I did, I got two Soul Calibur 2 guides since they were handing them out for free, most everyone I knew grabbed some so, people did go there, even if it was just for free stuff... Since, most people dont buy strategy guides, but for free, might as well grab some.
I don't run out to the store and buy a strategy guide when it's announced, but I'm also not a subscriber of the typical "hardcore" mindset that turns an elitist brush-off to strategy guides in general.
I don't /need/ a strategy guide to beat a game, nor do I /need/ those secret tips that can sometimes ruin a story. What I /do/ need is a convenient reference book. Maps, stats, charts, bestiaries. That kind of stuff for a stat-head is very useful.
I say support Brady, I've never had a bad experience with one of their books.
i can understand the need for a strategy guide for stat heavy games, but if it comes to a game like mario 64 or something, i like the challenge of beating it myself.
besides, anything you can find in a bragy games guide is something you can find for free on the internet.
I actually forgot to mention that point in my post. Anyone that actually needs walkthrough information can get it from GameFAQs, but I personally hate GameFAQs for reference material.
Maybe I'm a whore for order, but typically speaking, the good people who write the FAQs don't lay out their references well, and it's hard to find one authoritative page that really gets the job done.
Additionally, if you want to have that information handy, which is typically necessary as you're playing games for non-walkthrough info, you'd need to either have a monitor next to you, or print it out. Maybe this is a better solution for people who don't want to drop the cash on a printed book, but I personally like the convenience of a guide I can walk around with and lay out in front of me for fast access to all my tables.
To clarify, yeah, I play a lot of RPGs, so there are typically a lot of stat-based reference tables that I like to use. Brady is great for them.
I flew out to PAX all the way from Boston, and it didn't disappoint. Memories from this thing are going to last a lifetime. But all said, there are a few things I want to see for next time.
- There needs to be a Gabe & Tycho autograph session. The Q&As rocked hard, but seeing as how the guys were running around so much, I never really got a chance to ask them for one. Or to just tell them they did a hell of a job with the Expo.
- There needs to be a bigger theatre area. I was one of the lucky ones that got into most of what I wanted to see, but a friend of mine who came out with me missed the musical performances. That theatre was perfect for the panels, as you could clearly see and hear everything no matter where you were sitting, but for the music, a lot of people got screwed. It was probably the only chance some would have to see the Minibosses live, and it was a damned shame when some people who really wanted to get in didn't.
- Better line management. It got a lot better on day 2, as the staff was now anticipating the lines, so I'm sure it'll be covered by next year.
- More free play stations. The tourneys were cool to watch, but I ended up having to camp out for one to free up. When we finally got on and started playing Rez, a crowd gathered round that was really quite cool. A lot of people had never seen it, though heard of it, and they were impressed. Moments like that are awesome.
- I know I'm going to get some flak, but hear me out. Less Porkfry. His "Backyard Rock Fight" pitch had me apoplectic with laughter, but he was taking away time from others who wanted to pitch or ask questions in the Q&A. I mean, the dude knows G&T personally, so why does he need to ask something in the Q&A? Keep him on panels, or maybe give him his own where he can just go off, and let some of the others speak and be heard.
All in all, a fan-fucking-tabulous time. If I can afford the trip again, I'm definitely coming back for PAX 05.
Just a suggestion, I think the tournaments should adhere to the ESRB ratings, no one under 17 in M rated tournaments. I heard a few people complain about little kids in Counter-Strike holding up the tournament by swarming the volunteers or something...I dont know, I wasnt in that tournament, but I still think it might make things go a little smoother.
FUCK YOU dude, maybe under 10 shouldn't be able to play, but team G-UNIT pwned up until we played the CAL guys, and we were on time for all our matches, and I don't see how our playing could have been a problem, besides to the teams we beat.
Was it me or did the PAsystem suck at the con? In some rooms in was blairing loud and others you could only hear a muffled voice.
I could usually hear OK - but from DDR all we got was the horn from Peanuts.
Speaking of DDR, can we vote fewer people walking around with sinus infections next con? 'Cause they kinda gave me theirs. I'm in bed right now. ;P
Can't really vote for less sick people at a con. It's all up to someone if they want to pull themselves out of bed to go to something like this when they're sick and they usually do. I missed one day of ComicCon because I was sick a bit, but I pulled myself up and felt a bit better cause I didn't want to miss Saturday at all.
Legacy on
Can we get the chemicals in. 'Cause anything's better than this.
Was it me or did the PAsystem suck at the con? In some rooms in was blairing loud and others you could only hear a muffled voice.
The volume that the PA announcements came out in was determined by the people running each room (or at least, could be adjusted by, if they were aware of it), as they all have their own volume controls.
Ok your group (that has palyed together before, quite a few times before) kicked some halo 2 ass against a team made up of several pax guys and a a couple of audience members that had NEVER played together before. Yeah that's some bragg'n rights earned there!
well, its not like we ever played Halo 2 together either. and btw, we played against beta testers of the game as well as audience members. and some of the girls had never even touched Halo until that day. see Sully (the tester guy we played against on TV #4)
and even if a couple guys there thought we were attractive, what's the big deal? those are things that WE can't help. its not like we stood there and tried to sell dish washing detergent or something. sheesh. :roll:
seppuku FD on
1-Get a frisbee from the store or friend.
