaller companies which is always welcome!
    -Bethesda actually had stuff to play this year and they put some actual effort into their actually rather cool Dishonored 2 "museum." The Hall was a massive improvement from last year!
    -The person running the soundboard at Benaroya knew what they were doing! Yay!
    -Steel Battalion! YAAAAAAY! MOAR STOMPY ROBOTS!
    -Diversity area was pretty rad!
    -Jackbox at Juicy was pretty damn hilarious and a great way to kill time.

    Some people are saying the Expo Hall is lame due to a lack of AAA presence but tbh I prefer seeing the smaller companies. They're generally way more passionate and focused on the attendees rather than on just putting on some spectacle and that's the sort of experience I want out of PAX. It got away from that over the years but it felt like a good shift back this year and I'd love to see more of that.

    NOT GOOD
    -Not something PAX can really fix but I, and a bunch others, noticed that there were way more attendees with BO issues this year than in the past. Just...ew.
    -Adult Swim's area was a traffic jam
    -The usual: Tabletop spread out, 3rd Avenue being sketchy as fuck, Benaroya not being great to rock out in, Indy Megabooth being fun but a total clusterfuck, etc. At this point I mostly just list this stuff out of habit, haha.

    AWFUL
    -The swag bags...just...yikes. I hadn't even bothered in a few years because they were starting to get lame but a friend wanted to snag one this year and we ended up just leaving them on the table because there was really nothing in them. I feel like getting rid of them completely and turning the swag bag area into more tabletop space would be a much better usage of time, space, and effort. Yeah yeah, I know, I was just commenting about the free stuff thing but I'm advocating for getting rid of the free stuff here, not complaining there should be more of it.
    -Twitch can just piss off. Their booth is a dead zone of nothing and is just a giant exclusive, elitist bunch of garbage. If they need an area for their streamers to hang out in and not be interacted with then it's called their hotel room.


    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.
    Welcome to Seattle! Try not to get mugged on 3rd Avenue.

    TOGSolid on
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  • xtheapocxxtheapocx Registered User new member
    Another great PAX, here are the cons I could think of:

    - More enforcers at entrance to Expo Hall during opening minutes to discourage running
    - Swag bags are basically just trash now, maybe offer incentives for exhibitors to put worthwhile things in there.
    - Encourage more exhibitors to use an App or website to sign up for appointments, like Sony
    - Buggy PAX XP kiosks
    - Some poorly attended/uninteresting panels, while I know some groups I would've loved to see have had their submission denied in the past (geekbox podcast, comedy button podcast)
    - Weak lineup for concerts, there are a ton of acts that would be a great fit (Powerglove comes to mind)

  • jukkakhanjukkakhan Registered User regular
    Pros
    • The 4th Floor Expo Hall felt a lot roomier this year and not as congested. The 6th floor expo hall felt huge!
    • No more Nintendo on 2nd/3rd Floor. Trying to get through that area was always tough because all those Nintendo stations. And what made it worse was they didn't really have a single line, so people just clumped around the stations. On the other hand, it felt a lot emptier. Not quite sure what could go there instead.
    • Merch Lite. I liked it's location and it's hours. It was nice to wander through later in the evening without having to wait in line.
    • Not really under PAX's control, but demo appointments/tickets. I like the idea of scheduling demos. Playstation did it through their app, other booths did it with tickets. Prevents line hovering, lets you do other things, etc. But they should consider throttling a little. In most cases, if you're not there by 10:10 (which meant you were probably in Queue Line by 8) their allotment was out. It would at least give a chance for casual PAXers to have a chance.
    • Not that I'd pay for the overpriced convention center food, but I thought their parody menus were hilarious. Battlehorn. Mark & Luke's Pizza Jam. Uncookied: A Crumble's End. Glad to see they were getting into the spirit of things.

