Posts Tagged ‘extra life 2015’

Gearing up for the Extra Life marathon

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I can’t believe we’re only three weeks away from the big 24-hour marathon. I have to admit, I’m really nervous about it. I’m more nervous about this year’s event than last year. Last year was the first year, so I had nothing to compare it to. Admittedly, I set my expectations low because I didn’t want to disappoint myself. Fortunately, it went well – really well last year. It went so well, that I’m afraid I didn’t do enough this year.

 

Every time I walk into the store, though, the folks behind the counter keep telling me that they think it’s going to be big. I guess people have been asking when the event is. Maybe it’s a sign that people are excited, or it could be that I haven’t done enough advertising for it. So, in case you didn’t know, the big event is going to be on November 7 from 10 AM to November 8 at 10 AM. That’s 24 hours of gaming! Word on the street is that a Rock Band set up might make an appearance.

 

Something new this year is that we’re aiming to live stream the event on Twitch. I’m still working out the details as to what channel it will be on, but as soon as I figure that out, we’ll make an announcement. So make sure that you’re following the store or myself on the social medias. By live streaming the event, I’m hoping that we’ll reach a wider audience such as those who couldn’t make it to the event all together or those who couldn’t be at the event all 24 hours. I know the stream will be at the Abington store, but I’m not sure about the Plainville store. I would love to make it out to the Plainville location this year if it all possible. I’m hoping they get just as good as a turn out this year.

 

Will Blanchard Extra Life 2014
 

Donations have been a little slower this year compared to last year. A big shout out goes to Serena who’s been the only donor thus far. I understand that a lot of you have a tight budget and I completely understand. I’ve always said that if you can’t donate any money to at least share what’s going on with your family and friends. Other than that, it’s not like you have to donate a lot of money. Every dollar counts. So small donations of $5 are just as important as the donation of $100.

 

Last year, we smashed our goal of $1000. When I set that goal, I thought I was crazy. I should have known that the gaming community would not let me down though. Not only did we break $1000 easily, but we made it all the way to $2500. If I hadn’t been so sleep deprived, I probably would have cried. I was extremely proud of everyone. First of all, who would have believed that Derek made it all 24 hours. I have all of you to thank for that. A big reason he was able to make it was because he was motivated by everyone else who was pulling all-nighters.

 

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A really special moment happened in the very early hours of the morning. I can’t recall what time it was. I just know that I was leaning how to play L5R. Kudos to Steve Riley and company for having so much energy at that time. In fact, we all took a photo of the “morning crew.” It’s probably one of the best looking selfies because of the meaning behind it. Now that I think of it, we should get it framed and put it up in the store. Maybe we should even start an Extra Life section with photos and other info. Hmm…

 

As far as this year’s event goes, some people have been asking for an event schedule. We’re still finalizing it, but I know that Werewolf will definitely be making a return. During the afternoon, the store will be hosting a previously scheduled Weiss Schwartz WGP event. If you’ve ever been curious about the game, this is an excellent chance to see how it works. I’m even going to be playing in it. At least, that’s still the plan. I’ve got to finish learning some Japanese by then. Someone get me Carl Godon!

 

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I’m also working on acquiring items that we can giveaway throughout the event to help raise money. Wyrmwood has said that would like to work with us again. My hope is that we’ll be able to work something out in time. I’ve been slacking a bit, but I’m hoping to be able to get some local Magic: The Gathering alterists to come to the store and offer some alterations for your Magic cards. If any of you would like to donate something to the cause then let me know. You can leave a message for me on the Battleground Facebook page. That’s one of the best ways to contact me. Or you can hit me up on the Twitterverse at my personal handle or the Battleground handle.

 

Remember, the big event is happening November 7th as soon as the store opens (at 10 AM) and we’ll be going all the way to 10 AM Sunday. If you’re brave enough, then I invite you to stay the whole time. If you don’t think you can stay awake the whole time, don’t worry, it’s not a contest to see who can stay awake the longest, but funny things do happen when you’re lacking sleep. Or you could do what Joe Palmer did and bring your sleeping bag. Just pick a spot in the store and take a quick nap. We promise not to disturb you.