2-Clean the Frisbee
3-Put something slippery on it, like butter or cream
4-Get really super pissed
5-Fold Frisbee hard
6-Insert Frisbee into mouth hard
7-Push hard until you can’t see it
8-Wait
9-Die
and even if a couple guys there thought we were attractive, what's the big deal? those are things that WE can't help. its not like we stood there and tried to sell dish washing detergent or something. sheesh. :roll:
Yeah, and thank god that you didn't... NOTHING turns me on like dish washing detergent.
This has led to some severe chemical burns, let me tell you. Whew.
On a side note, I overheard some people talking about how you guys could have been using cheats (I think the theory was some sort of hacked xbox or some shit) in Black Arrow. It only took a few moments for "could have been" to turn into "probably were," and soon it was being spouted as confirmed fact.
Geez.
This should be considered a positive thing for y'all, though, as it means you are seriously fucking with people's worldviews, which, really, is what life is all about.
About the smelliness: I thought it would be cool to have Axe deoderant spray as a sponsor. They seem to have the gamer attitude and then sample cans could be used if you start to get a little funky. Of course, this wouldn't help girl gamers, but I would hope they keep their smelliness under control a little better anyway. Personally, I never caught an offending odor but once through the entire weekend.
Damn, i'll admit it. i straight up signed up for the cs and r6BA tourneys and never showed. actually, it went down quite strange. it was 730, and we were still trying to play our first match in cs. nothing worked, the guy hosting the game had the settings screwed up, and we just up and left. Come to find out if we had stayed in that tournament it would have been an all night ordeal. Instead I enjoyed All the great music instead, and was actively entertained rather than sitting on the pipe-guards outside the rediculously small lanwerx tournament room looking stupid.
GOOD: Halo 2. It was great that Bungie made it out there.....
BAD: I apparently missed the memo about the 8am tickets, and by the time i was back it was too late. The same almost happened with the musical too. I trust that wont be a problem
BAD: The jackasses in the BYOC that had their speakers cranked while others were trying to get the cs tourney squared away by shouting into the megaphone as loud as they can (dude w/ the massive mac lcd, you know who you are. Take a hint, nobody wants to hear your progress in halo single player)
BAD: the announcements. Now i understand early on that alot of info needed to be dessimenated all throughout the Meydenbaur, but when zig and everyone are running full speed in the console room getting brackets organized, i dont think anyone there needed to know that some kid had nobody to play Pokemon with. But we all had to stand there and wait because we couldn't work while that was going on.
For PAX05. Dont allow preregistration. In my SC bracket there were 3 of the 12 or so people. I was one of them. We were so bored, we did a couple swiss rounds to get the top 2, and the winner went to top 32. I trust Zig has tons of ideas already, so i wont bore on any more
I'd also like to be able to have a little more information about what was going on w/ the omegathon. I really was only able to watch the final, even though i really wanted to watch the rest. Maybe next time make it bigger, so you can add even more people(perhaps a qualifier)
And Finally, because people haven't submitted enough of stupid opinions about the 'Girls, I'll make an Asshat out of myself too.
Yes, it is probably a bit unfair to compare them to booth girls, they got skillz. But at the same time, while they were acting like normal gamers, they were being marketed like booth babes. I mean, if a gaming company offered me and my friends sponsorship, I wouldnt turn it down. But I'm not a hot chick, just some college guy. We have a damn good team, but wont be getting any sponsorship offers. When a group of attractive females get one, they have to realise that the company wants them for more than their skills.
I haven't read any posts yet in this thread, so that I can jump in with "fresh" ideas :P
I'll read them later and possibly think of more 8)
First off, PAX was great! I enjoyed it immensely, and WILL make the trip again next year, barring unforseen circumstances.
Here are just some suggestions thought up of by Zig, Binkley, and I during our less-than-half-awake hours:
1) Space issues.
Meydenbauer is just too damn small to host that many people, or at least it seems so. The PC rooms looked crowded, the console room looked EXTREMELY crowded, and the theatre was very limited in maximum occupancy.
Filling the gorge with dead bodies sounds like a great idea, but I'm sure the PA staff already have some plans in mind.
2) Name issues.
Namely, the lack of badges or name tags. These types of cons are about the people...but well, it sucks not knowing all those people walking around. Some people ARE a liiiitle bit too shy to introduce themselves to random strangers.
Even if badges are too costly to make, I'm sure those name tag stickers are cost efficient enough for this purpose.
3) Organizational issues.
I took one look at the console room pre-con and I knew it was going to be ugly. There just wasn't enough space to move around, spectate, and play; the tables were clumped together too closely. This also cut off line of sight from staff and encourages thievery.
Zig is a tournament player, and knows how well the EVOLUTION table layout was. They had the consoles against the wall, and anyone in the room could look around and see basically all the groups of TVs and consoles.
Zig might have a different layout planned though...
The scheduling was pretty ugly too, with tournaments overlapping theatre events and other stuff. I know some of it can't be helped, though.
4) Staff issues
The staff were great! Nice, helpful, menacing...and overworked.
I don't think Zig or other staff members had much time at all to enjoy the festivities. There really needs to be more staff for backup; Zig was swamped as the only console room leader.
5) Tournament issues
They were run surprisingly well, for their size! It would have been nice if the semi-finals and finals were announced over the p.a. so people can come watch, or if it was broadcast to a TV downstairs (I heard they did this for Mario Kart, but I'm not sure if they did for the other games).
Also, the tickets redemption thing doesn't QUITE work out too well. Early tournament winners (like Halo) would grab all the cool stuff and leave the table basically barren.
