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BlizzCon Charity Auction expands online
Blizzard is breaking out some pretty incredible and exclusive loot from the depths of its vaults for this year's BlizzCon Charity Auction, and you don't have to be at the convention to participate. Proceeds from this year's auction go to Children's Hospital of Orange County -- and Blizzard has lined up quite the collection of items to bid on. This year, the auction will be expanded online for those interested in bidding to help raise money for charity. Included in the items available are pieces of art from various Blizzard titles, including the amazing Alex Horley painting from Warlords of Draenor, a still from the Lords of War series by Laurel D. Austin and Charles Lee, the cover art for War of the Ancients by Glenn Rane, and many other prominent pieces of art from various Blizzard franchises. And if you're looking for something to place on a shelf, several of Blizzard's Holiday Exclusive pieces are also up for grabs as well. To check out all the pieces, head to the official BlizzCon Charity Auction page, and keep your eyes peeled -- the online auction begins on November 5, and continues until November 14.
World of Warcraft charity auction raises $330,000 for St. Jude
Gamers can be a nostalgic bunch, and they can also be quite generous. Both of these qualities were exhibited in a recent auction held to benefit a children's hospital. Last fall, Blizzard announced that it would auction off a number of retired server blades (hardware that used to hold different player servers) from its popular fantasy game World of Warcraft and donate the proceeds to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. That auction recently took place on eBay, and the 2,000 blades raised a total of $330,000 for the hospital. Each auction winner now owns a monument of the collective experiences of the game's community and has the satisfaction of knowing that the funds will help children around the world.
Blizzard raises over $330,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Were you lucky enough to get a server blade? What's a server blade, you ask? Server blades are pieces of hardware, and in the case of WoW, they're pieces of hardware that once housed realms from World of Warcraft. In October of last year, it was announced that Blizzard would be auctioning off these collectible and frankly, awfully pretty items via eBay. As for the proceeds, they were headed toward St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, an organization dedicated to finding a cure for cancer and other catastrophic diseases that affect children. It was an amazing fundraiser for an equally amazing cause, and today Blizzard posted the results of the auctions. Over $333,000 was raised for the cause, and Blizzard has posted a heartfelt thank-you on the official site. $330,000 is a pretty astonishing number. Frankly, it's moments like this that make me step back, smile just a little and take a whole lot of pride in the gaming community.
Last chance to bid on retired server blades for charity
Blizzard's charity auctions of retired server blades seemed to go pretty well, with each blade going for several hundred dollars on eBay (and all of that money going to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital). Most of them ended before the holidays, which is unfortunate for those of us who missed grabbing the physical representation of a server community near and dear to our heart. But if you play on a European server, you might just be in luck -- Blizzard is offering a series of last-chance auctions for EU server blades starting today! Each server blade comes mounted in a nice case with an engraved plate ensuring authenticity and signed by members of the WoW dev team. The full list of servers and end dates is available on the official Blizzard site. Good luck and happy bidding, EU folks!
Blizzard auctioning server blades to benefit St. Jude's
We posted about this a week ago, but a reminder can't hurt now that the auctions have actually gone live. If you're attending BlizzCon this year and have the chance to visit Hall A, you'll see one of the original World of Warcraft HP server blades that Blizzard is auctioning this year to benefit St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. But even if you're not going to BlizzCon, you still have a shot at bidding: All of the available server blades (from both North American and Europeanrealms) are listed on EBay, and you've still got time to bid on them all. Most of them are older realms that Blizzard has upgraded recently as part of server maintenance, and -- judging from the bids on some of them -- my guess is that a lot of players are interested in owning their old servers. Better yet, each auctioned server will have a plaque with the server's name, dates of operation, and Blizzard developers' autographs inscribed on it. If you want to see an example of what it'll look like, scroll down on Blizzard's charity auction page. If you're interested in owning a piece of World of Warcraft history in addition to benefiting a great cause, you can find general information and Blizzard's two EBay listings for the server blades here: General information on auction dates and servers available North American realms European realms Turn to WoW Insider for all your BlizzCon 2011 news and information. Get ready to kick off the weekend with the WoW Insider Reader Meetup, cohosted by Wowhead and Gamebreaker.tv, and look for our liveblogs of the convention panels, interviews with WoW celebrities -- and of course, lots of pictures of people in costumes. It's all here at WoW Insider!
Blizzard auctioning off old servers for charity
Want to own a real piece of Warcraft history? Ever wanted to own your entire server? Starting Oct. 17, Blizzard will be auctioning off the actual server blades of yesteryear to benefit the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. WoW has gone through a lot of technical changes over the years, and the old server blades are just that -- old. What better way than to celebrate the early years of the game than to give the proceeds to such an important cause? The auctions will last from Oct. 17 through Nov. 14, with each realm's original server blade going on sale. What's a server blade, you ask? Each server, with its own processing power and all that jazz, lives in a rack with other servers at the big server enclosure. Each auctioned server will have a little plaque attached with the server's name, its dates of operation, and signatures from the team. This is really, really cool. If I had the cash to pony up for Frostwolf, my original server, I would. That thing broke so many times in the early days that I'd want to pop it open and see all the horrible, nightmarish things lurking inside. Check out the auction information page for which servers will be auctioned off on which days.
