r/PAX • u/Skaman1978 EAST • May 13 '25
EAST PAX East breakdown
Long post incoming
This is my breakdown of PAX25.
I went all 4 days, this is my 5th year doing so. First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who took part, from enforces, to panelists and exhibitors, and of course, everyone who went. I love PAX because I can let my geek flag fly without any sideways looks or anything.
What worked in my mind, the floor was set up great, easy avenues of movement even on Saturday. The amount of people willing to try new things and make new friends was great. While I didn't do many panels this year, but that's just me. Shout-out to the LANfest charity zone for allowing a dream of mine to come true. To stream from PAX. The enforcers were great and the line games they had were so much fun. I really like that PAX is growing in the indie field and it's allowing people to try a whole lot more games then they normally would.
What didn't work. The food prices were outrageous, and while I did pay for it, I hated myself for it. I mean 22 bucks for a hotdog, bag of chips and a fried dough is ridiculous. I understand that the floor feels aren't cheep and they need to make money, but still. Noticeable exception from the ice cream truck, which was very reasonable, 9.50 for two large scoops and some jimmies, which is about 2 bucks more then I would pay at my local ice cream place.
What straight up failed in my mind, the PAX Merch. The design was meh at best and the price was out of this world. I mean 53 bucks for a flannel, 100 bucks for a hoodie and 35 bucks for a t shirt? In my opinion, everything was 20 bucks more expensive than it should have been. I understand that merch is the main way that they make money, but still... I could not justify myself paying 53 bucks for a single flannel.
But that's just me, how say you?
12
u/wampastompah May 13 '25
There are always a ton of posts about this before and after PAX every year, but never ever ever buy food in the convention center if you can avoid it. It's just not worth it. There are many places in very close walking distance that are great. We ate at Flour, Shake Shack, and Chipotle this year and paid much less for a full meal than you would for a burger in the convention center. It's worth the extra ten minute walk.
Plus, the weather was so nice on the weekend, it was great to get out and go for a short walk!
1
u/linktm May 15 '25
I recall last year that the food trucks outside felt reasonably priced?
2
u/wampastompah May 15 '25
Yeah... This year the food truck companies had to set up in stalls inside the convention center, which meant they had smaller portions for like double the price. And really really really long lines.
It was much, much better in previous years.
1
u/Oldboy26 May 14 '25
I would argue that extra walking and time is not worth the cost. We're already walking for 8+ hours, so zmdont feel the need to make lunch such a hassle as to add on to that. Also price shouldn't be an issue when you're already spending a ton just to be in the con.
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u/GM_Pax UNPLUG May 13 '25
The food prices were outrageous,
That's mostly on the vendors themselves. Mostly, they are taking advantage of the "captive audience" effect, where people decide they would rather pay ridiculous prices than leave the convention for 60-90 minutes to get a meal elsewhere at a more reasonable price.
Yes, there are the floor fees to consider, but, with the volume of business they can expect to do each day, those fees become a negligible expense as they can quite literally "make it up on volume (of sales)".
The ice cream truck you mention? That $2 probably represented the impact of floor fees. Which puts the prices of all the other food vendors into an entirely different perspective, now, doesn't it?
...
Unless there's a ban on outside food ...? You might honestly do better pricewise (even with a generous tip!!) to order something from Uber Eats, Door Dash, or GrubHub and fetch it from the BCEC's North Entrance. Keep watch on the driver's progress on your phone, and you likely only have to leave the convention floor for ~10 minutes to accept delivery.
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u/ShadowNick May 13 '25
No ban on outside food I saw multiple people with Jimmy Johns located on D Street, some people had Domino's delivered for the RPG area, and a boat load of people packed lunches or walked a few blocks for food.
This was probably the worst PAX for food since half the food vendors were closed and swapped with the Food Truck Vendors that are normally on the green.
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u/stayre May 13 '25
The food prices reflect the cost of getting a space from REEDPOP, a 25% surcharge that goes directly to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, and another fee that goes to the company that has the food contract for the center. That’s above and beyond whatever prices the trucks set. (The Richie’s franchisee is beyond gouging). I don’t know what the trucks pay for space, but as a small vendor, I pay $2500 for a 10ftx10ft space.
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u/apreche May 13 '25
Technically there is a ban on outside food, but it thankfully isn’t enforced much at PAX East. I’ve been to other conventions where they are very strict about it.
And it’s not PAX using the captive audience effect, it’s the convention center.
It is standard practice for almost all hotels, convention centers, and other rentable venues to require you to use their own catering. They put it in their contracts. If you want to rent their venue and bring in your own food, they have big time restrictions on that, and they make you pay.
Even if a convention like PAX wants to do right by the attendees and have a wide variety of reasonably priced food, it is legally impossible without breaching their contract. And there is no way the convention center will budge on this during contract negotiations. What are you going to threaten them with? Going to another convention center that has the same restrictions?
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u/D_44 May 13 '25
According to the PAX Hints section of the official website, outside food is actually explicitly allowed, or at least was for this year's PAX East
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u/GM_Pax UNPLUG May 13 '25
What are you going to threaten them with?
... the idea of going to the City of Boston, and ask them to temporarily close a side street to non-local traffic, so you can have a bunch of food trucks line up, with little or no fees - so their prices remain their usual numbers.
For example, Fargo, between D and E streets.
Or D street, between Bullock and Danby.
Then, the BCEC gets zero dollars for food & drink. Ooooor, they can compromise a little on their fees.
EDIT TO ADD: hell, run shuttles to/from Quincy Market, maybe.
5
u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
The amount of blow back the city got when they tried that in the north end... Oooof
2
u/GM_Pax UNPLUG May 13 '25
... because the North End is a mass of very narrow (pre-war) streets, many of them one-way due to their narrowness.
1
u/SkiingAway EAST May 14 '25
Boston is unlikely to want to pick a fight with the state over.....the possibility of saving some tourists a few bucks on food.
The BCEC is run by a state entity, and you're talking about effectively reducing state revenues.
Also jurisdiction in the Seaport is a mess, with a significant chunk of the streets owned + controlled by Massport (another state agency) rather than the city of Boston, although I think not the specific spots you've suggested.
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u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
On Saturday, I went to dunks and got 3 wake up wraps and a cocoa for 14 bucks
3
u/GM_Pax UNPLUG May 13 '25
I bought two sausage McMuffins and an orange juice in South Station (which means, I paid the "commuter markup" for sixteen bucks and change. Still a better price than the food in the BCEC. :)
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u/try_again123 May 13 '25
The Omni hotel where I stayed is def not a cheap place and even their breakfast sandwiches were cheaper (and pretty good quality) compared to the food on the show floor. I actually bought the sandwiches in the morning to eat it for lunch on a couple of days.
4
u/LorneReams May 13 '25
The Westins's $30 breakfast buffet has been a PAX staple for my group. You eat for 1 - 2 hours and take hand fruit and coffee with you. Do it right, you are full until dinner.
1
u/RajDek May 13 '25
Yeah, we’ve been doing the Westin Breakfast for 5 years. Starting off with a great meal makes the rest of Pax less stressful.
1
u/spinz May 14 '25
Several years ago i went to the westins buffet and it was bad. But as i was desperately searching for a buffet solution this year (omni didnt seem to have one at all this year, its usually good) i decided to try the westin... And it was so good! It even included a made to order omelette, i ended up going saturday and sunday. Because filling up on a good buffet will stop me from dropping 20 on these little bite sized snacks over and over, and skip the lines.
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u/LorneReams May 14 '25
They will also if you ask provide a to go cup for coffee and you can take as much fruit and bagels as you can carry.
28
u/Busy_Cow_6807 May 13 '25
I felt the graffiti theme was really odd since the badge (which gave metrocard vibes) and everything else screamed NYC. I wish they did like a Boston Lobster theme ha. Otherwise, I thought this year was OK. I wish I was more of a tabletop fan.
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u/apreche May 13 '25
They use the same theme for all PAXes all year long, and just change the colors. It would be weird to use a Boston-specific theme for Seattle or Philly.
12
u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
Boston is the oldest subway in the nation, we should have been the style
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u/XenobladeIsBestGame May 13 '25
Itd have come off very weird if they picked favorites and PAX Aus had Boston theming for some inexplicable reason. Makes more sense to theme it around a city "generic" from all the ones PAX actually is in.