My suggestion is to have small items (like 20 tickets or lower values) on the table for instant redemption, while bigger items go for "ticket auctions" later on in the day. Gives tourney winners a chance at bidding for some great stuff.
6) Omegathon
This should definately become one of the mainstays of PAX every year; it was terrific! Of course, you guys would have to come up with prizes and whatnot...but I'm sure you can manage.
I'm envisioning this event to be even bigger next year. My suggestion? Have the previous year's Omeganauts return.
Then ADD in the 1st place tournament winners from last year too.
Finally, toss in 8 to 20 more randomly chosen contestants.
Then have them form teams of three or more.
Have events be known beforehand...as GENRES.
Fighting games, puzzle, racing, etc. Then, each team can send any one of their own into the current event. If they lose...their team stays but they can't use that person anymore.
So instead of eliminating whole teams, have a points system, where winners get more points than losers. In the end, the top three teams are left to compete until one team is left.
Once that team reaches the end, EVERY member of that team battles each other to try and win the Omegathon prize for themselves.
Losing teams can get tickets based on their order of elimination 8)
Having JUST the finals in the theatre was a bit disappointing, due to how quickly it was over. Having a final team battle it out would be excellent
So I think that about covers it for now.
Oh yeah, make Zig an official staff member and give him authority.
Cause he's that damn good :shock:
Edit: Almost forgot:
- A Bring-Your-Own-TV-&-Console Room, if there's enough space.
The PC people had one, why not a console one?
That'll stuffle the free play complaints and actually provide a venue for players to hang around and show off gaming skills and unknown games.
I would have totally busted out the Dreamcast and loaded up Twinkle Star Sprites.
- More Tycho and Gabe Meet-&-Greets, or at least schedule 30 minutes or so at random tables for them to autograph stuff and chat, if they're not busy. They're the guys behind the...guys, so yeah, some people probably didn't have a chance to even see them.
- Bigger Exhibit Hall, if plausable. Since this is a success, I can guess some companies would be interested in showing off stuff there. Mini public E3 would be great.
- Complaining about the smell? Well here's a plan:
Arm the enforcers with a can of air freshener, and get them to hunt down the offenders. 8)
A smell-check at the doors would work too. :P
Lol, so now we are using cheats... goes back to the same old story of having our boyfriends playing for us. We go to a tourny and and actually show we are girls that kick ass and next "evolutionary" comment on why guys hate losing to girls arises.
I almost hate answering to that comment, and wont fall for it agian, but if you were there you would have saw lots of other people playing on our same boxes both inside and outside the tourny. Gimme a break people!
Not sure how much of this will have already been said - haven't read through the enitre thread, but what the hell...
Seperate tourny & free play spaces are needed.
Tickets for each event, handed out 2 hours prior (or something similar). I was damn lucky to get in Halo 2, I showed up on Sunday well after the tickets were handed out. I left Saturday not even knowing there would be tickets.
I love the no age restrictions, but as a parent that took his kid, i'd like to see some sort of parental limitations. I don't want my kid playing Conker, so it would be nice if there was a waiver to have to sign to allow the minors access to those kinds of games.
Better line management would be welcome. Sometimes the lines to get into the theater for one event would be overshadowed by crowds milling about and it wasn't clear where the line was.
More exhebition stuff. More games we haven't seen yet.
Disclaimer: I've never been to any conventions, tournaments, or LAN parties before (unless you count sneaking in to work on Saturday to use the computers for Doom), so I might be going over established facts. Still, I registered for this forum solely because I wanted to thank everyone involved, and say that I'll be back next year, with more people.
Good stuff:
- The volunteers. Does that go without saying? It shouldn't.
- The Omegathon. The events, the rules, the breadth, and even the sequence of events helped give the prize to the most deserving Omeganaut. Not once did I think that the wrong person made it past, and everyone I talked to agreed that it was a great procedure that made for great watching.
- Closed circuit TVs for watching the concert and the panels. Better than nothing when I got shut out (so very often).
- The Minibosses rocked, yes, but MC Frontalot stole my show. I hope they both return.
- The absence of booth babes. Good call.
- A dollar a bottle for Bawls. I felt like I was at a wedding reception with a dollar bar -- fun!
- The tabletop portion was waaaay better than I expected. Kudos to the demonstrators, for helping a total neophyte learn what the deal was with Diceland and Heroclix.
side note: The Good Samaritan handing out chocolate-covered espresso beans. Take a bow, sir. Your public loves you.
Fixable stuff:
- Lines and programs, of course, but that's been covered.
- I didn't want to mob Gabe and Tycho when they were on the floor trying to keep the PAX running, and I got shut out of both the Q&A sessions, meaning I didn't get a chance to shake their hand and say thanks. Probably my only regret.
- One concert, four acts, no dance floor? Splitting up the concerts a bit would a big plus, for performers, audience, and line people alike. I'm not sure what to do about the dance floor, unless this mythical place known as "the rest of the Meydenbauer" can help...
- On a related note, howzabout another DDR machine? (Can't hurt to ask.)
- Did the PC room actually have anything besides Counterstrike? The lack of options kept me away. The possible fix here could be what someone else already mentioned: a chat room, where people can organise pick-up games in Free Play a little better. One of my favourite moments was when the PA system announced, "If anyone has a deck of Pokemon cards, and wants to play a game, report to the front desk." More of that (without tying up the speakers, that is) is what we need.