    Cons
    • Swag bags. They need to be overhauled or just plain dropped. I get why there's advertisements in them, but there's nothing else in them to even justify wading through all the advertisements.
    • The Westin. I know PAX is running out of space, but heading to the Westin felt like such a trek. The swag bag/Reeses Puffs room
    • Twitch Partner Lounge. I get that they're trying to promote Twitch partners, but something about having an exclusive area that most attendees can't get into kinda runs counter to the inclusive community vibe that is PAX.
    • Rain contingency. Friday morning was not fun, and that's coming from someone who was shielded by a tree and an umbrella. Most other people were drenched. How about some canopies?

    Also, an observation. A few hours after the expo hall closes, the WSCC turns into a ghost town. I'm guessing this was because free play was moved to the Annex. It was a little weird walking through and not having it buzzing with energy.

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  • havok978havok978 Baltimore, MdRegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    TOGSolid wrote: »
    kropotkin wrote: »
    I have read through these comments and those made in the Facebook group and I do see a trend that is somewhat worrying. That being the sense of entitlement for 'free stuff'. There is a definite demand of 'why wasn't I showered with stuff as soon as I stepped into the expo hall?' I do not know where this comes from as free stuff is not what PAX is about. PAX is about the love of games in all of their forms. It's about sharing that enthusiasm with others and playing games, irregardless of what they are, with those same people. If this is not something you subscribe to then I would reconsider attending PAX at all. Yes that's pretty damning I know, but not attending allows those who do understand the core premise of PAX to go.

    In last year's feedback thread I pointed out that a fair amount of newer attendees seemed to be primarily driven by swag and that as a result the booths were getting lazier because why wouldn't they? If people are gonna line up anyway to get their carrot why not see how small of a carrot you can give them? This year, it seems like the trend finally hit the breaking point and now this newer gen of attendees is making their true motivation known. These people aren't going to PAX for the love of gaming and all that, they're going to just get free shit.

    Personally, I'm kinda cool with the expo hall not being as swag heavy as its been in previous years. Don't get me wrong. When I first started going to PAX in like 09, it was cool to walk away with so much free shit and just kinda take in the spectacle of the expo hall, but it very quickly started to become an annoyance trying to figure out how you're gonna get all that stuff home. On top of that, you get all these t-shirts and posters and trinkets, etc, and you use them maybe a few times and then you never end up looking at them again. And don't get me started on the booths that want to raffle shit and basically make a section of the hall unusable. Remember when Riot used to have PAX presence and give out LoL stuff on the show floor? Yikes. But once exhibitors started scaling that stuff back, while it was annoying at first, I found that I actually didn't miss it all that much. It probably helped that a lot of it was kinda phased behind "get this swag if you preorder at the booth," which became like an immediate turn off, or going for the small "carrot" like you said and you see booths that are like hours to get through but you get like a small inflatable, or a keychain. If all you care about is swag, you feel like you're wasting your time. Now I check out the things I want to check out and if there's swag great, but I'm not running through the expo floor trying to figure out what each booth is giving away.
    jukkakhan wrote: »
    [*] Merch Lite. I liked it's location and it's hours. It was nice to wander through later in the evening without having to wait in line.

    Merch Lite was fantastic. I was able to go right in, grab what I wanted, and be on my way.

    havok978 on
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  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    havok978 wrote: »
    TOGSolid wrote: »
    kropotkin wrote: »
    I have read through these comments and those made in the Facebook group and I do see a trend that is somewhat worrying. That being the sense of entitlement for 'free stuff'. There is a definite demand of 'why wasn't I showered with stuff as soon as I stepped into the expo hall?' I do not know where this comes from as free stuff is not what PAX is about. PAX is about the love of games in all of their forms. It's about sharing that enthusiasm with others and playing games, irregardless of what they are, with those same people. If this is not something you subscribe to then I would reconsider attending PAX at all. Yes that's pretty damning I know, but not attending allows those who do understand the core premise of PAX to go.