Master Chief's bullet-riddled Xbox 360 case mod auctioned off for charity
Sure, Kim Kardashian and Russell Crowe signed airbrushed Xbox 360s bearing their likeness for the David Peachy Foundation's "Konsoles for Kids" charity auction, but Weta Workshop co-founder Richard Taylor built his donation into a badass diorama. That's Halo's Master Chief venting the console with his trusty assault rifle, sending chunks of circuit board, capacitors and LEDs out the other side. According to its eBay seller, the PAL system's still fully functional, and ships with controller, cables and a full warranty. Auction lasts till April 24th; bidding is presently at $810 AUD.
Game and film artists come together for 'beautifulgrim' charity auction
Mythic Entertainment's Mike "Daarken" Lim and Dreamworks' Leif Jeffers aren't the type of gentlemen to sit around idly while a friend is in need. When Lim's girlfriend (Cat) was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year at the age of 25, the two quickly hatched a plan to help her wade through the sea of medical bills that a bilateral mastectomy and 16 weeks of chemotherapy can quickly accrue. That plan quickly turned into an art auction named "beautifulgrim." Artists from all over the game and film industries have contributed to the project -- from Blizzard and Rockstar on the gaming side to Pixar and Disney on the film side, to name only a few. Lim is hoping to hold the auction "sometime next Spring" in either San Francisco or New York City, though plans are still a bit up in the air. " We are still in the process of looking for a venue, so the date and location of the opening reception is still unknown," Lim told us. He also encouraged people to check out some of the already submitted works on the project's Facebook page. Any money earned in the auction beyond what Cat requires will be given to "a breast cancer related charity to be determined by the artists in the coming weeks." Though you only have one day left to tell Lim if you'd like to contribute, final art for the show isn't due until February 1. We wish them the best of luck. %Gallery-80292%
Signed World of Warcraft: Cataclysm poster up for auction on eBay
Up on eBay until December 7th at 5:00 p.m. PST is this World of Warcraft: Cataclysm poster signed by Blizzard designers and other members of the WoW team. This auction is entirely for charity, with 100% of the proceeds going towards the Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue. We've been able to verify this auction's authenticity through an anonymous source. We are certain all of the signatures are from the World of Warcraft team at Blizzard. However, this is not an official Blizzard auction -- but just something that everyone participated in as a nice thing to do. This is the kind of collectible anyone reading this site would probably want. I know the WoW.com team began bidding furiously when we learned of its legitimacy. I imagine many of you will as well. When we learned of the poster the top bid was at $42, however now it's up to $100. Something tells me it won't stay there for long. Update: We want to note the person running the auction has updated their post to say that this is a print of the original item.
The Daily Quest: The Hunting Lodge and Child's Play
We here at WoW Insider are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere.The Hunting Lodge is running a charity auction for Child's Play next week. There's a compelling story to read over on Brigwyn's site, and I humbly suggest that everyone takes a moment to go over there and read how this great charity was able to help his family out. While games and gamers can get bad press, all anyone needs to do is to look at the story Brigwyn posted (and others have echoed around the net at various points) and be convinced otherwise.And after you've visited the Hunting Lodge, there are some other great stories to check out around the wownet: The Big Bear Butt says retro raiding just because! Twinkinfo has an interesting note about WoW sponsoring an NBA playoff game. Check out this plush moonkin made by Serthida of Bloodhoof. It's cute! Click here to submit a link to TDQ
Epic and legendary Warcraft loot up for auction
Everyone has a list of WoW loot they must own. For some it's Frostmourne. For others it's the prestige of having all of the Limited Editions and in-game pets. Well, WoW packrats, pay attention! BlizzPlanet is reporting that the Peninsula Education Foundation is auctioning off $3,500 worth of precious Blizzard loot.The auction is being held online between 17th-27th April and all proceeds are going to the Peninsula Education Foundation in order to support all schools in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. There are lots of different items on auction but Blizzard fans will be wanting to pay special attention to the World of Warcraft basket which has a starting bid of $1,100 and includes: World of Warcraft: Collector's Edition (autographed by the development team) World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Collector's Edition (autographed by the development team) World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition (autographed by the development team) Spectral Tiger Mount Loot Card (Upper Deck) World of Warcraft - one year free gift card Limited Edition Arthas Helm (Sideshow Collectibles) Limited Edition Cinematic Art of WotLK book The Music of Blizzard (Echoes of War), deluxe Eminence CD set 2008 BlizzCon exclusive World of Warcraft Hardback comic collection Deluxe edition, World of Warcraft miniatures Game, Core Set Talking Murloc Plush Toy Vindicator Maraad Deluxe collectors action figure The auction still has five days left, so if you really, really feel the need to get yourself some shiny loot while helping a good cause, check out the World of Warcraft basket page.
