Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[EVE players able to donate in-game ISK to Pakistan flood relief]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/18/eve-players-able-to-donate-in-game-isk-to-pakistan-flood-relief/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/18/eve-players-able-to-donate-in-game-isk-to-pakistan-flood-relief/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/18/eve-players-able-to-donate-in-game-isk-to-pakistan-flood-relief/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Back in January, the Republic of Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake. Several MMO development studios responded by coming up with ways to help their players donate to the aid relief campaign. EVE Online developers CCP Games came up with an innovative scheme that allowed players to donate in-game ISK to help the people of Haiti. Players bought PLEX in-game with ISK and donated them to CCP's sponsored relief fund. As PLEX are worth 30 days of game time each, every one donated represented 30 days of EVE game time that someone somewhere purchased. Although CCP had to absorb all tax and administration costs, the company managed to donate the full value of donated game time to charity without taking a significant loss. In total, players donated over $40,000 worth of PLEX to the fund, which was given to the Red Cross to help the people of Haiti.

With the recent flooding in Pakistan, a huge need for donations has arisen and CCP is once again allowing players to donate in-game PLEX to charity. In a new devblog, CCP Fallout has urged players to contract unused PLEX to the EVE character "CCP PLEX for Good." The full cash value of each donated PLEX will be passed on to the Pakistan Red Crescent Society, regardless of whether you bought the PLEX for cash or ISK. If you want to donate, the deadline for sending your PLEX is the 6th of October. As with the previous fundraiser, any players perpetrating scams around this donation drive will receive harsh punishment. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity for Bad Bobby, the player who recently confirmed that he'd made over 850 billion ISK with investment scams, to do something worthwhile with his accumulated wealth.

MassivelyEVE players able to donate in-game ISK to Pakistan flood relief originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the recent devastation in Haiti, we've seen a host of different gaming initiatives to help out. The folks at Sanrio Digital in connection with Aeria Games ran their own event, called Food for Friends 2. The idea was that players could donate any type of in-game items to Aeria, and Aeria would donate to the Haiti relief efforts on behalf of the Hello Kitty Online community.

Well, the results are in, and the Hello Kitty Online players on Aeria servers donated 534,358 items to the cause. While Aeria has not currently released their total donations as yet, the numbers are in from the Sanrio Digital side of things. Apparently the Sanrio Digital crowd managed to get 1,248,257 donated crafted items, and in turn Sanrio donated US $18,038.30 to Doctors Without Borders for the Haiti relief efforts. Now that's a friendship gift we can get behind.

MassivelyHello Kitty Online Food for Friends 2 event a success originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aeriaaeria-gamescharitable-donationcharitydoctors-without-bordersf2pfood-for-friends-2free-to-playhaitihello-kitty-onlinehkosanrio-digitalWed, 24 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Over $40,000 donated to EVE Online "PLEX for Haiti" initiative so far]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/16/over-40-000-donated-to-eve-online-plex-for-haiti-initiative-s/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/16/over-40-000-donated-to-eve-online-plex-for-haiti-initiative-s/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/16/over-40-000-donated-to-eve-online-plex-for-haiti-initiative-s/#commentsFiled under: , ,

When the Republic of Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake on January 12th, groups around the world struggled to give as much aid as possible. Proving that gamers are givers, several MMO companies rushed to provide a way for their players to donate to registered relief aid charities like the Red Cross. Sony Online Entertainment raised over $25,000 in just three days by selling in-game items in Free Realms, EverQuest and EverQuest II. They donated 100% of the proceeds to charity and even added $10 of their own money for each purchase made.

CCP ran their own EVE Online "PLEX Aid for Haiti" initiative where players were encouraged to buy PLEX and then contract them to the "CCP PLEX for Haiti" character in-game. Even PLEX purchased in-game with ISK helped the appeal as every two PLEX contracted to CCP equaled $35 US Dollars of cash that was bought but not converted into game time. CCP could then donate the full $35 without making a loss. It was a clever scheme that allowed players who were short on cash but rich in-game to donate real money to charity.

CCP have just announced that so far the total tally of PLEX donated to the appeal has reached 2,290, which has a real cash value of just over $40,000 US dollars. One player donated a staggering 341 PLEX, which has an in-game value of over 88 billion ISK and makes a real world donation of almost $6,000. Of note is the revelation that only 1.4% of the donated PLEX were bought directly for cash, while players buying the PLEX using their spare ISK contributed the remaining 98.6%. That's a testament both to the generosity of gamers and the innovative system CCP used to collect aid. Hopefully we'll see this strategy used in future when someone is in desperate need of aid as it has proven very successful. For those that still want to donate, CCP are currently still accepting donations of PLEX to help the people of Haiti.

MassivelyOver $40,000 donated to EVE Online "PLEX for Haiti" initiative so far originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The devastating January 12 earthquake which struck the Republic of Haiti claimed many lives, and has left even more people homeless. It's a terrible situation, but at the very least there are numerous aid efforts underway, and some companies in the MMO industry are finding ways to help as well. CCP Games now ranks among them, with their PLEX Aid for Haiti initiative. The company is offering a way for the EVE Online playerbase to get involved and help with donations.