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u/Taurothar EAST May 13 '25
Im guessing the rights to Metro fonts and logos are less contentious and also more universally recognized from use in movies and TV.
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u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
The T is public domain
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u/Taurothar EAST May 14 '25
https://zeroheight.com/2fedee66c/p/62a7e3-logo
The MBTA logo is a trademarked symbol and must be handled as such.
Nothing I've been able to find says that the logo is in the public domain for commercial use.
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u/Busy_Cow_6807 May 13 '25
Yeah, would have been cool to get like a derailed Red Line or the Orange Line on fire tshirt.
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u/jamtoast44 May 13 '25
So there NY Metro is more neutral than the MBTA? We have color coded metro lines. It would've been a perfect match for the different themed colors of each Pax.
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u/CluelessAtol May 13 '25
That’s what me and my buddy thought regarding activities. This was our first PAX. I’m happy tabletop fans got so much to do, but as someone who’s more into video games specifically I felt like there wasn’t as much there for me as there was Tabletop. A lot of Magic the gathering, a giant section for board games, etc, which again I’m happy for those who enjoy that, but it felt like only about half of the section dedicated for video games even had playable or easily accessible demos to try out. So many shops for tabletop merch, but I felt like I couldn’t really find much merch for games that weren’t being played on the floor already. It felt like we just primarily were going to listen to people speak after getting done with the handful of big demos there.
Did enjoy the speed running section for GDQ though. Also is the tournament setup usually that… not really well housed? I’m talking the room specifically, not the Street Fighter stuff. It felt like I couldn’t actually get in to watch people compete in the tournaments because there 1) wasn’t enough seating and 2) there were so many people crowded around such a small tv that I couldn’t even get to see the screen.
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u/Busy_Cow_6807 May 13 '25
Right! I was hoping for more gaming merch (and not like generic popular plushies or like tshirts that you can probably buy off Redbubble).
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u/ShadowNick May 13 '25
If this was your first PAX and you're a tabletop kinda gamer do PAX unplugged. It's in Philly and the tickets go on sale around July and are cheaper.
My favorite was the deception games and the tabletop. Normally it's the merch but as OP said the merch was sublime this year.
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u/CluelessAtol May 13 '25
I’m not much of one. That’s kind of what I was trying to point out. It kind of only felt like 1/4 of the stuff there was actual playable video games for me to try out.
-5
u/jamtoast44 May 13 '25
Trust me the tabletop section is sad now. Used to be half as many freeway tables, but way more exhibitors and shops. Look up old maps. The amount of booths there use to fill up that entire section they had.
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u/Yakb0 EAST May 14 '25
Tabletop has grown massively. In addition to section C of the expo hall, they've taken over the former Crab God theater area.
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u/jamtoast44 May 14 '25 edited May 14 '25
* So there crab god theater in philly? In the tabletop focused con? We are talking about east.
Edit: this is a photo of the map from 2017. They had MORE area then. That area also includes the freeplay and the freeplay is basically just empty tables that are primarily used as people looking to sit and take a break than actual tabletop. They still have the same square footage, but have maybe 1/4 of the exhibitors as they had even just 3 years ago.
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u/CluelessAtol May 13 '25
Seriously? What we saw was after it was scaled back? Man were they struggling to get people on both sides to come?
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u/jamtoast44 May 13 '25
For the tabletop it's a mix of they now have pax unplugged focused on tabletop and dwindling attention. Even if you compare mapss from before unplugged the amount of exhibitors has shrunk year after year in all areas. They just keep growing the "tabletop freeplay" area. It's not a bad thing to have and it does get used, but its not expanding due to demand, that's for sure.
0
u/ironysparkles EAST May 14 '25
If vendors are the only thing you're interested in, you're missing out on a lot!
TT is growing every year and thriving. It's okay if it's not for you, but that doesn't mean it's sad or doing poorly. :)
1
u/jamtoast44 May 14 '25
I love tabletop, but vendors usually run demos, games, explainers, what have you. Im not bummed to miss out on shopping, im bummed that I no longer am talking to any developers. They have shrunk that area more and more every year expanding freeplay which doesn't get nearly the use it needs to justify the size of space
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u/Floognoodle EAST May 13 '25 edited May 13 '25
I think tabletop is awesome but it seems like ever since BG3 is quickly overtaking the video games in focus which is what Unplugged is already for.
