PaxEast has finally come and gone and I let the withdrawal fade a bit before I wanted to write up my experience for everyone.
For those wondering - I did get pretty much better for PAX. I had a runny nose most of the time but besides that I was fine. We got back and now I have the Pax crud! At least I survived for the four days I needed!
First off looking over the forums and talking with people who had gone in the past helped a ton. While its still not the biggest convention you can attend it is a bit overwhelming that first day if you're used to smaller more local conventions. Preparing things to bring also helped since we didn't have to drop a ton of money on food when we arrived which helped on a lot of the funds situation.
Reading online reviews after Pax was over I did notice a lot of people mention that this was probably the worst Pax they've ever been to. I think that may happen every year to almost anything. There were good arguments on why it was still good so I think it depends on your own experience. That being said. As a first timer it was still a ton of fun. I only wish I had another year or so to compair it to like others.
After the day posts you will find a Pro/Con post below and in my very last post I will go over the games we played a bit more to give them a more thorough review for you all.
For those wondering - I did get pretty much better for PAX. I had a runny nose most of the time but besides that I was fine. We got back and now I have the Pax crud! At least I survived for the four days I needed!
First off looking over the forums and talking with people who had gone in the past helped a ton. While its still not the biggest convention you can attend it is a bit overwhelming that first day if you're used to smaller more local conventions. Preparing things to bring also helped since we didn't have to drop a ton of money on food when we arrived which helped on a lot of the funds situation.
Reading online reviews after Pax was over I did notice a lot of people mention that this was probably the worst Pax they've ever been to. I think that may happen every year to almost anything. There were good arguments on why it was still good so I think it depends on your own experience. That being said. As a first timer it was still a ton of fun. I only wish I had another year or so to compair it to like others.
After the day posts you will find a Pro/Con post below and in my very last post I will go over the games we played a bit more to give them a more thorough review for you all.
Day One
We flew into the Massport with no issues along the way. We are so close that they pretty much go up to altitude and come back down again so I got a nice 45 minutes of playing Banished. Ahem.. 45 minutes of fast-forwarding through Banished waiting for stuff to be build.
We flew into the Massport with no issues along the way. We are so close that they pretty much go up to altitude and come back down again so I got a nice 45 minutes of playing Banished. Ahem.. 45 minutes of fast-forwarding through Banished waiting for stuff to be build.
After picking up our luggage and texting Greggles and Shantz I realized I had forgotten my own post for the T-line. So we talked to the semi-nice lady at the help desk after trying to see if the info was on the T-line ticket machine (it's not fyi). We knew it was the silver line to the World Trade Center but I forgot to look up ticket info.
Update on the T-line. To go out of the airport don't even worry about getting a ticket for the t-line just go straight to the silver line. You can ride to the World Trade Center. It's the first stop after the long tunnel and super easy.
Getting off the T-line we realized again we had no idea where we were going until we noticed the giant R on a building far away. Well that had to be it so off we went (side note: we also had several hours before the Pokecrawl so we weren't stressed about exploring)
Update on the T-line. To go out of the airport don't even worry about getting a ticket for the t-line just go straight to the silver line. You can ride to the World Trade Center. It's the first stop after the long tunnel and super easy.
Getting off the T-line we realized again we had no idea where we were going until we noticed the giant R on a building far away. Well that had to be it so off we went (side note: we also had several hours before the Pokecrawl so we weren't stressed about exploring)
The Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel
This was our first time staying here. While I have been to some very nice hotels the staff here was probably the nicest I have ever met (well minus a few B&Bs I've been to but those don't count).
Our floor seemed like the most quiet out of the others. Shantz/Greggles on their floor had their neighbors slide notes under the door to them (you know those doors they put between two rooms thats always locked?). These notes included lots of dickbutt. (see dickbutt) to the point we had to reply and slide some fun stuff under to them.
Our room was pretty spacey with a large king bed. The shower was great and I think the only complaint (that we all had) was there was no fan in the bathroom and everything echoed.. everything.. it was horrible. A smaller gripe just from me.. but the towels were sort of sand-papery so it wasn't pleasant using them at all. The pillows could have been a lot better. You either got giant ones that cranked your neck or small flat ones that.. also cranked your neck..The large shower, water pressure and heat made me get over that though!
Everything worked fine after we figured out there was a master light switch when we arrived because nothing turned on at first. There was a fridge but we had to keep pressing the 2 hour button in it to get it to work. It was never really cold. Though now that I'm writing this and thinking about it. It may have been shut off when we hit the master switch which we used to turn off all the lights. That may have killed the plug that it was plugged into which may have caused it to lose its power. Well.. Fudge. We lost 2 lbs of ham because of that damn thing! They should leave a note about that or something to warn people!
This was our first time staying here. While I have been to some very nice hotels the staff here was probably the nicest I have ever met (well minus a few B&Bs I've been to but those don't count).
Our floor seemed like the most quiet out of the others. Shantz/Greggles on their floor had their neighbors slide notes under the door to them (you know those doors they put between two rooms thats always locked?). These notes included lots of dickbutt. (see dickbutt) to the point we had to reply and slide some fun stuff under to them.
Our room was pretty spacey with a large king bed. The shower was great and I think the only complaint (that we all had) was there was no fan in the bathroom and everything echoed.. everything.. it was horrible. A smaller gripe just from me.. but the towels were sort of sand-papery so it wasn't pleasant using them at all. The pillows could have been a lot better. You either got giant ones that cranked your neck or small flat ones that.. also cranked your neck..The large shower, water pressure and heat made me get over that though!
