Waking up and pulling myself out of bed I was feeling like I had been at PAX a week already. I could not figure out why I was feeling like this. Maybe it was all the walking around and standing in lines the day before. Maybe eating out so much was catching up to me. Regardless Hannah was smiling and ready to start her day and I was hardly going to disappoint.
In line with Hannah and Lyle
Hannah and I grabbed a quick bite to eat as we made our way back to Benaroya Hall to attend the “Penny Arcade Make a Strip” panel. Lyle joined us in line shortly after we arrived. When the doors to Benaroya Hall finally opened that morning everyone in line poured into the great hall and made their way to the seating area. Once everyone was seated The song “Hustling” by Rick Ross started blasting from speakers all around us as Gabe and Tycho entered the stage to a roaring applause. The two proceeded to create a comic strip for their website right before us all while they worked they also took questions from the audience. It was really funny and very entertaining and something we will do again for sure if we are lucky enough to attend PAX Prime in 2011.
After the “Make a Strip” panel finished we headed over to the Sheraton and got inline for “Acquisitions Incorporated: D&D Live”. This was a longer wait for us but the PAX Enforces did a decent job keeping everyone in line entertained as we waited to take our seats. Everyone in line seemed really nice. People in line where again either talking, Playing on their Nintendo DS’s or playing Zombie Dice. The three of us grabbed some carpet and talked about life, the universe and everything.
The doors eventually did open and we made our way inside and found good seating up close to the action. A large projector screen was center stage so even the people in the back of the room would be able to see the Dungeons & Dragons action going on. Chris Perkins from Wizards of the Coast and the DM of this game was already on stage making the final adjustments to his to props and miniatures.
Eventually everyone did get seated and cameras that would be projecting on to the screen in front of us where correctly setup. Then the players were introduced to great applause. Scott Kurtz as Binwin Bronzebottom, Wil Wheaton as Aeofel (Al), Gabe as Jim DarkMagic of the New Hampshire Darkmagics, and Tycho Omin Dran CEO of Acquisitions Incorporated. The object of this Acquisitions Incorporated Dungeons & Dragons game was to bring Wil Wheaton’s Character Aeofel, back from the dead if possible. It was an awesome game and I laughed pretty hard throughout the whole thing. I am sure that Wizards of the Coast will eventually post an official video/podcast of the game. When they do I will update this post with the link.
After the good time we had at the Acquisitions Incorporated game we all got right back in line for Wil Wheaton’s Awesome Hour that was also taking place in the Sheraton. Wil talk a bit about his life and then left the rest of the hour open to a Q and A session.
Day 2 at PAX was pretty much lines and panels. After Wil Wheaton’s talk the three of us got dinner. Again Lyle headed back home and Hannah and myself proceeded to walk around the open game rooms and look over the shoulders of other gamers till we where ready to head back to the hotel.
Hannah and I woke up early and eager on Friday so we could attend the PAX keynote address and meet up with our good friend Lyle. The Keynote was taking place at Benaroya Hall and featured Warren Spector as the keynote speaker. His speech was filled with his insight on games and the gaming culture. He stressed that we should welcome new gamers into our community and help them discover this wonderful art form. That the only way gaming and the gaming culture can survive and thrive is by welcoming the masses into our “tribe” and to allow the mainstream to embrace gaming rather than fear it.
When Warren Spector finished with his entertaining keynote presentation, Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade took the stage of the great hall for a Question and Answer period. It was a funny and informative Q&A session as the two answer questions about Penny Arcade, PAX, and games in general. At one point an older gentleman came up to the Q&A mic and politely asked if either Gabe or Tycho had any bubblegum. Gabe and Tycho kind of looked at each other funny and then finally said “no”. Then in the iconic Duke Nukem voice the man said “Well, I am here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and I am all out of bubble gum”. I remember the reaction to everyone in Benaroya Hall just being “That was really cool”. It would not be till later in the day that I would realize why that gentleman was even there.
At the end of Gabe and Tycho’s Q&A we made our way back out to the streets of Seattle and to the convention center where we went right to the exhibit hall. The first time you walk into the main exhibit hall you’re flooded with flashing lights and random sounds that are quite overwhelming at first. It takes a moment to process what is going on and where it’s happening. There was just so much at first it was almost like sensory overload, but in a good way.
