The local nerd heroes behind Penny Arcade have done it again, finishing up their first PAX East gamer conflagration in Boston, which sold out in no time flat. The Penny Arcade Expo has grown at an absurd pace since its birth in 2004, when 3,000 gamers converged on Bellevue to fuck around and have fun together. Late last summer, just five years later, there were over 60,000 in attendance, and the blocks surrounding the Convention Center turned into cosplay central for a few days.

This post by Penny Arcade writer Jerry Krahulik Holkins* explains their success (and community building in general) quite well. The first couple of paragraphs refer to today's comic, and may or may not be of interest to non-gamers. The rest is a magical formula for success.

* Please note that one half of the Stranger Testing Department is extremely terrible at everything, while the other half is both gifted and talented. Apologies to Krahulik, Holkins, and everyone else.