    In last year's feedback thread I pointed out that a fair amount of newer attendees seemed to be primarily driven by swag and that as a result the booths were getting lazier because why wouldn't they? If people are gonna line up anyway to get their carrot why not see how small of a carrot you can give them? This year, it seems like the trend finally hit the breaking point and now this newer gen of attendees is making their true motivation known. These people aren't going to PAX for the love of gaming and all that, they're going to just get free shit.

    Personally, I'm kinda cool with the expo hall not being as swag heavy as its been in previous years. Don't get me wrong. When I first started going to PAX in like 09, it was cool to walk away with so much free shit and just kinda take in the spectacle of the expo hall, but it very quickly started to become an annoyance trying to figure out how you're gonna get all that stuff home. On top of that, you get all these t-shirts and posters and trinkets, etc, and you use them maybe a few times and then you never end up looking at them again. And don't get me started on the booths that want to raffle shit and basically make a section of the hall unusable. Remember when Riot used to have PAX presence and give out LoL stuff on the show floor? Yikes. But once exhibitors started scaling that stuff back, while it was annoying at first, I found that I actually didn't miss it all that much. It probably helped that a lot of it was kinda phased behind "get this swag if you preorder at the booth," which became like an immediate turn off, or going for the small "carrot" like you said and you see booths that are like hours to get through but you get like a small inflatable, or a keychain. If all you care about is swag, you feel like you're wasting your time. Now I check out the things I want to check out and if there's swag great, but I'm not running through the expo floor trying to figure out what each booth is giving away.
    jukkakhan wrote: »
    [*] Merch Lite. I liked it's location and it's hours. It was nice to wander through later in the evening without having to wait in line.

    Merch Lite was fantastic. I was able to go right in, grab what I wanted, and be on my way.

    That was my first PAX too. :D And yeah, I remember you couldn't walk through the hall on the last day without getting t-shirts literally thrown at you. (Remember the now extinct Swag Monster?) I used to only bring a couple shirts with me because I knew I'd leave PAX with a half a dozen new ones I wasn't even trying to get. That said, I'm very ok with the swag going away over time. We're now seeing the unintended consequences of years of all that and they're not good.

    If swag disappearing forces the focus to go back to the games and ultimately the community then all the better if it goes away completely.

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  • DashDDashD Dread Pirate Chef Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    Most of what I want to say has been said already, so I won't repeat much.

    However, swag bags. Yeah. I remember PAXen of not too long ago when it was worth it to stand in line to get them. This is no longer true. Please either put more than advertisements in them or get rid of them all together.

    I was pleased that AI Live was on Sunday and concerts on Fri/Sat. Much better.

    Merch Lite was well organized and ran fairly smoothly, from what I saw on Sunday morning. The only suggestion there is put the table with the pins on the far side of the room so that those poor saps who step *out of line* to get a shirt or hoodie don't feel as if they are cutting when they get back in line to pay.

    I was sad the Classic Arcade was moved over to the Hyatt, but it was great that they had so much more space.

    Overall, another great PAX!


    "Brilliant! Oh wait, if we were meant to fly, we would have been born with little bags of nuts."
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  • MetricalSkyMetricalSky Vancouver, BCRegistered User regular
    My feedback for this year:

    Pros:
    • The layout for Merch Lite this year was great, where you could just walk through and pick everything up yourself.
    • This setup worked especially well for the LE pin queue in the morning. It felt like the queue was cleared a lot faster because you could get 10 people at a time in the shop all picking up their stuff at the same time.
    • Also, handing out tickets for the pins in that line, so that you knew well before you got inside whether you’d be able to get the pin.
    • Swapping the scanner and QR code for PAX XP. I know there’s occasionally been problems with the QR codes going walkies or being posted online, so I think it makes sense to take your code to a scanner instead of your scanner to a code.
    • I liked that the Handheld Lounge was able to expand, even though I never did get around to lounging in a beanbag this year.

    Cons:
    • I don’t understand why a data connection was required to get your PAX XP code. That made it a bit challenging for me to scan in at Google Play’s booth. I get it for checking your progress, but I would’ve thought the code could be stored locally. Luckily I discovered the manual entry option halfway through and was able to complete it just in time.
    • I had to bail from the expo queue on Friday because of the downpour. That’s partly my fault – I chose to wear an ordinary hoodie instead of my rain jacket. However, only so many people can raise umbrellas before they collide. Perhaps some sort of canopy is in order for the queue?