- I'd like to see a Gameboy DS Tournament next year, specifically open for people waiting in line for panels and shows. It's got WiFi; let's make use of it.
- Projectors for the Omegathon! That was the greatest game of Doom I've ever seen, and it's a crying shame that only twenty or so people could get close enough to see a monitor. There was a big blank wall right above, just begging for a monitor splitter, so that we could all watch.
- I love the idea of a relaxation lounge/dedicated theatre.
- The loudspeakers were crystal clear in some spots, and worse than Charlie Brown's teacher a few feet away. That's a Meydenbauer problem, but maybe we could circumvent that with a chat log: Volunteers writing down the announcements on a posterboard/whiteboard.
Weird stuff:
- being mistaken for the Russian mafia at two in the morning by a State Trooper, when he entered my licence plate into the computer wrong, and it showed up as some company's missing car. Are Russian gangs stealing cars really that big a problem in Washington?
All in all, it was a fantastic time, and I can't wait for next year, which I'm sure will be even better!
[edit: A Retro Room sounds like a fantastic idea! Who knows? If the Retro Room was Free Play only, and the Console Room kept its current emphasis on Tournaments, it might help with that problem, too.]
I just want to point out that I find the Frag Dolls very inspiring and I'm totally behind the idea of the Frag Dolls existing partially as a way to attract more women to games. I didn't know who or what they were at first, and man was I excited when I realized they could and did actually kick ass instead of being eye candy.
It amazes me how often people think girls who kick ass and dress well must be aimed at men instead of at other women.
Anyhow, this morning I was jumping up and down saying, "I wanna be a Frag Doll!" But I've been tracking this thread and I see them repeatedly called booth babes even when they say they don't like it. WTF? My desire to take another stab at those kind of games (instead of the puzzle and RPGs I usually play) has been all over the charts today. Up... and then down...
I just wanted to thank you for your support of The Frag Dolls. It's nice to know that there people out there that realize exactly what we do and it's not being a booth babe. This weekend was our first tournament together as Frag Dolls and I have to admit winning it brought this new emotion for video games I never know I had. Let's just say it felt really damn good. I am defiantly looking forward to competing more in tourneys. So for the fans of the Frag Dolls please keep on supporting us it makes competing that much more exciting.
and even if a couple guys there thought we were attractive, what's the big deal? those are things that WE can't help. its not like we stood there and tried to sell dish washing detergent or something. sheesh. :roll:
Sigged.
Anyways, Axe as a sponsor would be a great idea.
Red Machine D on
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LegacyStuck Somewhere In CyberspaceThe Grid(Seattle)Registered User, ClubPAregular
- I'd like to see a Gameboy DS Tournament next year, specifically open for people waiting in line for panels and shows. It's got WiFi; let's make use of it.
Things like that will make use of themselves. It's a obvious thing that people will have DS's at PAX '05, and they will all be going off like crazy. But, random tourneys that have the random people who decide to join with their DS for prizes would be interesting. That could happen, maybe.
Just have them make a tiny announcement like "Anyone near the console room(or whichever) could be lucky if they turn on their DS at this moment" or something like that.
Legacy on
Can we get the chemicals in. 'Cause anything's better than this.
Yeah, the dude with the chocolate covered expresso beans was a life saver for me. Met him real early sunday, he was very generous and his good beans helped me make it to my second wind.
And yes, the Bawls people need to skip the sugar free stuff next time. It would taste ok, but sugar substitutes always have that nasty after taste. But otherwise I'm really happy they were there and being rather generous (the pop machines were hideously overpriced).
As for the size issue with Meydenbauer center, my understanding is we weren't really utilizing all that much of the center's space. I don't know if that was a cost issue, or just the planners didn't think it'd be required.
Really, I've got to go with most everyone else here: More space is needed, which the ballroom will hopefully take care of - but, since I didn't bring my own PC, I spent most of the two days doing... well, pretty much nothing. I saw some panels, but all the tournaments were full almost immediately, and I wasn't that interested in partaking in them anyways. (Though I plan to next year.)
The thing that really got in the way was that there was, like, _always_ a tournament, and they were huge, so you ended up with maybe a grand total of three hours that WEREN'T from like midnight to 8 AM to just sit down and shoot the shit with your fellow nerds.
More tabletop space would be nice, too, as well as better game demo organization - despite my attempts, I couldn't _find_ the demos of things like Battlefleet Gothic and Warmachine, since like 80% of the tables had tabletop wargames on them. -- but then, a guy back there says they owned, so maybe I just suck. Or maybe there should be a section with bigger tables specifically _for_ demos, or... I don't even know. I'd like seperate tourney/free play areas, too... except open the tourney areas up to free play _too_ when there aren't tournaments going on. So at least people who play there know their time is limited.
Let's see, what elsee... uh... I approve of getting AXE deodorant-spray as a sponsor. I also approve of that one dude's idea for the next Omegathon.
Oh and also, more musicians next year! And maybe split up the performances - that way you wouldn't get this huge rush of people there just to see the Minibosses, or something. Though I admit that made me glad, as I was able to see the Front in person. But... maybe look into KOMPRESSOR or The Frontalittle Squad. I'd ask for, like, Weird AL, but I don't know if it'd be possible to GET him, and the other people who I can think might be accepted, Tenacious D, probably aren't geeky enough for PAX.
