Fuck no.

This year's convention was a pretty great time, and though it just recently ended, I learned a few new tricks of the trade that might help future PAX-goers enjoy their time at the convention a little bit more. @Marino take from this what you will for version 3.0!

1. Realistically, one should temper their expectations about the AAA game titles available to play at PAX and plan accordingly. One of the most common complaints over on the official PAX forums seems to be the sheer wait time that many visitors experienced for some of the AAA titles on the show floor. Three and four hour lines are not uncommon, especially on the busier days (Friday and Saturday) and at peak hours. As such, you really need to plan accordingly in order to maximize your time playing games (if that is your plan!)
2. Do NOT neglect the Indie Showcase. Boston has a phenomenal indie game presence at PAX, and some of my favorite experiences this year stemmed from playing those games (I'm looking at you, Guacamelee!)
3. On a similar note, spend some time in the tabletop area! Even if you don't enjoy tabletop games in general, there is something for everyone in that section of the show. Card games, board games, D&D - you name it, there is a group willing to play it. My friends and I ended up playing Cards Against Humanity for a solid two hours with one of the Epic Games devs - you never know when something like that might happen and brighten up your show

See you all next year!

great to know, i all ready booked my hotel :)

do you have any tips?? i was thinking about driving down to Boston or is flying just a better option.

Do we know when the date is going to be?

@Quick_Stop_Chad said:

Do we know when the date is going to be?

March 22-24 this year. Even though PAX hasn't confirmed the dates, the venue has sort of leaked them on it's website.

Thank you! I wanted to get my hotel as soon as I can.

I wouldn't necessarily book a hotel until the PAX rates come out, unless you're booking well away from the BCEC. Definitely don't want to get bumped because PAX reserved a block that includes the room you thought you had.

Otherwise, everything Andy said is true. Most especially, don't be afraid to explore the whole exhibition floor. There are awesome things everywhere, and you'd be remiss to just glance and walk by most of them. As for the games with long lines, I prefer to line up for the exhibition hall each day and head for one of those crazy lines first thing. The wait for the hall to open can be obnoxious, but it is so worth it if you save hours getting to see or play that top tier game you were interested in.

Barring disaster, I will be at PAX East 2013 with a lot less guilt and hopefully a more cooperative stomach (curse you, Coke Freestyle machine and several pounds of Five Guys!). Looking forward to it already.

So is that why I can't book the Westin for that weekend, How exactly does that work does it go up and its first come first serve? last year we had to get a hotel pretty far from the convention center I really would love to be closer.

@Quick_Stop_Chad: Yeah, PAX will announce their hotel booking system is active (probably first on their forums, then on Twitter) and it's a mad rush through that to hopefully get the hotel you want.

Maybe not the most elegant system, but definitely worth keeping your eyes open on their forums and the TweetZone.

you can book at the Hilton boston it about a 20 min drive from the trade and Convention centre

Never too early.