One of the biggest consumer gaming shows of the year is coming up in the next couple of weeks – PAX East 2017, as always hosted in Boston, MA. So the question must be, as MMO fans, what is on show that we would want to check out. Well, since MMO Central will be in attendance, we’re going to run down the Panels and Show Floor Exhibitors that fall in our particular wheelhouse.

We’ll also call out our pick of the show – the booth and panel you really can’t afford to miss! Lets dive on in with…

Panels

While there are three days of panels at PAX East 2017, there is apparently only one day that counts as an MMO aficionado – Saturday. That’s right, while there are great panels all weekend the only explicitly massively multiplayer focused panels are on the 11th March.

Lets run them down in chronological order…

FINAL FANTASY XIV Community Q & A Panel (12:00 PM to 1:00 PM)

Albatross Theatre

An opportunity for dedicated FINAL FANTASY XIV Online players to ask and learn about the latest topics impacting the community with Producer/Director Naoki Yoshida. Panelists Include: Matt Hilton, Naoki Yoshida, Aimi Tokutake

The EVE Online History Lecture (12:30 PM to 1:30 PM)

Condor Theatre

EVE Online historian Andrew Groen – author of “Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online” – presents a true story of starbases, battleships, and interstellar dictators from the history of EVE Online. Don’t worry if you know nothing about EVE, this presentation will bring you up to speed on the basics you need to know to enjoy this epic story of galactic warfare and political drama. Panelists Include: Andrew Groen [Author, Empires of EVE: A History of the Great Wars of EVE Online]

Pokemon GO and Learning with Augmented Reality (2:00 PM to 3:00 PM)

Arachnid Theatre

Pokemon GO has taken the world by storm! But did you know we can learn from augmented reality? In this panel the expert presenter will show you how the (AR) of Pokemon GO will shape how future students learn through experience in areas like internships and study abroad. The future of college student learning is a Pokedex of opportunity! Gotta catch them all! Panelists Include: Dave Eng [Director of Student Activities, St. Thomas Aquinas College], Brian Eng [Research Assistant, ENG Inc.]

[MMOC Pick] A Living Legacy: Designing Chronicles of Elyria (3:30 PM to 4:30 PM)

Condor Theatre

CEO and Founder of Soulbound Studios, Jeromy Walsh, details out the design of the upcoming MMORPG Chronicles of Elyria, a living world where characters age, die, and shape their legacy through multiple lifetimes as different characters in an epic, ten year story. With a closed economy, finite resources, non-repeatable quests, and a fully destructible environment, each character’s journey is uniquely impacted by world events and the choices of other players. But what choice will you make? Will you follow a path of virtue… or something darker?

Show Floor (Confirmed)

Arguably the greatest thing about the PAX series of events is the show floor which features booths from gaming companies of all shapes and sizes – from the smallest indie to the largest multi-national gaming companies – the show floor is where the average MMO player is going to want to be.

MMO Central can confirm the following games will definitely be on show…

Space Wars: Interstellar Empires (ToHeroes/Desert Owl Games)

Booth 10127

Spacewars is a turn-based tactical online strategy MMO, where real-time travel meets turn-based combat. The universe is made up of four asymmetrical races, with very different play styles from each other. Players choose a starting race, and a starting ship, with a customized Captain as their avatar.

[MMOC Pick] The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind (Bethesda)

Booth 18007, 20007

The fate of Morrowind hangs in the balance and you must take up the mantle of a hero to help Vivec, the legendary warrior-poet and Guardian of Vvardenfell, save the world from a deadly Daedric threat. Set roughly 700 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, ESO‘s new Chapter takes you to familiar locations as you attempt to solve the mystery of Vivec’s mysterious illness and restore his strength.

ArcheAge, RIFT and Trove (Trion Worlds)

Booth 11055

ArcheAge is an epic fantasy MMORPG free of predefined paths and progression. You’re free to choose your own path and play your way from the starting continents of Haranya and Nuia to the lost shores of Auroria, the birthplace of magic.