But... yeah. Pretty much, my suggestions are summed up as such: next year, tie up some organizational loose ends, make sure the PA system and such doesn't suck every-- OH!
Maybe some of you have seen the fuckin'... fuckin' Titantron. From the WWE? We need one of those. In the Ballroom. Also, make headphones in the BYOC area mandatory, maybe, to stop that 'TURN DOWN YOUR SOUND YOU SHITPILE' problem.
So, yes. Tie up organizational loose ends, tighten everything up. And then just make everything bigger.
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LegacyStuck Somewhere In CyberspaceThe Grid(Seattle)Registered User, ClubPAregular
More tabletop space would be nice, too, as well as better game demo organization - despite my attempts, I couldn't _find_ the demos of things like Battlefleet Gothic and Warmachine, since like 80% of the tables had tabletop wargames on them. -- but then, a guy back there says they owned, so maybe I just suck. Or maybe there should be a section with bigger tables specifically _for_ demos, or... I don't even know. I'd like seperate tourney/free play areas, too... except open the tourney areas up to free play _too_ when there aren't tournaments going on. So at least people who play there know their time is limited.
I think the tabletop demos were in with all the other demos: In the main room on the 4th floor.
Legacy on
Can we get the chemicals in. 'Cause anything's better than this.
More tabletop space would be nice, too, as well as better game demo organization - despite my attempts, I couldn't _find_ the demos of things like Battlefleet Gothic and Warmachine, since like 80% of the tables had tabletop wargames on them. -- but then, a guy back there says they owned, so maybe I just suck. Or maybe there should be a section with bigger tables specifically _for_ demos, or... I don't even know. I'd like seperate tourney/free play areas, too... except open the tourney areas up to free play _too_ when there aren't tournaments going on. So at least people who play there know their time is limited.
I think the tabletop demos were in with all the other demos: In the main room on the 4th floor.
I guess I just suck, then. And I blame Patware. No one tells me these things, though. NO RESPECT FOR FATTIES!
(p.s. wtf is your avatar)
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LegacyStuck Somewhere In CyberspaceThe Grid(Seattle)Registered User, ClubPAregular
I watched the first episode of the new season of Last Comic Standing on Monday and one of my favorite comics from season 2 was on. His name is John Hefron and his entire set Monday was about video games. It was hilarious and I thought, "We need this guy for PAX '05!" Perhaps instead of just musical performances next year we could get a comedian as well.
And my vote for next year's movie (if there is one) is Tron.
I guess I just suck, then. And I blame Patware. No one tells me these things, though. NO RESPECT FOR FATTIES!
I shouldn't have to tell you, fatty, you should know enough to not suck the sucking!
Patware on
3rd place in Gamer Bling, with the Gamecube Controller medallion.
(2nd went to the guy with a Virtual Boy.)
(1st to that psycho with the zapper, controller, and Power Glove.)
Posts
I don't /need/ a strategy guide to beat a game, nor do I /need/ those secret tips that can sometimes ruin a story. What I /do/ need is a convenient reference book. Maps, stats, charts, bestiaries. That kind of stuff for a stat-head is very useful.
I say support Brady, I've never had a bad experience with one of their books.
besides, anything you can find in a bragy games guide is something you can find for free on the internet.
Maybe I'm a whore for order, but typically speaking, the good people who write the FAQs don't lay out their references well, and it's hard to find one authoritative page that really gets the job done.
Additionally, if you want to have that information handy, which is typically necessary as you're playing games for non-walkthrough info, you'd need to either have a monitor next to you, or print it out. Maybe this is a better solution for people who don't want to drop the cash on a printed book, but I personally like the convenience of a guide I can walk around with and lay out in front of me for fast access to all my tables.
To clarify, yeah, I play a lot of RPGs, so there are typically a lot of stat-based reference tables that I like to use. Brady is great for them.
- There needs to be a Gabe & Tycho autograph session. The Q&As rocked hard, but seeing as how the guys were running around so much, I never really got a chance to ask them for one. Or to just tell them they did a hell of a job with the Expo.
- There needs to be a bigger theatre area. I was one of the lucky ones that got into most of what I wanted to see, but a friend of mine who came out with me missed the musical performances. That theatre was perfect for the panels, as you could clearly see and hear everything no matter where you were sitting, but for the music, a lot of people got screwed. It was probably the only chance some would have to see the Minibosses live, and it was a damned shame when some people who really wanted to get in didn't.
- Better line management. It got a lot better on day 2, as the staff was now anticipating the lines, so I'm sure it'll be covered by next year.
- More free play stations. The tourneys were cool to watch, but I ended up having to camp out for one to free up. When we finally got on and started playing Rez, a crowd gathered round that was really quite cool. A lot of people had never seen it, though heard of it, and they were impressed. Moments like that are awesome.
- I know I'm going to get some flak, but hear me out. Less Porkfry. His "Backyard Rock Fight" pitch had me apoplectic with laughter, but he was taking away time from others who wanted to pitch or ask questions in the Q&A. I mean, the dude knows G&T personally, so why does he need to ask something in the Q&A? Keep him on panels, or maybe give him his own where he can just go off, and let some of the others speak and be heard.
All in all, a fan-fucking-tabulous time. If I can afford the trip again, I'm definitely coming back for PAX 05.
EWWWWWWWW!!!! :P
Seriously, that guide is quite funny. Not only did they jack my Asta setup, the writer has this mismash of good and crappy information.
