[Update: New pictures added below, thanks to forum member and attendee H. Helluva.]

During BlizzCon, Nick and I posted a spontaneous Twitter message offering to hang out with any Idle Thumbs readers attending the show. Having conceived the idea 98 minutes prior to the "event" itself, it was a decidedly informal affair -- three extremely friendly Thumbs showed up and we talked about Video Games. We did it again the following evening, to similar results.

The fact that anybody showed up at all made us consider attempting something more organized at the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo. We tossed around some location ideas and fairly arbitrarily came up with some plans.

Much credit and appreciation must also be given to developers Frozenbyte, Zombie Cow Studios, Riot Games, and Stardock, who hooked us up with, respectively, download codes for Trine, download codes for Time Gentlemen, Please!, beta codes for League of Legends, and 10% discount coupons for Impulse to give away during the meet.

But our plans were insufficient and we were characteristically unprepared. As it turned out, some 40 Thumbs showed up -- several times the number we had estimated based on RSVPs.

Leading a mob of 40 down the streets of Seattle as we migrated from the meeting point to the drinking point was simultaneously empowering and terrifying.

Then, disaster struck.

As we descended into our intended destination, the FOX Sports Grill, the venue's employees simply shook their heads slowly, mouths agape -- we numbered too many for their Grill. We had no choice but to head back up the stairs and try a new location. (Thanks to Seattle resident element on the NeoGAF forums for alternative suggestions prior to the event.)



At that point, I think the patience of our assembled crowd began to understandably weaken. We had already been visibly caught off guard by their sheer numbers, and now we were leading them up and down staircases of bars in downtown Seattle.

Thankfully, a miracle -- we marched down the street and then down the stairs of the Tap House Grill, and while its hosts were just as startled as their FOX counterparts, they informed us they in fact had a completely free party room in the back, and we were welcome to use it.



I cannot describe to you my sense of relief. By that point I was becoming genuinely concerned that our lack of sufficient planning would cause this entire endeavor to collapse completely, and that we would have been left with nothing but 40 fewer podcast subscribers who had taken time out of a fun-filled weekend to go on a wild goose chase.



Fortunately, it was more successful than I could have hoped. The room was the perfect size -- we filled all its chairs and couches, distributed dozens of free games (including the excellent King's Bounty: The Legend and the others listed above, as well as the booby prizes Puffins: Island Adventure and Dirty Dancing: The Official PC Game), drank many beers, and met many fellow video game aficionados, not a one of whom was anything less than completely enjoyable to hang out with.



Several of the attending Thumbs develop video games in some professional capacity, including Thom Robertson, who worked on the ill-fated Star Trek: Secret of Vulcan Fury (longtime PC gamers will remember this one) and demonstrated his new iPhone game Gunrazor. Also present were the makers of SolSurvivor, a turret defense game for PC and Xbox Live Indie Games that's a finalist in the Dream Build Play contest.

(Photograph from @tabacco's Twitter stream)

After distributing the games, Nick, Jake, and I spent the evening wandering around the room meeting readers. I was a bit worried about the lack of actual activities, but it seemed most folks enjoyed the company. We certainly did!

(Photograph from @in_orbit's Twitter stream)

To those who didn't (or couldn't) make it, hopefully we can do something like this again. And to everyone who did show up, thanks. It was immensely enjoyable to meet you all, and incredibly gratifying that you considered our goofy podcast worthy of your time not just on the internet, but in the real world as well.

The following photographs were taken by forum member and attendee H. Helluva:


The Thumbs march down Pike St.


We make our failed attempt to occupy the FOX Sports Grill.


This time, it's the Tap House Grill, and it works!


Success!

Did you go? Did you wish you went? We've got a forum thread to talk about it, if you'd like.