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fordan posted:So isn't reserving a seat via Kickstarter reward basically doing what PAX said you couldn't do: selling tickets to the game? It will probably be fine, but not thanks to PAX themselves.
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Sep 27, 2017 16:35
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nesbit37 posted:The only difference I see is this way PAX can keep it at arms length. Still claim your badge gets you into everything for free and they don't have to worry about managing some ticket system or dealing with complaints directly because it was this other group running the games and their weird kickstarter instead of doing it all through PAX. I guess my point was does PAX know your group is doing that? If I didn't know about the Kickstarter and waited in line for an event that was already mostly filled by backers I'd be pretty unhappy and bitching at PAX about it since it's all supposed to be line-based. Why would I as a generic PAX attendee even know anything about your group? "I was third in line at the D&D area and the table was already filled up!" Please don't take this as an attack on your group. You're essentially trying to follow the proven GenCon model without the support of the host, who I'm guessing assumes DMs will volunteer their time for love of the game. Kashuno posted:It will probably be fine, but not thanks to PAX themselves. I know I'll probably be fine. I'm a board gamer mostly interested in pickup games so all I need is a flat surface, and that flat surface could be at the convention center, at the Field House, the nearby Chili's, or wherever.
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Sep 27, 2017 17:09
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Goon Twilight Imperium 4th Ed game when
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Sep 27, 2017 17:20
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My favorite thing about PAX that I have learned in the course of this adventure so far is the truly astonishingly baked-in Stockholm Syndrome of the lines; I started posting on the official forums and I saw someone say something about looking forward to waiting in lines and I was like "haha!" and then I saw a few more responses talk about how great the lines are because you can meet new friends and even get into pick-up games and I was like "oh, they are not ironically hating on the lines, they are unironically enjoying them. Welp" Do not get me wrong, I understand going with celebrating the awful features of a thing you love rather than endlessly complaining about them, particularly if they are never going to be changed (as apparently lines are a "thing" at many a convention?). And I am still looking forward to this completely not-what-I-am-accustomed-to convention experience. But boy, is it strange from my perspective.
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Sep 27, 2017 17:27
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Lines at something like EAST are significantly different than lines at a tabletop con. I've never experienced lines at anything on the tabletop side at PAX, and while there are lines to get into the panels, the waiting rooms are large and nice where you do tend to get some small pickup games. Lines on the videogame side are a different story, because you can play your DS or Switch or whatever and do some local multi. I do not predict line con to be very good for a tabletop exclusive setting e; like in 2016 I waited in a line for 1.5 hours to play some monster hunter, but at the same time I had my DS and played a poo poo ton of monster hunter with the people in line with me. I can't easily do that for board games.
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Sep 27, 2017 17:32
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fordan posted:I guess my point was does PAX know your group is doing that? If I didn't know about the Kickstarter and waited in line for an event that was already mostly filled by backers I'd be pretty unhappy and bitching at PAX about it since it's all supposed to be line-based. Why would I as a generic PAX attendee even know anything about your group? "I was third in line at the D&D area and the table was already filled up!" As far as I know, PAX is aware of the kickstarter and fine with it. I'm not directly involved with that part of the group though, but I don't see them just trying to slyly skirt PAX's rules this way.
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Sep 27, 2017 17:37
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nesbit37 posted:It kind of depends on what you are doing as some groups are assigning slots already. I am involved with the group running D&D 5e at the convention and they have all the DMs they need and have assigned them slots already. I also signed up for the upub event so I can playtest a boardgame I am working on I would like to take through the publication process and all of those slots are assigned already. I get standing in line to play a newly-released board game or whatever, but how's that gonna work for RPGs? Why the gently caress would I stand in line for 2 hours to get into a Call of Cthulhu scenario, for instance? I mean, besides the fact the Call of Cthulhu is loving hilarious, but you take my meaning. It just seems like a horrendous waste of peoples' time. It's essentially like the organizers are offloading the work of, well, organizing the con to the attendees. Maybe it'll all work out for the best, but to my jaundiced eye it looks like a recipe for disaster.
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Sep 27, 2017 19:03
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I'm with Fordan, I'm mostly in for pickup tabletop/pickup rpgs, dealer area, and meeting friends of friends and goons. Honestly my badge just feels like pitching into a group reservation of table/floor space and I'm pretty okay with that. Then again my travel costs are some nice bottles of booze for crashing on a friends couch and cab fare so i'm not losing much if this ends up being bad. E: Gencon ticketing system initially seemed crazy to me especially when you have to throw down $4-6 per event. But my only other convention experience has been small stuff where events are all free, and Magfest which is explicitly a clusterfuck. Seeing this makes me realize the tickets are the best thing actually. Fellis fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Sep 27, 2017 |
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Sep 27, 2017 19:13
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For anyone who has never attended a PAX, let me tell you giant clusterfuck is a good way to describe things.
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Sep 27, 2017 19:17
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Fellis posted:I'm with Fordan, I'm mostly in for pickup tabletop/pickup rpgs, dealer area, and meeting friends of friends and goons. Honestly my badge just feels like pitching into a group reservation of table/floor space and I'm pretty okay with that. Fellis posted:E: Gencon ticketing system initially seemed crazy to me especially when you have to throw down $4-6 per event. But my only other convention experience has been small stuff where events are all free, and Magfest which is explicitly a clusterfuck. Seeing this makes me realize the tickets are the best thing actually. And yes the ticketing system makes so much sense. Though I can certainly imagine line-based conventions working out great at a certain size. Probably a certain size much smaller than this one.
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Sep 27, 2017 19:25
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Kashuno posted:For anyone who has never attended a PAX, let me tell you giant clusterfuck is a good way to describe things. This. That said, the board game free-play and RPG areas were great when I was at Pax East, and I'm pretty much expecting a weekend of that, so I'm pretty confident this will be OK in that respect. Also, this is right above the Reading Terminal Market and about a block from Chinatown so get ready for some amazing food. Fourth Street Cookies reduces to like a dollar per cookie starting somewhere around 3-4pm and those things are excellent.
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Sep 27, 2017 19:43
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Ilor posted:OK, but how did you find out about this? Where was this "call for DMs" put out? What organization is running D&D5E at UP? Is that exclusive? What is someone else also wanted to run one or more 5E events? Who has your organization been talking to at PAX? Who is organizing this upub thing, and where did you find out about that? Maybe it's because I'm not on the PAX forums, but I've heard gently caress-all about what's actually going to be happening at the con. And nowhere has there been any kind of event submission process. Or has there? And if there was, where was it? Yeah, I know what you are saying and I agree. I found out about those because I was in the know, essentially. I was already apart of that D&D group because they are the ones that put together convention created content for all of the cons, so if you are not an AL league author, editor, or CCC DM you aren't going to know about it likely. I found out about the unpub because a helpful goon posted it in this very thread. Otherwise I would have totally missed out on that. I have no idea about any of that exclusivity stuff, or what other groups for other games are doing though I am sure they are all doing things similar to what this D&D group is doing. Ilor posted:I get standing in line to play a newly-released board game or whatever, but how's that gonna work for RPGs? Why the gently caress would I stand in line for 2 hours to get into a Call of Cthulhu scenario, for instance? I mean, besides the fact the Call of Cthulhu is loving hilarious, but you take my meaning. It just seems like a horrendous waste of peoples' time. It's essentially like the organizers are offloading the work of, well, organizing the con to the attendees. Maybe it'll all work out for the best, but to my jaundiced eye it looks like a recipe for disaster. I totally agree with you. I hope it goes well, especially as a Philadelphian that would like a major board game con to stay in the city, but from an organization standpoint and someone that hates standing in lines for long periods of time for things like demos or games it gives the appearance of disaster.
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Sep 27, 2017 20:02
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JerikTelorian posted:Also, this is right above the Reading Terminal Market and about a block from Chinatown so get ready for some amazing food. Fourth Street Cookies reduces to like a dollar per cookie starting somewhere around 3-4pm and those things are excellent. It would be more awesome if Reading Terminal shops stayed open past 5pm. There is a lot of great food in the area outside of Reading Terminal but being the weekend and the fact that they are all tiny is going to make things super packed for those going out after the dealer hall closes. Speaking of, I am most use to Gen Con for large cons which is so dealer hall focused. What do most people do at PAXs post-dealer hall? Do they just go home or is there typically tons of gaming outside the dealer space after 6pm?
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Sep 27, 2017 20:08
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Dr. Quarex posted:I have never really been much for "chillin' and meeting friends of friends and Goons" at conventions but you know what, between how much fun I always have at our Gen-Con Din-Dins and having absolutely no clue what I am doing in Philadelphia in the first place, that sounds pretty good to me, too. Well I don't blame you, when you volunteer like 40 hours at gencon, you don't have time to hang out if you actually want to experience the con!
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Sep 27, 2017 20:57
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Well, at the very least I'm stoked about getting away from work, sampling good eats, and hanging out with Goons. I just wonder if I'm going to have fun because of the organization or in spite of the lack thereof. I'd love to run some poo poo, but I suppose GroupMe might just be the fallback on that score.
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Sep 27, 2017 22:04
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 Fellis posted:Well I don't blame you, when you volunteer like 40 hours at gencon, you don't have time to hang out if you actually want to experience the con! Speaking of, I am also interested in what people do at things like PAX. I suspect this being uncharted territory will not help in figuring out what people do, though; playing on your 3DS all afternoon makes more sense if you are at a 3DS-heavy convention after all.
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Sep 27, 2017 22:13
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My experience with the longer lines for panels at pax is that they're pretty much filled with pickup games of mtg or stuff people picked up at the tabletop area.
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Sep 27, 2017 22:54
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So do these lines form and then just sit till the event opens typically? I guess I could see how that works if you are confined to the line for like an hour or so. I guess I was imagining the FFG line at Gencon where you are always moving every 5 minutes or so, but waiting for a videogame instead. The question probably sounds weird, but I have no idea what things are like. Also I'm going to South Korea for vacation so if war breaks out, I'll see y'all at Gencon Hell where the auction reserves are too high, the FFG line is endless, all the good events sold out, and your hotel is a 4-block walk with no skybridge.
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Sep 29, 2017 03:42
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Fellis posted:...Gencon Hell, where the auction reserves are too high, the FFG line is endless, all the good events sold out, and your hotel is a 4-block walk with no skybridge.
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Sep 29, 2017 05:44
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I can't believe he's actually named Chris Cocks. Anyway, if this all ends up being a train wreck, I'll bring Scythe and Pathologic and Pathfinder and we can all play while getting blasted at Strangelove's or something. vv: Oh, so what I said, but purposefully excluding. Alright! 
Bogart fucked around with this message at 00:14 on Oct 4, 2017 |
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Sep 30, 2017 01:05
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The closer this event gets, the more I'm expecting it to be a very lovely experience in contrast to my yearly Gen Con trip. That being said, I'm going with a chill group of friends and if it sucks we'll just buy poo poo from the dealer hall, drink at a local bar, and play a lot of games on our own.
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Oct 3, 2017 20:52
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Agrias120 posted:The closer this event gets, the more I'm expecting it to be a very lovely experience in contrast to my yearly Gen Con trip. That being said, I'm going with a chill group of friends and if it sucks we'll just buy poo poo from the dealer hall, drink at a local bar, and play a lot of games on our own. Granted a lot of them will probably just want to drink. But I am not the only teetotaler congoer on these Forums!
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Oct 3, 2017 22:52
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I too am a teetotaler con-goer!
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Oct 3, 2017 23:59
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Ilor posted:I too am a teetotaler con-goer! Me too! I'm taking my cousin to this cause she lives in Phili but she's not a gamer at all so I'm expecting a pretty chill time. I am not worried at all. The secret to PAX is to not have any expectations and just wing it. You will find fun somewhere.
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Oct 4, 2017 00:21
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Just got an email about "PAX WEST 2017 Omegathon" about PAX Unplugged. They really are doing everything they can to make sure people get the impression they are a mess for this con.
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Oct 6, 2017 18:42
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Yeah I literally stared at that e-mail title, slowly shook my head, and closed the tab. I can hardly wait!