Walking through the convention center’s main gaming exhibit hall you find yourself surrounded by games. Mostly computer or condole games, but the occasional and refreshing table top game is on display as well. Some of the game titles that jump out at you when you’re walking around are ‘Little Big Planet 2’, ‘Portal 2’ ‘Mortal Kombat’, ‘Swarm’, ‘Halo Reach’, ‘Infamous 2’, and ‘Duke Nukem Forever’. When I saw the Duke Nukem Forever sign I understood that the guy at Gabe and Tycho’s Q&A panel was the voice actor for the new Duke Nukem Forever video game.
Feeling somewhat overwhelmed, Hannah, Lyle and I slowly walked through the entire exhibit hall and gravitated to the Wizards of the Coast Booth. The booth was awesome with a little more than half dedicated to Magic the Gathering and the rest dedicated to Dungeons & Dragons. A wall was setup to show off unreleased products like Magic cards and new D&D miniatures. On the Magic side of the booth two tables where setup to teach people who to play Magic and two computer/gaming stations where setup to show of the Magic The Gathering video game. The other side of the booth was setup with an area for live action D&D to teach people how to play.
I was supposed to meet with some people with Wizards of the Coast on this day for some interviews and a demo of the Red Box. With some time to kill before I was to meet Hannah, Lyle, and myself decided to try out the live action D&D training. We got in line and quickly made our way to the front where a Gentleman presented us with pre generated character options. The character options were laid out on a table before us in the form of two-sided laminated cards that would hang around your neck from a lanyard. The characters were simplified for the purposes of training, but that did not mean you where going to win the demo. The two groups that went before Hannah, Lyle and myself where both slain by the dragon!
When the three of us walked onto the life-sized battlemat to fight the dragon we didn’t know what would happen. We each took our turn and we each managed to deal a blow to the beast. Some of us got really lucky and rolled some critical hits. In my case I rolled two crits in a row for my Rouge and we where able to vanquish the dragon. The three of us got a button to pin on to ourselves that said “Monster Slyer”. For our critical hits we also got tokens that allowed us to claim other prizes.
From the Wizards of the Coast booth we made our way down stairs to an area called the Hidden Level which housed the a large area for Magic the gathering and Dungeons & Dragons play. D&D players where able to join a random dungeon delves or partake in A dark sun arena battle. Magic the Gathering players where able to just play or partake in a “buy-in” game. Hannah found this useful for learning how to play magic for the first time.
My Shirt Says "Who Died and Made You Dungeon Master?
After exploring the hidden level we made our way back upstairs to meet with some people from Wizards of the Coast. I had the chance to speak with a D&D game designer and play a game out of the Red Box with one of the game developers by the Dungeons & Dragons bus! I will be writing more on this experience in a future post.
As morning turned to afternoon, and afternoon turned to evening Lyle, Hannah and myself found a place to eat dinner. It gave us a chance to talk about the days events and do a little planning about for the next day.
After finishing dinner we headed back to the expo hall to attend the play “Of Dice and Men”. We where lucky to even be able to attend this play. We gave ourselves a good hour, hour and a half to get in line. When we got in line however, we learned their where only 40 spots left in line. We waited in line while Hannah played Pokémon Silver on her Nintendo DS and traded Pokémon items with other poke ball wearers in line.
The doors finally opened for the play and the long line of people waiting to attended made their way in through the doors and found their seats. The play was really good and put on by some really great actors. You would be cheering one moment and gripping the edge of our seat just waiting to see what happens next.
When the play was finished we headed outside. Lyle caught the bus to go home for the night and we made plans to meet the next day. Hannah and I dropped some stuff off at our hotel room and then headed right back to the convention center. By this time the expo hall was closed, but that did not mean people where still not having fun and playing games. As we walked back to the convention center we found people in line to play Rock Band 2. I have to admit that some of the performances were rather good. The two floors of the expo hall that still had activity were dedicated to board gaming and make shift stores selling everything from board games to t-shirts. One room would be filled with people playing games like Carcassonne and Axis & Allis, while another room would be filled with people playing Magic the Gathering, Zombie Dice and Munchkin. They even had a room to check out games to play. Pretty much anything you could think of was available for check out.
