Hello BYOC registrants! PAX East is now only days away, and the following information should help to make sure your BYOC festivities go smoothly. If you have any questions, please let us know in the PAX Forum, Message us at our unofficial twitter account @East_BYOC , or shoot us an email at [email protected] The main PAX Penny Arcade Forum can be found at http://forums.penny-arcade.com/categories/pax-the-penny-arcade-expo , and in it you'll find BigRed's BYOC thread for PAX East 2012 at http://tinyurl.com/East2012BYOC which will include this email along with any updates that occur between now and PAX.--- Basic LAN Party Information ---If you've never been to a LAN party, be sure to bring the following equipment:BYOC barcode that you were emailed and printed out (from the Intel LAN Fest site) (if you don't have it yet, don't sweat, they should be out by the end of the week prior to PAX East)Photo ID (You will need this to pick up your BYOC Badge)3 day PAX passComputerMonitor (Please no bigger than 24" LCD or 21" CRT... hopefully everyone has moved onto LCD by now)KeyboardMouse (we recommend wired, just to avoid any potential interference)Mouse padEthernet cable (20 feet should be sufficient, but it's better to have longer than shorter).Power cablesHeadphonesGames CDs/DVDs, Windows CD, and backups for other programs you may need to install/reinstall.We suggest printing off this list checking each item as you pack it. If you end up forgetting something, talk to an Enforcer and we might be able to hook you up. If we can't, Best Buy is less than a mile away:Best Buy14 Allstate RoadDorchester, MA 02125Please update/patch your games before coming to PAX East. This includes updating Steam, Impulse, Origin, and such. You will have access to the Internet while at PAX East, but the more time you spend doing something you could have done at home, the less time you'll spend having fun. Plus we have limited bandwidth.It is also mandatory that you run virus protection on your computer before connecting it to our network. Any computers that are found with a virus will be immediately disconnected from the network until the matter is resolved.--- PAX East BYOC Location & Badge Pickup --Lots of updates can be found on BigRed's forum thread (referenced at the start of the email), along with handy loading/unloading info. BYOC is located in Level 0 / Expo Hall B1 on the West side of the building.Thursday:BYOC Badge pickup will be at PAX Reg/Will-Call. This is THURSDAY ONLY 8am-8pm. We will be staffing a booth of Registration for your convenience so you can get your badge before you check in your equipment.Friday - Sunday:BYOC Badge pickup will move to the PC Security desk. If you didn't get your badge on thursday you can get it when you check in for BYOC.--- Unloading on Friday of PAX ---We ended up not being able to use the loading dock, but we do have easy access from the road for those of you driving. Here are some descriptions with pictures! (clickable links)Pull in to the Westin/BCEC area at the base of the giant media wall. Follow this road (West Side Drive) all the way past the building, and down and back up the ramps. Keep following the road until you get to Level 1 Northwest.We will have signs posted where the load-in area will be and there will be a security station there that can hold your equipment for you while you park your car.For those of you staying at the Westin, simply cross the skybridge from the second level of the hotel and there will be signage to direct you to the pc from there. Thankfully it's not the long trek from the front of the BCEC like it was last year!The PAX East BYOC schedule is as follows:Friday: 8:00am - 1:30amSaturday: 10:00am - 1:30amSunday: 10:00am - 6:30pmNote that BYOC opens at 8:00am on Friday, two hours earlier than the rest of the show. Obviously that's pending our ability to make sure things are totally ready for you, but the idea is you'll be able to set up your rig with plenty of time to hop in the Expo Hall line so you can be among the first to explore it's riches.Make sure you print out the barcode (which should be sent soooon). If you don't have your 3-day pass shipped to you, you can pick it up from Will Call in the North Lobby, the big huge room in front of the expo hall. (On Thursday only, you will be able to get your BYOC Badge at Will Call as well, otherwise it will be in front of BYOC).If you have any PC related questions at all during PAX East, please see the BYOC Desk (In front of the Stage). If they're not able to provide a solution, they'll be able to direct you to the right people to get your problem solved. If you're in need of tech support, please see the help desk at the back of the BYOC room.--- Security Information ---Of course, there's more to do at PAX than just play PC games, and we want you to be able to go do all of these things secure in the knowledge that your computer and peripherals are safe and sound. To that end, we probably put a much higher emphasis on security than most other LAN parties. Before you enter the PAX East BYOC area, you will have to quickly register your computer and any monitor you're bringing into the computer area (you'll have to check them out as well). We've gone to great lengths to keep the security processes in check, and as such, please keep your BYOC badge as visible as possible when entering the room.While we will make every attempt to keep all equipment in the room safe, be aware that there is little we can do to prevent ipods, portable game consoles, CD's, big wads of cash, and other small items from walking off. We strongly suggest you keep such items out of plain view and use some common sense when it comes to your own security.If you're coming with a laptop, we also strongly recommend you invest in a laptop lock particularly if you plan on leaving your laptop unaccompanied while you rock out to the concerts. If you don't know what kind to get, pick anything from this list:--- Tournament Information ---Your Tournament Overlords this year will be kmess and codemaster.All PC Tournament information can be found on the PAX forums, at this address:--- BYOC Activities ---Your BYOC camp counselor/activities director this year will be BigRed. He'll be in charge of making sure you're having fun while you're sitting at your computer.If you joined us in years past you'll be familiar with the BYOC activities we run. Unlike the tournaments, they're kept pretty casual and serve as a great way to have some quick fun, and perhaps win some prizes along the way. Although they are generally exclusive to BYOC attendees, sometimes they will be using freeplay computers, particularly for events in games that not everyone may have. More information will be available at PAX East.--- Sponsorship Information ---PAX East BYOC 2012 has Intel Inside (literally) through LANFest. The room could not and would not exist without their support, so props to them!LANFest sponsored by IntelGXL is providing the network for the event--- Intranet Information ---As always our intranet page will be at http://pax/ (The link won't work until you're on our network, of course!). Expect it to contain a Twitter feed among other social communication platforms along with Game server info, Schedule Info, and possibly some contest stuff!--- Voice Chat Information ---We will have a couple Ventrilo servers available for tournaments and public gaming. While we will have the client available on our file server, it is recommended that you download and install Ventrilo before you come to the event. You can download the client at http://www.ventrilo.com Server address information will be available at PAX on the intranet site.See you guys there!