Yeah, I grabbed the Sunday pass pretty much straight up, because I didn't trust there'd be a ticket for me otherwise. I'm not going to Seattle and skimping out on a chance to attend all these crazy gaming expos us Aussies miss out on. >:P

That said, I'm hoping others have managed to grab tickets. This kind of thing is much improved with friends.

It'd be damn cool if we could go with Valve if they're going, but I somehow doubt it.

And unfortunately, they're all gone....holy ♥♥♥♥ that was quick. :(

I believe we were only going the Friday anyway. Unless tickets run out. I can't get mine just yet.

Welp, I missed out on a 3-day pass to Pax Prime by virtue of being asleep for the entire time they were available, and by the time I checked the site, only Sunday passes were available.

A bit of a bummer. :(

I still very much want to go :)

All of this will be sorted no later than the end of May, three months before we're scheduled to arrive in Seattle. By that time, I'll most likely have my fares nailed down.

Hrm, I haven't been very active on Steam community at the moment. Regardless, a good point was made in the Facebook event page, regarding whether there was a hotel we were all going to stay at.

The logistics of this are going to need to be nailed down. I think it's okay if we all get there by our own means, we have a date to work on, but once we arrive we need an easy way to meet up every day for our planned outings.

The obvious way is to stay at the same hotel. Other methods could be, say, singling out a cafe or restaurant for us to meet up in at a certain time of day, and we pick and choose what hotels we want to stay at based on that (so people can choose cheaper hotels, etc.).
We could figure out something else, the important thing is that it has to be simple and easy to locate/get to. The last thing we need is people running about like decapitated chickens downtown because they can't pick out the one small cafe we're at from several dozen similar ones.

No updates regarding plans yet?

Here are the touristy things my cousin suggested:

Space Needle - http://spaceneedle.com/
Pike Place Market - http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/
Museum of Flight - http://www.museumofflight.org/
Seattle Underground - http://www.undergroundtour.com/about/index.html
Washington State Ferry - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/
Woodland Park Zoo - http://www.zoo.org/
The Experience Musem - http://www.empmuseum.org/
Ballard Locks - http://www.seattle.gov/tour/locks.htm
Ride the Duck - http://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com/
Fremont Troll - http://www.fremont.com/fremonttroll.html
Greenlake - http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?id=307
Seattle Aquarium - http://www.seattleaquarium.org/
The Sculpture Park - http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/osp/
Kerry Park - http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=342

I see we're all loving Deus Ex <3

What's going on with this? I feel like it's gone dark.

also, have downloaded and installed Skype. ID is same as my forum ID, envirovore. can't say I'll be logged into it all the time, but send me a PM and i can jump in if need be.

Sent you a freidns invite Killsmith to get you my email addy. Sorry for the delay, I really suck with remembering to check Steam Groups for updates..

I'm still waiting on quite a few of you to PM me your emails so I can invite you to the Google Calendar. Once you accept, you need to block out periods of time in Summer/Autumn of 2012 that you're 100% not available for the trip.

Hi guys, happy to be here!
If anyone wants to add me in Skype my name is "inaki.gimenez"
Looking forward to see this come true.

If codkiller was here I'd make him player of the week.

:D

also, along the lines of getting to know who's going, I have no qualms with anyone in this group messaging or friending. Being that we all use Steam, it should be considered as a contact method as well as Skype

When I said "public" I meant making the trip known and discussing it with others around the greater gaming/Steam community.

oh, and for those that don't know, I'm envirovore on the forums.

Guess I'll be needing to download and install Skype :) And Killsmith, bring on the weirdness :p As for names, I'm Paul, Utica NY. Usually look less bloody IRL than my pic depicts me as.

I suggest group touching sessions, because you can never know someone well enough.

My Skype name is 'generalballs', my real name is easy enough to find. I am not permitted to talk to anyone here, but I'll risk it because you are all citizens of the highest import. Or so I've been led to believe.

This should probably be obvious, but just so it is said: I would suggest not making this trip "public" as of yet. There are many things to secure before even deciding whether that's a good idea at all.