Here is the message from Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games, in its entirety:

Continue reading CCP Games 'PLEX Aid for Haiti' initiative to help Red Cross relief efforts

MassivelyCCP Games 'PLEX Aid for Haiti' initiative to help Red Cross relief efforts originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ccpccp-gamesccp-hellmarcharitydonationseveeve-onlinehaitihilmar-peturssonhilmar-v-peturssoniskplexrelief-effortsFri, 29 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Virtual Whirl: Community guide to Virtual Worlds]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/24/the-virtual-whirl-community-guide-to-virtual-worlds/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/24/the-virtual-whirl-community-guide-to-virtual-worlds/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/24/the-virtual-whirl-community-guide-to-virtual-worlds/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Welcome to The Virtual Whirl, a new weekly Massively column covering virtual environments generally. The term 'virtual world' is slowly seeing less use, being supplanted by the more general 'virtual environment', but the world term still has a fair bit of life left in it.

Virtual environments covers a whole lot of ground. From William Crowther's original efforts in 1976 that based a game in a virtual version of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, virtual environments have been a part of gaming, artificial intelligence and behavioral research, modeling, telemetry and process control and more.

Nowadays we're seeing Second Life, Blue Mars, There.com, IMVU and others trying to find places in non-game contexts, like content-development and prototyping, publishing and performance, entertainment and social, education and business; efforts that are met with varying amounts of success.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: Community guide to Virtual Worlds

MassivelyThe Virtual Whirl: Community guide to Virtual Worlds originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blue-marscopper-robotdusan-writerfacebookfeaturedforterraforterra-systemsfrenzoohaitiidentityimvulinden-labm-lindenmammoth-cavemark-kingdonmark-zuckerbergmetanomicsmichael-wilsonmitch-wagnernew-world-notesprivacysecond-lifesecond-life-2.0second-life-viewersimon-newsteadthe-metaverse-journalthe-virtual-whirlthere.comvirtual-worldsvirtual-worlds-newswilliam-crowtherwindlightworlds-in-motionSun, 24 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Hello Kitty Online's Food for Friends 2 event provides Haiti disaster relief]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/18/hello-kitty-onlines-food-for-friends-2-event-provides-haiti-dis/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/18/hello-kitty-onlines-food-for-friends-2-event-provides-haiti-dis/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/18/hello-kitty-onlines-food-for-friends-2-event-provides-haiti-dis/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

One of the things that's different about Hello Kitty Online, beyond the pink hearts and stars motif, is that the game ties in with some great charitable causes. Now Sanrio Digital has announced the "Food for Friends 2" guild competition, an event that lets guilds compete for Loyalty Point prizes for use in the Hello Kitty Online item mall while helping people in the real world. Players from select regions (North America, Europe, Singapore, Malaysia) who participate in Food for Friends 2 will generate real money donations (from event sponsors) through their gameplay that will help disaster relief efforts in Haiti.

Food for Friends 2 runs from January 21-30 and getting involved is very simple. Players can log in and head on over to Hello Kitty Online's version of London to speak with an NPC named Cinnamaroll. He's collecting crafted consumable items for the needy. The more people from your guild who donate these items, the higher your guild's point standings increase.

Continue reading Hello Kitty Online's Food for Friends 2 event provides Haiti disaster relief

MassivelyHello Kitty Online's Food for Friends 2 event provides Haiti disaster relief originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>betascharitable-causescharitiescharitydoctors-without-borderseventsfood-for-friendsfood-for-friends-2haitihello-kittyhello-kitty-onlinehkommo-industryrelief-effortssanrio-digitalMon, 18 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Buy special Station items and SOE will donate to Haitian relief]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/17/buy-special-station-items-and-soe-will-donate-to-haitian-relief/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/17/buy-special-station-items-and-soe-will-donate-to-haitian-relief/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/17/buy-special-station-items-and-soe-will-donate-to-haitian-relief/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

If you've been considering donating to Haitian relief efforts and happen to play EverQuest, EverQuest II, or Free Realms, then we've got some news that you'll undoubtedly want to take a look at.

Between now and midnight PST on January 18th, for every purchase of either a Zando T-Rex pet in Free Realms, a Protectors of the Faydark armor crate in EverQuest II, or a Plush Bear item in EverQuest, SOE will donate $10 to the relief efforts up to a maximum of $25,000. Considering each of the items only costs 500 Station Cash to purchase, that equates to players donating $5, then SOE matching the donation with $5 of their own and then sending it along. That's pretty cool in our book.

So if you want to help a great cause and land a little something fun for your EQ, EQII, or Free Realms character, then these items are something you'll want to pick up before the midnight on the 18th. Also, a big thumbs up to SOE for offering items to raise money for Haiti.

[Update: SOE has raised $25,000 for this relief effort in just three days!]

MassivelyBuy special Station items and SOE will donate to Haitian relief originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>charityeq2eqiieverquesteverquest-2everquest-iifree-realmshaitihaitian-reliefitem-mallsoesony-online-entertainmentvirtual-itemsSun, 17 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST