PAX2008?

[Zarcath]

Penny Arcade Expo? Has anyone gone to one or thinking of going this year? Opinions? I hear it's supposed to be the new consumer tradeshow now that E3 is lackluster.

[RiskyChris]

I've wanted to go the last two years, but the fuckers have the thing planted way the fuck on the West coast. I think 2008 PAX is the first weekend of classes for me, so I will likely miss it again this year.

=(

[Aamina]

I've been. Its all right. Lot of circlejerking to WoW/Pokemon/whatever is in right then. As the years have gone by its become more and more crowded. Like ridiculously crowded to the point where its not cool at all to be there. Imagine that time you played EQ for like 2 days straight and didn't shower or put on deodorant. Now imagine you packed an auditorium full of 10,000 of you. That's what its like to be in there. I don't remember if it was last year or the year before it but they had to "satellite" some of us which was gay as hell. Each year they get a bigger event place, in their defense, but each year its like they increase the size by 20% only to have 150% more people come. This year will be even crazier I'm sure.

[Blumpster]

So do mega nerds just not wear deodorant? Everyone always says those places smell like BO, but I mean, who doesn't wear deoderant these days? And even if you don't, the smell of your fabric softener or something should be masking it...unless you smell like sour milk. Man, some guy in high school smelled like sour fucking milk after PE and the whole fucking locker room...oh man, I think I actually vomited a couple times it was so bad. HOW DO YOU SMELL LIKE SOUR MILK!? BO is normally a sweet smell...but that shit, oh god.

[RiskyChris]

Originally Posted by Blumpster

So do mega nerds just not wear deodorant? Everyone always says those places smell like BO, but I mean, who doesn't wear deoderant these days? And even if you don't, the smell of your fabric softener or something should be masking it...unless you smell like sour milk. Man, some guy in high school smelled like sour fucking milk after PE and the whole fucking locker room...oh man, I think I actually vomited a couple times it was so bad. HOW DO YOU SMELL LIKE SOUR MILK!? BO is normally a sweet smell...but that shit, oh god.

Back in the MMO hayday I learned very quickly what kinds of odors the body could produce. Luckily my friends and I quickly didn't let that habit go past a week before returning to normal showering habits.

And fabric softener? You assume these people wash their clothes, why?

[Zippygoose]

Originally Posted by Aamina

I've been. Its all right. Lot of circlejerking to WoW/Pokemon/whatever is in right then. As the years have gone by its become more and more crowded. Like ridiculously crowded to the point where its not cool at all to be there. Imagine that time you played EQ for like 2 days straight and didn't shower or put on deodorant. Now imagine you packed an auditorium full of 10,000 of you. That's what its like to be in there. I don't remember if it was last year or the year before it but they had to "satellite" some of us which was gay as hell. Each year they get a bigger event place, in their defense, but each year its like they increase the size by 20% only to have 150% more people come. This year will be even crazier I'm sure.

I went to PAX2007 and this pretty much sums it up entirely. The expo hall was the best part of the event. Getting to play PotBS, Warhammer and the like was fun. Also getting to chat with the devs on those games, especially PotBS since they are based out of Seattle was cool as well.

As for the rest of the stuff? A big meh. I couldn't get over people flying across the country to come sit in a room and play their DSes in bean bag chairs. Also, the console and PC gaming was almost always a very long wait-and can't I just do that on my couch?

The people smell, they are all wearing the same "unique" gaming t-shirts that make them feel special. Now that I think about it this could have a conference for teenage insecurity.

Oh and the D&D 4.0 ruleset discussion was interesting.

[Hateyou]

I'm assuming Pax is just like Gencon. Gencon smells like ass. There is a reason those nerds don't get laid. They dress like fucking dorks, don't cut their fucking hair and smell like straight BO. It really pisses me off, but hey, checking out upcoming games is pretty cool.

[Nakilos]

I remember going to some M:TG conventions when I was a teenager and I went to some gaming expo, forget what it was. Either way, I never understood why everyone smelled so bad. It made me uncomfortable, like by being there I would catch their nerd stink. I know that sour milk smell, I don't even know how people produce it.

I mean, I readily admit I'm a nerd. I'm ok with it. However, I do bathe. I actually care about looking somewhat presentable to the world. I don't know why these people don't.

[...]

heh at A-kon a few years ago they had a febreze patrol. They would walk around with big tanks of febreze and warn you if you stank, and if you they caught you a second time they'd spray the shit out of you. They even advertised on their TV's that bathing was mandatory, and how soap was your friend.

Of course A-kon most likely sports more womens than a normal convention, so they most likely complained at the wall of manstank.

[Dis]

What I learned from this thread:

Gaming conventions stink...Literally stink.

I had wished I could attend one of these things, but after seeing the comments, I think I will pass.

[Hateyou]

Originally Posted by Dis

What I learned from this thread:

Gaming conventions stink...Literally stink.

I had wished I could attend one of these things, but after seeing the comments, I think I will pass.

They're cool to go to. Talking to devs and some fantasy artists you've seen all your life is awesome. Seeing new board games and video games months or years before they are out is cool as hell.

The nerds are the only bad thing, and it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just once in a while you'll be walking around and get behind some D&D dork who reeks. I would just get out from behind them and walk a different direction.

[Zippygoose]

Originally Posted by Hateyou

They're cool to go to. Talking to devs and some fantasy artists you've seen all your life is awesome. Seeing new board games and video games months or years before they are out is cool as hell.

The nerds are the only bad thing, and it's not as bad as it sounds. It's just once in a while you'll be walking around and get behind some D&D dork who reeks. I would just get out from behind them and walk a different direction.

Yeah, pretty much this. The people to stay away from are generally sitting in the bean bag chairs being anti-social or playing various table top games with each other. The thing to realize is that they fear social interaction, which is what I find funny about them being at an expo in the first place. It's an event worth doing at least once. I may go to PAX for a day this year, but only because I live across town.

[Zarcath]

I never quite understood the bad hygene thing. Yeah, at some point in my early gaming, I did those stink marathons, but I was only at home. Right around high school you should start to, or at least be aware, of how to upkeep yourself.

If anything, my past stink marathons is what gives me such a clean phobia now. I shower daily (I can't believe I have to quantify this, it should be a normal thing but some dudes don't shower for a few days at a time), and sometimes even if I already showered and I just feel really dirty, or my teeth feel gross, i'll get up from WoW or whatever and take care of it.

Last anime con I went too was gross. And the really gross thing is, it wasn't just dudes, it was chicks too. If you're going out to a crowded packed area you'd think you'd have presence of mind to wear deodorant before going, or at least showering. Dudes I can forgive, but chicks? Thats not cool at all.

[Lonin]

I think I may be going this year. I've been wanting to go for awhile now, but never really got around to it.

As for the nerd stink thing, I just got back from a pretty big Intel lan with around 250 nerds packed into a warm room for 3 days straight. Surprisingly I didn't really get any bad smells the entire time I was there. Then again, I pretty much just sat at my computer most of the time around the same people.

[Aamina]

I would recommend going to at least one convention but again, its going to be crazier if anything this year. I still haven't decided if I'm going to go or not again. Some of the discussions ARE cool but you sometimes wonder...is it worth the traveltime for 3 days of being annoyed to hell by "t3h l33t" gamer in front of you at an exhibit talking too loud with his friend who hasn't showered in 5 days? I'd say its worth it once to get an idea...but this years PAX is going to be even more packed than last year.