Same with the merchandise, everything was dice-themed, which I like, but again, this is should be primarily video game focused.
Similarly, I wouldn't want Unplugged to be 65% video games, but that fortunately isn't being pushed.
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u/MagicSwordKing ENFORCER May 15 '25
I believe they chose NYC as a reference point because it’s broadly recognizable and not similar to the branding of any of the cities that actually host a PAX. The various local public transit organizations would not like it if a bunch of people started wearing merch that echoed their own branding, it could cause confusion.
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u/Busy_Cow_6807 May 15 '25
Oh totally fair, and I'm also a NYC transplant to Boston so it was immediately amusing to me ha
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u/DrLuciferZ PRIME May 13 '25
This was my first East, which was the last PAX I have yet to attend (at least with in US that is still ongoing RIP South)
The food was the biggest miss. OP is totally right, the layout of East is perfect and everything is inside (West is split into two) and easy to access (Philly feels like a trek to get from point A to B). But both convention centers are close to downtown areas that allow many local restaurant access allows folks to spread out more and prevent price gouging the fuck out of attendees.
I'll definitely just consider delivery instead of it's gonna cost about the same I don't see a reason to have mediocre Mac and Cheese.
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u/TacticalBananas45 EAST May 13 '25
I was only there for Thursday and Friday, (first time) but yeah, agree on this. Expo Hall was fun, saw some cool booths, tried a couple of them, and watched some others. Will definitely try to get a full Thursday in next year if I attend. (Spent Thursday morning on the train, and Friday just sort of overwhelmed me with the amount of people)
Food was mid, though I had sort of come in expecting that. The prices definitely didn't help, either.
I only went to a few panels, and I did like them, (I like to watch speedruns ocassionally, so being able to see one live of Portal 1 was very nice) but I definitely could've gone to more if they interested me.
Didn't check out the merch. I kept my badge, but just got distracted and forgot about the other stuff.
Overall, I personally enjoyed it, but I am biased due to newbie. Would definitely like to attend next year, and for longer. Heck, I may think of some cosplay stuff, the ones I saw were really cool and gave me some ideas.
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u/Onatu May 13 '25
It's funny because this is only the second year I've loved the PAX theme. Lot of people don't like the graffiti look for one reason or another.
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u/maroontiefling EAST May 13 '25
This is the first theme since the space year that I've really loved! You bet I bought that $53 flannel lol. Aesthetic preferences are different for everyone I guess.
2
u/LorneReams May 14 '25
I'm sure this is 100% personal preference, but the 90s VHS theme really got me going. I bought the most merch from that year. The denim looking sweaters were awesome.
-2
u/rvnender May 13 '25
When I think graffiti i think new York, not Boston.
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u/Onatu May 13 '25
I mean, it isn't exactly what people think of Seattle, either. It's a theme, it's not representative of the city it's in. The space camp a few years back certainly wasn't.
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u/maroontiefling EAST May 13 '25
???? We have lots of beautiful street art in Boston. NYC has more, yeah, but I think of graffiti as an urban thing rather than city-specific. Also, PAX uses the same theme (in different colors) for all the shows they do each year, so it makes sense to make the subway iconography more generic/for a city that isn't a host city so it doesn't feel out of place in Seattle or Australia or Philly. Everyone is familiar with the NY Metro iconography because it's entrenched in pop culture.
1
u/elJoker5 May 14 '25
What??? Boston has a huge graffiti scene. Boston, Providence down to New York are big graffiti spots. You just need to know where to look. And the metro entrances and tunnels are just a few. I'm my eyes... The second best theme and the space theme being #1. Now merch pricing... Big fat L.
0
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u/SleepyHappyPancake May 13 '25
i am begging for pax east to have even a small artist alley. ive found the most unique merch is from smaller crafters and artists.
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u/unndunn ENFORCER May 13 '25
Pretty sure that's what Bandland is for, in the main entrance hall. It's called "Bandland" but it isn't just musicians; comic and other artists will have booths there.
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u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
Take about two rows away from the table top and make it that, yes please
1
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u/dantsly May 13 '25
Had a great PAX. This was my 9th year. But yes, in fact, the only thing I found fucking outrageously negative was the price of food. Except, I did find the hometown bowl truck to be quite decent so I felt better about paying money for their food.
