let's not repeat the bad parts of PAX 2018 please.

dragonxr · August 2019

hi all, firstly i've attended the last 3 PAX events and i can see the small improvements occurring within the events,
and the enforcers have a huge job to do and i'm always thankful for what they try and do but,

I would say last years (2018) PAX had let downs from the very start, literally in the entry lines to PAX,

The extremely hard push for Fallout 76 and the countdown timer having to be re done...
people getting hit with the spaghetti\balls not loaded correctly for the celebratory BANG, i personally saw a guy get shot directly in the eye from this and he and his crew just up and left.

PAX needs to change the current atmosphere from being a giant sales arena to a giant interactive game arena with loot.
i get it sales are good, its kinda what pax is now, but it's not what it has to be and stay like this.

i'd like PAX events to be both engaging and fun, not just upcoming products to purchase shoved in my face,
there needs to be a balance to fund PAX, but there needs to be more ideas that bring people back,
they dont have to be MASSIVE ideas but the main PAX hall needs to have more engaging things occurring that dont require me to purchase something,
i've already bought the ticket to pax for 3 days at least have the main hall have new going other than PAX-XP and new sales.

perhaps some small ideas like

PAX XP tag where everyone needs to scan other QR codes on other phones,
find other individuals who have a certain QR code based on the users numbereid (you could do it on a odd number, even number system or a division of the ID in binary)
or
again in the app, with an expansion on the indi developer list, but expand to card games, board games that you have tried out ect and treat each area like a stat in a RPG game
so you have like +10 in board games, 0 in Indi gaming and so on, each store and or location manager has a different QR code and provides QR's on conditions ect.
or
passive interactive systems like projectors that change the image as you walk across in the main hall,
just some ideas off the top of my head, im certain others have great ideas too.

just something other than the "sell to me something" atmosphere because it should be an event not a SALE.

so here's what i liked in the 2018 pax.

the PAX app, this thing makes the event, opening it and checking when things are happening is a life saver,
PAX XP, again the app saves the day and gives me a small adventure.
the Tournament stage and watching pro's giving it their all.
the halls for talks\panels that are relevant to gaming are always awesome, and thank you to the people who make these happen.
the hardworking people who put efforts into the cosplay in both the PAX walk around areas and the competition, it's always rewarding to see the efforts they put into the outfits.
the chill areas were good, more would be awesome.
the coffee booth where the jenga blocks were and just chilling with randoms and the suspense of watching 2 mega jenga masters go at it is exhilarating.
painting booths and learning the fine art of painting figurines was heaps of fun.
table top game introductions and renting board games were also a huge plus,
learning about new card games is always a win and this year was no exception.
i always enjoy the old school area and giving the arcade machines a go (it is PAX afterall)

but here's what i ended up having issues with,

EB Booth took up too much space and people couldn't navigate it as there was just too much normal merchandise with no real discount.
seriously, the EB booth provided nothing for PAX, i could go down to another one in a shopping centre and get the same stuff at the same price.
replace this with something else, maybe a lounge space for mental health or in depth tactics sharing for certain games, it would go down heaps better than a EB maze.
the food, was horrible and has always been horrible at PAX, i'm not sure how this can be corrected but the price to taste value is a crime.
too many people Screaming for walking space around people attempting to get a potential freebie from a vendor (thank you to the enforcers that helped here when they could)
i expect to see this again and it's going to happen, but perhaps limit booth crowd sizes before vendors are doing giveaways, so the space around it is still walkable and items are handed to those who are already there.
the indi area was pushed to the side for sales, not sure if it was because there was a lack of indie-developer applications but they felt so, incredibly tiny and disjointed compared to 2017.
half of the VR kit was not setup correctly and the most popular game, beatsaber was only available on the rift which is what 90% of people were in line to play, the queue times were over 1.5 hrs.
please make sure the vendors have some sort of GAMES list they must have on all of the VR kits prior to PAX.
issues with the Desktop gaming PC's blue screening, not 100% why this happened, maybe the windows build image was done poorly but i had 4 different machines crash on me over the 3 days.
console tournaments were a last minute scramble, not that there's much can be done because its a pen and paper operation.
maybe some sort of buzzer system like the food court alerts (think those little squares that vibrate) could fix it.

from 2017 pax in 2019 if possible,

the street fighter console in the walkway, that EVERYONE could watch and partake easily with the HUGE big screen above everything, it was awesome to know it was live and easy to give it a go.
something similar would be cool too, could be mortal combat or the lastest beat em up just make it walk up to and interactive.
Indi area was so spacious, extremely interactive and friendly, more indie devs the better (if possible)

I hope this can be passed or viewed by someone in the org as i really want PAX to become better every year for attendees like myself,
I dont want the thought of, "is it really worth attending pax", to cross my mind next year, it should be a definitive "Yes", every time.

thanks for reading and take care.

Dinny · August 2019

Great write up, I agree on all fronts.

PDP11 · August 2019

During the day when I went through the Queue Room a couple of times the space still seemed under utilized. I wish Tabletop and the Expo Hall could be swapped so that Tabletop could overflow into the Queue Room. Obviously PC Games, Console Freeplay, etc. get shifted. That should not be necessary due to a venue expansion.

This year the extra space that was under construction in 2018 will be available so there may be some significant changes. Hopefully the extra space will solve many of the issues caused by the growth of PAX AUS. I'm not going this year so it will be interesting to hear reports about any new configuration.

The food is another story. I still have fond memories from the dim, dark past of the food trucks at the first PAX Aus. The move to Jeff's Shed for the second PAX Aus was a significant leap forward in so many ways. For example, rain or more precisely the lack of it (an in joke, you had to have been there). Unfortunately, there was less variety in the food on offer in this venue. Over the years there has been a very gradual improvement in the standard of the venue food. The venue has a monopoly on food and drinks so for better variety you have to eat at one of the many places outside PAX Aus.

tomandjebinspace · August 2019

As a food pop-ups account manager, that has previously been hired to work the venue, I can confirm that they have 100% monopoly and there's a fee incurred to hire outside traders. So not much to be done about that I'm afraid. Plenty of great food on the promenade, and you can always bring your own in.

The new area looks great, having walked through it during Oz Comicon earlier this year. Hopefully there'll be utilisation of it for PAX Aus, which should help with a lot of the layout issues

branbles · August 2019

I had meals delivered via food delivery last year and brought snacks and a water bottle for in between.

SachiiSez · August 2019

branbles wrote: »

I had meals delivered via food delivery last year and brought snacks and a water bottle for in between.

Meals via food delivery... AIYA this will save me heaps of time this year! Thanks for posting!

Dark King · September 2019

PDP11 wrote: »

The food is another story. I still have fond memories from the dim, dark past of the food trucks at the first PAX Aus. The move to Jeff's Shed for the second PAX Aus was a significant leap forward in so many ways. For example, rain or more precisely the lack of it (an in joke, you had to have been there). Unfortunately, there was less variety in the food on offer in this venue. Over the years there has been a very gradual improvement in the standard of the venue food. The venue has a monopoly on food and drinks so for better variety you have to eat at one of the many places outside PAX Aus.

The South Wharf DFO is right next door and has a food court. There is more variety than you'll find in the MCEC and the prices are about what you'd expect from a typical mall food court.

Beker · September 2019

While this is good feedback, ideally it would be in the feedback thread that gets created right after the convention when they are evaluating and figuring out what to change. They do 100% read that thread. In the couple months before the show many things are already locked in place, and there is not as much leeway to make changes.

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let's not repeat the bad parts of PAX 2018 please.

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