Let's get philosophical

Whom

12:00 AM

That makes no sense. Shouldn't you be leaving for Spain right about now?

Pekka

12:13 AM

PAX is peace on Caps Lock

Whom

No, PAX is an acronym, pax is a word. It's like you don't know anything about English.

Or Latin.

Or Spanish, probably (I'm extrapolating here).

You don't speak Latin, you don't speak English. Therefore by induction you speak no languages.

Pekka

Acronyms are an invention of the military-industrial complex.

But I digress. I do indeed not speak any languages; therefore I will henceforth be able to communicate only through copy+pasted sentences from Google results. We will have to see how that works out

George Edison

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Whom

12:29 AM

Okuu!

Grace Note

Welbog!

Whom

You are a hard person to contact.

Grace Note

I did get your email, actually

Whom

Then why didn't you write? :(

Grace Note

I was just catching up with someone else... ironically for PAX, actually. This is going to be a busy PAX for me

I only got it last night or so.

Well, you probably sent it earlier than last night

But that's when I noticed it.

Whom

12:31 AM

I sent it a few weeks ago.

I sent another one today.

Grace Note

...was it really that long ago?

...hooboy

Whom

Something like that, yeah.

I was worried you'd forgotten about Welbog.

Grace Note

I should note that I'm pretty bad with tracking all of my email accounts

Haha, no, I'd never forget you. ♪

Whom

☢

Anyway, I have a rough list of what panels I want to see.

Grace Note

Let's hear 'em

Whom

12:32 AM

But by the sounds of things you're more busy than I am.

Grace Note

I haven't had a chance to look at the schedule yet.

Whom

You're better off just looking at the wave I made.

Grace Note

Wave still works?

Whom

I've just added you to it.

Yeah.

Wave is way better than chat.meta.

Grace Note

Alright. When I get home tonight, I'll jet right on.

Whom

12:33 AM

I still use it for everything.

Oh you can't use it yet?

Grace Note

I could try.

Whom

OK so I guess I'll just paste my stuff here.

Don't bother. I'll just paste.

10:30-11:30 Keynote - this is a no-brainer. Main theatre.
11:30-12:45 PA Q&A #1 - again, no brainer. Main theatre.
Lunch
14:00-15:00 Interactive Drama: Dialogue as Gameplay. Sounds interesting, but if it ends up sucking you can skip it. Cat theatre.
wandering
17:00-18:00 From Background To Center Stage: Building Game Worlds As Main Characters. Now this one sounds great. Manticore theatre.
Food?
18:30-19:30 Game Design Is Mind Control. Sounds pretty good from a user experience point of view. Cat theatre.

Grace Note

I can't, anyway. Needs a plugin for IE8 (NOT ALLOWED)

Whom

10:30-11:30 PA Make-a-strip panel. Jerry and Mike and Gabe and Tycho all over. Main theatre.
Wandering/lunch
15:00-16:00 Females on female characters. Might be interesting if not awkward. Wyvern theatre.
Wandering
17:00-18:00 Creating compelling worlds for original IP. Now this one a good sounding one. IGDA dev center. Where is that?
Food probably
18:30-19:30 The "other" us. More psychology stuff. I am going to eat your brains. Naga theatre.
19:30-20:30 Cosplay stuff in the cat theatre. Good place to ogle cool costumes. Cat theatre.

10:30-11:30 Game mechanics design. Possibly neat? Let's find out. Wyvern theatre.
12:00-12:50 One of us. Gamer stereotypes? Might want to skip it. IGDA dev centre.
Wander and eat and PUNCH
15:00-16:00 Poker Night at the Inventory panel. Might be too late? Wyverns be there.

That's Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Grace Note

Lessee... excluding no brainers...

And this is about what's interesting moreso than what I can necessarily be at, since I don't have the full schedule in front of me.

Whom

12:36 AM

east.paxsite.com/schedule.php

The schedule isn't in an easily consumable format.

Grace Note

Dialogue as Gameplay sounds intriguing. as does the game worlds thing.

Whom

They need to hire a usability expert.

Grace Note

I usually get enough cosplay just by wandering, not sure about attending an event for it. Game Mechanics design sounds possibly neat as well.

And that 15-16 block on Saturday, I'll need to see the panel description when I get home, just to know what I'd allegedly get myself into. More for curiosity than anything else.

Whom

I figure there are a lot more panels up your alley than mine, since most of them are geared toward people with/who want careers in game design.

Grace Note

True to that.

Whom

12:39 AM

"Join Susan Arendt, Senior Editor of The Escapist; Kathleen de Vere, star of LoadingReadyRun; AJ Glasser, News Editor of GamePro; and Lisa Foiles, star of Lisa Foiles Top 5; as they discuss what they embrace in female fictional characters and why these attributes are important.

