Arenanet will NOT be at PAX this year. Sad faces abound.

Apparently Arenanet will not be at PAX this year.  Not reallly sure what their reasoning is.  They stated it's because it's during the week of launch but so is the Gamestop Expo and that's in Texas and the day RIGHT after official launch.  Sometimes everyone has a /facepalm moment I guess.  At least they'll have a party at their headquarters Saturday night on PAX weekend. 

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151048146394209&set=a.135044094208.103264.114036714208&type=1

Some of you have asked which tradeshows ArenaNet will attend this summer, so let me give you an update.
Right now, the entire studio is focused on one thing: the launch of Guild Wars 2 on August 28. As a result, our tradeshow presence this year will be limited.
gamescom (Aug 15-19) - Members of the ArenaNet Community Team will be at gamescom this year, but unlike last year, we will not have a playable demo of Guild Wars 2. Our booth will be a chillout zone—the calm before the storm—so swing by, say hi, and get free drinks.
Gamestop Expo (Aug 29)- We will be at the Gamestop Expo at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, TX on August 29 from 11:00 – 16:00. We will have 16 Guild Wars 2 demo stations at the show, 8 of which will be on the Alienware Hummer.
PAX (Aug 31-Sep 2) Since PAX Prime takes place the week of launch, we will not be attending PAX this year. But if you are in the Seattle area, we will have a party on Saturday September 1 to celebrate our launch. We’ll have more information at a later date.
It’s a busy summer for us, and although we’d love to go out in force and meet everyone at tradeshows, I hope you’ll agree that our priorities are in order! We’ll see you in-game..

But vamp, you forget just because they wont be "AT PAX" doesn't mean they wont be "there". Working on getting us into the launch party sat night ;). It's looking pretty good for us so far :D. Who cares about a booth when you can party with them haha.

» Edited on: 2012-08-07 13:44:46

Oh sure, I was probably more looking forward to the party anyways, but the kid in me was hopeful to get free swag or ingame item codes for GW2 already. :P Pipedream you say? Nah, wishes can come true. :P I think I was more upset at the fact they're saying they can't make PAX because it's during release week when they're going to Gamestop Expo the day AFTER launch day. Because that's not during launch week? O_o

I guess I was imagining that the marketing and promo crew might be a different team than the ones who work on other aspects of the game pertinent to launch. On the other hand, I suspect that everyone going to PAX who might consider playing GW2 has already heard of it.

Actuallly I bet they aren't going because they want to let someone else steel the show lol. 3 years straight they got best in show. Time to stop hoggin the ball I suppose :P

In reallity thoug, gamestop expo is more of a showing of your products to gamestop employees and press (do they even allow outsiders these days?). That show can be handled by marketing and directly results in a legion of gamestop emps drooling over your game and being able to acurately pitch it. PAX is a more hands on from the developer standpoint. Commiting to it would result in key team members who should be keeping an eye on their product that first major weekend after release. Pax is 3 hours away from their dev station. I've never met a marketing person at Pax. Always devs and producers. Which is why I go in the first place. Marketing only says what their told. Devs have passion for their products. I can understand not wanting to pull a good sized chunk away from their dev stations for 3 days right after launch on a holiday weekend.