The Seattle crew should write a REAL guide, then sell it or something at next year's PAX.
you fucking just made me rich.
we can skip the JFC bullshit.
but we definatley need 2G, mitsus throw shit, and RCC
and combos that work.
and frame info
and no xianghua information what so ever.
A: Um, we like to play games.
it would all be discussed in full detail im sure.
starting with how numpad = directions
7 8 9 up-back up up-forward
4 5 6 back neutral forward
1 2 3 down-back down down-forward
always from first player side.
for all your nightmare players, 3B,B is just too sexy.
FUCK YOU dude, maybe under 10 shouldn't be able to play, but team G-UNIT pwned up until we played the CAL guys, and we were on time for all our matches, and I don't see how our playing could have been a problem, besides to the teams we beat.
I could usually hear OK - but from DDR all we got was the horn from Peanuts.
Speaking of DDR, can we vote fewer people walking around with sinus infections next con? 'Cause they kinda gave me theirs. I'm in bed right now. ;P
Can't really vote for less sick people at a con. It's all up to someone if they want to pull themselves out of bed to go to something like this when they're sick and they usually do. I missed one day of ComicCon because I was sick a bit, but I pulled myself up and felt a bit better cause I didn't want to miss Saturday at all.
FUCK YOU!!!
....
hand out dayquil with speedstick.
mmm
The volume that the PA announcements came out in was determined by the people running each room (or at least, could be adjusted by, if they were aware of it), as they all have their own volume controls.
well, its not like we ever played Halo 2 together either. and btw, we played against beta testers of the game as well as audience members. and some of the girls had never even touched Halo until that day. see Sully (the tester guy we played against on TV #4)
http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=613510&viewreplies=true&postRepeater1-p=4
and even if a couple guys there thought we were attractive, what's the big deal? those are things that WE can't help. its not like we stood there and tried to sell dish washing detergent or something. sheesh. :roll:
2-Clean the Frisbee
3-Put something slippery on it, like butter or cream
4-Get really super pissed
5-Fold Frisbee hard
6-Insert Frisbee into mouth hard
7-Push hard until you can’t see it
8-Wait
9-Die
fucking being attractive and shit, god you guys...so selfish.
Yeah, and thank god that you didn't... NOTHING turns me on like dish washing detergent.
This has led to some severe chemical burns, let me tell you. Whew.
On a side note, I overheard some people talking about how you guys could have been using cheats (I think the theory was some sort of hacked xbox or some shit) in Black Arrow. It only took a few moments for "could have been" to turn into "probably were," and soon it was being spouted as confirmed fact.
Geez.
This should be considered a positive thing for y'all, though, as it means you are seriously fucking with people's worldviews, which, really, is what life is all about.
lol, oh god...that makes me want to do a line of cocaine.
GOOD: Halo 2. It was great that Bungie made it out there.....
BAD: I apparently missed the memo about the 8am tickets, and by the time i was back it was too late. The same almost happened with the musical too. I trust that wont be a problem
BAD: The jackasses in the BYOC that had their speakers cranked while others were trying to get the cs tourney squared away by shouting into the megaphone as loud as they can (dude w/ the massive mac lcd, you know who you are. Take a hint, nobody wants to hear your progress in halo single player)
BAD: the announcements. Now i understand early on that alot of info needed to be dessimenated all throughout the Meydenbaur, but when zig and everyone are running full speed in the console room getting brackets organized, i dont think anyone there needed to know that some kid had nobody to play Pokemon with. But we all had to stand there and wait because we couldn't work while that was going on.
For PAX05. Dont allow preregistration. In my SC bracket there were 3 of the 12 or so people. I was one of them. We were so bored, we did a couple swiss rounds to get the top 2, and the winner went to top 32. I trust Zig has tons of ideas already, so i wont bore on any more
I'd also like to be able to have a little more information about what was going on w/ the omegathon. I really was only able to watch the final, even though i really wanted to watch the rest. Maybe next time make it bigger, so you can add even more people(perhaps a qualifier)
And Finally, because people haven't submitted enough of stupid opinions about the 'Girls, I'll make an Asshat out of myself too.
Yes, it is probably a bit unfair to compare them to booth girls, they got skillz. But at the same time, while they were acting like normal gamers, they were being marketed like booth babes. I mean, if a gaming company offered me and my friends sponsorship, I wouldnt turn it down. But I'm not a hot chick, just some college guy. We have a damn good team, but wont be getting any sponsorship offers. When a group of attractive females get one, they have to realise that the company wants them for more than their skills.
I'll read them later and possibly think of more 8)
First off, PAX was great! I enjoyed it immensely, and WILL make the trip again next year, barring unforseen circumstances.
Here are just some suggestions thought up of by Zig, Binkley, and I during our less-than-half-awake hours:
1) Space issues.
Meydenbauer is just too damn small to host that many people, or at least it seems so. The PC rooms looked crowded, the console room looked EXTREMELY crowded, and the theatre was very limited in maximum occupancy.
Filling the gorge with dead bodies sounds like a great idea, but I'm sure the PA staff already have some plans in mind.
2) Name issues.
Namely, the lack of badges or name tags. These types of cons are about the people...but well, it sucks not knowing all those people walking around. Some people ARE a liiiitle bit too shy to introduce themselves to random strangers.
Even if badges are too costly to make, I'm sure those name tag stickers are cost efficient enough for this purpose.
3) Organizational issues.