They will identify their favorite characters and how they would like more heroines with similar attributes integrated into Geek culture. This fresh, positive approach to female characters shouldn’t be missed. Moderated by Elizabeth Grunewald, Not Games Editor of The Escapist."

Grace Note

Hm. I might be curious enough.

Whom

Might be awkward, but I'm interested in all perspectives.

I am OK with awkward.

Grace Note

I'm hoping for a female neutral perspective to it

Whom

I don't know the panelists so it might be female neutral to chaotic evil.

"Panelists include: Susan Arendt [Senior Editor, The Escapist], Kathleen De Vere [Actor, LoadingReadyRun], Lisa Foiles [Actor, The Escapist], AJ Glasser [News Editor, GamePro], Elizabeth Grunewald [Not Games Editor, Themis-media.com]"

Grace Note

Heh, nor do I. The only place I've heard of is the Escapist, and the only thing of Escapist I know is Yahtzee, haha

Whom

12:41 AM

The ones I think are the most interesting to me are the RPG ones since I'm about to start my cyberpunk campaign right after PAX.

On top of just normal design stuff. Games are software, afterall.

Grace Note

I can't really say what will pique my interest the most. This'll be my first time at a gaming convention, and I honestly don't even know what I'll be looking forward to.

It's your first convention, too, though, I recall

Hah, you're a better planner than I am

Whom

Actually the reason I planned was because I wanted to tell you when and where I would be to meet you. You were my primary motivation ☢

Ordinarily I would wait until the last minute.

Grace Note

Aww

Whom

ALSO HOLD THAT THOUGHT BECAUSE I HAVE TO DO MY LAUNDRY BEFORE SOMEONE STEALS MY SOCKS BRB ten minutes.

Grace Note

Hehe

Thankfully, I don't have to worry about any sock thieves other than the machine itself

That's really what cons are about, too, though. Meeting people. Half of going to Genericon every year is to actually meet up with old school friends, since everyone else also goes to Genericon.

Whom

12:50 AM

I'm going to be meeting one other Internet person other than you.

I'm always open to meeting more Internet people.

Grace Note

Interesting.

I'll be meeting two different sets of school friends, myself

Whom

Of course the one who isn't you is one I've met before.

Grace Note

Ah

Whom

I'm also going with a carful of friends from this area. Canadians everywhere.

Grace Note

I'll have my brother around to one degree or another

Whom

12:53 AM

This brother I've heard so much about.

Grace Note

Have your accomodations setup, yet?

Whom

Yeah. We got the hotel late so we got a place that's far away.

Grace Note

Yes, that brother. He's more impressive than I am.

Whom

I'd have preferred the attached hotel, but we got the sheriton which is like half an hour away.

Grace Note

Oh my

That does cut down on con time

Whom

12:55 AM

Yeah. It's not like I was planning on going back and forth.

It just means I have to convince my night-people friends to wake up early.

Grace Note

Ahha

I'll probably adjust my sleep schedule depending on what the morning and night panels are

Oooh, wait, that Friday stuff starts at noon...

I have no chance for those two panels at the start, then. That's depressing.

Whom

But those are the 100% best panels.

We're arriving really really late Thursday night. Technically Friday morning.

ROAD TRIP

Grace Note

I know! But that's right in the middle of my workday, and we have a 2 hour commute to actually reach Boston.

Whom

Not taking a day off?

Grace Note

My own capacity to take a vacation has no impact on my brother's capacity to do likewise.

Whom

1:00 AM

Ah

Grace Note

And I'm much fearful of the prospect for a 2 hour drive, alone, to Boston.

I don't know what traffic is like in Canada, but be warned. Boston is a beast of its own caliber.

Whom

I hope to not be the one driving when we get to Boston proper.

And we're taking mass transit within the city.

Grace Note

Ah. Good way to stay mostly safe.

Whom

Plus the Internet person I've met before is a Boston native and he'll be meeting us at the hotel Friday morning to show us the ropes.

So I think Boston won't crush us.

Grace Note

That really helps.

Whom

1:03 AM

So, Okuu, you need to figure out how my schedule meshes with yours so we can figure out what to do. Stack Overflow needs a presence at PAX lest Jeff Atwood destroy us all.

Grace Note

Well, excepting that instance of the morning, there are still a couple panels that we'll be cross-attending.

Saturday makes the best option to meet, we'll be arriving fairly late on Friday so there won't be many opportune times then.

Whom

Saturday sounds good to me. I'm also assuming that this panel is going to be packed right to the gills with nerds, a veritable of sea of geekery, into which most nerds blend easily.

