Day Two of PAX Australia 2016 brought out the crowds, packing the queue room to get into the expo hall to capacity. The halls were filled with happy faces and the atmosphere was one of positivity and excitement. Here’s what we got up to.
The day began with a stop at the No-One’s Sky panel, a discussion of the psychology behind No Man’s Sky and the vehement reaction that the gaming world had to it on launch. These are the sort of PAX panels that really turn our crank — intelligent, careful, cynicism-free discussion of a game that has generated a lot of reactionary takes and negativity.
The Tabletop area was absolutely cranking all day with Magic the Gathering dominating the play space, but what pleased us to see was the Dungeons and Dragons Adventurer’s League tables receiving huge amounts of love. We’re huge fans of pen-and-paper RPG’s at The Iris and it did our collective hearts good to see so many people jumping in and learning how to play with such friendly and talented DM’s.
The crush of foot traffic did put the new, more spaced-out floorplan to the test but by-and-large the corridors remained without chokes or idle waiting. The beloved Enforcers kept everything moving, making sure lines and seating were handled as efficiently as possible (for which we are eternally thankful as getting to appointments and interviews on time can be a challenge).
The Why is 7/10 a Bad Score? panel in the Gamespot Theatre was a great time for fans and media alike as a number of Australia’s most well-respected games journalists discussed why the Out Of 10 review scale (one that we at The Iris are guilty of using ourselves) is inherently flawed. The crowd seemed tickled by this quick peek behind the curtain, and were even willing to put up with that one kid near the front who kept interrupting the panel like it was an open forum.
The Geekological Diversity: Tabletop Edition provided, as host Brit Snaggel put it, a 201-level crash course in how to provide greater cultural and gender diversity in the tabletop space, from board games to D&D. Whip smart, super informative and never, ever preachy, this was one of the most interesting hours of the day.
From there it was back onto the show floor until the Expo Hall closed, and then into the evening programming with 7bit Hero putting on a typically amazing show in the Main Hall Saturday night concerts.
A long day, but an incredibly rewarding one. Get your badges on, we’ll see you back at the MCEC today for final leg. Sunday awaits.
Accommodation in Melbourne provided by Fraser Place Melbourne. For rates and information, click here.
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