I took one look at the console room pre-con and I knew it was going to be ugly. There just wasn't enough space to move around, spectate, and play; the tables were clumped together too closely. This also cut off line of sight from staff and encourages thievery.
Zig is a tournament player, and knows how well the EVOLUTION table layout was. They had the consoles against the wall, and anyone in the room could look around and see basically all the groups of TVs and consoles.
Zig might have a different layout planned though...
The scheduling was pretty ugly too, with tournaments overlapping theatre events and other stuff. I know some of it can't be helped, though.
4) Staff issues
The staff were great! Nice, helpful, menacing...and overworked.
I don't think Zig or other staff members had much time at all to enjoy the festivities. There really needs to be more staff for backup; Zig was swamped as the only console room leader.
5) Tournament issues
They were run surprisingly well, for their size! It would have been nice if the semi-finals and finals were announced over the p.a. so people can come watch, or if it was broadcast to a TV downstairs (I heard they did this for Mario Kart, but I'm not sure if they did for the other games).
Also, the tickets redemption thing doesn't QUITE work out too well. Early tournament winners (like Halo) would grab all the cool stuff and leave the table basically barren.
My suggestion is to have small items (like 20 tickets or lower values) on the table for instant redemption, while bigger items go for "ticket auctions" later on in the day. Gives tourney winners a chance at bidding for some great stuff.
6) Omegathon
This should definately become one of the mainstays of PAX every year; it was terrific! Of course, you guys would have to come up with prizes and whatnot...but I'm sure you can manage.
I'm envisioning this event to be even bigger next year. My suggestion? Have the previous year's Omeganauts return.
Then ADD in the 1st place tournament winners from last year too.
Finally, toss in 8 to 20 more randomly chosen contestants.
Then have them form teams of three or more.
Have events be known beforehand...as GENRES.
Fighting games, puzzle, racing, etc. Then, each team can send any one of their own into the current event. If they lose...their team stays but they can't use that person anymore.
So instead of eliminating whole teams, have a points system, where winners get more points than losers. In the end, the top three teams are left to compete until one team is left.
Once that team reaches the end, EVERY member of that team battles each other to try and win the Omegathon prize for themselves.
Losing teams can get tickets based on their order of elimination 8)
Having JUST the finals in the theatre was a bit disappointing, due to how quickly it was over. Having a final team battle it out would be excellent
So I think that about covers it for now.
Oh yeah, make Zig an official staff member and give him authority.
Cause he's that damn good :shock:
Edit: Almost forgot:
- A Bring-Your-Own-TV-&-Console Room, if there's enough space.
The PC people had one, why not a console one?
That'll stuffle the free play complaints and actually provide a venue for players to hang around and show off gaming skills and unknown games.
I would have totally busted out the Dreamcast and loaded up Twinkle Star Sprites.
- More Tycho and Gabe Meet-&-Greets, or at least schedule 30 minutes or so at random tables for them to autograph stuff and chat, if they're not busy. They're the guys behind the...guys, so yeah, some people probably didn't have a chance to even see them.
- Bigger Exhibit Hall, if plausable. Since this is a success, I can guess some companies would be interested in showing off stuff there. Mini public E3 would be great.
- Complaining about the smell? Well here's a plan:
Arm the enforcers with a can of air freshener, and get them to hunt down the offenders. 8)
A smell-check at the doors would work too. :P
I almost hate answering to that comment, and wont fall for it agian, but if you were there you would have saw lots of other people playing on our same boxes both inside and outside the tourny. Gimme a break people!
Seperate tourny & free play spaces are needed.
Tickets for each event, handed out 2 hours prior (or something similar). I was damn lucky to get in Halo 2, I showed up on Sunday well after the tickets were handed out. I left Saturday not even knowing there would be tickets.
I love the no age restrictions, but as a parent that took his kid, i'd like to see some sort of parental limitations. I don't want my kid playing Conker, so it would be nice if there was a waiver to have to sign to allow the minors access to those kinds of games.
Better line management would be welcome. Sometimes the lines to get into the theater for one event would be overshadowed by crowds milling about and it wasn't clear where the line was.
More exhebition stuff. More games we haven't seen yet.
More Gabe & Tycho.
Good stuff:
- The volunteers. Does that go without saying? It shouldn't.
- The Omegathon. The events, the rules, the breadth, and even the sequence of events helped give the prize to the most deserving Omeganaut. Not once did I think that the wrong person made it past, and everyone I talked to agreed that it was a great procedure that made for great watching.
- Closed circuit TVs for watching the concert and the panels. Better than nothing when I got shut out (so very often).
- The Minibosses rocked, yes, but MC Frontalot stole my show. I hope they both return.
- The absence of booth babes. Good call.
- A dollar a bottle for Bawls. I felt like I was at a wedding reception with a dollar bar -- fun!
- The tabletop portion was waaaay better than I expected. Kudos to the demonstrators, for helping a total neophyte learn what the deal was with Diceland and Heroclix.
side note: The Good Samaritan handing out chocolate-covered espresso beans. Take a bow, sir. Your public loves you.
Fixable stuff:
- Lines and programs, of course, but that's been covered.
- I didn't want to mob Gabe and Tycho when they were on the floor trying to keep the PAX running, and I got shut out of both the Q&A sessions, meaning I didn't get a chance to shake their hand and say thanks. Probably my only regret.
- One concert, four acts, no dance floor? Splitting up the concerts a bit would a big plus, for performers, audience, and line people alike. I'm not sure what to do about the dance floor, unless this mythical place known as "the rest of the Meydenbauer" can help...
