make-a-wish-foundation
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Wizard101 fulfills a child's wish
Wizard101 is a kid's game. It's designed to be played and enjoyed by kids. So what does Kingsisle Entertainment do when the Make-a-Wish foundation calls up with a wish from a child who's a big fan of the game? Apparently, the staff brings him in to the studio and surprises him with a brand-new character modeled and designed by the child in question, making him a permanent part of the game. What better way to wrap up a tour of the offices where your favorite game is made, right? Allan GhostDust and his pet, Lord Snoopie, can be found in Khrysalis as part of a new quest titled "Message in a Bottle." Any player who has completed the "Secret Heart" quest in the region is eligible to take on the new quest. If you'd like to read more about Allan's story, take a look at the full dispatch for your daily dose of heartwarming.
WoW supporting Make-A-Wish through new charity pet sales
Through the end of the year, Blizzard is supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation with proceeds from the sales of World of Warcraft's cuddly new pet, the Alterac Brew Pup. From now until January 1st, 2014, at 2:59 a.m., players can purchase the charity pup for $10.00, half of which goes right to Make-A-Wish. Additionally, a new Enchanted Fey Dragon mount is also available; during the charity event, it can be bought in a special bundle with the Brew Pup. Players who opt for the bundle purchase will receive a $5.00 discount over buying the two separately, and $5.00 still goes to the charity. If you think these two critters sound too cute for words, see them for yourself in the clips below.
New charity Battle Pet coming to the Pet Store soon
A new Battle Pet is headed to the Blizzard Pet Store soon. The Alterac Brew Pup, pictured above, seems to be slated for release in the not-too-distant future. According to a page found by the fine folks over at Wowhead, the Brew Pup, like other Battle Pets in the past, will have a percentage of the proceeds from its sales donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The page also mentions that the cost of the Battle Pet will be $10 -- which is the standard rate for pets on the store. Although the purchase page was briefly visible in the Blizzard Store -- long enough for Wowhead to nab a screenshot, it has since been removed. This could be for any number of reasons: they may have simply jumped the gun on making the page available, might have just been testing the layout, or may have some changes to make to the listing page. Regardless, we now know where that perfectly adorable new Battle Pet will be found -- and now it's just a matter of patiently waiting until it's released. For more information on the Battle Pet and its abilities, check out Wowhead's Battle Pet database.
Make-a-Wish boy becomes KingsIsle honorary producer
We've all heard the incredible dreams that the Make-a-Wish foundation accomplishes for seriously ill children, but what if a boy with brain cancer wanted to tour his favorite game studio and become an honorary producer instead of go to Disney World? No problem: wish granted! Eleven-year-old Ryan and his family were granted an all-access tour of KingsIsle Studios through Make-a-Wish's efforts. The studio posted an article with Ryan's adventures throughout the day, including a voice recording session, a Pirate101 play session with developers, and time spent learning about what each department does. Ryan's mother related how important the day was to her son: "For him to see some of the actors and creators in person and see how a game he loves to play is created is just so special. It's something we could never give him and just an amazing opportunity for him." KingsIsle had a special surprise in store for Ryan at the end of the day. The team created a new Pirate101 NPC named Ryan the Relentless and equipped the character with the sound files from Ryan's recording session that day. Ryan the Relentless and his Yum-n-ade stand will be added to the live game this week.
WoW Archivist: Life and death
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? World of Warcraft is without a doubt a massive cultural phenomenon unlike any other online game to date. It has given us countless hours of entertainment, introduced friends and couples to one another, and touched the lives of millions. For some, the game has made a bad situation better, or even -- in at least one case -- possibly saved their lives. For others, it has cost them everything. Fair warning: This column describes some intense and tragic events. Hans and the moose In 2007, twelve-year-old Hans Jørgen Olsen of Norway and his sister (ten) decided to take a shortcut through a garden on their way to school. The choice would prove fateful. A moose had wandered into the area and promptly took a dislike to the children. "It ran straight towards us when it saw us," Hans told Norwegian news station Nettavisen. "I screamed at it to scare the moose, but I soon realized that it was not going to stop. Then I turned and ran and ran until I couldn't run faster." The charging moose caught up to Hans and slammed into him. His backpack cushioned the blow, but the impact knocked Hans to the ground. Unsatisfied, the moose remained. "We held eye contact for a while," Hans said, "and then it suddenly struck me."
The Speed Gamers return with another 72-hour marathon for charity
Texas-based marathon-gaming group The Speed Gamers is preparing for its annual winter charity drive once again, this year raising funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through extensive exposure to Mario and his various exploits.Starting at 7 p.m. Eastern on December 14, the group's non-stop 72-hour gaming session will work its way through a respectable block of Mario games, spanning the vastness of the plumber's body of work, both new and old. The whole event will be streamed live on the group's official website, where viewers can donate to not only help a worthy cause, but to also win prizes and play practical jokes on the marathoners.So far this year, The Speed Gamers has already raised $59,324.36 for charity, thanks to its insane 168-hour Pokemon marathon last June. In total, the organization has accumulated $369,304.15 for various causes since it was founded in 2008.