    And a few things already mentioned that I'd like to echo:
    • The theatre line chart in the guidebook is a very good idea.
    • The ordering of PAX XP codes needs to go. At the very least, just have one scanner at info desk that needs to be scanned last, but allow everything else to be scanned in any order.
    • The swag bags should probably go. I only picked one up because I was just exiting Sasquatch and they were right there, and even then it wasn’t worth picking up. (I’m not a swag hunter anyways, so I’d be happy if focus moved away from swag.)
    • Late Night Dub Fight needs a bigger theatre. I didn’t even attempt to go because I knew how quickly it would cap.
    • The Twitch booth used up a lot of expo floor space for no discernible reason.

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  • TOGSolidTOGSolid Drunk sailor Seattle, WashingtonRegistered User regular
    edited September 2016
    Since I've seen the canopy thing mentioned a few times:

    I used to work port security at the cruise ship dock in Ketchikan, a place that makes Seattle rain look adorable. Invariably, the downpour would kick in with a vengeance and we'd get tourists suggesting canopies and all that for the embarkation areas.

    Here's the problem with that: These canopies would then cause people to huddle in that area more than they already do causing even more congestion problems. They also need to be purchased, stored, setup, maintained, etc. They also need to be secured for any wind and all the traffic that may knock the supports around (aka lawsuit prevention) and you can bet there are gonna be regulations and fire codes and all that sorta stuff regarding all that. They'd exacerbate scalper/homeless/scammer/pickpocket/etc. issues, and it's basically more work than it's worth when everyone could just bring a cheap poncho or small umbrella (or both). Especially in Seattle where the rain and wind really isn't that bad and around PAX time it's not like it's a constant hurricane of awful all weekend. You may get one day of bleh but otherwise it's nice.

    I do get that it sucks getting rained on a bit if you're not prepared but trying to do something like this isn't really all that cost/time/effort efficient during a season when rain isn't terribly frequent.

    Now, if this was fall/winter...

    TOGSolid on
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  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited September 2016
    Regarding some comments further up the page: let's try to keep feedback to the show itself, and not the attendees of the show.

    Thanks to everyone for being civil so far! keep it up!

    zerzhul on
  • The AviatrixThe Aviatrix Registered User regular
    I wanna add a note about raffles, because I see a lot of people don't like them. I don't want the idea coming away that nobody likes them!

    Personally, I love a good raffle. I was disappointed this year, because I couldn't find a good one. And to me, a "good raffle" is one in which the staff gets people hyped. I just love bathing in the energy of an excited crowd. The energy of a good raffle is an amazing pick-me-up to get through the long weekend of PAX.

    (I *might* have found a good one on Monday... but I was in line for a game. Otherwise, I would have inched over to the raffle and said "hi, I'm here to absorb your energy.")

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  • IncreaseBlueIncreaseBlue Registered User regular
    edited September 2016
    I've been hard pressed to find cons this year. I had a really good PAX I guess lol

    Pros:
    -Lots of room in the Expo Hall to move around and I much appreciated that Microsoft and Sony really had their booth lines on lockdown (with the help of enforcers of course.)
    -Merch Lite is great, I also liked the two Table Titans locations.
    -Love all the community stuff put together for Pre-PAX. Great way to capitalize on the excitement!
    -Jackbox chill out area was great.
    -Tabletop demo folks were energized and very lovely to speak with. I'm always intimidated with new board games, but the ones I visited for demos were great at introducing their stuff for a new person like me.
    -PAX Arena area was really cool and I enjoyed being able to play Gears Horde.
    -Panel variety was pretty strong for me. I enjoyed hearing from a lot of the speakers featured.
    -Reese's Puff Pit seemed like a lot of fun. I watched folks play in it while waiting for a panel.
    -The daily code sale at the Indie Megabooth area. I'm not sure if it was there before, but I thought it was really cool to snag Read Only Memories codes for $6. It's like an in-person Steam Sale!
    -Acquisitions Line was opened up earlier and way easier to deal with than last year. You honestly could have shown up at 4:30 or 5 and gotten a seat. No rushing or sardine crushing!
    -Tekken 7 being there was so awesome. Loved their booth and how easy it was to just play a match, get back in line, repeat.
    -Scavenger hunts! Exploding Kittens, Golden Ticket, and HOB all had scavenger hunt like activities and I loved them! They're always a fun time to me and lead me to "discover" new areas in the show.
    -I got a lot of stuff for attending panels and I thought that was super cool of the companies running the panels to do so.

