Extra Life 2018 and LOTROstream Marathon Info

[Cordovan]

Extra Life 2018, Team Standing Stone Games, and October 20th Marathon Livestream

I am now coordinating my third year of fundraising for Extra Life, and I want to provide information to any LOTRO players who would be interested in taking part in this charity event! I'm doing something a bit different this year in that I'm adding our Dungeons & Dragons Online community to the mix. Traditionally, I'd done Extra Life for LOTRO in October, and Movember for DDO in November, but I was asked by some DDO players to raise money in their community for Extra Life this year, so let's see how it works to blend both drives for both games. That might mean you can donate to Extra Life and not Movember, or Movember and not Extra Life, or a bit for both, or a lot for both (thank you!) It's all good, the main point of this is to help raise funds for great causes. If you can't donate this year and want to help, consider spreading the word about this fundraiser to a friend or family member, or in your social media circle, and help us out.

NOTE: I will be launching Movember in November, per usual. Info on how to donate to that will happen then. There'll be different stuff as incentives.

###

All right, without further ado, let's get to the good stuff! Once again we are doing what we can to raise some funds for Children's Miracle Network hospitals, specifically the Boston Children's Hospital for us, with a month-long fundraiser and special livestream marathon!

On Saturday, October 20th from 10:00 AM Eastern until at least Midnight Eastern we'll be hosting a LOTRO Extra Life Marathon on Twitch.tv/LOTROstream, and raising money during that time! LOTROstream team members will take turns playing the game and raising money for this important charity. We'd love it if you felt like stopping by and saying hello. This is a great way to celebrate Extra Life and hang out with other LOTRO players. Expect some giveaways and fun stuff in chat.

You can read more information about Extra Life, a nonprofit organization that raises money for Children's Miracle Network affiliated hospitals, by clicking here.

To donate to the Team: http://extra-life.org/team/standingstonegames

To find my donation page: https://www.extra-life.org/participant/jerrysnook

To sign up for Extra Life, if you want to raise money yourself: http://www.extra-life.org/

ANYONE is welcome to join the Standing Stone Games team, provided you are willing to do your part to raise money to help sick kids during this event.

I have set a goal of raising $3,000 for the Boston Children's Hospital. Since the LOTRO development team is based in the Boston area, this hospital made sense, although you are welcome to donate to any member of the Standing Stone Games team, and the money will go to the Children's Hospital they have designated.

Incentives

If you donate at least $10, you will be entered into the various LOTRO Point drawings that are unlocked by the Standing Stone Games Team reaching certain milestones. If you donate to me or another Team member, it counts! If you donate at least $5, you'll be entered into the drawings for the Mordor Collector's Editions.

There's one important thing, though: Extra Life doesn't provide me with enough info to match your donation to a forum/LOTRO community name, and I don't get donation info you donate to other team members, so if you donate and want to get a prize, you MUST fill out the following info and PM it to me on the forums here:

The name you used for your donation on the Extra Life page:
Forum name (or Twitter handle, etc.):
Amount Donated:
Date of Donation (if you know it):

Without further ado, here are the incentives!

Group incentives:

$1000 - Ten 500 LOTRO Point codes and ten Hero of the Small Folk Title codes will be randomly distributed to people who donate at least $10 to the fundraising effort through a random-number-generated drawing.
$2000 - Ten more 500 LOTRO Point and ten more Hero of the Small Folk codes will be randomly distributed to folks who donate $10+.
$3000 - Ten more 500 LOTRO Point and ten Ghost Bear codes will be randomly distributed to folks who donate $10+.

ALSO: Anyone who donates at least $5 will be entered into a drawing for one of five Mordor Collector's Editions we'll award at the end of the fundraiser, provided you've given me your contact info as listed above.

Further incentives may be announced in the future if we meet this goal.

