I think you have it the other way around.
Besides do both. Ax and am2 are on different dates this year. So really you have no excuse.
Agreed. You do have the advantage this year that the dates don't conflict. I think AM2 made a huge point NOT to conflict this year because of some of the drama that got generated over the issue.
I've yet to go to AX (I know, shocking, it's on our list though), but I was at AM2 last year. I didn't get to see it as much because I was doing a lot of prep for WCS prelims, but I got to see enough to think that it was worth giving it a shot. I am not sure how the focus will be this year, but last year it was heavily favorited towards concernts/music, so if you're into that, this could be relevant to your interests. The dealer's room/artist's alley was really small, but I think a lot of it had to do with AX and people going where they knew a lot of money would be, rather than taking a risk with an event running simultaneously. I'm hoping that the date changes will open a few more people up to bringing their wares in.
Plus, if nothing else, just walking in the door is free. Some things will require the paid pass (concerts for sure), but for nearly everything else, you don't have to pay for the event. So if you just want to go, hang out, look at the dealers/artists alley, and very general things that a lot of attendees may want to do, you can do that at far cheaper than normal (because I've left out things like paying for parking/food/shopping). Just be aware of what events do and do not require a passport. AM2 has been pretty good about laying all that out, and if it's not addressed, questions usually get addressed pretty quickly. Last year, anything was available without a passport, it was just a line priority thing, but I think they learned that tweeking the model so that people would have to pay for the more popular parts was going to be a better bet.
Hope that helps!
