PAX East 2013!

SOLD
$10 off what ever the cover rate was, includes shippng to anywhere in the US. According to their sight that would be $70 - $10 = $60.

Edit, Blind gets first dibs since he asked first.

Edit 2: Coffee Grinders need not apply without proper references.

Curse has announced their party which happens to be at the Seaport. Free entry it seems, though they also seem to want you to RSVP. It conflicts with Sanshee, but it also goes until 2am. I may do two parties in one night.

Whee! Drunken shenanigans and other such revelry.

PS. Did we ever figure out a Thursday night thing? Or rather, something for those of us that won't be settled until roughly 9pmish?

My pass came in the mail today. I know some people were concerned about their own deliveries a few days ago.

ccesarano wrote:

PS. Did we ever figure out a Thursday night thing? Or rather, something for those of us that won't be settled until roughly 9pmish?

I don't think we have, so I'm going to throw this into the mix:

Dinner @ La Familia Giorgio's (Dinner Menu) in the North End starting between 6-7 PM on Thursday. It's a really good "family style" Italian restaurant which means large portions for a fair price (a single entree will easily feed 2-3 people). We pick a few items from the menu, devour them, then go roll somewhere else for games or whatnot.

Now the caveats:

1) This is in the North End which isn't close to the BCEC. It's a 30 minute trip by foot or public transit from the BCEC according to Google Maps. Obviously your mileage may vary depending on where you're staying. In theory, it's far enough away that we might not hit other large groups.
2) I'm not 100% sure how many people will be around for dinner on Thursday. I'd like to get a headcount if possible before trying to make any sort of commitment (being the North End and a group outing it would be wise to have a reservation made). I can work up a Google spreadsheet if people are game, but I would like to contact the restaurant by Tuesday at the latest. I expect we're not going to need a private room for this but if it seems like that would be in our best interest, I'll look into it.

Thoughts? Other suggestions?

Well, I won't be training in until about 8pmish, and then I gotta walk or taxi to the Renaissance where my friend SHOULD already be there so I can drop my sh*t at the hotel room. I probably won't be good to go until 9pmish, and I know I'd prefer something in walking distance (though for me, 30 minutes is fine for walking distance).

In case anyone wants it, I've recycled ccesarano's nicely formatted Google spreadsheet schedule and updated it with the new theaters (plus whatever Sphinx is). Here's my schedule if anyone wants to use it as a template. Also, the Guidebook mobile app updated with the schedule for anyone who uses that app.

EDIT: Guidebook has the map up. The Indie Mega Booth this year is huge! Also, they integrated the QR code scavenger hunt into the app which is cool.

Also also, I added a sheet to the board game spreadsheet for handheld / mobile games. I figured that made more sense than cluttering up the board game sheet or making a new document.

ccesarano wrote:

I probably won't be good to go until 9pmish, and I know I'd prefer something in walking distance (though for me, 30 minutes is fine for walking distance).

I'd hope by 9 PM we're somewhere playing games. I don't really know of a good space for that so someone else needs to run point on that I think. I'd offer up our apartment but we're a good 50-60 minutes away by public transit and that's assuming you don't miss the bus

Westin and Seaport are both going to be running board games Thursday night, according to the PAX East forums. Westin was quite crowded by time I arrived last year, but if it's split between two hotels it might be better.

I'll pack myself something small that I can just snack on after the trip, then. Or, if I come out of South Station, I'll just snag something from a food joint there (I would hope they'd at least have the McDonalds open that late if nothing else). Assuming South Station is the place I'm thinking of. I normally get out on the first train station and then take a taxi over, but apparently there is a much closer station that I walked by constantly my first year out.

The wife is in for the PokeCrawl, so I've got Thursday night to myself. Totally down for North End Italian (and maybe a swing by Mike's afterward?)

"Leave the meeple, take the cannoli"

shoptroll wrote:

EDIT: Guidebook has the map up.

Is it just me or is the Tabletop area significantly smaller this year?

OK, I'm officially a crazy person. I just counted the little squares in the Tabletop area for 2012 vs. 2013:

2012 = 720 squares
2013 = 672 squares

Last year felt kind of cramped with all the D&D Next reserved tables, tournaments, etc. and now it's going to be smaller overall. I don't like this trend.

Is there a map available outside of Guidebook so I can see what's going to be in the Expo Hall? Every time I download an app onto my phone it flips out because it doesn't have space. Even if I try to put it on my SD Card.

I can try one more time, but a full monitor map would be easier I think.

EDIT:

Nevermind. The PAX East forums are useful.

Level 0/1
Level 2/3
Expo Hall

I'll likely be editing this again once I get a look at the floor.

They used to put the expo maps on the site. It's weird the exhibitor list and maps aren't up yet but they're available in Guidebook.

Thanks to ccesarano for the maps.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/O9delt3.jpg)

Show floor is much bigger. Food court/queue room is smaller (which it needed to be), but shrinking tabletop just sucks.

padriec wrote:

Show floor is much bigger

And that's even with shoving Red 5 into a dedicated room instead of their massive Firefall booth. Although the indie mega booth is taking up a ton more space than last year.

