Vorpal

Waitlisted. What's the waitlist process like? Should I just keep an eye on my e-mail for changes/updates?

Edit: Someone asked Rorie the same question on Twitter--here's the answer: "We'll email people to confirm their reservations closer to the event; anyone who says they can't make it will be removed. And we'll add people from the waitlist at that point."

Totally agree. Jeff has been cracking me up ("He writes, 'You guys should add a new featur-" "Nope." "Okay."), and I love Brad as the host. He does a great job of keeping up the energy of the podcast. The Alex/Vinny quick looks are great too! IT'S ALL GREAT, BLAH BLAH BLAH.

I wasn't sure what the site would look like after the new hires came on and Vinny moved east, but it was clearly a good move. The content has been excellent.

@marino: Okay, cool. Good to know that camping isn't an option--I was wondering about that.

@breakfastking: So, as long as there's space in the theatre, it's possible to enter a panel after it's started/the doors are closed?

Sign me up!

Long time lurker, first time poster--also a first time PAX attendee. Hooray!

Less hooray: my plans to stay with a friend in Seattle have fallen through and I'm scrambling to figure out what options are still viable with only 2 weeks remaining until the convention. Are there any PAX veterans who have been in this situation before and can offer some suggestions? Are BnB reservations still a possibility (and viable for one person)? I saw a Room Share thread on the Penny Arcade PAX Prime forum--has anyone had luck with that route?

Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

@milkman said:

Pretty much exactly my reaction. I'm excited for change and I trust you guys. Can't wait to see what comes next!

Just wanted to throw Lufia 2 into the mix. I love the first game to death, but Lufia 2 improves on the original in so many ways: IP Attacks, New Game+, Capsule Monsters (love them or hate them, but how dare you hate them), party size, the new iteration on the Ancient Cave--even the plot builds on the first in an interesting way.

I thought the FFX-2 battle system was much more compelling than FFX, but I'm a sucker for job systems.

Also, Suikoden II! (And Suikoden III as a rare third entry in a series that holds up.) Breath of Fire 2 and 3 are also great!

@oldenglishc: I will half-assedly defend IV with you! Together we almost have a whole person who will sincerely defend that game.

Suikoden would be my first choice. I could go for a good chunk of the Tales games too.

@baillie: If I remember correctly, there are a few moments early on where Tess will start shooting at enemies regardless of your actions. They're sort of tutorials for how to use guns, or how to sneak up on someone while Tess distracts them, or whatever. That stops happening pretty quickly. Like other people said, I've watched the AI literally walk against enemies without alerting them.

I really enjoyed the combat controls. It started feeling fluid for me (or at least more interesting) when I would stun enemies with thrown items and take advantage of the "Grab" prompts to do combat takedowns or use enemies as human shields. God knows there's enough bottles and bricks lying around. (On Normal, anyway.)