PAX: Day 2

Day two started with a sealed deck game of Magic: The Gathering. Interesting. You get five booster packs and build your own 40 card deck out of them. I did pretty badly. Lost three matches in a row before giving up and in those matches I only won 2 out of 6 games. Good experience though and got some cards out of it. Scott did better, winning one match. Might play a different game tomorrow where it is 2 vs. 2 teams.

After that I browsed around the exhibit hall. Some neat things: There is a 4th edition D&D rule set being made that is supposed to be simpler than 3rd edition and doesn't have that terrible THAC0 system from 1st/2nd edition. Sounds neat! They are also creating an online service that allows you to create dungeons and play D&D online with your friends in them. I am less entused by this and suggested that the have a method to be able to create the dungeon and be able to print out the dungeon with an extensive legend describing all of the traps, monsters, etc... They also have a character creation utility that appears to be even more extensive than City of Heroes (that MMO that everyone creates characters on but nobody plays). This also was interesting and they allow you to print out a little character on paper with it. I think this would be much more compelling if they could offer 3D printing of the characters. They should just pay me right now for that idea. Thanks!

Still really excited about the Pirates of the Burning Seas, but they were out of Aaron sized shirts today.

I went and said hi to Wil Wheaton who is the best keynote speaker in the universe. Bought his second book which I never got to read. Not much more to say about that. Scott got a picture but I'm too lazy to make him mail it to me right now.

We got a flier from some model chick thing about this game promotion across the street and they said , "Free drinks, open bar". We went there, $7 drinks, lies. Looks like they spent a LOT of money on all the models, WWII equipment, decorations, rented space, ice sculpture and 100" plasmas, it would have been nice to get a drink ticket so they were at least not lying to me. The game they were promo-ing? Oh, WWII. I know we don't have enough games filling THAT gaping genre.

Now we are back at our computers. Concert is in an hour. Lee (Earenhylle) is here and said MC Frontalot is hanging out in his room tonight after the show, so we'll see.

I am determined to stay up late tonight so I am waiting for my second wind.

-Aaron