PAX Australia

[ZePancakes]

It's been mentioned before, but I think PAXAus is suffering due the conflict between it and SDCC. Edit: Suffering is too strong a word for the situation but there remains a conflict of interest for some vendors.

[Lord Chrusher]

Yeah the Expo Hall seems a little less than epic. Out of the three majors only Nintendo has a proper booth. Microsoft technically has a booth but it just a sign saying 'Come see a presentation about the Xbone in main theatre at these times'. Sony is missing in action. None of the major publishers are there and there is a weird mix of non Australian developers. There does seem to be a lot of companies hawking gaming headsets.

I enjoyed going today but I am sad I have a three day pass not a one day pass. I would feel bad I had travelled a long way for it.

[nicholasmc1]

GUYS!
It was the best con ever, want to know why?

[Lord Chrusher]

Why?

[nicholasmc1]

Because I was there.

[Lord Chrusher]

I will not go as far as saying it was the best convention ever but I would agree that your presence improved my experience.

I am going to try and play some Magic tomorrow.

[nicholasmc1]

Next year I wish to be there showing off my games and not the shit I did at uni. Fingers crossed.

[JackSlack]

I will note Jerry repeated the phrase used on the Facebook, "We won't say it'll be at this time of year". It's clear they too feel they fucked up the timing. In fact, a few cues they offered seemed to suggest they too are unhappy with how PAX AUS has run.

I feel they have one more chance to get it right.

[Lord Hosk]

The rumbling I am hearing comes down to "this sort of hits all the points that prime and east hit but it does them to a much lower level and the few things people want to do, only a quarter of the people get to because EVERYONE wants to do them"

I heard that over a thousand people got turned away from the Friday magic tournament, and a similar thing happened for the PA Q and A.

Is that accurate?

[nicholasmc1]

OZ Comic Con had the same failings to my knowledge. Granted I didn't go to that.

[Lord Chrusher]

Yeah, issue maybe that we have heard how amazing PAX is and we are expecting the full grown Prime (or East) for the first time in Australia. On some level expecting the same scale of convention in Australia as in the United States is a bit much as Australia has less than a tenth the population of the United States (admittedly the metro population of Melbourne is a bit larger than that of Seattle).

[Lord Hosk]

From my perspective there are two big problems and a minor one.

1. People from all over the US 80% and Canada15% and to a lesser extent, the world5%, attend both Prime and East, I suspect Pax AUS is about 80% Aussi, 15% Kiwi, 5% the world so your 1/10th the potential audience holds up really well.

2. From what I understand, Gaming in Australia gets a pretty heavy hand from the government. Its more difficult to get games in, and those that do cost a lot more because of heavy taxation. So the gaming industry just isnt going to make as big push to support a small market that is more difficult to make a profit in.

Which leads to
2.5 while PAX is a cross culture geek thing, it is centered heavily on the gaming culture. Kind of like PATV isnt explicitly a video game web channel.
So without that strong game industry core.

3. Over saturation of the con market. There are only so many people to go to cons, and there are A LOT of them. The industry just gets overloaded, people would go to a con to see the new magic thing, or the new D&D, to play the beta of that cool game... Now the industry is more AT cons rather than using cons as an event.

[Duckay]

I had a bit of fun just sitting at a table with a magic deck and looking expectantly at people to come and play casually. But you know, I can play Magic anywhere.

[Lord Chrusher]

Just a reminder that today is the PAX Australia LoadingReadyMeetUp (PALUp). We are meeting on the steeps of the State Library of Victoria at 5:30 pm today. If you don't know me look for someone with a beard in dark frame glasses, a brown DBFH6 shirt and the same blue jumper that Jer has.

Follow me on twitter (@korandder) for any updates. After we meet up we will likely grab some food and then go for a drink.

[Duckay]

I'll be heading there from the hotel rather than from PAX so this might be an adventure.

[Lord Chrusher]

If you can't make it to the main PALUp I am going to try and go to the Childs Play panel.

[nicholasmc1]

I'll be heading there from the hotel rather than from PAX so this might be an adventure.

Wheres you're hotel I can supply directions?

[Lord Chrusher]

I have decided that there will also be a impromptu PALUp after the Child's Play panel at 3:30 outside the Wombat Theatre.

[Duckay]

It's actually less than 2.5 kilometers away; I walked further than that to get dinner on Thursday, so I'm not really worried. I can get there.

[nicholasmc1]

If anyones lost or needs to find us pm me.

[phlip]

Ugh, this whole con has been a massive pile of failure. As I mentioned before, there's so few things of interest going on that what does exist is massively overbooked. After the Magic tournament I mentioned that I didn't get into, later that day I managed to get into an MMA draft, in which I didn't open anything of worth, managed to build a pretty nice deck but then didn't get to play with it properly. I heard stories of the same draft scheduled tonight being already sold out 2-3 hours before it started. And then to top it off, I managed to not make it to the PALup, being the thing I was most looking forward to this weekend, due to a combination of me underestimating the overcongestion of the tram and my own exhaustion (mostly the latter... I'm very unfit, and walking back and forth between everything and standing in queues wore out my legs pretty bad).

I don't think I'll even bother to go in tomorrow... The only reason I would is for the Magic panel, being the only thing on the schedule I give a toss about, and I really don't feel like standing for half an hour in a queue out the front of the building, for the privilege of going straight to spending another half hour in a queue for the panel, just too be told they're full and I should have gotten there sooner. Which is pretty much guaranteed is what's going to happen. And if all there is for me there is sitting in the corner playing DS all day, then I can do that at home.

[Duckay]

Phlip, we are still in the city if you would like to join us.

[ZePancakes]

Phlip that is really sad to hear. I think that a lot have high expectations of this event, being liquered up with the idea of a con equivalent to that of what the USA produces. If what has been reported is true then PA are fully aware of the fact that it has missed the high mark they pride themselves upon. This is usually the reason why I don't go to cons often, it's the company that really counts. I hope this doesn't discourage LRR coming down (if they were doing for PAX and the rest)

[nicholasmc1]

Happy Lord Hosk?

[Lord Chrusher]

Sadly we forgot about taking pictures until it was just nicholasmc1 and myself. JackSlack, Ducky, (Jack) and nicholasmc1 met at the Library, ate some food at the food court at Melbourne Central across the road, had a drink at a pub then went to nicholasmc1's flat and hung out for a while.

I saw EikoandMog this morning on the train in. I saw philip and a couple other people whose forum names escape me after the Child's Play panel.

In retrospect we should have organised the meet up for just outside the PAX AUS venue and not in the CBD. I should have done a recon of the area last weekend and picked out a meeting place.

My opinion of PAX AUS has improved. I think it has potential. There is stuff to do at PAX AUS but you need to seek it out. I felt I have had a PAX experience - meeting people (including Kristin and Jamie from Child's Play), queuing for things endlessly, the Cookie Brigade, playing Magic. Admittedly, there is a lot I haven't experienced which I could have.

I am not sure I will go to PAX tomorrow. Sleeping in and an astronomy social event tomorrow afternoon are higher on my priorities.