›
This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

GeekNights 20100406 - PAX East Wrap-Up

AprecheApreche
edited April 2010 in GeekNights
Tonight on GeekNights we discuss all of the happenings at the first ever Penny Arcade Expo East.

Comments

  • ColdguyColdguy
    Well...NWC Repo.You can beat each other with that, or just find the rom for it. Also I say chronicle the panel on video if you are retire so it can be chronicled.

    Can't wait to see you at MAGfest
  • AaronCAaronC
    edited April 2010
    For main events, during the keynote the fire marshals initially shut down entry, however we were able to fill the rest of the seats in groups. There wasn't anyone left outside waiting to come in. None of the other events were at capacity. During all the concerts people were able to come and go and no one was turned away. On Saturday night it was definitely crowded by comparison to Friday. During the Omegathon final it was crowded as well, but no one was turned away either.

    There were roughly 400 Enforcers, roughly 100 from Prime. I don't think we had any Enforcers not show up for their shifts.

    Clearly there were lessons learned and not everything was perfect. It was interesting working with the new convention center, but, overall I thought it went really great.
    Post edited by AaronC on
  • PeguPegu
    edited April 2010
    Can you link the college humor video you kept mentioning? I forgot what it was called and don't want to re-listen and search.
    Post edited by Pegu on
  • RymRym
    There wasn't anyone left outside waiting to come in. None of the other events were at capacity.
    I have a feeling many people saw the lines or were turned away from the keynote, and then decided not to try to get into other big events. I also get the impression that a lot of people who didn't get wristbands assumed they wouldn't be able to get into the concert and didn't even try.
  • AprecheApreche
    Can you link the college humor video you kept mentioning? I forgot what it was called and don't want to re-listen and search.
    Leadership Lesson From Crazy Dancing Guy.

    We really need to do something to solve this problem. Whenever we mention anything, people always have a hard time finding the link. I'll work something out.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    Use URL shorteners for their intended purpose?
  • AprecheApreche
    Use URL shorteners for their intended purpose?
    How does a URL shortener help?
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    How does a URL shortener help?
    You shorten the URL and insert it into the show somehow.
  • TeslaTesla
    During all the concerts people were able to come and go and no one was turned away.
    That's odd, because on Friday night I didn't manage to get to the convention center until late, so by the time I tried to go to the concert they were just letting in the queue lines that had been there for hours. I asked an Enforcer if it was still possible to get in and he said the hall was full, no one else. Maybe he was misinformed?
  • RymRym
    I asked an Enforcer if it was still possible to get in and he said the hall was full, no one else. Maybe he was misinformed?
    Every con we've ever attended where they said anything like "no one was turned away" has been wrong on that point... ^_~ Otakon swore up and down that they got everyone through the Thursday reg line, but the fact is that many people did not get their badges. I've learned to never trust a con, even a good one, that says "we didn't turn anyone away" from anything.
  • AaronCAaronC
    I can attest that the doors stayed open and there was plenty of room for people to come and go, at no point were the doors to the concerts shut, but if you were given bad information then you were given bad information. Communication bewtween staff is certainly an area where we can always improve. Friday night was the least crowded of the two concerts so its to bad you were told that. Its possible that people saw the lines for the keynote and were discouraged, that's always an issue, but even in the keynote we were able to get people in (once the Fire Marshall was assured we had room).

    Personally I am not a fan of the wrist bands since there is always confusion and this year people weren't sure if they were for floor access or floor or balcony access (they are for floor access). I would personally like to see them gotten rid of, instead of them being a reward for lining up early. As Gabe and Tycho said in the media Q and A, PAX lets you invest with time, something everyone has. If you want to be first and up front for the concerts, line up early.
  • RymRym
    I would personally like to see [wristbands] gotten rid of, instead of them being a reward for lining up early.... As Gabe and Tycho said in the media Q and A, PAX lets you invest with time, something everyone has. If you want to be first and up front for the concerts, line up early.
    That will only cause more problems, and at best would simply defer the large line to another line. It would also force people to skip PAX time in line to get into the concert, rather than skipping pre-PAX time, making it a net loss of PAX time for all involved.

    The best method is to have a main events hall large enough to effectively guarantee everyone access.
  • AprecheApreche
    As Gabe and Tycho said in the media Q and A, PAX lets you invest with time, something everyone has. If you want to be first and up front for the concerts, line up early.
    So true. Compare this to Gen Con where each event has a separate ticket you must purchase. Or compare it to something like New York Comic-Con where they sell VIP badges for large amounts of money that allow you to cut lines and get special goodies.

