As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

Constructive Feedback - South 2017

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.

Posts

  • AthexAthex Registered User regular
    edited January 2017
    1. I liked this Pax South better than last years, mainly do the expanded space and programming
    2. It would be nice to see a full or at least much longer True Dungeon next year. It was fun but the time felt very very short/rushed
    3. I would like to see more evening programming (after the expo hall closes), this year was better but be it better talks or things like true dungeon running until midnight would be nice.
    4. VR freeplay was a great addition this year
    5. Pax XP was a bit difficult to participate in as the scanners didn't work great and sometimes the lines were very long. The QR code system worked better last year I thought
    6. Bring back the pax prize from 2016
    7. This panel could come back again, it was one of my favorites: Gary Gygax's Vodka Skull Mug and Other Stories: A Q&A with Mike Selinker
    8. The Expo hall was much much better setup this year. One thing that might be nice is to somewhat spread out the more popular large booths. It always seems like they are clumped together

    Athex on
    hfXqQx4.png
  • nbs2nbs2 Registered User regular
    edited January 2017
    Three Positives:

    1) The extra space worked well and was well utilized. Even at the Saturday peak, our group of 4 were able to find space for some tabletop.

    2) Even with the hiccups, we found PAX XP to be a little easier to follow than the QR codes (mostly because you didn't have to walk and look at every single banner). I agree that the lines were long, though they thinned out over the course of the day - the only one I had to wait for was the main entrance, which was about three minutes.

    3) Security seemed faster than last year. Maybe it was just when we went through.

    Three Negatives:

    1) TT/Expo relations were poor. We went to the Expo on Friday and had no interest in returning on Saturday, so we went to the TT doors. There was no signage or other indicator that TT was also constrained by the Queue, which meant that our 8:30 arrival was wasted as there were already lines when the TT doors opened. It would have made more sense to either place signage at those entrances or open the Expo/TT panel doors once the Queue is empty.

    Making this worse was Center staff and the Enforcers. Pointing through open doors to show a friend how the PAX Arena and TT were laid out got us yelled at - not for going through the doors, but for looking. It was a massive turn off to the event.

    2) Surge staffing would help. It seemed like the number of Enforcers in a place remained constant, so you would see overstaffing during slow periods and understaffing during peaks. The line for TT returns was 20 minutes (made worse when the Enforcers lost an ID, and compounded by the lie of "we dropped a box" when I was right there to ask the guy with the missing ID what happened and saw them going through multiple boxes, but there was a greater sense of good Enforcers being better and worse Enforcers being jerks this year compared to last year). In new console, I saw them only get through 20 tickets in 15 minutes or so. They could have used more help, as I could see several empty consoles through the curtain while playing Steel Battalion. This might also help some of the Enforcers be less jerky, as maybe they were overwhelmed (the sign says one game per ID, not one per badge, even though I'm clearly not serious, I hardly consider myself a jerk for asking if I can use two IDs to get two games).

    To resolve that parenthetical lost ID, might it be better to prefer a swiped credit card? If the game is not returned, the person is charged twice replacement cost. Offer the ID option for those without cards. Fewer IDs to track and lose, and you get the same protection for the games.

    3) Expo layout. Last year, it was Twitch and Arena at the entrance that created bottlenecks. This year, it was Nintendo and a few other majors that made passage difficult. I'd suggest larger walkways around the majors and spreading them apart to alleviate pressure. There weren't too many people near the Canadians, so a major there might have helped spread the crowds and benefit those booths.

    For Athex, True Dungeon said they want to come back next year with the full kit and were looking for volunteers.

    Anyway, I'm happy to expound if you want me to better explain any of my positives or negatives.

    nbs2 on
  • PreacherChePreacherChe Houston, TXRegistered User regular
    For a friend and our collective 4 kids, this was our third PAX / PAX South...

