PAX East, Final Day

The only Sunday panel discussion that interested me was "Future of the MMO Scene - MMORPG.com."  This panel was moderated by Garrett Fuller [News Manager, MMORPG.com], and had the following unannounced guest panelists: Bob Ferrari [Sanrio Digital / Typhoon Games], Craig Alexander [Turbine Entertainment], Paul Barnett [EA / Bioware / Mythic], and Curt Schilling [38 Studios].

This discussion was different in that they immediately opened the floor to questions, and the questions, unlike the questions asked in previous panels, were very good.  The panelists discussed their views on transmedia (accessing your favorite MMO from iPhone apps and web widgets); various pricing models (subscription-based services, transaction-based services, the "Las Vegas" model, where some pay a little and some pay a lot); technical accessibility (if you don't meet the specs then you can't play the game and you've lost a potential customer); web browser MMOs (instant accessibility with a minimum of download times: click-and-play right away) and the WoW Killer (WoW does everything right: it is the iPod of MMOs).  The biggest laugh came from former major league baseball pitcher Curt Schilling, who stated "I played professional baseball, and I could not wait to go home and go online."

After the discussion, I toured around the exhibition hall again.  Sometime last week I mentioned the Emissary by Geek Chic, and I was surprised to see this company present at the expo.  I had a delightful chat with company founder Robert Gifford and briefly discussed his niche business and its rapid growth.  He was very cool and I wish this company plenty of good karma in the years to come.

Afterwards I played a hand of Magic: the Gathering at the WotC demo table.  There was five seats available: I had one seat and the others were occupied by a family of four.  It was humorous to see the eight year old boy leap into action, sending a monster at me in retaliation for my playing a card against his dad.  Afterwards I played the XBox version of M:tG, and had much better luck in winning against the computer than I had against the eight year old boy.

All-in-all, it was a very enjoyable weekend, and I can see myself willing to attend another PAX someday.  And like Curt Schilling, I am glad to be home and back online.