Real-life Going Down achievement nets donation for Make-A-Wish Foundation
Sometimes it's not the biggest events that demonstrate how a love of World of Warcraft can inspire real-world achievements. Sometimes it's the tallest. When McChoppy of Cenarion Circle (US) heard about a Make-A-Wish event that would send him down the side of a 32-story Austin, Texas, high-rise to raise money for children with life-threatening medical conditions, the first thing that leapt to his mind was WoW's Going Down? achievement. It was fate both online and off -- he knew this was one achievement combo he just had to nab. By drumming up a fat pledge total for Make-A-Wish's Austin Over the Edge, McChoppy earned a spot along with more than 170 other supporters to rappel off the edge of the city high-rise. The project raised more than $175,000 for Make-A-Wish, enough to cover 260 wishes for kids in central and south Texas this year. So was his real-life slide slightly scarier than the somewhat silly splatter McChoppy scores in the more seemly spaces of Stormwind? With no spirit healer in sight as he perched on the edge 32 stories up -- resoundingly so!
League of Legends runs Make-A-Wish charity campaign
The Make-A-Wish foundation is a charity that helps make seriously ill children's dreams come true. Several months ago, Riot Games worked with the foundation to bring 17-year-old League of Legends fan and cancer sufferer Joe up to the studio where his favourite game is made. Riot was so inspired by Joe's visit that developers decided to give back to the Make-A-Wish in any way they could to make more children's dreams come true. Following on from the success of community donations to the Red Cross during Japan's earthquake and tsunami, this week Riot announced a new donation drive in support of the Make-A-Wish foundation. "From now, May 4, until 10:30 a.m. PT on May 18, 2012, Riot Games will donate 100 percent of the RP sale price for Joe's favorite champion, Jax, and his Jaximus skin to Make-A-Wish. To make it easier to help, we'll also be lowering the price of both the champion and skin by 50% during this period."
The Perfect Ten: MMO tributes to real-life people
When a beloved friend, family member, hero, or role model dies, we feel the pain of that loss and grieve in many different ways. Part of that grieving and healing process is often entails those left behind constructing some sort of tribute to the dearly departed. Sometimes this comes in the form of a shrine of flowers, sometimes it's the establishment of a charity, and sometimes it's creating an in-game memorial that thousands if not millions of people will see over the course of years. So while death and illness are depressing topics to dwell upon, I find the many MMO tributes that studios and even gamers have erected to be inspiring and a celebration of individual players' lives. With the help of my fellow Massively staffers, I researched 10 wonderful in-game tributes that serve to honor the lives of fellow gamers.
Make-A-Wish receives $800K from WoW DLC proceeds
The Make-A-Wish Foundation has received an $800,000 donation from Blizzard Entertainment. Well, technically, it's from Blizzard's customers, who dropped $10 on the World of Warcraft "Moonkin Hatchling" in-game pet. According to the foundation, the donation was based on "50 percent of the total sales during November and December 2010" of the little bear-bird. Blizzard also welcomed two Make-A-Wish kids to the studio on April 29, "World Wish Day," to tour the digs and meet the development team. A similar promotion a year ago, featuring a Pandaren Monk, raised $1.1 million for the organization.
Blizzard donates $800,000 from virtual pet sales to Make-A-Wish
Who says Blizzard plus microtransactions equals pure, unadulterated evil? Well, a lot of gamers, for one, but that hasn't stopped the makers of World of Warcraft from gifting a sizable chunk of RMT-related change to charity. Gamasutra has all the details on Blizzard's most recent involvement with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Proceeds from the $10 Moonkin Hatchling pet that was sold during the last two months of 2010 have been donated to the long-running charity, with some $800,000 ultimately going to a worthy cause. Blizzard has also added another in-game pet to its cash shop, and 100 percent of the proceeds from the new Cenarion Hatchling will go to the Red Cross's Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami relief fund. There is currently no word as to whether the company will offer similar assistance to the survivors of the severe storms that killed over 300 people and caused millions of dollars in property damage in the southeastern United States last week.