    Still awesome or improved since last year:
    • Bag check was again very efficient.
    • Most Enforcers I encountered were just as awesome as previous years.
    • Merch Lite booth opening at 9am was awesome, and they were very efficient in moving people through. We were in the expo hall queue by 9:30 *Saturday* morning.
    • Hooray, more room at the Indie Showcase!
    • Hooray, more play space at tabletop free play!
    • Hooray, more table seating near eating areas! (or maybe we were lucky)
    • More big names this year (e.g. Nintendo, Capcom, Grey Box), and their lines and crowds were well-managed, plus they didn't overshine everyone else.
    • Lines and crowds in general in the expo hall felt more manageable - maybe more space between booths?
    • The PAX South app now includes line info! (i.e. how full, etc.) Didn't use this, but a friend did.
    • True Dungeon was a great addition, and I hope to see them back next year with the full (and unrushed) experience. (NOTE: THEY NEED 150-200 VOLUNTEERS TO PULL THIS OFF.)
    • VR free play was great - perfect later at night on Friday, too, when the lines weren't so insane.
    • Badge QR code scan was a great idea (PAX XP, booth registration, etc.). I've also been at other conferences where they use RFID, which tended to be even smoother.

    Improvements desired:
    • The PC free play being in the big open space and bright lights kind of sucked, although I'm not sure what options existed.
    • The PC free play games seemed woefully limited - maybe I missed some trick to get access to more?
    • The map is still hard to get the hang of, especially if you've never been there - I suggest adding simple connector lines to show doors and hallways you have to go through (e.g. getting to True Dungeon in relation to Cactus Theater).
    • Bigger YouTube celebs, like the first year - more for my kids. (Although, the kids saw someone this year that they got excited about, so maybe not such a big deal.)
    • Walking that long stretch of nothing from the main entrance to the queue hall sucked - don't know what can be done about it, though. I know there's the alternate entrance down that way, but we had need to go in the main entrance first.
    • Having separate morning queues for the expo hall versus tabletop/PC/VR area would have been good. Instead, we had to walk the aforementioned long stretch of nothing to queue, then a long walk past mad-rushing expo crowds to get to the PC area to sign up for a tourney, then a dash to the tabletop area for the same.
    • A few Enforcers I encountered were less awesome than others (it's hard to complain here, though - these folks are still generally awesome as hell).

    Additional comments:
    • I once again missed G&T autographs, but I got Chris Perkins and Scott Kurtz, which I'm happy with.
    • I didn't go to a single panel, unless you count Binwin's Minions, and I'm okay with that - have figured out I'd rather spend my time otherwise.
    • Default pin backs still stink, and the upscale ones they may still sell also stink, so I bought a 100-pack of the old fashioned ones from Amazon, and didn't have any problems losing pins like last year.
    • I turned off Twitter notifications for Official_PAX - eased some added stress that usually results from their % complete messages.

    f71belxn5ee5.png
  • Christopher HuffChristopher Huff Registered User regular
    I'll mix my list up

    1. I would love it if ya'll gave True Dungeon a upgrade -- To the full version! :D I know this may create MASSIVE lines just like the Nintendo Switch Zelda line, but it would soooo be worth it.
    2. I got denied entry into Late Night Dub Fight panel due to it reaching max capacity. This was not the part I got mad about, nor the friendly enforcer lady that told me I could wait around and hope that somebody leaves but that I caught some people sneaking/cutting into the line when no enforcer was looking. Not only was that unfair to the people behind him in the back of the Armadillo theatre line, but there was also a "overflow" line for the panel which was at the Bobcat theatre line right next door. And to top it off that, another enforcer gave me a "Please go away" attitude as if I was trying to sneak my way in.
    3. Speaking of full panels, I attended the "Hidden Gems - The Best Games You Haven't Played (Yet)" panel. I got in no problem because I had extra time to wait in line, but heard stories of people who were denied entry to it because it was full. I had a good view of a majority of the room, and I was able to see some seats that went unoccupied whether it be to people sitting on two seats before casually sliding down to one after the panel has started or by some other shenanigans that I didn't observe. A possible remedy to this problem would be to enforce "assigned seating", where you start filling up the first row and work your way back. As for people that want to sit in groups, then they should get in line together to avoid being split up.
    4. I waited in the queue line early Sunday in a attempt to knock out Zelda since it was my last chance to. Why wasn't the queue lines properly enforced? Last time I checked, if you were in "Lane 1", then it should be completely empty before "Lane 2" gets to go in and so forth. I literally got screwed over by this and wasn't the only one who had the same plans. I got in later on, but at a valuable cost of 3 hours of PAX time.
    5. Maybe utilize a piece of the empty hall space (Such as True Dungeon to Falcon Theater/Console Playroom for example) and throw in stuff to do, especially after the expo hall closes to help "breathe in more life" into the convention center.
    6. Finding a place to chill out at was never a issue for me throughout the entire convention.
    7. Those QR codes were nice, but you often had to work the scanner for it to actually scan whether it be for the PAX XP or the giveaway tower as I call it. Super low level issue I know, but I do realize that incorporating RFID chips would add cost and that manual entry could be open to fraud.
    8. Loved the PAX App, although I wish that the Line status updater would include Expo Hall lines as well.
    9. PLEASE STOP WITH THE PAX IS % COMPLETE UPDATES. I DON'T EVEN HAVE A TWITTER ACCOUNT AND BY THE TIME SATURDAY WAS OVER, PSYCHOLOGICALLY MY MIND WAS CRYING BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END.