RIFT is an epic fantasy adventure set in the magical world of Telara. As an Ascended hero, you’ll battle against legions of elemental invaders, purge evils from dungeons and raids, and explore your way across the vast planes of existence.

Trove is an open-ended voxel adventure through countless realms filled with quests, chests, and enemies great and small. It’s a potent, cube-shaped brew of RPG features combined with the thrill of exploring procedurally-generated worlds – and the unlimited creative freedom to build your own.

Guns of Icarus Alliance (Muse Games)

Booth 16109

Guns of Icarus Alliance is the PvE Expansion to Guns of Icarus Online. From a single pilot to as many as 16 players can unite in their battle for the wasteland, completing objectives in all new PvE/Co-op game modes like capturing cargo or destroying drilling platforms. You just need to grab your friends and go. Choose a faction and unlock their special costumes, weapons, and airships as each victory brings your faction one step closer to their ultimate goal of reshaping the world.

Absolver (Devolver Digital)

Booth 18096

Absolver puts players behind the mask of a Prospect, who has taken a sacred vow and chosen to join the Absolvers, an elite corps of combatants fighting to maintain stability in the world. Monitored by the Guides, the new rulers of the fallen Adal Empire, players will wander these forsaken lands and encounter other Prospects online in order to learn their place in this world and eventually become Absolvers

Elite Dangerous (Frontier Developments)

Booth 20019

Elite Dangerous is all based on ‘hard science’, so the composition of the galaxy itself, the way ships fly, SRVs drive, their look, their technology, the different societies, is all plausible; its what we believe it will be in the 34th century. It’s a cut-throat galaxy, home to warring superpowers. It provides a truly stunning stage upon which to blaze your own trail, as you do whatever it takes to earn the skill, knowledge, wealth and power to stand among the ranks of the Elite.

Chronicles of Elyria (Soulbound Studios)

Booth 17126

Chronicles of Elyria is the first MMORPG where your character ages and dies, encouraging you to think beyond your character to their role in a larger story. Fearless in its design, it embraces a character’s ability to impact other characters. A closed economy, finite resources, non-repeatable quests, and a fully destructible environment means the world is experienced differently for every character.

Kritika Online (En Masse Entertainment)

Booth 19125

Featuring a unique cel-shaded art style, over-the-top animations, and a fast-paced combo system that turns the MMO genre on its head, Kritika Online provides fans of MMORPGs with a unique pick-up-and-play experience, with intense, fast-paced gaming sessions punctuated by high-flying action in a unique gaming universe. Players will choose from four different character classes, and upgrade attacks and spells to generate the biggest, baddest, most butt-kickingest player character possible.

Legends of Aria (Citadel Games)

Booth 17070 (Indie Minibooth)

Legends of Aria is a vast sandbox world where players can craft, build and explore in a fully interactive and player driven environment. Throwing out modern concepts of quest grinding, level based progression and linear content, the inhabitants of Aria engage in emergent, social and dynamic content in defining their own unique roleplaying experience.

Show Floor (Unconfirmed)

We are also seeing a number of other exhibitors with booths who have MMO titles in their roster, but may not necessarily be showing them off – on the day we will certainly be checking them out here and on our @MMOC_Events Twitter

These include Blizzard [World of Warcraft] (Booth 11000), Funcom [Anarchy Online, The Secret World, Age of Conan] (Booth 13096), and Square Enix [FFXIV] (Booth 11017).

And Then The Rest

As well as the above, it is common for different MMO communities to hold their own meetups and events, some of them even semi-official like Standing Stone Games‘ meetup (yet to be formalized with a date and time) – we’ll definitely put out over the @MMOC_Events Twitter anything we hear about!

So, how do you PAX and what are you looking forward to seeing information on from Boston this year? Let us know in the comments.