 

Joe Palmer Extra Life 2014
 

Last year was a ton of fun, and on a closing note, I just want to share what was the highlight of the event for me. We had already gone bast the 12 hour mark. I was behind the counter handing out tickets when a man approached me and ask if I was the one in charge of the event. It turns out that he had heard that we were holding the event and came down just to make a donation in person. He had a personal connection to what we were doing. So, for someone to let me know that what we were doing was connecting with people…it really makes you feel something beyond words.

 

If you’d like to donate to the Extra Life cause right now, then click on the banner below. Play Games. Heal Kids.

 

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This week in Gaming: Extra Life 2015

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Welcome to a special edition of this “This week in Gaming.” For this week, we’re going to take a break from our usual Magic: The Gathering discussions and talk about something special to me. This week we’re going to talk about Extra Life 2015. If you remember last year, I wrote a little article about my intentions to join the Extra Life 2014 campaign. If you weren’t around for any of that, then you’ll be happy to know that we ended up raising over $2500. However, that was all done last year. This is a new year. A new year means new goal and a new goal means a new story.

 

I was off to the races the moment I registered for Extra Life 2014. I took to Facebook and posted about my campaign, my goal, and all that jazz. I was so ready, I even had contests ready to go to start raising money. I was like a kid in a candy store. There were all of these opportunities and feelings of excitement that I was getting ahead of myself. Almost every month leading up to the Extra Life 2014 Game Day, I was trying to give something away. This year, things are going to be different.

 

For starters, last year, I tried to run almost a year long campaign. This year, I decided to wait a little longer before I got things started. I only recently sent out Facebook invites to the Game Day. In case you didn’t get one, don’t worry. It’s not a private event that only my friends are allowed to go to. Everyone can come! In fact, I encourage everyone to come. Oh what’s that? You have no idea what Game Day is?

 

First, let me start off by explaining what Extra Life is all about. Extra Life is a charity that was started several years ago by a bunch of gamers. Their purpose was to help make life a little bit easier for kids who are in hospitals for extended stays due to illness, treatment, etc. It started out as gamers donating games to keep the kids entertained. In the following years, with the help of Twitch, gamers took to the internet to stream themselves play video games for 24 hours. Now, thanks to the tabletop boom, Game Day has evolved into a 24 hour gaming marathon of people broadcasting and gathering in real life to play games.

 

Last year, both Battleground Games & Hobbies locations took part in the Extra Life 2014 Game Day. I honestly have to say I was surprised. I was grateful that the Abington store was gracious enough to open it’s doors, but to have both stores was somewhat overwhelming. This year, we plan on doing the same thing – both locations will be hosting a 24 hour gaming marathon. One thing that will be different though will be the starting time.

 

Having been the first year, I thought it would be a good idea to have Game Day fall directly after Friday Night Magic. On paper, the idea made sense. Why go home only to come back and open the store for 24 hours? Just get it all done right then and there! Somewhere in the world, someone is hitting a big red buzzer. I was wrong and many people reminded me throughout the day as kindly as they could. I totally forgot that some people live normal lives and have jobs. Some of those people came straight from work and stayed as long as they could. This year, we’re shooting for a 10 AM start time and a 10 AM end time. This should give people enough time to go home, get some sleep, and gather enough energy to stay awake for the next 24 hours.

 

The change in time is probably the biggest change we’ll be making for the the 2015 Game Day. Something minimal I’d like to see is a corner we can call home base. This is a set up where we can stream live on Twitch. I’d like to either broadcast a board game being played or someone playing a video game. This would allow us to extend our reach and allow those who couldn’t make it in person to be there digitally. Did you know that that Twitch has an app? So if all goes according to plan, if you can’t make it to the event, you’ll be able to at least watch us via the internet.

 

One more piece of important information you’ll need before we part ways. The Extra Life 2015 Game Day will be celebrated on November 7, 2015 and will carry over into November 8, 2015. For more information, you can click on the banner at the top of this page.

 

Well that’s it for this week. I hope you’ve been motivated to help out with an awesome cause. If you’d like to help out in some way, don’t be afraid to get in contact with me. You can always e-mail me at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. Until next week…

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

 

The Extra Life 2015 campaign is underway. Donate today!

 

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