Did you enjoy PDXCON 2018 more than PDXCON 2017?

[Irvius]

I did not.

I mean, the show was great, I cried when the roman parade entered the stage and announced Imperator (a game I was so much awaiting for), the location was the right one for a convention of that size. I enjoyed the food and the games and Paradox staff has been very kind and participative, the events and conferences were well managed and interesting like last year's.

But...

I missed the "familial" and intimate look and feel of 2017, this year all was arranged like a show for midsize enterprise (and that is right, because Fredrik Wester announced the jump to midsize in the opening ceremony), thus all seemed more distant than in 2017.
Last year Johann Andersson hurled his own t-shirts to people attending a conference and signed them (I was one of the lucky catchers ), this year his signed t-shirt was only available for sale. Goodies in the bag last year were richer (I really expected something more for a King Ticket since last year the basic ticket provided me with a Paradox power bank, a SD mousepad and a plushy Borg, though I enjoyed the Paradox plushy this year). And... no games or DLC as a final gift . Last year all of us got a Stellaris Anniversary Edition.

Paradox, I love you since 2001, I still love you so much and I can't wait to play the new and old games. But I cannot deny this felling: last year I felt more like a family member, this year I felt like a simple attendee of something that really matters to me.

Anyway, this is my humble opinion, what the other attendees think?

 

[FuscusNight]

This was my first PDXcon so i can't really compare it too much with 2017 but i was also expecting a bit more since as you mentioned i did hear a lot of positive buzz about the 2017 con. The panels and the things overall happening on the stage were almost all pretty entertaining and great, i enjoyed the CK2 devs talk about A.I a lot, Jake was fun during his presentation and nice to have a lil' chat with after, Imperator announcment was amazing, Johan as always is fantastic and all the other members were nice around the booths but i spent a good amount of my time not doing much really in-between the panels i was interested in, i had bad luck with the board room as me and my friend never really got to try out any of the paradox board games and the gaming booths were always packed so we couldn't play much. We only managed to sit down at the CK2 booth but sadly we kept having a lot of crashing problems and it wasn't just us, we kept seeing other peeps crashing a lot too on CK2 and it's probably why it was the least popular booth there. It was also kinda a bit of let down we couldn't try out the CK2 DLC, even the marketing at the booth made it seem like it was installed there but it wasn't, i'm guessing they were planing to let us test it out but the build most likely ended up being not in a good enough shape to let us play it yet. The VR lil corner was fun, was my first experience with VR and the food selection was also pretty nice but ofc. kinda pricy at times.

Overall my first experience was okay, it had its ups and downs but i hoped kinda for more. Next year if we go, we'll probably try to get our group of buddies that we often game with in EU4,CK2,HoI 4 and Stellaris to join us from the USA by getting tickets for them, as that will most likely improve the experience a lot more, especially if they do a board game room again with hopefully more tables.

 

[Mr Maison]

Not only was this my first PDXCon but also my first European trip. It was awesome and an experience I will never forget.

 

[gigau]

Well, it's not an easy question to respond to :
- last year, we had the atmosphere of a great old building, but a wee bit small... we were a bit packed.
- this year, we had much more space, more comfort, but less coziness.

And it's true that the devs were so busy, we had less time to chat with some of them. Well i did get to chat with more Paradox people than last year, met some i hadn't last year.

So i can't really compare the two, they have different feels. The family is getting bigger.

 

[Alex_brunius]

Are you not having a bit of rose tinted glasses here?

I know what I remember from PDXCon 2017.
Being starved and standing in line to get food for over 1 hour. Constantly having to run up and down the 3 stairs, playing lan/games until midnight in freezing temperatures and not being able to find the devs of your favorite games since they could be literally anywhere over the con rather then easily found near their booth like 2018.

I also remember things like 3 times as many people crammed into the same room as there were seats from PDXcon 2017, and I remember not hearing the speakers well from the back of the courtyard. I also remember alot of confusion about who should do what, where and how.

None of those things were issues for me in PDXCon 2018, everything just worked flawlessly and you could focus totally on having a great time and meeting pdx devs which I felt were both easier to get hold of then during 2017 and more accessible.

