We just wrapped up another PAX and I celebrated by sleeping until almost noon. I always have a great time at these shows but this one in particular was great. This year's Acquisitions Inc. will go down as one of my favorites. We had a few thousand people watching live in the audience and then another 15 thousand folks watching at home via Twitch. I cannot believe this is my job!
If you missed it you can watch the entire show right here.
The rest of the show was awesome too. The Thornwatch panel was the largest we've done yet with a packed theater. The play tests that I was so worried about also went incredibly well. There were a few issues with rules and we found some stuff we need to word better but everyone had a great time. Our spirit animal Mike Selinker dropped some wisdom on us before we left for the show. He said "remember, if they had fun, they didn't play the game wrong". With that in mind I would describe the weekend as a huge success for Thornwatch.
It was a busy week and I didn't have much time to sketch but I do have some stuff to show you. First of all I've got the sketches from today's comic strip:
Then I also have a sketch that I actually did on stage during the make a strip panel. Normally I have barley enough time to knock out a comic strip but this time was different. I think all my sketching has really helped because I finished the comic in about half the time. After that was done I just started sketching Trill:
If you missed it you can watch the entire Make a Strip panel right here thanks again to Twitch.
I've seen some awesome Trill fan art already popping up on Twitter and tons of folks came up to me at the show to express their love for the Eyrewood. I've also seen a handful of comments lamenting another extended journey into the world of the Daughters and the Lookouts. If you don't like these little side stories I apologize, but know that they are integral in Tycho and I maintaining our sanity. We've been drawing Penny Arcade for 16 years now and I think the reason we've been able to keep going is because we take breaks for these side stories.
PAX is my constant reminder that the gaming community is actually full of cool people who just love games and want to hang out and have fun. When the internet bullshit gets to be too much and I start to think it's all going to shit I go to PAX and see the actual gaming community instead of simply seeing the loudest voices online and I am reinvigorated. These are the people we make PAX for, that we make Penny Arcade for. They are the vast silent majority and they are the ones that remind me why I am still so proud to be a gamer.
-Gabe out