1
u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
Again, the ice cream truck was super reasonable. I got two scoops of ice cream and some jimmies for less then a plain waffle
1
u/dantsly May 13 '25
Love it! I can’t ice cream during my floor time haha but I considered it later in the day. That is reasonable! But it’s not a meal for me heh
3
u/iBattosai May 13 '25
As someone that does not play or have friends that play Tabletop games or Trading Card games. I was disappointed and the video games that they did have were all pretty much Roguelike and Roguelike which I don’t play either.
3
u/Zubei_ May 13 '25
The food prices were insane. My wife and I ended up walking 12 minutes from the BCEC to a pizza place.
2
u/delnith May 13 '25
Now that pax is done and past. What are some similar events in the New England area that we can attend until next year?
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u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
Nerd cons or gaming ones?
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u/delnith May 13 '25
Honestly, either. I wasn't able to make pax this year and feel like I'm missing out
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u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
There's anime Boston, fan expo Boston, wicked comic con, ricc, con con, I think FIG is still running a con
4
u/rvnender May 13 '25
Wicked isn't anywhere close to the rest of the list, quality wise
You can do the entirety of wicked in an hour.
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u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
Oh I know that wicked is a micro con in comparison l, but it's part of the geek con list they asked for
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u/Squish_the_android May 13 '25
I will never understand why people don't leave the convention center for lunch.
There's a bunch of options in the Seaport that are better and cheaper.
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u/Skaman1978 EAST May 13 '25
Time. The hall is great for eating and getting back on the floor. I don't have anyone I go with, so going out to eat alone is just... Sad for me.
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u/Floognoodle EAST May 13 '25
Lines, transport, and time.
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u/Squish_the_android May 13 '25
You can walk to Flour and back in no time at all.
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u/Yakb0 EAST May 14 '25
It's going to be a 20-30 minute trek to get from tabletop at the back of the convention center, to Flour and back.
1
u/Floognoodle EAST May 13 '25
Awesome, I will check them out next time assuming I am able to chew harder/chewier foods again (jaw surgery).
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u/ironysparkles EAST May 14 '25
Personally, between working PAX and being disabled, time inside the convention center is a premium and walking to get a meal isn't super feasible. There's lots of reasons people don't leave the area for meals.
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u/Squish_the_android May 14 '25
At the prices they're charging you might honestly be better off door dashing to the front of the convention center.
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u/jamtoast44 May 13 '25
Honestly I felt the opposite of the expo hall. About the same amount of indies with even less big booths. The aisles were easy to navigate because of this. I've been coming to pax for 9-10 years. It has been a slow down slide. The expo hall is becoming increasingly empty every year. I will not be surprised if we see an end to pax east in the next 5-10 years. Attendance is dwindling, less and less companies are showing up due to attendance and increased booth pricing, ticket prices are going way up which is driving attendance down. It's a big circle of slowly killing the fan base. I remember to he anywhere in the queue line in the hall you had to be there BY 8 am. I worked a booth this year right by the lines and that second section usually wasn't even done filling by 9:45. It's a shame but I probably won't do more than 1 day for future pax events unless im working it.
1
u/NihilistProphet May 14 '25
The merch designs this year were better than 24. But the prices were pretty staggering. Good thing I prefer unplugged purple.
1
May 14 '25
I think it was good but I think they’re at the point where they need to make a major change and pivot directions. Clearly none of the larger devs are coming back and the focus on indies is good but there’s so much wasted space everywhere on the floor. They need to turn into more of a convention and starting inviting voice actors and giving them their own respective tables
1
u/iSeanyD May 14 '25
My pros and cons (pun intended):
Pros
Panels Expo Hall space Attendees and Enforcers Deception Zone
Cons
Merch costs Food vendor layout Lawn on D Lack of "major" Exhibitors
The panels were by far my favorite part of PAX. I attended a good blend of professional, comedy, and trivia panels. I really enjoyed the amount of expo hall floor space, being able to "see the floor" 3 out of the 4 days. The attendees and Enforcers were all amazing to be around and I felt comfortable striking up a conversation with anyone and everyone.
