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The List : The Five Types of People at PAX
Posted Sep 10, 2010 by Suzie Ford
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy spent time at PAX last week and has a new The List column for our readers today. This time, Bill takes a look at the five types of people who haunted the halls of PAX. Everyone from the Celebrity Hound to The Swag Rat falls under Bill's microscope. Check it out!
I’m the kind of person who likes going to large gatherings of people because I like watching them. If I’d really thought about it while in college, I probably should have gone into sociology or anthropology. PAX is something special for those of us who like to people-watch. It’s the type of convention, much like Comic Con where different sects of fandom collide. It’s a place where everyone can feel absolutely safe to show their true inner geek and let loose for a weekend of fun.
Read more The Five Types of People at PAX.
I wish I would have been able to expirence all of this in PAX2010, but finances stopped that. Heres hoping to PAX2011 right?!
Call me stupid if you will, but know I am not from North America. Just what is PAX? Some big-ass gaming convention where all the studios/companies gather to show off?
All of those are true, but PAX is about so much more than just celebreties and the expo hall.
There's also the board-game people, who spend their entire con playing board games and who think Catan is a game for newbs, the LAN crowd in Bring Your Own Computer, and the hardcore handheld crowd.
Indeed the true reason for inflatable weapons!
I have missed pax the past few years, finances being what they are, and the economy just out right in dire needs of a kick start.
However I am a mix of 2 of that kind, the lan guy who brings his own laptop to plug in and have fun, along with the guy well lets face it hogs the dev time, especially when I feel the need to get my point across.
Hopefully next time I will get to go time permitted.
Alternate title to the list: "5 Reasons Why Normal People Shun These Conventions"
PAX is a gamers convention put on by the online comic creators of the Penny Arcade comics. PAX stands for Penny Arcade Expo. This is why I think professional writers should define the acronyms they use. All that has to be done to define an acronym is to use the full term at least once before using the acronym.
Due to health circumstances, I was unfortunately unable to make PAX last year and this year I am mid-state-moving so I'm hoping for PAX 2011. Anyways, I've been to a few large conventions and I really *get* the list. And the "people repellants..." well, yeah. Unfortunately, I always end up in line with them. The guy right in front of me for 2.5 hours (to get autographs) from Shatner, Nimoy, and Mulgrew) at Dragon*Con had time enough to prepare everything he wanted signed in their original protective casings/boxes/wrap and place them all in bubble-wrapped shelf things and stack them on a dolly. I just wish he'd taken 10 minutes to shower and throw on some deodorant. :)
Ouch, probably some of The People Repellants don't even know about their condition or are totally ignoring their personal hygiene
Its good you opened the discussion about this topic, through your article and its hard to talk about it without having the guilty party not feeling offended, but we all know that such people exist everywhere, on the street, at your workplace, in schools, or who knows where else...
Its sad however to see the Gamers on such a low level....
lets be totally honest, the vast majority of us who go to this site are gamers, now generally its loggical to assume that gamers know the acroynms for major gaming convetions, as technically, games is our field. Example: A person in the field of computing, will know what the acroynim IP stands for., the person who writes it shouldn't have to write "internet protocol" all the time as that defeates the purpose of the acroynim.
An even more alternate title would be "5 Reasons Why Normal People Shun This Industry All Togethor"
Do any of you ever wonder if the "booth babes" enjoy their work? Just look at the expression of the woman in the photo in this article. Says it all.
Regarding "booth babes" I suppose they are told that they would get paid paid [PAID !!] for doing nothing but standing around wearing clothes. They probably don't know about how stinky the place may get though. Then again, they may get stinky too, however, that does not show in the photos.
As to game hogs, you could carry around a vintage 1989 IBM key board [they were made of steel] and whack any offenders in the head. Of course you could always pee on them; if that creates a problem tell them Duke Nukem did it.
EDIT: Used UBB code after the post went here, to the forum.
Until this thread, I never gave any thought as to what booth babes were thinking; then I found this:
Penny Arcade Expo
If you are unaware of what Penny Arcade is, it is a web comic strip that I highly recommend to any gamer.
Woah! I fit into all five categories! I regularly go to conventions and stalk celebrity booth babes to hit on and ask for free stuff while shooing people away from the games I want to play all day. Also I haven't showered in a year.
Only $500? She'd get paid more to do porn.