Still another room was filled with bean bag chairs where people could talk, play games, check their e-mail, etc. It was a very relaxed and fun feeling everyone had. It was at this point however that I wish I had brought some of my Dungeons & Dragons material to run a game with. Hannah had some pre made characters all ready to go and I was in a mood to observe other Dungeons Masters, but no one was really playing Dungeons & Dragons in these rooms. It was a this point that O made a mental note that If I attend PAX next year I was going be prepared to run my own D&D game.
Hannah and I spent the next few hours walking around and just taking in all the gaming awesomeness that was around us before we headed back to our hotel to call it a night.
For those interested in roll playing game news, I write for Stargazer’s World where I explore Dungeons & Dragons as well as product related to the hobby.
For those interested in roll playing game news, I write for Stargazer’s World where I explore Dungeons & Dragons as well as product related to the hobby.
I used to be one of those people who took really good care of his possessions. Everything I owned had to be cleaned and put away back in its proper place. I was verging on the edge of obsessive compulsive. Then something changed and I am not totally sure what it was.
Reading books like Timothy Ferriss’s The 4-Hour Workweek and David Allen’s Getting Things Done have really changed how I look at life and day to day living. I find myself trying to live more for the now then to save and anticipate for a hard and unknown future. To be honest I feel it has payed off greatly. I am a lot less stressed out and more aware of what is going on around me with family and friends.
My Desktop Pictures and iPhone Vinyl Sticker. This Photo Does Not Do The Desktop Pictures Justis
I recently purchased a new 15″ MacBook Pro. A computer I use all the time and take with me just about everywhere I go. It truly is a powerhouse work horse for me. When I got the computer I new right away I wanted to sticker it with some cool Transformers art. I had seen a few photos of other Apple users who had put Ironman or Snow White vinyl stickers on their Macbooks. Both stickers are really awesome and I wanted to do something smiler with my Macbook Pro and Transformers.
I ended up searching on Etsy and finding Rob who makes vinyl stickers for MacBooks. I sent Rob an e-mail asking him if he could make me a vinyl sticker for my new Macbook Pro. For the next two weeks we worked together over e-mail to come up with just the right Transformers image I wanted displayed on my computer.
I really wanted to find and image that worked with the Apple logo on my Macbook Pro much like the Ironman and Snow White images did. I was sent a couple mock ups of Optimus Prime with the Apple logo in his hand. It was a great image but I was not happy with that rendition of Optimus Prime. So we both went back to the drawing board. I finally came up with three images I sent in and asked Rob what he could do with them.
Autobot Matrix of Leadership
The first image was of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. I was soon sent back a render of the image with the Apple logo in the center of the Matrix. It’s a great graphic and I ended up using it on my older 15″ Apple Powerbook.
Getting Ready To apply The Vinyl Stickers
The second two images I sent in came from IDW Transformers posters. One of Megatron and one of Optimus Prime. I ended up having vinyl stickers made out of these posters and I ended up placing them on my Macbook Pro.
When I got the stickers in the mail they came in a large envelope between to peaces of cardboard to prevent them from getting bent or damaged. Inside the envelope where some simple instructions on how to apply the vinyl stickers along with a couple of Popsicle sticks to smooth out any air bubbles that might happen to form.
Wet Erase Marker
Putting the vinyl sticker of the Matrix on my Powerbook was pretty easy for the most part. I just lined up the Apple logo in the center and smoothed it out. The Optimus Prime and Megatron Vinyl stickers where a little bit harder to apply because they didn’t incorporate the logo. There was a lot of adjustments I made to make to make sure the images where level and centered. Once I had the image placed on my MacBook Pro just the way I wanted them I used a green wet erase marker from my Dungeons & Dragons battlemat to outline the stickers. That way when I picked up the stickers and remove the backing from the sticky side I could align it back up correctly before sticking them to my computer.
I am really happy how this little project turned out. I had a really great first experience with etsy and everything went so well. Rob no longer has a store front on etsy. He does however have an eBay page and he can be e-mailed here. He still makes custom vinyl stickers for computers and he is really great to work with.
I show off my computer every chance I get. You might just catch me with one of my laptops at PAX Prime this year. You never know.
Waking up and pulling myself out of bed I was feeling like I had been at PAX a week already. I could not figure out why I was feeling like this. Maybe it was all the walking around and standing in lines the day before. Maybe eating out so much was catching up to me. Regardless Hannah was smiling and ready to start her day and I was hardly going to disappoint.