It's amazing IMO how they taken all issues with the 2017 con and made them better in 2018. Feels like we went to different conventions.

 

[Jabberwocky]

I didn't go to PDXCON2017, I did hear some of the same complaints about the loot bags at PDXCON2018, while drinking at Kelly's on the last night.
I felt the event was very spacious easy to get around though slightly confusing at first with that small hallway.

Food was... meh (Hotdogs and Hamburgers) more options would have been nice, or i just missed something. More importantly WATER was a pain to get, this is probably my biggest complaint. I was constantly thirsty, and a bit dehydrated from my long flight. It was a bit of a pain just to stay hydrated and avoid the lines, especially at peak times. Multiple water coolers in every section would have been appreciated for people to freely take a cup when they need it.

The devs were all approachable, especially at the after parties (Offices and at the Malmen), though at times I didn't want to bother them at the con as they seemed pretty busy. I got to talk to the heads at White Wolf, Triumph and Harebrained without issue. Jordan Weisman was easy to talk to and very eager to hear feedback on Battletech, and I got a selfie with Martin Anward who liked my synth helmet enough to take one back and tweet it.

I was cold the entire con till I got my Paradox hoodie (very happy about that purchase) but I came from a tropical country.

I was a bit confused about what to do the first day but that led some good experiences and allowed me to meed some people I wouldn't have otherwise.

I was pretty happy overall, more disappointed with myself than anything, I went alone and didn't take advantage of things as much as I could have. But I made some good friends and next time should be much better... if I can go.

 

[Alex_brunius]

Food was... meh (Hotdogs and Hamburgers) more options would have been nice, or i just missed something. More importantly WATER was a pain to get, this is probably my biggest complaint. I was constantly thirsty, and a bit dehydrated from my long flight. It was a bit of a pain just to stay hydrated and avoid the lines, especially at peak times. Multiple water coolers in every section would have been appreciated for people to freely take a cup when they need it.

This is probably just a culture thing, in most northern European countries the tap water is as clean as any water you buy on bottle so you can just bring a bottle and refill it at the restrooms if you want water.

Ofcourse it might also be a cunning plan to sell more drinks to the foreigners, what do I know

 

[willain]

Are you not having a bit of rose tinted glasses here?

I know what I remember from PDXCon 2017.
Being starved and standing in line to get food for over 1 hour. Constantly having to run up and down the 3 stairs, playing lan/games until midnight in freezing temperatures and not being able to find the devs of your favorite games since they could be literally anywhere over the con rather then easily found near their booth like 2018.

I also remember things like 3 times as many people crammed into the same room as there were seats from PDXcon 2017, and I remember not hearing the speakers well from the back of the courtyard. I also remember alot of confusion about who should do what, where and how.

None of those things were issues for me in PDXCon 2018, everything just worked flawlessly and you could focus totally on having a great time and meeting pdx devs which I felt were both easier to get hold of then during 2017 and more accessible.

It's amazing IMO how they taken all issues with the 2017 con and made them better in 2018. Feels like we went to different conventions.

I believe both of you are correct, what made this years con great (excellent planning and execution, including having a venue large enough and appropriate for the size) inherently removed what set last years event apart from other conventions, the familiarity and diy-feel of the events.
And while the latter is nice and all it is a good thing paradox has embraced the fact of them being a midsized company and made an appropriate amount of fans could join, not just a lucky few (and still more then the venue last year could handle).

 

[gigau]

And while the latter is nice and all it is a good thing paradox has embraced the fact of them being a midsized company and made an appropriate amount of fans could join, not just a lucky few (and still more then the venue last year could handle).

Definitely this, especially as they were still availlable to chat with players.

 

[Premu]

I wasn't there personally, but apparently the Paradox shared rised by almost 50% after it.

I should have bought more of them!

 

[Sanny]

I wasn't there personally, but apparently the Paradox shared rised by almost 50% after it.

I should have bought more of them!

Anyone who bought shares originally, have had their original share value multiplied by 400% post PDXCON18. Not bad in a space of less than 2 years. I think there was a limit to how many shares the average public consumer could buy, however if you had invested 1000 Euros, you would be sitting 4000 Euros richer right now if you were to sell.