pax east 2016 survey

Overall, how satisfied are you with PAX East 2016?
Not Very Satisfied

Please briefly explain your answer to how satisfied you are with PAX East 2016:
(I've been going to PAX East since 2011, just to give context to my opinions)

Good:
-Queue room was better this year for sure.
-Being on the showfloor is still exhilarating as always.
-Great representation from the big three (MS, Sony, Nintendo), which is really cool to see.
-A few very solid panels (Warcraft movie was a fantastic panel).
-The Indie Megabooth is still the highlight of the showfloor for me, and I was pleased with how many games were showcased.
Bad:
-Getting too big for its own good.  Panels and booths get capped so quickly that being even slightly late (AKA not two hours early) means you may not get in at all.
-Compounding the crowdedness issue is very poor booth organization.  Nintendo was a prime example: with no actual line system in place, everyone would be cramped around a 3DS hoping they would eventually get a change to play.  At this point, with the sheer numbers PAX draws in each year, there should be a better system in place for regulating the booth setups.
-Enforcers are still very unhelpful, giving incorrect information and poorly managing lines (they will always find time to yell at you though).  On multiple occasions, I had enforcers send me to the wrong line, tell me a line was capped when it wasn't, or purposely let people cut entire lines I was waiting in.
-Weird panel conflicts too, especially for popular ones (Twitch and Gearbox should not have been at the same time).
-Concerts are the exact same people as the past three years, I'm sure finding new artists would breathe some life into one of the least exciting parts of the con.  There should be more late-night panels and events; console freeplay is fun, but it would be cool to have more options.
-Price increase was absolute bullshit, we shouldn't be charged more for the exact same (arguably worse) experience as previous years.
-Forced scarcity of 3-day passes.  Anyone paying attention realizes how popular they are, yet the staff refuse to sell enough to even remotely meet demand.  This has been a consistent issue for three years now, and nothing changing points to either total incompetence or a lack of caring on Penny Arcade's part.
-The swag bags consisted solely of advertisements.  There is nothing exciting about grabbing a bag filled with loose flyers and discount cards.  Previous years (with lower attendance and lower revenue) featured decks of Magic cards, Cards Against Humanity exclusive cards, and even entire games (I still can't believe we got Rift that one year).  The standard for the swag bags is now so low that I'd rather throw mine away than carry it around.

How likely are you to attend PAX East 2017?
Somewhat Likely

On a scale of 10 to 0, how likely is it that you would recommend this show to a friend or colleague? 4

What is the single most important reason for giving this score?
While I personally would not recommend PAX after this year, I'm sure someone who hasn't gone before would still enjoy their "first PAX", being on a showfloor surrounded by games and booths.  However, it honestly does not hold up compared to the experiences in previous years, so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has gone before.

How can PAX East be improved?
-Reconsider your organization based on the numbers you get now.  If that means less booths to make room, so be it.  There is only so much that can be fit.
-Keep the showfloor open later!  There is only so much time in the day, for sure, but even two extra hours could mean a few more games for each attendee.
-With Riftwalk being a major success, perhaps creating more booths outside of the showfloor would be an effective way to divert fans out of the main crowd.
-Consider the people going to your con, and how to improve their day-to-day experience.  Many people spend tons of money, clear their entire weekends and fly from far away to attend PAX, and it would be great if the standards matched the effort being put out to attend.