Thought, next time, I might consider that "park at a far T station and ride the train in" idea. Fuck you $32/day parking.
Yeah, that's not a bad idea, especially if you're staying at a hotel near the con and can walk from bed to convention center.
I drove in every day as I was staying at home and the T shuts down earlier than I often stayed at the con. Still, with meals and everything, I think I came in at under $200, including crazy pricey parking.
I'm honestly suprised at how much I spent this year at PAX East. Since I live only about an hour away from Boston, I only spent about $100 total. That includes food, travel, and the things I bought (I also took some good advice from family and rode the T. $7 is much better than $30). This year is the first year that I'm going to a convention outside the New England area so seeing how much some of you guys had to pay is a little unnerving.
Thought, next time, I might consider that "park at a far T station and ride the train in" idea. Fuck you $32/day parking.
South Station is spitting distance from the BCEC. It's where I ate most days (except the day we all went to LTK). Even if you don't park there, both JFK/UMass and Alewife are on the Red Line, which stops at SS, and are the cheap parking.
I estimate that I spent 630 give or take a few tens. Most of it was airfare and hotel of course. Add in the dealers room purchases and I don't want to think about it.
Ro, what scenario did your group play in Mansions of Madness? My group played the first one and the map was only half the size. Must be a watered-down intro scenario I suppose? We sort of assumed that since only two monsters spawned during the entire game, but I don't see any out on your board either. Did you guys find it to be really light on combat? I definitely liked the game but I'm just not sure where I rank it yet.
I know I'm behind in the conversation, but... I think whoever ran your game just didn't play it that way, or maybe it was the particular story like you said. The first time my group played, Andrew spawned tons of monsters (5 or so of those really big ones) and got everyone's health down really low before we ran out of time (from fighting too much) and nobody won. :P I think our second game had less monsters because he focused more on scaring the investigators and fucking them over in various ways. I raged at him a lot... but it was fun.
I'm confused about the crazy expensive parking. I'm guessing that must have been at the hotels? Parking at the on-site or satellite lots was $10-13/day, and maybe I'm just a jaded Bostonian but that seems pretty cheap to me for in-city parking. Especially compared to the Hynes, where I usually end up paying more like $36/day even if I'm not staying overnight.
I don't really want to calculate what I spent, but we were pretty frugal. We live in Boston and drove in every day, eating breakfast at home and usually packing a lunch. But with three 14-year-olds in tow, the occasional overpriced hot dog was unavoidable.
As for purchases? Myself: Space Station and Spooky Manor, $10 total. I think the rest of my party probably spent less than $40 on games and trinkets and such, including a must-have PAX scarf for my son. We gotta do a run over to Pandemonium for some Zombie dice and Cthulu dice soon, since the show vendors sold out.
Hmm, I did park at a hotel... It was more than what you paid -- but I couldn't find good numbers for prices on the various satellite lots that were open late... Good to know for next time I'm in the area, though.
Sorry for the crappy image, but this was one of the coolest cosplays I saw at PAX East. The guy also participated in one of my Dominion Tournaments and did well.
Bonus points to those who can guess what cards they are.
That means book your hotel TODAY kids. Not August, not tomorrow. Today. See all those people who are scrambling to get a room right before the con? See all those people paying too much or walking too far? Don't be that.
PAX Dev conference, for those of you who hadn't seen it.
I knew that a thing called PAX Dev was coming. I didn't know what it was. My expectations were actually low. This is way better than I expected. The only upsetting part is that I have to use more hotel nights, take more vacation days, and spend more money on food and such.
PAX Dev conference, for those of you who hadn't seen it.
I knew that a thing called PAX Dev was coming. I didn't know what it was. My expectations were actually low. This is way better than I expected. The only upsetting part is that I have to use more hotel nights, take more vacation days, and spend more money on food and such.
Not to be condescending, Scott, but have you ever published a game?
The point of PAX Dev is that it's not for you. The seats are limited. It's elitist. It's closed door, no press. It's an Ivory tower - A different Ivory tower than this forum is.
Honestly, this is overdue for a rebirth - It's a shame that GDC has become a press event. I also hope it's not taken too seriously. There's a fine line between "elite" and "snobby". Maintaining the correct level of snobbishness, such that the signal can get through and the noise is kept to a minimum, but also such that signal is able to reach as many as possible - That's a hard task. We'll see how it works out.
Comments
I drove in every day as I was staying at home and the T shuts down earlier than I often stayed at the con. Still, with meals and everything, I think I came in at under $200, including crazy pricey parking.
$20 for a scarf
$25 for Fiasco
$5 for Action Castle
$50 for food
Maybe $200?
I think whoever ran your game just didn't play it that way, or maybe it was the particular story like you said. The first time my group played, Andrew spawned tons of monsters (5 or so of those really big ones) and got everyone's health down really low before we ran out of time (from fighting too much) and nobody won. :P I think our second game had less monsters because he focused more on scaring the investigators and fucking them over in various ways. I raged at him a lot... but it was fun.
I don't really want to calculate what I spent, but we were pretty frugal. We live in Boston and drove in every day, eating breakfast at home and usually packing a lunch. But with three 14-year-olds in tow, the occasional overpriced hot dog was unavoidable.
As for purchases? Myself: Space Station and Spooky Manor, $10 total. I think the rest of my party probably spent less than $40 on games and trinkets and such, including a must-have PAX scarf for my son. We gotta do a run over to Pandemonium for some Zombie dice and Cthulu dice soon, since the show vendors sold out.
Possible new PAX hotel.
Bonus points to those who can guess what cards they are.
Also with how large the BCEC was, staying at the Westin helped my laziness.
PAX Dev conference, for those of you who hadn't seen it.
The point of PAX Dev is that it's not for you. The seats are limited. It's elitist. It's closed door, no press. It's an Ivory tower - A different Ivory tower than this forum is.
Honestly, this is overdue for a rebirth - It's a shame that GDC has become a press event. I also hope it's not taken too seriously. There's a fine line between "elite" and "snobby". Maintaining the correct level of snobbishness, such that the signal can get through and the noise is kept to a minimum, but also such that signal is able to reach as many as possible - That's a hard task. We'll see how it works out.