    Points of improvement:
    -Folks complain about the swag bags, but I would be fine if it were filled with more coupons. There was one for a discount on a couple of Steam games that I enjoyed and for Amazon sale codes. If there was more of that for people to redeem at booths in the convention (that don't already have discounts), I would be happy.
    -The line tweets seemed to be a little inconsistent to me. I never saw updates for PAX Crowdplay for Batman (which was most definitely full) and a few other panels. I'm sure this is just a slip up, but was surprised to see a few lines go without updates.

    IncreaseBlue on
  • Rhea_starstormRhea_starstorm Portland, ORRegistered User regular
    I'm a fan of getting t-shirts or pins after playing demos personally, its a souvenir/reminder of pax but I am fine with less swag if it means less congestion in the expo hall. I did like the panel swag I got this year, TWD poster from Telltale & Season 1 pass from Crowd Plays Batman, but I do worry about swag hunters flooding panels just for the sake of swag.

  • mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    To echo a lot of other posts:

    - Merch Lite was the bestest idea ever
    - Swag Bags need to be put down
    - Appointment demos seem great until you realize all the popular ones are booked solid at 10:01. Or maybe 9:59.

    To disagree to a lot of other posts:
    - The Indie Mega Booth is as big as the exhibitors can afford. They're small indie devs, and their booth size reflects it. A lot has been done to make sure traffic can move through, and some indie devs were also doing appointment demos (but you could actually get in later in the day). Overall you have to accept that Project Highrise is not Fallout.


    On a less common track, I feel like BYOC gets more subdued each year. Less tourneys, lost sponsorship, less energy. Still do it, still enjoy it, but kinda miss how it was a couple years ago. I know that some actually complained about the noise and such, though, so I can see both sides.

  • havok978havok978 Baltimore, MdRegistered User regular
    mcdermott wrote: »
    On a less common track, I feel like BYOC gets more subdued each year. Less tourneys, lost sponsorship, less energy. Still do it, still enjoy it, but kinda miss how it was a couple years ago. I know that some actually complained about the noise and such, though, so I can see both sides.

    Also this. I'm in the same boat. Its still something I love to do at each PAX, but its such a totally different vibe than it used to be. There used to be something almost "can't miss" about it, like there were times that I really used to regret having to leave to check out a panel or something. Now its really more so like a place to chill when I'm not doing other stuff. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but as you said with everything kinda being more subdued with each passing year, its just different.

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  • StericaSterica Yes Registered User, Moderator mod
    -Folks complain about the swag bags, but I would be fine if it were filled with more coupons. There was one for a discount on a couple of Steam games that I enjoyed and for Amazon sale codes. If there was more of that for people to redeem at booths in the convention (that don't already have discounts), I would be happy.
    A swag bag is supposed to be like a goodie bag filled with small gifts. I don't think most people are asking for the world here, but a bag filled with coupons saying "Buy our stuff." isn't really a swag bag. It doesn't help that I've heard most of the coupons were available to the general public, which defeats the purpose of the swag bag.

    And again: we don't need swag bags, but I'd rather have them formally get the ax then be disappointed with a bag of post-cards each year. Coupons can be given away at the booth.