Oh please you have no idea.

Oh and in case some of you don't know: this is nightcabbage. My real name is Justin. I'm from Ohio, USA.

Suggestion: a lot of us know each other somewhat well from the years gone by of forum/steam communication, but we'll be a whole lot closer with that personal touch during the actual trip. I suggest getting to know each other better before the trip by trying to hook up some games, posting actual photos and names (just so we know who is who when we arrive), Skype group chats not only for plans but perhaps even discussions. I think it will help make things smoother and more enjoyable when the time comes. For instance, I need to prepare you all for how strange I actually am in RL...

good idea on the hotel group rate Zekiran.

I'd say that when we know official dates, stick to them and try to get a group package at a hotel. Valve might be able to help with that, if there are enough of us to call it a mini-event of some kind.

I was going to go to the US bout the same time this trip is happening so this is a good opportunity to go to VALVe. I havnt even thought about accomodation yet though.

@ the General: Fantastic! I love it.

@ Generaballs... I actually do know people who live in Seattle. If it were 3-4 of us we could stay free. Since its around 30 of us I don't think that will happen :)

http://i54.tinypic.com/2mepvyu.jpg

Bleh.

I think we need a cool profile pic. :P

VALVE

hey everyone. can't wait this is going to be amazing! and it's good that we are planning well in advance.

Hello.

Also, for some people there might be the rare possibility that it would be cheaper for them to fly through Hong Kong to Seattle or through London to Seattle (non-transfer flights, as in you'll have to stay in the country for a night or whatever). I am willing to provide free accommodation in either country, all expenses paid (food, transport and so on).

My ego isn't the only gargantuan thing I possess.

Player of the Week off-handed to Flamov for that amazing avatar.

First up, Killsmith:

Do you know any vacant dustbins in the Seattle area? Nothing beats free accomodation. :)

I've coordinated a couple of very large 20-30 person trips before, one of them being a Valve trip (when I went to Valve I was helping 20-30 other Kent State students get there as well). Hopefully I can recall all the helpful tips I learned along the way.

Time span of everyone's individual stay does not need to coordinate. I suggest a few "don't miss" days, 1-2 of those obviously revolving around the Valve trip and perhaps a must see activity. The other days, pre or post the "don't miss" days could be more optional for those who cannot be there for such a length of time. However, I wouldn't split stuff up too much as coordinating transportation to/from hotels to airports saves money when you get taxi vans and everyone chips in.

I'm fairly sure they'd give autographs. I was planning on bringing my RTB along myself. I, personally, don't think I'll be able to stay for long. Brad mentioned 3-4 days, and I'm fine with that.

I will probably stay for at least 5 days. It's a long journey ;)

bah, we need edit buttons on these,

Anyone know if they'd be willing to do autographs as well? May bring my copy of Raising The Bar along and collect some signatures...

Being that it's over a year out, saving for staying a week shouldn't be a problem for me. Can't blame those that fly in from over seas for wanting to stay longer.
Agreed with GB that with such an advance notice that this should work out.

Also:
/gets fake blood all over Killsmith from group hug

What actually gives me hope for this initiative is the fact that we're attempting to organise it well in advance. Keep that mindset over the next year or so, and we could have an awesome trip on our hands.

In terms of time, the longer the better, in my opinion. Mimaz mentioned 3-4 days when he contacted me. I'd prefer to stay there at least a week. Regardless of what it might cost, quite a few of us are going to be flying there, and if I'm going to be sitting in a plane for 14 hours there and back I'm going to want some quality holiday somewhere in the middle. :P

I'll try to stop talking so much, otherwise I'll hit the character cap, but the first order of business will be figuring out exactly when we can all make time to attend. We don't all know that, at the moment, but it'd be an idea to set down when we're likely to be able to have enough free time so we can have a (take note of the quotations) "concrete" time period that we can plan around.

Looking forward to meeting several of you guys. :)

I just want to point out: "Portal 2 170.3 hrs"... we're awesome.