    With all the extra space in the larger convention center, it might be a good idea to have two main eventsish rooms. One with chairs, and one without. This will leave a lot more empty time in those rooms. This allows you to do something along these lines. There's an event in the no-chair room some hours before the concerts. After that event is over, clear the room out, and prepare for the concerts. Once the tech and such is ready, open the doors hours in advance of the concerts actually starting. No line in the queue room. Just let the room be open. If someone wants to sit in there for hours before the concert starts, good for them. Everyone else will be able to see just how full the room is, and it will organically fill. Without wrist-bands people who want to go to the concert will just go when they are ready with no fear.

    I think a lot of the line problem at PAX isn't so much that events do fill up, though some do, but the belief they will fill up. For example, we thought Action Castle would fill on Sunday. It didn't. People waited in line early, and that turned out to be completely unnecessary. We need to find some way to assure people that things are not going to fill up, and that they don't need to wait in line. Just show up a few minutes before the starting time, and take a seat. If the doors are just left wide open 15-20 minutes before a panel starts, people will just trickle in instead of lining up. The enforcers then just need to make sure that people use all available seats.
  • CremlianCremlian
    The best method is to have a main events hall large enough to effectively guarantee everyone access.
    and give people magical unicorns and rainbows :-p
  • RochelleRochelle
    and give people magical unicorns and rainbows :-p
    To those who purchased their new book, they did get a magical unicorn and rainbow. :P
  • RymRym
    and give people magical unicorns and rainbows :-p
    It's not infeasible. That's how Otakon solved the COSplay problem: they booked a venue that can fit effectively the entire convention for it.
  • CremlianCremlian
    The best method is to have a main events hall large enough to effectively guarantee everyone access.
    and give people magical unicorns and rainbows :-p
    I think the real key here is to make conventions just unpopular enough that the events YOU want to go to won't sell out OR become fans of things that no one else really likes/or has heard of. The Legend of the Galactic Heroes Panel was very easy to get into ^_^
  • CremlianCremlian
    I guess from now on all our conventions shall be located in Boston and Baltimore (what's with B named Cities :-p)
  • RochelleRochelle
    edited April 2010
    The Jungle Speed bit was great. I was wondering about that since you told me how you guys thought it was broken.

    I played that a few times with Jeremy and some random people. At first people were just grabbing the totem haphazardly thinking that the cards shapes were the same. After a few minor mistakes, everyone was hesitating with every card turn.

    A few times the totem ended up flying off the table and also hitting other players. It was really fun playing the game.

    If it ever got up to 15 players you really need a round table to play it.

    I wonder why it's called Jungle Speed. I understand the "speed" but where does "jungle" come from?
    Post edited by Rochelle on
  • AprecheApreche

    If it ever got up to 15 players you really need a round table to play it.
    Doesn't it say 2-8 players? How did you do with 15?
  • RochelleRochelle
    edited April 2010
    Doesn't it say 2-8 players? How did you do with 15?
    I thought the rules say up to 15. I didn't play it with that many people. I think the most we had was 7 people and it was a bit difficult playing at the end of one of the tables.

    Nevermind, you're right.
    Post edited by Rochelle on
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    The Jungle Speed bit was great. I was wondering about that since you told me how you guys thought it was broken.
    I can't remember saying it was broken, but I did say you might be broken playing it. Did anyone takes chunks of skin out of your hands?
  • RochelleRochelle
    I can't remember saying it was broken, but I did say you might be broken playing it. Did anyone takes chunks of skin out of your hands?
    Scott & Rym said it was broken when I told them I bought it at PAX East. They asked the European dude, who was demoing it, about certain things they could do that seemed broken. They mentioned it in the podcast.
  • KieyKiey
    To clear up some stuff on APB, it is an MMO but also sort of not. How it works is basically you join a server, on that server there are multiple instances of different parts of the city (at least that's how the beta was.) Each instance can have up to 50 criminals and 50 enforcers. From what I've heard it's going to be subscription, but they haven't said how much. I enjoyed the beta, and could see it replacing L4D as the game I play with friends, but it really depends on what the monthly cost is.
  • RymRym
    but it really depends on what the monthly cost is.
    If it were a dollar a month, I'd play it for a year. Much more than that, and it's not worth it when there are so many free-to-play-forever games in competition with it.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    edited April 2010
    If you guys still have time, go to MIT and try to visit Langer Labs. They are working on some serious biomed shit over there. Talk to either Connie Beal or Ilda Thompson and tell them you know Anoushiravan Khaze (my dad).
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • Hitman HartHitman Hart
    I got to PAX a bit late on Friday and went to get in line to get into the 1st Q&A session and was explicitly told it was full up. I was also told things were full up at the Jeff Green & co podcast panel and the IGN podcast recording. Just my personal experience
Sign In or Register to comment.