    gVqmaCN.png
  • BrackardBrackard Registered User regular
    This was my third PAX, all at PAX South.

    All in all, This was by far the best of the three.

    Speakers and panels I attended were all really good with the sole exception of one on Sunday morning. The speaker was obviously unprepared.

    The extra space was definitley noticeable. With the exception of the crowd around the Nintendo Switch booth, there tended to be very little issue moving around the Expo hall. There also seemed to be more room around the indie showcase booth which was a nice change over the last two years.

    Acquisitions Inc. around was awesome. My daughter almost went into hysterics when she learned they were coming to South and they did not disappoint. I think the audience got a little bit too involved at one point, but not sure there's anything you can do about that.

    Dunegon Lite was really interesting. My entire group enjoyed the experience and will be returning to that next year.

    Outside of a few conflicts of different things I wanted to do (inevitable), I had a really, really good time. By far the best of the three PAX South so far.

    Great job.

    Oh, and I agree with the above posters. The % complete is sort of disheartening. We need to do it the opposite way: Your Pax South wait is now 50% complete that hits in June or some-such.

    f71belxn5ee5.png

  • BlargdonBlargdon Deadly Handsome Man houstonRegistered User regular
    I agree this was the best PAX South yet. I enjoyed it more than the previous two. Thought this was my third PAX ever, so maybe I'm just now figuring out how to do it right.

    My only issue was with PAX XP. I liked that they were trying to put a story to it. And the scanners were better than hunting the QR codes that moved around the expo floor the last two years. But we didn't think there was enough exposition. Was the text supposed to relate to the locations of the scanners? Was every location a scanner kiosk or were there some people with hand held scanners you needed to talk to? We did most of it but didn't finish as we felt we were wasting time hunting for stuff we didn't understand so ended up just giving up. Asking others around the kiosk confirmed others were somewhat frustrated or that there was a variety of ideas/misinformation floating around. I didn't expect it to be simple, but felt a little more guidance could have made it more enjoyable.

  • PirateTruckPirateTruck Registered User regular
    I'm still a little too sensory overloaded to make a full list, so unfortunately I'm going to just give one big gripe instead of listing all of the many fantastic things that occurred. Saturday and Sunday the 10:00 Expo Hall openings were a disaster. My nephew and I got there at 8:00 all 3 mornings and made it into row 1 all three days. Friday, that let us get to Nintendo early and try out the Switch with barely any wait. For some reason on Saturday and Sunday they opened up multiple queue rows at 10:00, so people who showed up right before 10:00 were already running across the Expo Hall by the time those of us who were waiting since 8:00 but were toward the back of row 1 got to enter. By Sunday, a bunch of people at the back of row 1 even left the line and ran over to the new lines so they could be at the front of those lines instead of the back of row 1. It worked out for them as they were let in immediately at 10:00. So that defeated the entire purpose of showing up early and was very frustrating.