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  • YoungFreyYoungFrey Registered User regular
    edited September 2016
    -Folks complain about the swag bags, but I would be fine if it were filled with more coupons. There was one for a discount on a couple of Steam games that I enjoyed and for Amazon sale codes. If there was more of that for people to redeem at booths in the convention (that don't already have discounts), I would be happy.
    A swag bag is supposed to be like a goodie bag filled with small gifts. I don't think most people are asking for the world here, but a bag filled with coupons saying "Buy our stuff." isn't really a swag bag. It doesn't help that I've heard most of the coupons were available to the general public, which defeats the purpose of the swag bag.

    And again: we don't need swag bags, but I'd rather have them formally get the ax then be disappointed with a bag of post-cards each year. Coupons can be given away at the booth.

    Instead of coupons they could be stickers or fake tattoos (that come with the ads). Those are unlikely to lead to people hoard bags, but they are fun at least. Another thing would be little paper kits. Like the Thopter models MTG was giving out at their Inventors Fair.

    YoungFrey on
  • havok978havok978 Baltimore, MdRegistered User regular
    -Folks complain about the swag bags, but I would be fine if it were filled with more coupons. There was one for a discount on a couple of Steam games that I enjoyed and for Amazon sale codes. If there was more of that for people to redeem at booths in the convention (that don't already have discounts), I would be happy.
    A swag bag is supposed to be like a goodie bag filled with small gifts. I don't think most people are asking for the world here, but a bag filled with coupons saying "Buy our stuff." isn't really a swag bag. It doesn't help that I've heard most of the coupons were available to the general public, which defeats the purpose of the swag bag.

    And again: we don't need swag bags, but I'd rather have them formally get the ax then be disappointed with a bag of post-cards each year. Coupons can be given away at the booth.

    This. I'm not saying we need to go back to the days of free physical copies of games and all of the stuff that used to come loaded in these bags back in the day, but its literally at the point of a handful of ads and postcards. Hell, you don't even get the program book in the bag anymore. You can typically grab those throughout various places at PAX. IMO there is really no reason to grab one now, unless I guess you just want the bag to carry stuff in.

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  • m4dc4pm4dc4p Registered User new member
    Some quick BYOC comments:

    * Would love separate entry for BYOC. (Or separate queue). On Sunday this year I couldnt get to my computer until 1045.
    * Extended hours for BYOC (24 hour, ideally).

    Since I've been buying a BYOC badge, I find myself primarily playing games at PAX. The expo hall is secondary to me. So I would love to see BYOC get some love. I would gladly pay more for it.

    My compliments on the Expo Hall layout this year, though - it definitely felt roomier.

  • m4dc4pm4dc4p Registered User new member
    Oh, have to say PC Freeplay was TERRIBLE. Cybertonic really screwed up. Only old games installed (about 12), NONE of the PAX 10 games, and a bunch of games that were in the Steam list but could not be installed.

    PC Freeplay is awesome, hopefully you can get a better vendor next year.

  • WolfmanASTNWolfmanASTN Registered User regular
    I really enjoyed this year with only a few complaints. This is my second PAX, with my first being in 2013.

    Pros:
    - a lot easier to move through the Expo Hall this time!
    - i really liked the Loot Crate booth with the target shooting game for swag. If more booths did things like that i think it'd be pretty cool.
    - the Dinosaur and Dragon you could sit on at the ARK booth were really cool.
    - the Dishonored 2 clockwork mansion booth was cool and i personally had fun at their party.
    - the FFXV Uber cars and Last Guardian bike taxis were nice and they made it easier for me and my friend to get around the times we were able to snag a ride.
    - Enforcers did a good job with Expo hall lines!
    - i liked Sony's way of cutting down lines by having you sign up in the app, although the spots did fill up super quickly. Instead of having VR as one huge thing to mame an appointment for, they should have had seperate listings for each game.
    - i didn't get to play too mny games, but i enjoyed them and got to talk to a few cool people while in lines, which was cool because i'm usually an anxious mess.