Blizzard gives $1.1m to Make-A-Wish following in-game panda sales
Okay, avid World of Warcraft players. We take back all the mean things we said about your habit of purchasing in-game vanity pets with real-world money, even though the in-game pets do nothing while the real-world money does everything. See, we didn't know that you were actually just donating money to charities in a sort of roundabout fashion. You're like money launderers, but with Tier 9 armor sets. Blizzard recently donated half of the proceeds from players' purchases of a special pet, the "Pandaren Monk," to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, for a grand total of $1.1 million. The O.C. Register reports that Blizzard made a few more wishes come true at its HQ during the check-signing event -- WoW art director Sam "Samwise" Didier sketched kids' characters for them, and even hooked up 17-year-old Jordan Cofinco with a shiny new level 80 character. In short, Blizzard -- and anyone walking around WoW with a tiny Kung Fu Panda following close behind -- just gained some major karma points.
Blizzard donates $1.1 million to Make-A-Wish from Pandaren pet sales
Blizzard made a donation of over $1.1 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation yesterday in a special presentation held in Irvine, California. This was 50% of the total sales of the Pandaren Monk Pet in November and December of last year. Blizzard invited 15 Wish children and their families to the ceremony and also to hang out with the WoW developers and learn how the game is made. Blizzard has a long standing relationship with Make-A-Wish. The story of Ezra is heartwarming, though tragic. Mike Morhaime also thanked the players: This donation also reflects the spirit and generosity of our players -- their enthusiasm for World of Warcraft and for supporting a good cause made this possible. Purchasing the Pandaren Monk pet no longer donates money to the cause, but is still available at the Blizzard Store.
12-year-old Make-A-Wisher designs GameStop's holiday gift card
Rather than choosing something selfish like the opportunity to ride Donald Trump like a pony or a trip around the Moon with the original Apollo 11 astronauts, 12-year-old Make-A-Wish Foundation wish recipient Emily Adkins instead chose to give back to the foundation. In designing the Holiday 2009 GameStop gift card, Adkins secured $1 per card purchased (up to $100k) for the Make-A-Wish coffers. Though the design will be featured amongst other gift cards this year, GameStop is offering the donation deal across all card designs. Any gift cards purchased from now until December 26 will go towards the donations, though none of the proceeds will bring Emily any closer to riding Donald Trump like a pony. Isn't that just a crime?
Pandaren pet "sold out" on Blizzard store [Updated]
In an unexpected and strange twist in Blizzard's latest microtransaction saga, the Pandaren Monk vanity pet has apparently sold out on the Blizzard pet store. A mere week after the in-game pets were announced for sale on Blizzard's new pet store, the Pandaren Monk can no longer be purchased on US realms (as of this writing, it is still available on the Blizzard EU and Blizzard KR stores). That the Pandaren Monk would sell out comes as a surprise because, well, it's a virtual item. It's like Agent Smith. It never runs out. Unless, of course, Blizzard designed it that way, in which case there must have been a massive failure of communication somewhere down the line because it doesn't say anything about the Pandaren Monk being a limited item anywhere. It's also notable that Blizzard had committed to donating 50% of all proceeds from Pandaren Monk sales to the Make-a-Wish Foundation all the way through December 31. If the Pandaren Monk were to disappear, it should at least be expected to last until the end of 2009, right? We think this is an inventory error, where some number had to be inserted into the Blizzard Store's inventory management system, like some number "over 9000". Likely this will be easily corrected, and when it is, we'll update this post accordingly. UPDATE 11:30am ET: Blizzard is looking into the matter, which should assuage most people's fears that the item is indeed sold out. UPDATE 2:00pm ET: The Pandaren Monk is now back in stock and available for purchase! It was just a glitch in the Matrix, people. Nothing to see here. Thanks to Papa Shok for the tip.
TechKnow auctions unique Gears 2 console for Make-A-Wish Foundation
Looking for a new Xbox 360 console with writing all over it? No? Well, how about if that writing includes autographs from some of the developers behind the 2008 sales giant, Gears of War 2? Yeah, we thought so.The TechKnow podcast has teamed up with Epic Games to auction off an exclusive Xbox 360 console -- featuring crimson skull art from senior concept artist, James Hawkins -- with all proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The ongoing auction will end on March 12 and currently sits at $465. If you're looking to do some good (while picking up a piece of exclusive swag) hit eBay and make a bid.
Rock Band competition sponsoring Make-A-Wish in Vancouver
The Make-A-Wish foundation, in conjunction with a slew of sponsors, will be holding a Rock Band competition in Vancouver, Canada, starting Oct. 4. The $100 entry fee, along with pre-purchase tickets for the finals at the Roxy Nightclub, go straight to the Make-A-Wish foundation. The first round of the competition will be held at the EA studios located right outside of Vancouver in Burnaby. From that event, the five finalist bands from each of the four divisions will then compete at the Roxy Nightclub on November 6 for prizes.There are four divisions for competitors to register their groups: Competitive, Social, Corporate and 18 & Under. There are currently no details about prizes, but it sounds like a cool charity event. Isn't that enough?