  • jthom252jthom252 Duarte, CARegistered User regular
    edited July 2019
    .

    jthom252 on
  • japesterjapester Registered User regular
    I've been to all PAX events save Australia multiple times, both as an exhibitor and as an attendee. Since South is in my home town, I've attended all 3 years.

    PROS
    -Security was always quick. Bag check was never arduous.
    -Encouraging multiple entry points from the street prevented any real serious bottlenecks around the main entrance.
    -Enforcers were generally great (if sometimes confused). As a plus, nobody rudely told us to get the hell out of tabletop this year when closing time snuck up on us.
    -Map was a bit confusing, but overall layout worked just fine. Tabletop freeplay had enough space this year from what I could tell.
    -Medical badge holders were generally well taken care of (with a minor note below).
    -Sound issues were absent from any of the panels I attended.
    -True Dungeon demo was a nice addition. Confusion over just how much we would be able to do (answer: not much) caused some stress at our group's table and people thought they had to memorize their character sheets/abilities/etc. Knowing that it was all just basically for show would have relaxed some folks. But since this demo was a one-time thing, I can overlook any minor bumps. (There was one major bump listed below.)

    UNDERSTANDABLE BUT WORTH MENTIONING
    -When my spine is acting up, I get a pronounced limp and lots of pain when I walk. I picked up my medical badge, asked about the medical queue, and was sent to the queue hall early on Friday. When I got there, I asked about the medical line again. The nice young lady had to radio for someone higher up (which was fine), and I had to wait for 5 minutes or so while someone was hunted down. They offered to fetch me a chair, but I was okay. Ultimately, I was told to backtrack that huge hallway again to end up right where I started. The line was right in the main lobby, back in one corner. So...a lot of painful walking for nothing. This being a brand new layout for PAX South, I cut you all some slack. I'm sure it will be better organized next year.

    CONS (and a teachable moment)
    Okay, back to True Dungeon. Unlike my comment about knowing the medical badge procedures, I feel my Sunday experience at True Dungeon was entirely avoidable and due to poor execution. I first went through on Friday. The line moved quickly, so the watered down experience wasn't much of a disappointment. It demonstrated what True Dungeon could be if staffed properly, and I was intrigued. The best part was the two free tokens at the end. A friend and I returned on Sunday at noon, hoping primarily to score two more tokens, but we were denied. TD had already closed for the day. And we had to take a long walk from the escalators all the way down to the TD table to find out that the last group of the day was currently inside. Then, to add insult to injury, that group came out with armfuls of tokens. I guess TD didn't want to take anything back with them, so they gave these people 3-4 tokens each plus a full 10 pack like the ones they sell. I asked if there were any more tokens available and was told no. I headed downstairs--informing all the people heading up the escalators that TD was closed already--and informed the Info Desk that perhaps they should take down or at least cover up the TD signs telling people to go upstairs. They thanked me and said nobody had told them yet.

    Do I blame TD for shutting down so early? No, not really. I know their breakdown must be rather elaborate and time-consuming. However, this shouldn't have been a surprise to them, so providing this info to scheduling in advance would have been very helpful. However, everything beyond that point was poorly handled. First off, send a few of the 4 or 5 enforcers loitering or sitting outside the doors down to the Info Desk to tell them about the closure. Nobody was proactive about that. At the very least, send someone down the hall to post a sign at the top of the escalator, advising people of the closure. (TD was the only thing down that long hallway, so obviously everyone walking that way was hoping to go through.) Instead, we had to walk all the way down and approach the little desk in front of the doors to ask. Not a single enforcer (or TD volunteer) was proactively informing people that it was shut down. Finally, as a former exhibitor, I fully understand not wanting to ship leftover swag back to base. But be smart about it. If you know you are shutting down six hours before the end of the show, and you have extra tokens, put the box out on the table with an enforcer and a clipboard. As people walk up and get the bad news, say, "Sorry we had to shut down, but please take a free token as a thank you for your interest." And jot down their badge number to prevent people from making repeat visits. That softens the blow. As it was, we got a bad taste in our mouth from being denied and then seeing the last group walk out overflowing with swag. Felt like a big "Eff you!" from True Dungeon just because we arrived a few minutes too late.