I'm guessing the Square-Enix and Deep Silver booths are next to each other to promote the new Dead Island?

shoptroll wrote:
padriec wrote:

Show floor is much bigger

And that's even with shoving Red 5 into a dedicated room instead of their massive Firefall booth. Although the indie mega booth is taking up a ton more space than last year.

I'm guessing the Square-Enix and Deep Silver booths are next to each other to promote the new Dead Island?

I'm kind of hoping Deep Silver will have some of their new THQ acquisitions as well, though doubtful.

Nintendo is located in a different spot, which has me a bit disappointed. Traditionally they've been around the escalators/stairs in, which gives them ample space near the wall for lines. The lines typically moved quickly for the 3DS as well.

Don't know what this new placement will do for crowds and lines.

Capcom seems to have a rather small booth as well. I was hoping they might have a larger space to show off Remember Me, but we might be lucky to have the setup Dragon's Dogma had last year.

Interesting that they moved ACAM to the first floor, looks like they've got a slightly smaller space this year.

I'm really wondering what Bethesda is up to with their three separate booths...

McIrishJihad wrote:

I'm really wondering what Bethesda is up to with their three separate booths...

TES:O, Prey 2, Fallout 4? If the Boston rumors for F4 are true, I can't think of a more appropriate announcement location.

Note zero presence from Take 2/Irrational or WB Games/Turbine. I'm sure therein lies a tale.

padriec wrote:

Show floor is much bigger. Food court/queue room is smaller (which it needed to be), but shrinking tabletop just sucks.

Yeah, this blows. The exhibition gall is eating so much space, I hope it pays a lot of the bills. Shrinking tabletop is probably going to cause a mess for my favorite part of PAX.

rabbit wrote:

Note zero presence from Take 2/Irrational or WB Games/Turbine. I'm sure therein lies a tale.

Well, except for the panels that IGLevine's giving..

rabbit wrote:

WB Games/Turbine

Didn't they just announce a new expansion for DDO?

Irrational isn't too surprising given the huge presence they had last year and Infinite launches on the last day of the show, it seems like their Q&A session is probably a better use of their marketing budget.

Harmonix also doesn't have a booth this year it looks, although I think they've never had a large presence in the hall.

shoptroll wrote:
McIrishJihad wrote:

I'm really wondering what Bethesda is up to with their three separate booths...

TES:O, Prey 2, Fallout 4? If the Boston rumors for F4 are true, I can't think of a more appropriate announcement location.

Oh snap, totally forgot about a possible Fallout 4 announcement.

I love the Expo Hall, so I don't mind that it has more space. But if I could bulldoze the PC area for more tabletop, I would.

There's also no EA booth. PopCap and BioWare are there, but no mothership.

I wonder if GDC starting the Monday afterward is an issue for some of the bigger companies?

Demyx wrote:

But if I could bulldoze the PC area for more tabletop, I would.

Shush you :p (I don't think it would hurt to downsize it a little, since it never seemed to be full last year)

Demyx wrote:

I love the Expo Hall, so I don't mind that it has more space. But if I could bulldoze the PC area for more tabletop, I would.

You monster!

You can play PC games at home!

I suppose I can also play tabletop games at home, but that's clearly not the point.

Demyx wrote:

You can play PC games at home!

Equal representation! Besides, what if I wanted to try Crysis 3 without melting my computer?

I suppose I can also play tabletop games at home, but that's clearly not the point.

Yeah but you can't play games we don't have at home.

Atras wrote:
padriec wrote:

Show floor is much bigger. Food court/queue room is smaller (which it needed to be), but shrinking tabletop just sucks.

Yeah, this blows. The exhibition gall is eating so much space, I hope it pays a lot of the bills. Shrinking tabletop is probably going to cause a mess for my favorite part of PAX.

Maybe some of the tabletop free play will spill over into the food court area. That place is always a ghost town.

Keep in mind that there are plans to expand the BCEC at some point. Hopefully that means tabletop won't keep shrinking indefinitely.

Demyx wrote:

You can play PC games at home!

I suppose I can also play tabletop games at home, but that's clearly not the point.

Yup. The idea of going to a Con to pursue solitary gaming is just anathema to me.

shoptroll wrote:

Equal representation! Besides, what if I wanted to try Crysis 3 without melting my computer?

While you're playing Crysis 3, I'll be over in tabletop buying ALL THE THINGS.

And then try to get you to carry them back to the car :p

Yeah but you can't play games we don't have at home.

Exactly, that's a great reason for my unreasonable demand.

Tanglebones wrote:

Yup. The idea of going to a Con to pursue solitary gaming is just anathema to me.

I was going to say something like that, but then I wasn't sure if that's the PC area they use for tournaments? Playing a tournament at a con makes sense, even if it's not something I'm into, but playing a single player game or even an online game doesn't make much sense to me.