How will we of Wave find each other?

Grace Note

I... wear glasses.

Haha, I'll think of something more useful to label myself with.

I'm actually thinking of putting a patch on my jacket, but we'll see how well that goes over

Whom

OK I have a partial solution. There is a picture on the Internet with me in it, taken when the board game I helped to design won an award.

See if you can determine which of these people is me.

flickr.com/photos/boardgamejam/5414579563

Hint: two of them are not me.

Grace Note

...oh man, there's a panel for legal issues for indie game developers? That's just evil to be on Friday noon!

Hm...

None of them have quite the hairstyle I expected for you, either by too much volume or too little

Whom

1:10 AM

I got a haircut back in December.

There's 2.5 months of hair on me.

Grace Note

Lessee... then...

I haven't cut my hair since the summer, so... that puts your hair as... the leftmost one. Or rightmost, if you're looking at the perspective from the people in the picture.

Whom

You think I'm Dave. I'm the one holding the TEAMWORK AWARD

TEAMWORK

Grace Note

Aw man, that was actually my first guess before you mentioned the haircut

Your hair looks mighty short for 2.5 months of growth

Whom

I guess my hair grows fast?

Or slow.

D:

It's curly so it's actually longer than it looks.

Grace Note

Well, unless it's longer in the back than I'm seeing.

Whom

1:14 AM

Curly hair folds in on itself like Calabi-Yau space.

Grace Note

Ah

Nice glasses, by the way.

Whom

I'm pretty sure my hair is longer than Dave's.

Best glasses.

Grace Note

It is longer than Dave's

Apparently I used the wrong adjective in my head and typed it out as such

Whom

I do not take insults to my hair lightly! Prepare to die!

Grace Note

Yikes!

Hm... panels don't start until 10:00 on Saturday. That's interesting.

Whom

1:19 AM

Gives you a chance to get into lines and/or sleep in.

Grace Note

They have a lot more panel rooms than the cons I've been to before.

Whom

I like how there is a Rock Band room at this thing. I'm assuming the lines are ridiculously long, but I have to beat my friend at Rock Band in public so that the world knows that he has no rhythm.

The world needs to know.

Grace Note

Haha

Whom

It's for the good of all music lovers that I do this.

Grace Note

I don't know if I count as having Rhythm or not.

I do a bang-up job on Elite Beat Agents, but... that's... really the only strict rhythm game I play. I'm kinda just good at timings.

Whom

1:22 AM

You and I need to play Mystical Chain.

Grace Note

But it's not 2 player

Unless that was changed?

Whom

You can make any game a two-player game with your imagination, Okuu!

Grace Note

"Creating Compelling Worlds for Original IP" sounds right up my alley

Whom

Just believe that there is a direct competition and that you can win it!

Then fight! Fight!

Grace Note

Ooh, 2 player competitive

Whom

1:23 AM

I want to see that one. It's on my list.

You're going to win. That's just how it is, Okuu. I'm terrible at that game.

But we can have fun.

Grace Note

That's all it is ever for

At college, my brother and some of our friends actually had a Contra competition.

Whom

I play Portal competitively online with some of my friends. It's a race to the finish.

Grace Note

Got two TVs, two PS2s, and rented an extra copy of Contra. Sat them in pairs.

...there was a backlash to Metroid: Other M for being feminist? Crepes, everything I've read seems to indicate it's very much the opposite...

Whom

Nice.

Oh that panel. I want to see that one.

Feminism has interested me ever since my roommate became one.

Grace Note

Ahha

"Here Be Danger: Turn Back Now Before the Game Industry Eats You Alive" also sounds amusing, and of good idea to investigate

Haha, oh my, I might get lynched on the Bridge if I don't attend "An Evening with Day[9] and Husky". At least, for the former element.

Whom

1:28 AM

Overlaps with the females one.

Grace Note

Argh, that schedule really is difficult to digest

Whom

Yeah. Like I said, they should have paid me $5000 to organize it better.

Grace Note

Heh

Whom

I mean how am I going to get my name out there as an amazing user experience consultant if I don't get paid big bucks for noticing obvious problems?

Grace Note

Hm... the panel description makes "Game Mechanics and Mechanism Design" pretty appealing, too

Whom

1:31 AM

Big win for usability (or rather accessibility) with respect to Dead Space 2. A guy with cerebral palsy got EA to add more configuration options to Dead Space 2's inputs. Everyone benefits from accessibility, not just the disabled.

I use very, shall we say, strange controls for my games, and Dead Space 2 didn't support it, but now I think it does.

Grace Note

Interesting

Whom

Game designers can be assholes about accessibility sometimes.

Like a minigame in Bioshock 2 required you to be able to distinguish between red and green.