    Overall, it was a positive experience. Enforcers being the face of PAX in many instances, I don't fault them for not having all the answers right away. They always make an effort to find out eventually. But lets work on situational awareness and anticipating needs. The Sunday True Dungeon debacle could have been handled much better with just a little proactive effort.

  • ElectropowElectropow Master of Da Ways Registered User regular
    Getting camera/video feed of those on stage on the projectors at panels. Always got stuck behind tall people and in the back, and can never see the stage, but have a clear view of the useless projectors just showing the PAX logo. A lot of these are being streamed to twitch already, I would like to think that this should not be too difficult. Or make the stage higher. Like triple.

    The Reaper Miniatures guys could use some more space.

    wlg339t.png
  • PreacherChePreacherChe Houston, TXRegistered User regular
    Electropow wrote: »
    The Reaper Miniatures guys could use some more space.

    Ain't that always the case, though? :)

    A little OT: The Reaper guys were much more organized this time, which was good and bad. Good in that they had folks in and out in a regimented manner. Bad in that I couldn't sneak a bit over my time and finish my mini. [I even brought an extra roll of paper towels from home to give them, in hopes of buying some slack since they always seem to run out by Sunday, but no slack given. :)]

    f71belxn5ee5.png
  • MartossMartoss Registered User regular
    This was the best PAX South yet, and it was nice to see my concerns regarding the limited space for the indie tabletop area (and the tabletop freeplay area for that matter) were addressed.

    I guess my only complaint is that it had to end!

  • LisabeybiLisabeybi Registered User regular
    This was our 3rd PAX South, so I've seen some changes. Some good, some not so good.
    The increased space made the floor not so crowded and we weren't elbow to elbow, but at the same time entering the floor the past two years felt... special. The dark area with the neon lights was exciting. This year having the lights up so we could see the overhead signs was helpful, but again, the feels weren't quite there :(
    You still could use a couple more merch booths. The booth on the floor is small, the merchandise hard to get to, and the line ridiculously long. I always make a couple of friends while in line, but it takes up my first hour every PAX. I'm always afraid my size will be out, so I shop early.
    I don't know if this was an issue in the past that I've just now run into, but the Storytime with Chris Perkins was back to back with the Q & A #1. When we showed up at the Main theater to get in because there wasn't a queue for the Q & A, we were directed to the 3rd floor. The Chris Perkins crowd didn't leave the theater. That was pretty annoying. Normally it doesn't matter how close I sit to the stage, but I didn't have my glasses and being at the very top meant that even the large screens were blurry. Maybe not have them back to back, but leave a buffer of 30 minutes so the Main can be cleared before the next group?
    *sigh* The biggest problem for me the whole weekend was the lack of panels. The past 2 years there were so many great panels to choose from that we were often stuck deciding between two great sounding, even sometimes 3 very cool panels. There seemed to be more tournaments and fewer panels this year. Whoever set up the panels this year might want to get with whoever set them up last year and compare notes. The panels seemed to be almost an afterthought.
    That being said, Patrick Rothfuss was a HUGE, HUGE, addition!! Thanks for not only snagging him, but putting him in the Main theater so he had enough seats available and the big screens to see him with.
    Lastly, please, PLEASE talk M & J into putting an autograph signing back on the schedule. I know that certain aspects of PAX have grown away from the actual Penny Arcade part of the con, but they're still an integral part of this and some of us would love to get their autograph on a badge.

    PAX is still the best (ok, only... but still the BEST) convention of this size in the midwest. It's a great thing they do, bringing us all together for a weekend of geeky fun. Don't lose sight of that.

    Thank you. Thank you so very much.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited February 2017
    Figured I could address a couple things that are just informational:

    Regarding the storytime rolling in to the first Q&A, that is standard pax procedure and is likely not going to change. The first couple Main Theater panels are the only ones this usually applies to, though.

