In Need Of $650 To Kill People At PAX East

One of the things that I enjoyed most as a teenager was going to the annual DefCon hacker convention.  It mostly involved hanging out with friends, learning new things, and meeting some of my heroes.  As time went on something happened, the convention got bigger and bigger; no longer was I one of seventy five attendees at the first convention, I was one several hundred as the years went on.  Then it happened; someone arranged to have a black and white ball happen during the con, and since this was during the time that Vampire The Masquerade was big there was of course a type of game played during the gala.  As soon as the ball became as big as the talks DefCon was essentially dead to me, this was a hacker convention, not a fashion show where you play games!

Now that I’m older I see the obvious error in my thinking.  Just because someone enjoys something in a different way than I do doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy it in my way.

This brings us to the Kickstarter campaign at hand; the PAX East 2014 Assassins Ball Kickstarter, which runs until March 27th.  Is it about video and board games like the rest of the convention?  Nope!  It’s a live action adventure that takes place during the show; players choose a faction then try and spot players from opposing factions through the use of an identifying button.  Once a target is located players will approach their prey and kill them; it’s more of a “you’re dead” situation than actual violence.

Is it for everyone?  No, some will be attending PAX purely for business, or for looking at new games, with personal interactions being an unfortunate downside.  However, there are some that will want to enjoy the show on multiple levels, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

The PAX East 2014 Assassins Ball is on Kickstarter in order to raise several hundred bucks for professionally printed materials.  Given that the organizer, Phillip Brady, has pulled off nearly a dozen of these in the past it’s a pretty good bet that it’s on the up-and-up.  Besides, being an assassin sounds way cooler than dressing up as Goth McAngst, vampire extraordinaire.

You can learn more about the PAX East 2014 Assassins Ball on its official website, as well as the Kickstarter campaign page.