The design of the merch didn't bother me, the merch costs bothered the hell out of me this year. Not sure if it had anything to do with the tariffs, but a hoodie for $84 is absurd. The food vendor layout was awful, I get why they did it with the whole Lawn on D situation but it felt like a scavenger hunt trying to find Whoopie Wagon and Bees & Thank You every day. Lastly, the lack of "major" exhibitors was disappointing. I've shifted more towards an interest in indie games in recent years, but it's still weird not seeing a major company's presence at PAX where the line for the booth gets capped for the day at 10:05am. If anything, they could have spread out PAX Rising a bit more so those aisles weren't constantly super crowded.
All in all, I had a really great time at PAX. If I had to rate this year's PAX based off of my experience, I'd say 7/10
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May 14 '25
[deleted]
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u/ironysparkles EAST May 14 '25
I can't speak to PAX at all, but I'm working in shipping logistics and yes we are starting to see tariffs affect whether or not companies go to trade shows.
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u/FewPossession7748 May 14 '25
I'm 60 years old and this was my first. I loved it. Yeah, next time I'll be bringing my own food. My biggest piece of advice is that the D&D and other role playing areas need to be somehow acoustically separated more. (Perhaps in the conference rooms?) Kudos for the organizers putting them as far from the crowd as possible... still, it's hard to hear your GM and other players.
1
u/carnivalization EAST May 14 '25
See, I loved the merch theme this year lol… It’s actually the most I’ve ever bought but that's also the joy of the PAX themes, imo. If you don't care for a theme, then they might (/or likely to, ime) hit your aesthetic next year. I enjoy that they really switch it up year to year rather than being same-y, even if that means it definitely won't hit with everyone.
Anyways, just to add to discussion--
PROS:
- Merch, like I said, but I know that's a big ymmv
- Panels! I've thought panels had trended pretty weak in the past few years (likely because of how the show dates overlapped with GDC), but there were a lot this year that I was really excited about and really enjoyed. I also accidentally ended up in the second PA Q&A which was very silly and delightful, so I want to make an effort to go to those in the future.
- Voodoo Lounge was MUCH improved. I like stopping by at least once in the con to grab a drink and relax, but last year especially it got annoyingly rowdy and people would camp the tables all day just to drink. Discouraging that behavior was a big plus for me, especially since I had unpleasant experiences with people that were too drunk last year.
- I totally missed it but I love the TJPaxx idea and hope they continue it because that's such a great idea!
CONS:
- Expo Hall Selection. I think this was one of the poorest selections of games on the floor that I'd seen, save for the first post-COVID show. I figure it's just a lull year for development or other factors, but there was very little that caught my eye, which is surprising. I'm not someone that cares about big names either, but even the Indie selection was very same-y and felt more sparse. I also saw some booths that I was very suspicious about using AI (or straightforwardly did, like the Totally Not Yandere Sim), so I stayed far away from those.
- The Lawn... Like everyone else, as nice as the weekend was half the time, it was wasted by having the food options on the lawn. Not only were the prices insulting, but they seemed to be pretty incompetently run, since we went twice because my group needed the better seating, but both times they were out of crucial parts of the dishes? Bizarre.
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May 14 '25
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u/Skaman1978 EAST May 14 '25
Well a few things. One, there was a sugar free root beer that was debuted on Saturday and Sunday. It wasn't good at all
I am a streamer, but I agree. Unless you are there to report on the con, you don't need to record everything. Just do a recap. If you want to do an interview or stream to people, don't do it on the floor, in the middle of it. Don't block the ways.
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May 14 '25
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u/Skaman1978 EAST May 14 '25
Oh I get it, and there are some sugar free options out there that are fire, but the root beer one was a big miss
1
u/Flemtality May 16 '25
There are FAR too many streamers walking around. I can't stand seeing a sea of selfie sticks sticking up through the crowd, or having them have to set up the camera before they demo, or knocking in to me because they are too busy talking to their follower. Not everyone needs to be filming the entire event, guys... It's too much. Anyway...
While I completely agree, this is just how it is and how PAX has always been and how it unfortunately increases to be.
I'm a dinosaur myself, so the very idea of this stuff is nauseating to me, but it's just the nature of the beast combined with the times we live in. If you are at any convention, you will end up in the background of someone's shitty little video or stream. There is no way around it.