    M&J talked about putting a signing back on the schedule for next South, since it was also asked about in the Q&As. Hopefully they do that :)

    zerzhul on
  • runner454runner454 Registered User new member
    Fyi, I hope next year there will not be a party at "On The Rocks". As I was told by the doorman concerning my service dog, "I know he is a service dog, but I can't let him in after 7pm." FYI: my dog was clearly labeled and the time was no later than 7:10pm. Can we please ensure that all establishments can support ADA regulations? Thanks guys! :)

  • StinkyTurdStinkyTurd Registered User regular
    runner454 wrote: »
    Fyi, I hope next year there will not be a party at "On The Rocks". As I was told by the doorman concerning my service dog, "I know he is a service dog, but I can't let him in after 7pm." FYI: my dog was clearly labeled and the time was no later than 7:10pm. Can we please ensure that all establishments can support ADA regulations? Thanks guys! :)

    I didn't think pax south had any official parts this year and they have no control over unofficial.

  • runner454runner454 Registered User new member
    Like the after parties. PAX was great and I highly doubt they'd sponsor a party there. Just food for though. I'm still a bit ticked off at it.

  • zerzhulzerzhul Registered User, Moderator mod
    That is great feedback for whomever hosted the party, but unfortunately that doesn't have anything to do with PAX South 2017 itself and so might not be useful here. I would suggest contacting whomever hosted that party and giving them the same feedback.

  • BekerBeker Child's Play Program Director SeattleRegistered User, Penny Arcade Staff regular
    RE: Panels, with the exception of very few panels (like the ones PA staff are on) we don't solicit panels like some conventions, but rely on the community to submit panels, and we then choose the best ideas from those to present at PAX. Every year the mix of panels changes as our gaming community changes. If you have people you would like to see a panel from reach out to them and ask them to submit one for next PAX.

    PAX indeed has no official pre, during, or post PAX party, those are all organized and run by the community. If you have praise or a concern about any of them your best bet would be to reach out to whoever organized the party to let them know.

    RE: Enforcers. We were indeed short staffed this year, even after doing one of the most extensive recruiting drives for any PAX, which mean many Enforcers took on double shifts, leading some to not be as pleasant as they might have been. I'm sorry about that. If you know of anyone who might have an interest in stepping forward to take on the Orange shirt next year we would love to have you apply when the time comes.

    We did indeed having some leanings with this new space, and will make improvements for next year.

    Thank you all for the feedback, keep it coming.

    -Beker/Erick
    zx6ak2M.png
  • mig0mig0 Registered User regular
    My 3rd pax overall and 2nd south pax. Looking forward to going next year and trying for West tickets.

    The XP event was fine this year and hope you do it again like this. The scanner for the contest near the arena had crazy lines and wasn't part of the arcadia XP event; they should probably have had multiple machines to speed things along a little.

    The switch lines seemed to be capped a bit shorter than they should've been... at least consistently so. I got there Friday morning, was standing along the back wall and was dismissed; hours later people were standing in the same exact spot and the line had been capped in that area. I gave up on it until Sunday and got lucky; I just wished I'd gotten a chance to play MK (shrug).

    The raffles for Zotac and Hyperx needed to be handled better. Zotac did the sunday raffle in the wide open queue area (that was much better I think) and Hyperx should've been required to do the same thing, giving people a chance to navigate around their booths without the massive crush of people in that area, affecting other booths.

    The swag bag.... I'm ok with 3rd parties wanting to save swag for people who play their games and come to their booths. That makes sense to me (perhaps they could've included a voucher redeemable only at their booths or something). But last year the bags included a ticket to spin the wheel at the PAX merch booth to try to win some price. I was more disappointed this wasn't done this year.

    I don't agree with the % complete complaints I actually enjoyed it (and was surprised at some of the percentages, I expected it to be more than 70% done Sunday morning).

    I really hope South stays in San Antonio for a long time. That's a great town, gives me a good chance to go to Texas, have some relatives in the area. I just wished the riverwalk restaurants were better and less tourist trappy but I'll (hopefully) always have Ice House and Rosario's and Estate coffee at least.

