Sunday, April 8, 2012

PAX East 2012 Report

PAX East was AWESOME!

First off, the floor space is huge.  It's easily twice the size of the main floor at Gencon.  The people are all enthusiatic and upbeat.  I will try and make it there again next year.

I arrived a little after 9:30am and began setting up.  Luckily I had some time as the floor didn't open up until 10:00.  It took me a little while to get all the terrain set up the way I wanted it and the cheat sheets for all three teams filled out.  After the floor opened I spent some time answering questions and talking to people.  Sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 one of the people I was talking to mentioned he had brought a team of mechs with him.  From that point on the day took off.  We started a game right then and there which quickly morphed into a five-way scrum as another con attendee showed up with a set of mechs.  This game gave way into another and then a third.  We had several people cycle in and out over the course of these games.  It seemed like we always had a crowd of observers and people curious about the game.  It also seemed like every other person I spoke with was a backer on Kickstarter.  Interest and support for this game is very high at the moment.  Let's hope it continues onto and past the publication of the game.  I managed to keep going until 4:00 when I ran out of steam.  Joshua took over for me and I went for a walk to relax and recharge.  I came back around 4:30 to watch and answer questions for people.  I jumped back into the game when Joshua left.  We wrapped things up sometime after 7:00.  Frank, Vlad, and another player -- who's name I unfortunately don't remember -- helped me clear the table and put things away.  Thanks guys, I hope to game with you again next year.

At some point Jerry Holkins, Tycho from Penny Arcade, showed up and watched us play.  Apparently he's a huge fan of the game and is really looking forward to playing.  I damn near crapped my pants when I realized who  he was but I gathered my wits and talked to him for a bit.  He came back three other times during the day to watch and talk with Joshua Newman.

I had an immense amount of fun.  I'd like to say thank you to everyone who participated, who asked questions, and those who just watched.  You made my day fly by and enjoyable beyond belief.

If you're a reader and have photos of the table from any point during the day, please send me a link.  I forgot my camera yesterday and I'm still kicking myself for that.

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great time. I am insanely jealous since I couldn't be there.

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    1. You're on the other side of the country, right?

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  2. It's so awesome Tycho came by and watched. It'd be great if there was some kind of coverage on PA after PAX is done, especially if it makes it on PATV!

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    1. At one point someone doing some sort of podcast came by and recorded part of the game. Luckily Joshua was right there and I redirected him when he started asking questions.

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  3. I had a blast! I don't know if you ran my game or not (unfortunately I joined after all the introductions between players were made, and I hopped in for the place of someone who was leaving).

    Got to play the black colored swarm of little guys that was on the table on Saturday, and had an absolute blast. I'm considering my own small swarmy type army! It was so much fun.

    Anyways, a few photos are up here, as well as my first construction (not a mech, but a micro sized ship. Not enough lego bricks yet! My collection was sold in a garage sale by my parents after I left for school, so now I'm stuck slowly rebuilding my collection). The link to the flickr is; http://www.flickr.com/photos/62851920@N03/

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    1. Was the game run by someone in a black "Flash" t-shirt? Then that was me.

      You did a great job with that army.

      Don't feel bad about not having much Lego. Years ago I gave my collection away to a friend with kids. I wasn't using it at the time.

      Thanks for the link! Do you mind if I post them in this blog?

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