Grace Note

Indeed

Whom

That's 10% of males who can't play Bioshock 2.

Grace Note

Yikes

Whom

1:35 AM

It's like if you made a game that required people to taste bitter (or was it sour?). You wouldn't do something like that.

Grace Note

Sour

Whom

Or it would be like me using a font size that's too small. I can't see a damned thing without my glasses. I want big fonts.

Grace Note

Note to self: bigger fonts

"How to Win At Games" sounds amusing. Especially as it analyzes boardgames as well.

Whom

I don't recall that one. Let me see.

Grace Note

Conflicts with "One of Us", for you

Whom

1:37 AM

As you can see from my notes, I'm not sure if that one sounds good.

So if you're going to How to win at games I'd be willing to switch.

Grace Note

"Ten Games You Need to Play: The Digital Game Canon" also piques my interest

How late are you staying on Sunday, anyway?

Whom

According to our fearless leader, we're going to be staying to the end.

Grace Note

Ah.

Oh, hey, you do have that Poker thing at 15:00, so it's not like you stopped shortly after noon.

Whom

Well, I had made this list before knowing how late we would be there on Sunday.

For me, Sunday's panels are the least interesting.

Unless I missed one.

Grace Note

Yeah, I started to lose interest after a point.

Whom

1:41 AM

They probably do that knowing most people will be there for the Saturday.

Grace Note

Well, they are already sold out for Saturday

Whom

So I suppose that means Sunday is the best day for standing in a Rock Band line.

Playing Mystical Chain on my laptop.

Grace Note

I should probably bring my laptop.

But I'm usually not keen on dragging her around on con space.

Whom

My laptop's ⑨ is important to identify which type of gaming community to which I belong.

Plus I like drawing pictures on it.

Grace Note

Mine is a very simplistic, silver VAIO. And I no longer have Okuu as the desktop, so really there's nothing distinguishing about it.

Whom

1:44 AM

Tablets make me feel like I'm on Star Trek.

Grace Note

Ooh, you have a tablet? Jealous.

Whom

I will show you!

So what I found was that since the schedule on the website sucks, I just picked out some panels I wanted to go to and then sorted them by time.

That's part of the reason I made the list on Wave.

Grace Note

Ahha

Whom

It's just a lot easier to see.

Grace Note

Genericon uses a nice tabular format, showing everything for a given room and time.

Kinda like the Gaming schedule, actually.

Whom

1:50 AM

I don't think Penny Arcade has any usability experts on payroll.

Grace Note

Ooh, they actually do have a graphical schedule for the panels

Whom

No descriptions there.

Also, small text.

SMALL TEXT

Grace Note

Nay, there aren't any. And, ahah, I suppose it is small text

Whom

A better style would be something that isn't a PDF, with tooltip descriptions on mouseover/click.

Grace Note

I was thinking just that, but at the very least, a PDF is printable. You can't carry tooltips in a conbook.

Whom

1:53 AM

So it needs an "expand all" option as well.

Grace Note

I wonder if pop-up books are still popular

Whom

I'm not sure how you could print one of those.

Grace Note

Probably in a similar kind of machine like they do box making, in order to make the proper cuts.

Whom

A horrible machine.

Grace Note

...hooboy, I am getting sleepy.

Whom

1:59 AM

But it's only nine.

Grace Note

Yeah. I am not a late night person

I think I am going to nap on the couch.

Whom

Well, what's important is that you know what I'm interested in seeing at PAX, so we can see some stuff together and hang out.

Good night, Okuu.

Grace Note

Yes, indeed. I'm glad to be able to catch your schedule

G'nite, Welbog ♪

Whom

⑨

Together Okuu and I will overthrow Jeff Atwood and bring in a new age of Stack Overflow!

And also we'll overthrow Pekka. Y'know, for fun.

Pekka

11:04 AM

It will take more than two guys attending a peace conference to overthrow me.

Whom

12:58 PM

That's what they said about Gandhi.

Pekka

1:48 PM

I will wear a bulletproof vest.

Whom

10:56 PM

A mere vest won't stop the beautiful barrage of bullets that we'll be firing by the thousands. You cannot dodge every one, and eventually you will run out of your supernatural vest and bombs, at which point you're as good as dead.

Whom

11:44 PM

Okuu, are you really there or are you a ghost?

I'm scared of ghosts.

Grace Note

I'm here, but not for long. And I'm not a ghost, no matter how often people suggest that.

Whom

Good. I'm scared of ghosts.

Grace Note

They can be nasty fellows. Or adorably huggable, though.

Whom

This one time me and my friend were ninjas fighting ghosts and the ghosts murdered us horribly.