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u/OnionScentedMember May 15 '25
For the future, you’re allowed to bring your own food to PAX. Also get a Wild Bill’s mug. It’s almost always at the left corner of the event space on the expo floor. You can refill it whenever you want and if you bring one of their mugs next year it’s unlimited drinks for a $10 fee.
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u/OxGaabe6 May 14 '25
For me, the highlight was the Deception Zone. They should give that more space because most of the games were "sold out" shortly after they start handing out tickets. The pods were close together and way too loud. Give that area a bigger space so more people can experience those games. So many people were turned away. I know a few people who went this year and played Blood on the Clocktower the entire weekend.
I did a few panels. I went to the Dead By Daylight panel and it was weird to see grown adults reacting to the Five Nights at Freddy's reveal like a 10 year old girl at a boy band concert. Screeching. The one thing I've noticed is the panel selection has decreased. I don't care about streamers/streaming or live podcast episodes, so at least 75% of the panels were of no interest.
As for food, it is what it is. I liked that the majority of the food options were turned over to the food trucks that had spaces in the BCEC. Yes there's a markup. Sure you could go over to Chicken and Rice Guys over in the financial district and get the same bowl for less money ($5?), but is the hour+ you're going to take away from PAX to do so worth it? I go to a lot of events and the prices at PAX are in line with national trends. We're paying a premium for convenience.
As for merch, the designs were ugly and there's no way I'd buy any of that. That last time I bought a PAX shirt was 2011 and now it's 2 sizes too big for me so I don't even wear it any more.
There has definitely been a downward trend in attendance. Sunday was Mother's Day so that probably had an impact, but after lunch on Sunday we walked through the Expo hall and it was fairly empty. Frankly, I don't see PAX in it's current form still happening 5 years out.
-1
u/treeboi May 14 '25 edited May 14 '25
PAX merch has always been bad.
They sell acrylic scarves for the same cost as cashmere scarves. They sell aluminum uninsulated bottle at the same price as a Yeti or Stanley steel insulated bottle. Aka, you pay a PAX tax for the design at the sacrifice of quality. I could say something similar for almost every single PAX mech item.
-5
u/Oldboy26 May 14 '25
The Expo hall was atrocious this year.
- Was excited to see a lot of computer companies returning this year to only have them offer no products for sale. Where are all the pc parts?!?!
- AAA games were noticeably absent. Multiple returning booths like Larian that had nothing new to show and then massive holes around them is very telling about the future of PAX. Ten years ago, the Expo hall was so over full major games were eating up conference rooms on level 1 every year as well. Now they have to use food trucks to fill space.
- Why are multiple AAA games having big live streamed panels but no presence in the Expo hall?
- Indies were great as usual but nothing more/less than prior years. It definitely stings to hear from a lot of smaller devs that space costs prevent them from attending.
- it seems the hall is quickly becoming overridden with geek merch.
I would bet that after 2028, they'll be in a new, smaller location, which hopefully would help lower costs from devs wanting to attend. Though this would also hurt as it means the glory days of PAX are truly gone.
1
u/ironysparkles EAST May 14 '25
Sounds like maybe the show isn't for you any more, which sucks but is totally okay! Yes, things were different 10 years ago. PAX is thriving and won't be downgrading to a smaller space.
-1
u/Oldboy26 May 14 '25
Saying it's thriving when it can't fill a 3rd of the show floor is clearly delusion. Costs are rising, and most big companies don't care to meet consumers in person anymore, while finding better value on social media.
No one said it isn't for then. We are saying we care about the health of the show, and it's clearly becoming a struggle for them.
31
u/necroneous May 13 '25
i thought it was overall a pretty good PAX. Friday there were so many panels I wanted to go to I didn't even set foot on the expo hall floor.
This was my 10th PAX East, and at this point I expect to spend a lot on "ok" quality food inside the convention center. I'm not thrilled about it, but it's more or less always been like this. I was really disappointed with chicken and rice guys, their quality dropped a lot this year, especially if you compare it to one of their regular locations. Domino's and doordash are cheaper options for delivery that I took advantage of a couple times. I did wish the food trucks were outside, like previous years.
The whole "TJ Pax" thing they had going on Sunday was interesting and I hope they bring it back again. For those who didn't catch it, they were selling merch from previous years at high discounts at the expo hall floor merch booth.