    Cons:
    - Like everyone has said, swag bags. If they want to keep them i think what they could do is put scavenger hunt cards in their, or advertisments for booth events throughout the con. There were a lot of cool little events being held around the floor i would have liked to hve been a part of, but i never heard anything about them until it was too late.
    - Raffles also caused a lot of blocked lanes, i feel like instead of having a swarm of people around their booth, it'd be easier to directly contact winners via text message or something to come back and pick up what they won.
    - One thing that really irked me was whoever did cookie brigade around the handheld lounge. Me and my friend would go there around mid-day for a short nap (like the program says you should lol). The person who did cookie brigade in that area would walk up really quietly and then start shouting which woke up everyone who was taking a nap there.
    - FFXV and Resi 7 ticket set up was horrible. I feel like Square having the FFXV demo be an hour long was a bit much too, if they had cut the time in half and had a better way of setting up appointments things could have gone better. And like another person said, having their booth empty the rest of the day was absurd! They should have opened it up for others to play even if they didn't have enough of those shirts to give out.
    - Twitch booth and PAX Arena were mostly a waste of space. The stage set up for PAX Arena could have been set up somwhere else because it was empty and unused for most of the con. And since Twitch's booth didn't have anything for attendees it shouldn't be on the Expo floor. If they want a place for their partners to chill, take up one of the smaller rooms in the convention center like where the Pokemon center was.


    When it comes to swag being handed out at booths, i was a little disappointed at first because in 2013 i came out with like 10 new shirts. However, i like the idea of cutting back on swag or handing it out differently to keep people who only want swag from taking away spots in the demo line. Maybe having some sort of swag ticket given to attendees that they could get punched or turn in at the booths they wanted swag from? So if you wanted to play a game but didn't care about the shirt you wouldn't have to get one. But if you wanted a shirt but weren't interested in the demo you could just turn in your ticket and go?

  • RenfamousRenfamous Weeb, Unexceptional Cosplayer Houston, TexasRegistered User regular
    I just want to say that as a cosplayer attending my first West I was warned up and down by other people in our community that "PAX doesn't like cosplayers" and "PAX doesn't want cosplayers in their expo hall and the [E]s will make you leave". Naturally this didn't stop me from bringing five costumes, but I did mentally prepare myself to be met with scrutiny.

    It turned out to be totally unnecessary! I made sure not to stop in the expo hall for photos (except at the Onipress booth, had to let the Scott Pilgrim publishers take my pic, sorry not sorry), and I did end up having to turn down quite a few pix requested by people who didn't seem to understand the no expo hall photo rule. But overall I felt very welcome and appreciated and didn't have any negative experiences to speak of.

    Big shout out to the [E] who came across me posing for photos in an area I didn't realize was technically the "expo hall" and let us finish the photo before very politely asking me to relocate. I'll definitely be doing my part to spread the truth that PAX doesn't hate cosplayers!

  • mcdermottmcdermott Registered User regular
    Renfamous wrote: »
    I just want to say that as a cosplayer attending my first West I was warned up and down by other people in our community that "PAX doesn't like cosplayers" and "PAX doesn't want cosplayers in their expo hall and the [E]s will make you leave". Naturally this didn't stop me from bringing five costumes, but I did mentally prepare myself to be met with scrutiny.

    It turned out to be totally unnecessary! I made sure not to stop in the expo hall for photos (except at the Onipress booth, had to let the Scott Pilgrim publishers take my pic, sorry not sorry), and I did end up having to turn down quite a few pix requested by people who didn't seem to understand the no expo hall photo rule. But overall I felt very welcome and appreciated and didn't have any negative experiences to speak of.

    Big shout out to the [E] who came across me posing for photos in an area I didn't realize was technically the "expo hall" and let us finish the photo before very politely asking me to relocate. I'll definitely be doing my part to spread the truth that PAX doesn't hate cosplayers!

    I honestly have no idea where anybody would have gotten that impression, not a cosplayer but pax has always seems very friendly towards it.

    Glad you had a good experience!

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