If you want more information on this, please visit http://www.dc-mmo.org/2011/06/wow-a-thon-fundraiser-2/ (Oddly enough this also answers many of the concerns that Tempes Magus and Locus have discussed in these comments)
The cold hard reality of it is... He has insurance, and they are paying the lion's share of his medical bills, but what is left over is still large enough to bankrupt most people.
This system is broken, but I don't think this is the right forum to discuss a solution to that problem. It is what it is, and if something as ultimately mundane as staying up 24 hours to play a video game can provide a tangible benefit by drawing attention and donations, then why wouldn't it be worth doing?
Simple really. The people attending the fund raiser pledge a small amount per level gained... Similar to a walk-a-thon or some other "You agree to donate X amount per Y activity performed" type of activity.
I had assumed that most folks who couldn't physically make it to the event would not be interested in pledging, but if you are, I encourage you to do so. The PayPal link is for those who would rather give a flat amount.
If you'd rather do a long distance pledge, then feel free to contact me via the website and we'll set something up.
Tempes, I agree. It is wise to be cautious. You can see that the same link has been posted on the official Facebook page as cited in the article.
I would like to believe that nobody would sink as low as to use something like this to rip people off, but considering what I do for a living, I know better.
Nice to know that some folks out there remember RealmsMUD. I last took a peek around there several years ago, but I had a blast digging through my old coder directory and playing with some of the rooms and items I had created (but never published).
Somewhere out there, I still have an OOOOOOOLD copy of the source to the other MUD I worked on back then. (Star Wars MUD, still at swmud.org)
I must have missed something. Has Derek Smart ever worked on a successful game? And by successful, I mean "More players than the MUDs I helped develop nearly 20 years ago".
And if you want to cite Battlecruisder 3000 AD... Wasn't that described as "It will go down in legend as the most bug-ridden, unstable, unplayable pieces of software ever released."? (Gamespot... admittedly not the best source for reviews...)
Derek is, at this point, more famous for being famous than he is for anything that he has actually produced. I wonder if someone gave him an opportunity to sit in front of actual gamers and answer questions, would he take it? or would he hide behind his TL;DR rants which are his calling card?
WoW-a-thon for Dragon*Con MMO track staffer
Jun 22nd 2011 10:42AM (Massively)-Grim
WoW-a-thon for Dragon*Con MMO track staffer
Jun 2nd 2011 3:12PM (Massively)The cold hard reality of it is... He has insurance, and they are paying the lion's share of his medical bills, but what is left over is still large enough to bankrupt most people.
This system is broken, but I don't think this is the right forum to discuss a solution to that problem. It is what it is, and if something as ultimately mundane as staying up 24 hours to play a video game can provide a tangible benefit by drawing attention and donations, then why wouldn't it be worth doing?
-Grim
WoW-a-thon for Dragon*Con MMO track staffer
Jun 2nd 2011 12:01AM (Massively)I'm guessing that it doesn't go back and fix old comments?
-Grim
WoW-a-thon for Dragon*Con MMO track staffer
Jun 1st 2011 11:54PM (Massively)-Grim
WoW-a-thon for Dragon*Con MMO track staffer
Jun 1st 2011 11:46PM (Massively)Simple really. The people attending the fund raiser pledge a small amount per level gained... Similar to a walk-a-thon or some other "You agree to donate X amount per Y activity performed" type of activity.
I had assumed that most folks who couldn't physically make it to the event would not be interested in pledging, but if you are, I encourage you to do so. The PayPal link is for those who would rather give a flat amount.
If you'd rather do a long distance pledge, then feel free to contact me via the website and we'll set something up.
-Grim
WoW-a-thon for Dragon*Con MMO track staffer
Jun 1st 2011 10:54PM (Massively)I would like to believe that nobody would sink as low as to use something like this to rip people off, but considering what I do for a living, I know better.
-Grim
WoW-a-thon for Dragon*Con MMO track staffer
Jun 1st 2011 10:43PM (Massively)Thanks to everyone who has expressed their support and helped us out. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to thank you all in person at Dragon*Con.
-Grim (aka The Former Ask Massively Guy)
Massively Mob Meetups: Dragon*Con 2010 & PAX 2010
Aug 30th 2010 5:13PM (Massively)-Grim
The Daily Grind: Do you feel like you missed out on the golden days of MMOs?
Aug 3rd 2010 9:00AM (Massively)Somewhere out there, I still have an OOOOOOOLD copy of the source to the other MUD I worked on back then. (Star Wars MUD, still at swmud.org)
Get off my lawn, indeed.
-Gronk @ RealmsMUD
-Antigonk @ SWMUD
Now... Just -Grim
Alganon steals press release from BioWare
May 11th 2010 10:37AM (Massively)And if you want to cite Battlecruisder 3000 AD... Wasn't that described as "It will go down in legend as the most bug-ridden, unstable, unplayable pieces of software ever released."? (Gamespot... admittedly not the best source for reviews...)
Derek is, at this point, more famous for being famous than he is for anything that he has actually produced. I wonder if someone gave him an opportunity to sit in front of actual gamers and answer questions, would he take it? or would he hide behind his TL;DR rants which are his calling card?
-Grim