    YeIZ0Vv.png
  • futilesfutiles Registered User regular
    nbs2 wrote: »
    Three Positives:
    2) Surge staffing would help. It seemed like the number of Enforcers in a place remained constant, so you would see overstaffing during slow periods and understaffing during peaks. The line for TT returns was 20 minutes (made worse when the Enforcers lost an ID, and compounded by the lie of "we dropped a box" when I was right there to ask the guy with the missing ID what happened and saw them going through multiple boxes, but there was a greater sense of good Enforcers being better and worse Enforcers being jerks this year compared to last year). In new console, I saw them only get through 20 tickets in 15 minutes or so. They could have used more help, as I could see several empty consoles through the curtain while playing Steel Battalion. This might also help some of the Enforcers be less jerky, as maybe they were overwhelmed (the sign says one game per ID, not one per badge, even though I'm clearly not serious, I hardly consider myself a jerk for asking if I can use two IDs to get two games).

    To resolve that parenthetical lost ID, might it be better to prefer a swiped credit card? If the game is not returned, the person is charged twice replacement cost. Offer the ID option for those without cards. Fewer IDs to track and lose, and you get the same protection for the games.

    That was me with the lost ID, and I went into it in detail in my survey response. They did indeed drop a box, but, they refused to look through the IDs on the floor, since, my name wasn't in the letters dropped. Well, my ID also wasn't in the letter it should have been in, and it was eventually found in the IDs on the floor...

    Taking IDs for games is just bad, in lots of ways. Losing an ID can keep a person from flying home, plus the additional cost and hassle of replacing the ID.

    I go to numerous conventions with board game libraries, and PAX is the only one where I have to give up my ID. PAX has my name, address, billing information, etc, from when I purchased my badge(s), and it could easily use that information to track games, and replace them if the situation arises. Badges are not supposed to be transferred, so, if you give someone a badge, and they do something that causes you a cost, that is your problem to deal with. PAX can take it up with them after the show, too.

    But, waiting in line for 20 minutes, to then wait for them to find my ID for another 20 minutes was beyond frustrating, and obviously, was the last game I checked out this convention.

  • UNHMANUNHMAN [E] Registered User regular
    mig0 wrote: »

    "The raffles for Zotac and Hyperx needed to be handled better. Zotac did the sunday raffle in the wide open queue area (that was much better I think) and Hyperx should've been required to do the same thing, giving people a chance to navigate around their booths without the massive crush of people in that area, affecting other booths.

    While I have no proof why the Zotac raffle happened like I do have an idea why. Most exhibitors (if not all) want a lot of people at their booth so even if they don't win they still will see what that company is showing off. Zotac had a pretty small booth in a small area. It's possible the company ignored the size in favor of bringing people to their booth. I suspect that the Enforcers saw the issue both days finally won over Zotac to make the raffle better and safer for everyone involved. Hopefully that will continue into other PAXen.

  • nbs2nbs2 Registered User regular
    futiles wrote: »
    nbs2 wrote: »
    Three Positives:
    2) Surge staffing would help. It seemed like the number of Enforcers in a place remained constant, so you would see overstaffing during slow periods and understaffing during peaks. The line for TT returns was 20 minutes (made worse when the Enforcers lost an ID, and compounded by the lie of "we dropped a box" when I was right there to ask the guy with the missing ID what happened and saw them going through multiple boxes, but there was a greater sense of good Enforcers being better and worse Enforcers being jerks this year compared to last year). In new console, I saw them only get through 20 tickets in 15 minutes or so. They could have used more help, as I could see several empty consoles through the curtain while playing Steel Battalion. This might also help some of the Enforcers be less jerky, as maybe they were overwhelmed (the sign says one game per ID, not one per badge, even though I'm clearly not serious, I hardly consider myself a jerk for asking if I can use two IDs to get two games).

    To resolve that parenthetical lost ID, might it be better to prefer a swiped credit card? If the game is not returned, the person is charged twice replacement cost. Offer the ID option for those without cards. Fewer IDs to track and lose, and you get the same protection for the games.

    That was me with the lost ID, and I went into it in detail in my survey response. They did indeed drop a box, but, they refused to look through the IDs on the floor, since, my name wasn't in the letters dropped. Well, my ID also wasn't in the letter it should have been in, and it was eventually found in the IDs on the floor...