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Oct 7, 2017 03:30
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West of Jersey
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Oct 7, 2017 03:32
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Fellis posted:So do these lines form and then just sit till the event opens typically? I guess I could see how that works if you are confined to the line for like an hour or so. I guess I was imagining the FFG line at Gencon where you are always moving every 5 minutes or so, but waiting for a videogame instead. The question probably sounds weird, but I have no idea what things are like. At PAX has a bunch of different lines, so let me try to summarize! Panel Lines: Panels begin queuing 90 minutes before the panel starts and typically begin seating 7 minutes beforehand. Most panels don't reach capacity, so you don't really need to line up until 10 minutes prior. If you aren't sure if it'll be a full panel or if you should line up soon, ask an enforcer! Exhibitor Lines: These lines are up to the exhibitors in the expo hall, although if the line gets out of hand enforcers will stop people from lining up for a while. I know the PAX merchandise booth typically caps it's line around a 30 minute wait. Tabletop Freeplay Lines: I've never seen a line longer than 8 people for tabletop freeplay - it's usually fairly quick to check out or return a game to the PAX library. RPG Lines: Sign up for RPG freeplay will begin in the morning for games taking place that day. Once signed in you can just come back and check in a 5-10 minutes before your event. This is a new department, but I expect the lines will be fairly painless. Hope that helps!
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Oct 10, 2017 01:31
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This sounds worse with every new post, I can hardly wait!!! Still serious. Though I imagine the chances of me ever attending a second PAX also drops with the presumed accuracy of each new post.
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Oct 10, 2017 03:02
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Dr. Quarex posted:Though I imagine the chances of me ever attending a second PAX also drops with the presumed accuracy of each new post. If you want to go to a boring con with no lines and nothing going on there's always Origins. <3 <3 <3 Lost_Heretic fucked around with this message at 13:58 on Oct 10, 2017 |
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Oct 10, 2017 13:44
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I really hope it goes off well but I am going to try and keep my expectations low. At the very least I get to go to an unpub session and get to show off/get playtesting done for this game I want to publish so I am happy for that. Right now it looks like the D&D group I am with is not going to have their kickstarter fun. The people handling that side of things are apparently going to announce something soon about what they are going to do about it if that happens, but my guess is just a lot less D&D happening at PAXU and some very unhappy DMs that were counting on DMing to cover their hotel and badge.
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Oct 10, 2017 14:48
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Even with low expectations I'm pretty nonplussed right now with how PAX is handling this. If it was another PAX similar to the rest of them, they would be fine because they could just be like "ITS PAX BUT MORE," but instead they're doing something different. It's hard to excite people over a new convention when you don't give people any information and I think that shows in the ticket sales. They can't even sell out the 3 day passes for this event, and their normal PAXs sell out within minutes. People are hesitant to commit to transit, hotel, and badge cost when they have no idea what's happening, and the longer they go without putting information out the less likely they are to get those last minute sales. Then they can be like "well guess board gamers don't want a PAX they didn't show up!" when really the case is poo poo management.
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Oct 10, 2017 15:23
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Lost_Heretic posted:If you want to go to a boring con with no lines and nothing going on there's always Origins. <3 <3 <3
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Oct 10, 2017 15:33
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That's weird, because I've generally had a pretty good time at Origins. It's no GenCon, but there's usually plenty of interesting stuff going on there. But I don't give a gently caress about auctions, so YMMV. 
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Oct 10, 2017 18:18
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 Shots fired
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Oct 10, 2017 18:21
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Origins started the game convention wars when they were formed and they lost it years ago. Don't pick fights with Gen Con. That said, Origins still isn't a bad con, but it definitely feels more like your just going to play games and shop at a large game store more than a real, super fulfilling, convention experience.
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Oct 10, 2017 18:35
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Hey look something that is going on at PAXUP http://www.cascadegames.com/PAX-UP-17.html
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Oct 10, 2017 18:36
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Just to keep the discussion going, do you all think it is reasonable to expect to find a copy of Gloomhaven at PAX U or should I really just try and find some retailer that backed it and should be getting their copies in this November?
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Oct 10, 2017 18:40
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There are a couple Megagames running as well - a Revolutionary War one on Friday night and some kind of future one on Saturday. This has increased my interest. A friend who is an "Enforcer" (Kat a volunteer, with a dumb dumb title that I'm sure never goes to anyone's head) says the schedule is available to them and will be released Soon.
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Oct 10, 2017 18:43
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nesbit37 posted:Just to keep the discussion going, do you all think it is reasonable to expect to find a copy of Gloomhaven at PAX U or should I really just try and find some retailer that backed it and should be getting their copies in this November? You won't find a copy of Gloomhaven at PAX or at a retailer in November
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Oct 10, 2017 18:44
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