filthgrinder
First Post
I was at PAX as well, and I had a great time with the D&D events offered.
Just to explain a few things, the event was really crowded and VERY well attended. I arrived about an hour before the keynot on friday and the main theater was already full, so I missed out on that. The WotC booth in the EXPO Hall was just what you'd expect, a "show" booth that displays products, has a quick event to get people, and your chance to talk quickly to folks. They were also friendly and directed you to the Organized play rooms. WotC had sign-ups for a "Learn to Play" event, D&D Encounters week 1 and 2, and the Dark Sun Delve. There was also a special Delve event for the con, which didn't have a sign-up but ran almost hourly.
They were SWAMPED! I think this was basically a space thing. All the tables in their rooms were PACKED. They ran out of DMs, space, and supplies. I signed up for the Dark Sun and Encounters 1 on Friday afternoon (for friday night and saturday) and figured I'd talked with my friends there and see what other times I had in my schedule to sign up for more, however, by friday night they were completely booked. Gabe (Mike K.) mentioned on the PA Panel saturday that he couldn't even get in a game friday night when he went to check it out. Also, there were tons of tables in the "free play" tabletop rooms filled with ongoing RPGA events as well.
They had a GIANT presence at the con, and an EXTREMELY heavy turn out of people wanting to get in. The back cover of the program (which every attendee got) was a full back cover ad for the D&D encounters program. They gave out a 50% off one month DDI coupon. They had stations in the organized play room with the character builder for people to use. The Save My Game panel was full, and a good line of people with questions (they didn't need to go to the internet for questions). On the nonD&D side the free swag bag that everyone picked up with their passes contained a deck of magic cards. There was a really big Magic area, they had xbox360s with Magic up for people to play. There was also a TON of Magic being played. At every line for a panel you could see people sitting in line playing Magic. There was a ton of Magic being played in the beanbag chair lounge as well. My girl and I were like, "wow, I didn't know Magic was this popular". I also overheard some people who were lapsed players talking about it and looking through the free decks they got.
The only negatives were ones that effected the entire con in general. Space. The con was REALLY crowded. Mike and Jerry acknowledged it in all their panels and said that plans for a bigger place for next year are already in the works. I think everyone under estimated the turnout/response. They sold out the con, but they sold it out to people who wanted to be there, the entire time. So you had a huge throng of people who wanted to experience it all, so everything was crowded and packed.
However, my girl and I had a really great time.
Just to explain a few things, the event was really crowded and VERY well attended. I arrived about an hour before the keynot on friday and the main theater was already full, so I missed out on that. The WotC booth in the EXPO Hall was just what you'd expect, a "show" booth that displays products, has a quick event to get people, and your chance to talk quickly to folks. They were also friendly and directed you to the Organized play rooms. WotC had sign-ups for a "Learn to Play" event, D&D Encounters week 1 and 2, and the Dark Sun Delve. There was also a special Delve event for the con, which didn't have a sign-up but ran almost hourly.
They were SWAMPED! I think this was basically a space thing. All the tables in their rooms were PACKED. They ran out of DMs, space, and supplies. I signed up for the Dark Sun and Encounters 1 on Friday afternoon (for friday night and saturday) and figured I'd talked with my friends there and see what other times I had in my schedule to sign up for more, however, by friday night they were completely booked. Gabe (Mike K.) mentioned on the PA Panel saturday that he couldn't even get in a game friday night when he went to check it out. Also, there were tons of tables in the "free play" tabletop rooms filled with ongoing RPGA events as well.
They had a GIANT presence at the con, and an EXTREMELY heavy turn out of people wanting to get in. The back cover of the program (which every attendee got) was a full back cover ad for the D&D encounters program. They gave out a 50% off one month DDI coupon. They had stations in the organized play room with the character builder for people to use. The Save My Game panel was full, and a good line of people with questions (they didn't need to go to the internet for questions). On the nonD&D side the free swag bag that everyone picked up with their passes contained a deck of magic cards. There was a really big Magic area, they had xbox360s with Magic up for people to play. There was also a TON of Magic being played. At every line for a panel you could see people sitting in line playing Magic. There was a ton of Magic being played in the beanbag chair lounge as well. My girl and I were like, "wow, I didn't know Magic was this popular". I also overheard some people who were lapsed players talking about it and looking through the free decks they got.
The only negatives were ones that effected the entire con in general. Space. The con was REALLY crowded. Mike and Jerry acknowledged it in all their panels and said that plans for a bigger place for next year are already in the works. I think everyone under estimated the turnout/response. They sold out the con, but they sold it out to people who wanted to be there, the entire time. So you had a huge throng of people who wanted to experience it all, so everything was crowded and packed.
However, my girl and I had a really great time.
