PAX East 4/11 - 4/13 Presented by Rampant Fronting

[The_Meach]

I...just got back. Triumph would've had a field day.

However. The 'Development Process' panel was great and worth every minute we stood in line.

Anybody else there today?

[Master]

Triumph would've had a field day.

You damn right.

I was there for about 2 hours just to say hi to a bunch of people I know and couldn't take any more:

Fat Chicks (Do geeky guys have a morbidly obese fetish?)
Obese Dudes that feel the need to rub up against everybody or can't help it (get your fucking stomach stapled already!)
Nasty-Ass Body Odor
Geeks without social skills
Cosplayers
People without a clue. Period.

Man, this was twice as bad as E3, because they let ANY loser in, not just losers with credentials.

Highlights:

Playing Doom3 on a bitchin' NVidia System
Lanwerx freeplay
Laughing at how horrible the people who entered the tourneys were. I wouldv'e entered some tourneys but I brough my girlfriend and she was more bored than I was for the most part, and the geeks were creeping her out a bit.
TONS of Xbox games on Display (Cmon Nintendo, you no-show bastards)
Playable UbiSoft games (including GREAT PoP2 video)
Matrix Online playable
Some neat looking table-top RPGs.

All in all, if this is your thing and these are your people, you were a pig in shit. More power to you.

[The_Meach]

Yeah, I'm perfectly comfortable w/my geekhood. I collect comics. I buy games I'll never play. I carry on conversations about the continuity problems of AVP. And I've even been to Friday Night Magic.

But PAX was creeping me out. I've been to dozens of comic book conventions. But this...this was...

About the only thing more creepy could only be an anime convention and if PAX is any indication I won't be going to one of those. !!!

Say what you will about our hobby but every single stereotype was on display today. And those stereotypes? Scary. Attendees were rude, smelly, unsocial, unkempt and just generally unpleasant. This wasn't everyone but it was by FAR the majority.

Anyways, it totally sucked waiting 2 hrs to get in (what is this, E3?) even after pre-registering and showing up 1 hr after the doors were supposed to have been open. I guess having 4 ppl (!!!) checking everyone in will do that. But it meant I missed the State of the Industry panel. Which was the only real reason I wanted to go.

Guild Wars was cool (and many props to the ppl running their...corner...they were awfully patient/polite). Tomorrow I've gotta play Jade Empire just to say I did, try and catch some more panels (what's The Wizard?) and hopefully get some 16-player Halo in during freeplay.

[Master]

The funniest thing was, they had everybody that pre-registered get into big lines and stand in alphabetical order to get it.

I didn't pre-register, so I got to go to the empty (literally) non-pre registered table and pay and go right in. I also ended up getting a goody bag while many people that pre-registered didn't. Poor organization, but how were they to know it would be so packed. The venue was too small, and it is a large venue.

[James]

It's Year 1, stuff like this is expected if no less aggravating. I'm betting we get weeks of columns out of this one, one of which is a nice, long apology.

They said they had about 2000 people pre-reg, I wonder if they really knew what 2000 people was like. Somehow I'm guessing that this has been one of those "learning experiences", the kind that's best to avoid.

Still would like to have gone, but it's over there and I'm waaaaay over here. If I can only cross the country once a year it'll be for E3.

James

[The_Meach]

Day 2 was much more laid back. Ppl seemed too worn out to be much of a hassle and the pushing/shoving just wasn't there like Day 1.

Breaking Into the Industry and Multiplayer Gaming were very good panels.

A learning experience for the PA crew for sure but that's good b/c next year will probably be a lot smoother.

[Diff-chan]

What is with people who have such bad hygiene, especially game nerds? I smell BO all the time at EB. Did their parents just never stress the importance of deodorant to them or something? I dont get it.

[Melf]

Little off topic, but does anybody know of any decient game conventions that come near the Milwaukee/Chicago area?

It may not be that close to you but the first East Coast Gaming Expo will be held on Sept. 11 in Reading, PA. It's free too.

[Roufuss]

What is with people who have such bad hygiene, especially game nerds? I smell BO all the time at EB. Did their parents just never stress the importance of deodorant to them or something? I dont get it.

Holla.

My local EB smells like that all the time too =X For some reason, they can't seem to dress right, take care of their skin, OR display proper hygeine.

Really now, how hard can it possibly be?

[Dipstick]

It may not be that close to you but the first East Coast Gaming Expo will be held on Sept. 11 in Reading, PA. It's free too.

Got a link or other information? I am about four hours north and wondering if it would be worth the drive or not.

My local EB smells like that all the time too =X For some reason, they can't seem to dress right, take care of their skin, OR display proper hygeine.

Really now, how hard can it possibly be?

Pretty damn hard when they do not give a shit. Why should they; society is going to shun them regardless of the fact if they smell or not. Taking a shower is not going to help them be less anti-social -- relative to society, their problems are much deeper than that.

-Dippy