Each year PAX East is a unique experience that has some fantastic qualities and, to varying degrees some incredibly frustrating qualities. This year was no different on either front but, the fantastic qualities were different than years past.
For the first three years of PAX East I had a regular attendee badge. In 2013 I built and ran a booth for my alma mater, and in 2014 showcased two games at the second generation of my alma mater’s booth. 2015 I helped with the Indie Megabooth. 2016 I spent my weekend working the Harmonix booth. So for four PAX Easts (one PAX Prime) I have had an exhibitor pass and have been able to sort of peruse the show floor before/after the crowds run amuk. Since I don’t typically play games at PAX (I much more enjoy trying them in a more solitary setting) it’s nice to have the quiet while seeing the new hotness.
This year I was neither exhibitor nor attendee. This year I was ‘special guest’, which is apparently what people participating on panels are referred to as. Finally, after years of only feeling comfortable on a stage I was getting something resembling that opportunity at PAX.
I’ll talk about the panel in a bit but, I want to start by providing context on my expectations this PAX. I wasn’t really planning on being at PAX. My health hasn’t been great, and large amounts of disparate noise, combined with lights has been making me feel nauseous. It’s apparently a mix of stress and anxiety with a hint of “severe underbite” issues on sprinkled on top.
So yeah, wasn’t planning on doing much. Go to my panel, maybe stop by a few booths and be gone. Of course that didn’t happen. I lack self control when it comes to wanting to be around people who make me feel happy. Friday was fairly tame — got there in the evening and mosied around the Made in MA party that night before grabbing a train home.
Saturday is where things pick up. We’re getting our panel ready. The panel (which will be on Youtube in the coming weeks) was Battle Decks: Game Pitch Karaoke. This was the second year it was being presented but, the first year I was involved. The panel was, in a word, fantastic. Prepping it was incredibly stressful but hearing that people thought we had struck a comedy goldmine made me feel great. Our presenters ranged from legendary moderators of Scorehero dot com, Code Knights (and some guy from finance!) from Harmonix, the founder of Petricore, a professional soda drinker, and the director of ID@Xbox. I won’t spoil much of the panel but I think you’re gonna like it!
Sunday was meaningful in a way I could never have imagined. I volunteered at the AFK room. It was very nice to end the show on that note, and while I wasn’t sure how intense it could get, I wasn’t expecting it to be ‘volunteer nap time’ either. I can’t go into much detail but, the interactions I had with people needing to find some quiet in that room really made me feel good about myself, because I (maybe wrongly?) felt as if I was helping them. And that’s pretty cool.
Also I got a physical copy of Rez Infinite so that’s pretty damn awesome.
Oh and some random person stopped me in the hall to admire my Keyblade tattoo. Also cool.