Everything worked fine after we figured out there was a master light switch when we arrived because nothing turned on at first. There was a fridge but we had to keep pressing the 2 hour button in it to get it to work. It was never really cold. Though now that I'm writing this and thinking about it. It may have been shut off when we hit the master switch which we used to turn off all the lights. That may have killed the plug that it was plugged into which may have caused it to lose its power. Well.. Fudge. We lost 2 lbs of ham because of that damn thing! They should leave a note about that or something to warn people!
On a side note - The Starbucks downstairs was great if you like their coffee. It was never too busy and the staff worked pretty fast. The only gripe I had is they wouldn't take coupons or birthday freebies so I couldn't use it there. There's one right down the street on the way to the convention so you're not out of luck!
After settling in we went over to Shantz and Greggles room to play some games while we waited for dinner time. We drank a few margaritas... a few... then we went out to dinner and got sushi since the weekend was also our yearly traditional Sakura festival weekend. We were not in DC so we had to make with what was nearby.
After settling in we went over to Shantz and Greggles room to play some games while we waited for dinner time. We drank a few margaritas... a few... then we went out to dinner and got sushi since the weekend was also our yearly traditional Sakura festival weekend. We were not in DC so we had to make with what was nearby.
Then we were off to the PokeCrawl!
After some getting lost we ran into the pokecrawl just as it got started so we rushed to get our badges and figure out where we were to go. I picked up a new shot glass and our task cards. bought a drink at the bar (something you've never tried before said the task cards) and promptly pushed it away. I'm sure the bartender meant well but it was like drinking a sour pixi stick (this from the girl who loves sugar). Badge one achieved!
After some getting lost we ran into the pokecrawl just as it got started so we rushed to get our badges and figure out where we were to go. I picked up a new shot glass and our task cards. bought a drink at the bar (something you've never tried before said the task cards) and promptly pushed it away. I'm sure the bartender meant well but it was like drinking a sour pixi stick (this from the girl who loves sugar). Badge one achieved!
We then spent the night in a whirlwind of bar hopping and hissing/booing at other teams as we passed them by to tourists fear and delight.
The second bar was a bit confusing since this was our first pokecrawl we werent sure what to do. The numbers were a bit lopsided so we ended up not getting to attack the other team to mark our tasks off. Eventually I asked a nice man behind us waiting at the bar if he wanted to go again and he said yes. We had to do rock paper scissors to see who would take each shot of whiskey, vodka and tequila Needless to say Macathu and I both ended up taking three shots. On top of that I had to take a rum shot for the bonus task.
The second bar was a bit confusing since this was our first pokecrawl we werent sure what to do. The numbers were a bit lopsided so we ended up not getting to attack the other team to mark our tasks off. Eventually I asked a nice man behind us waiting at the bar if he wanted to go again and he said yes. We had to do rock paper scissors to see who would take each shot of whiskey, vodka and tequila Needless to say Macathu and I both ended up taking three shots. On top of that I had to take a rum shot for the bonus task.
In that bar the volunteer wasn't that helpful but we figured it out ourselves. I asked him what we should do if everyones already gone and he shrugged, said there has to be someone and turned away to cheer other groups on. So helpful sir.
The third bar we went to lead us upstairs to a small room. Which was fine since we were the first team to arrive. Once the second team showed up we quickly realized there were only three bartenders trying to serve 100+people. It took about 30-45 minutes to get our drinks (order your color drink for the other party). The extra task was two shots of whiskey.
I met some very nice people there and we talked about where we were from and what we were into. I also found a guy with a sweet zelda tattoo! They were also amused at my taking down the whiskey with no issues. Maybe I should seek help?
The third bar we went to lead us upstairs to a small room. Which was fine since we were the first team to arrive. Once the second team showed up we quickly realized there were only three bartenders trying to serve 100+people. It took about 30-45 minutes to get our drinks (order your color drink for the other party). The extra task was two shots of whiskey.
I met some very nice people there and we talked about where we were from and what we were into. I also found a guy with a sweet zelda tattoo! They were also amused at my taking down the whiskey with no issues. Maybe I should seek help?
The volunteer there wasn't sure about the badges this time so I only got one for that challenge as well. He was a bit more helpful and even assisted when I found a lost credit card and Macathu found a whole bag of badges dropped from another team.
The fourth bar we were pretty tired of waiting in lines and at bars for drinks. Two of our group has already left but Shantz and I were willing to pull through! So Macathu followed us inside grumbling only to find us dancing like idiots to the dj. I think about halfway through we ended up finally leaving (Macathu shooing us out).
The fourth bar we were pretty tired of waiting in lines and at bars for drinks. Two of our group has already left but Shantz and I were willing to pull through! So Macathu followed us inside grumbling only to find us dancing like idiots to the dj. I think about halfway through we ended up finally leaving (Macathu shooing us out).
Update: the Pokecrawl runner actually contacted me about my feedback and we discussed what could help in future rounds. She seemed very open to suggestions and really wants to make everything run smoothly. I really hope my feedback helped since on the forums there was a lot of "if it aint broke" comments which doesn't help in the long run.
The rest of the evening we spent at the Westin bar. Pizza was brought in and the rest of the evening was good meeting new people and playing some games.
The rest of the evening we spent at the Westin bar. Pizza was brought in and the rest of the evening was good meeting new people and playing some games.
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