    Taking IDs for games is just bad, in lots of ways. Losing an ID can keep a person from flying home, plus the additional cost and hassle of replacing the ID.

    I go to numerous conventions with board game libraries, and PAX is the only one where I have to give up my ID. PAX has my name, address, billing information, etc, from when I purchased my badge(s), and it could easily use that information to track games, and replace them if the situation arises. Badges are not supposed to be transferred, so, if you give someone a badge, and they do something that causes you a cost, that is your problem to deal with. PAX can take it up with them after the show, too.

    But, waiting in line for 20 minutes, to then wait for them to find my ID for another 20 minutes was beyond frustrating, and obviously, was the last game I checked out this convention.

    I'm glad they found it, all I could think once I realized what was happening was how I'd respond - that I'd have the police there ready to take a report - the look on your face was both frustrated and patient, but left me impressed. Still, it was later in our last PAX day and thus the lasting impression of the library, but I found the staff that day to just be generally disappointing.

    I don't know if it was shift length or what, but the folks Friday night were way more friendly, especially since I was sick the week leading to PAX and had limited voice on Friday and no voice on Saturday.

    It does have me thinking that it would be nice to have an ID or other easy to read way of knowing who Enforcers are, and not just a sticker on their badge that I can't see, as a way of hold them accountable for their actions, both positive and negative. Those with excessive negative reviews aren't invited back, those with excessive positive are rewarded in some way.

  • taumesontaumeson PAX PC Room Manager Minnesota?Registered User regular
    edited February 2017
    Improvements desired:
    • The PC free play being in the big open space and bright lights kind of sucked, although I'm not sure what options existed.
    • The PC free play games seemed woefully limited - maybe I missed some trick to get access to more?
    mod edit: fixed quotation

    OK I can address some of these. I like being on the expo floor but you're right - it's brighter than other rooms! We probably have an opportunity to turn the lights down a bit after expo closes but I don't think many options exist. Also, the PC Freeplay games were definitely limited this year - we had computer image logistics issues this year and we didn't have enough time to shift the bytes around that we needed to.

    As an aside, feel free to recommend games to me that we should have on the images.

    zerzhul on
    yBfDKg5.png
  • PreacherChePreacherChe Houston, TXRegistered User regular
    taumeson wrote: »
    Improvements desired:
    • The PC free play being in the big open space and bright lights kind of sucked, although I'm not sure what options existed.
    • The PC free play games seemed woefully limited - maybe I missed some trick to get access to more?
    mod edit: fixed quotation

    OK I can address some of these. I like being on the expo floor but you're right - it's brighter than other rooms! We probably have an opportunity to turn the lights down a bit after expo closes but I don't think many options exist. Also, the PC Freeplay games were definitely limited this year - we had computer image logistics issues this year and we didn't have enough time to shift the bytes around that we needed to.

    As an aside, feel free to recommend games to me that we should have on the images.

    Thanks for taking the time to respond! I will say, even with those points, the kids (ages 12, 12, 12, and 15) in our group spent most of their time in that area and had an absolute blast.

    I've been mostly a tabletop gamer for many years, so PAX has been an opportunity for me to check out what I've been missing in the console and PC gaming worlds. So, I don't have any recommendations, but I'll see if I can gather some! (The one I wanted to play a bit, but never could figure out how to get to, was Overwatch - even in the Surface area.)

    f71belxn5ee5.png
  • KetarKetar Come on upstairs we're having a partyRegistered User regular
    Having Tabletop next to Arena was a little frustrating at times, since Arena would get very loud and make it difficult to hear each other at Tabletop. More space between the 2 would be nice if possible.

  • Christopher HuffChristopher Huff Registered User regular
    I forgot to mention one more thing: Please don't get rid of the dance floor. Since this was my first PAX, I don't know if historically it was a thing or not. But its always entertaining to take part in/watch people dance as a side activity. :)

    gVqmaCN.png
  • AthexAthex Registered User regular
    I would like to add one more thing, it would be nice for the free arcade area to be in a larger room. At sxsw gaming they had it an an open area and it was a lot easier to access the games

    hfXqQx4.png
Sign In or Register to comment.