PAX: ArenaNet/Guild Wars Party

The ArenaNet party was held on Saturday 25 August at GameWorks, a big arcade/bar across the street from the Washington State Convention & Trade Centre, the venue for PAX. The party started at 18:00 for VIPs and ArenaNet staff. Everyone else at the convention could enter from 19:00.

Here’s a shot of the bar, without hordes of people milling around it:

There were actually quite a lot of people allowed in for the first “exclusive” hour of the party. Upon entering and having our Early Admission Tickets stamped, ArenaNet staff gave us each two free drink vouchers and a Guild Wars: Eye of the North t-shirt. Luckily, they had some size Smalls there. ArenaNet staff also gave out Guild Wars standees and extra large Prophecies game boxes like the one pictured here. I didn’t bother to get a Guild Wars standee because it would just add to the clutter in my flat. I did get a Guild Wars Prophecies box, and the next day an ArenaNet staffer took it around to all the devs for autographs.

They gave us each a game card containing about $20 worth of credits on it to play arcade games. There were three games in which you could win prizes: racing, air hockey, and Taiko Drum Master. The only prize I wanted to win was the Giant Plush Microbe, but I lost my Taiko Drum Master match. Later on, the wait was too long to try it again.

The food was nothing to write home about, but it was free, so no complaints from me.

The party was nice, though having it at an arcade did sort of cut down on quiet conversation time with the devs. A lot of them were administering the games and prizes, too. I saved the conversation for the final day of PAX, and I’ll write about it in another post.

The party was fun, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to get in early. I met a few cool Guild Wars players there.

You can also read about the party on the Guild Wars website.

[Photoset]