- On a related note, howzabout another DDR machine? (Can't hurt to ask.)
- Did the PC room actually have anything besides Counterstrike? The lack of options kept me away. The possible fix here could be what someone else already mentioned: a chat room, where people can organise pick-up games in Free Play a little better. One of my favourite moments was when the PA system announced, "If anyone has a deck of Pokemon cards, and wants to play a game, report to the front desk." More of that (without tying up the speakers, that is) is what we need.
- I'd like to see a Gameboy DS Tournament next year, specifically open for people waiting in line for panels and shows. It's got WiFi; let's make use of it.
- Projectors for the Omegathon! That was the greatest game of Doom I've ever seen, and it's a crying shame that only twenty or so people could get close enough to see a monitor. There was a big blank wall right above, just begging for a monitor splitter, so that we could all watch.
- I love the idea of a relaxation lounge/dedicated theatre.
- The loudspeakers were crystal clear in some spots, and worse than Charlie Brown's teacher a few feet away. That's a Meydenbauer problem, but maybe we could circumvent that with a chat log: Volunteers writing down the announcements on a posterboard/whiteboard.
Weird stuff:
- being mistaken for the Russian mafia at two in the morning by a State Trooper, when he entered my licence plate into the computer wrong, and it showed up as some company's missing car. Are Russian gangs stealing cars really that big a problem in Washington?
All in all, it was a fantastic time, and I can't wait for next year, which I'm sure will be even better!
[edit: A Retro Room sounds like a fantastic idea! Who knows? If the Retro Room was Free Play only, and the Console Room kept its current emphasis on Tournaments, it might help with that problem, too.]
I just wanted to thank you for your support of The Frag Dolls. It's nice to know that there people out there that realize exactly what we do and it's not being a booth babe. This weekend was our first tournament together as Frag Dolls and I have to admit winning it brought this new emotion for video games I never know I had. Let's just say it felt really damn good. I am defiantly looking forward to competing more in tourneys. So for the fans of the Frag Dolls please keep on supporting us it makes competing that much more exciting.
BrookeLyn FD
Anyways, Axe as a sponsor would be a great idea.
Things like that will make use of themselves. It's a obvious thing that people will have DS's at PAX '05, and they will all be going off like crazy. But, random tourneys that have the random people who decide to join with their DS for prizes would be interesting. That could happen, maybe.
Just have them make a tiny announcement like "Anyone near the console room(or whichever) could be lucky if they turn on their DS at this moment" or something like that.
And yes, the Bawls people need to skip the sugar free stuff next time. It would taste ok, but sugar substitutes always have that nasty after taste. But otherwise I'm really happy they were there and being rather generous (the pop machines were hideously overpriced).
As for the size issue with Meydenbauer center, my understanding is we weren't really utilizing all that much of the center's space. I don't know if that was a cost issue, or just the planners didn't think it'd be required.
The thing that really got in the way was that there was, like, _always_ a tournament, and they were huge, so you ended up with maybe a grand total of three hours that WEREN'T from like midnight to 8 AM to just sit down and shoot the shit with your fellow nerds.
More tabletop space would be nice, too, as well as better game demo organization - despite my attempts, I couldn't _find_ the demos of things like Battlefleet Gothic and Warmachine, since like 80% of the tables had tabletop wargames on them. -- but then, a guy back there says they owned, so maybe I just suck. Or maybe there should be a section with bigger tables specifically _for_ demos, or... I don't even know. I'd like seperate tourney/free play areas, too... except open the tourney areas up to free play _too_ when there aren't tournaments going on. So at least people who play there know their time is limited.
Let's see, what elsee... uh... I approve of getting AXE deodorant-spray as a sponsor. I also approve of that one dude's idea for the next Omegathon.
Oh and also, more musicians next year! And maybe split up the performances - that way you wouldn't get this huge rush of people there just to see the Minibosses, or something. Though I admit that made me glad, as I was able to see the Front in person. But... maybe look into KOMPRESSOR or The Frontalittle Squad. I'd ask for, like, Weird AL, but I don't know if it'd be possible to GET him, and the other people who I can think might be accepted, Tenacious D, probably aren't geeky enough for PAX.
But... yeah. Pretty much, my suggestions are summed up as such: next year, tie up some organizational loose ends, make sure the PA system and such doesn't suck every-- OH!
Maybe some of you have seen the fuckin'... fuckin' Titantron. From the WWE? We need one of those. In the Ballroom. Also, make headphones in the BYOC area mandatory, maybe, to stop that 'TURN DOWN YOUR SOUND YOU SHITPILE' problem.
So, yes. Tie up organizational loose ends, tighten everything up. And then just make everything bigger.
I think the tabletop demos were in with all the other demos: In the main room on the 4th floor.
I guess I just suck, then. And I blame Patware. No one tells me these things, though. NO RESPECT FOR FATTIES!
(p.s. wtf is your avatar)
My kitten jumping out of a pepsi box and me stuffing him back in. And yes, I'm wearing pants.
I'm not.
And my vote for next year's movie (if there is one) is Tron.
Tron would be cool, and if they do more then one, perhaps The Last Starfighter as well...
I shouldn't have to tell you, fatty, you should know enough to not suck the sucking!
(2nd went to the guy with a Virtual Boy.)
(1st to that psycho with the zapper, controller, and Power Glove.)