Individual incentives:

$5 - Forum Title of your choice, within the community guidelines. PM me with your desired choice. If you already have a custom title, I can add another!
$10 - Custom Forum Avatar - Let me know what you want your avatar to be, and I'll do my best to make it happen.
$20 - In-Game Hero of the Small Folk title AND Ghost Bear pet certificate OR Tundra Cub pet certificate
$30 - Perlino Steed Certificate AND Cremello Steed Certificate
$50 - One of Two Fiddle Packs: Bardic Fiddle AND Traveller's Trusty Fiddle OR Lonely Mountain Fiddle AND Sprightly Fiddle
$75 - Battle-Worn Steed of the White City Certificate

If we can come up with some other realistic incentives, I will add them later. If anything is added, you'll get them if you meet the donation threshold.

All incentives are cumulative, so if you donate $30, you also get the benefits of the lower tiers. For example, if you donated $100, you would get a Battle Worn Steed of the White City, One of the Two Fiddle Packs, a Perlino Steed, Cremello Steed, Hero of the Small Folk Title, Ghost Bear pet certificate, custom forum avatar, and forum title. If you have a specific request based on the level of your donation (both fiddle packs for $100 instead of the steed or whatever), just PM me and we'll sort it out. I will be taking donations through November 15th.

The LOTRO community has long been among the most supportive of Extra Life, and we are set to have a lot of fun this year! Thank you for your donation, however large or small it may be.

Sincerely,
Jerry Snook
Cordovan - Community Manager, Lord of the Rings Online

[Palentian]

Hey, I just want to say thanks. I'm glad you're continuing this.

[Hannariel]

What about that elusive Hobbit Dance 3 as an incentive? I've seen a person on Landroval server dance it, but no one can get it and she said she got it by an error from a GM.

[Knight.]

Please could we get Tome of the Little Tundra Cub as an individual incentive.
I know someone who'd love to complete her pet collection (screenshot below) and I'd love to surprise her with this.





Thank you also for carrying this out yearly. It's always nice to see such things.

[Cordovan]

Please could we get Tome of the Little Tundra Cub as an individual incentive.
I know someone who'd love to complete her pet collection (screenshot below) and I'd love to surprise her with this.





Thank you also for carrying this out yearly. It's always nice to see such things.

Good call, I forgot to include this one. Will do.

[StinkyGreene]

Do you have the team members roster and associated charities so we could choose which to support? I would love to give to CHoPhilly or CHoPhoenix.

[maartena]

I will donate regardless, because I believe in the cause.

But.... as I have donated in years past, I have already gotten the title, the pets (on all characters actually as they were given out as account wide the very first time by sapience), quite a bunch of the perlino/cremello steeds..... Any chance there will be some new rewards added this year?

How about maybe a unique ghost kite? Or a ghost STEED!

And with that said: Donation done, and PM sent.... it's a good cause, regardless of the rewards and I encourage people to donate.

(insert mandatory "think of the children" plea here)

[Knight.]

Good call, I forgot to include this one. Will do.

Thank you Cord

[Cordovan]

I will donate regardless, because I believe in the cause.

But.... as I have donated in years past, I have already gotten the title, the pets (on all characters actually as they were given out as account wide the very first time by sapience), quite a bunch of the perlino/cremello steeds..... Any chance there will be some new rewards added this year?

How about maybe a unique ghost kite? Or a ghost STEED!

And with that said: Donation done, and PM sent.... it's a good cause, regardless of the rewards and I encourage people to donate.

(insert mandatory "think of the children" plea here)

I am aware of this, but unfortunately time has not permitted us to carve out dev time for new charity rewards. I am hopeful to either dig up something long lost, or make something new, in the near future, but it's true that if you have all of this, and don't want to give it to a friend, you're just donating to help the kids.

[WhiteWolf21x]

I am aware of this, but unfortunately time has not permitted us to carve out dev time for new charity rewards. I am hopeful to either dig up something long lost, or make something new, in the near future, but it's true that if you have all of this, and don't want to give it to a friend, you're just donating to help the kids.

I've brought this up before, but some of the older pre order bonuses and bundles that we can no longer buy would be great. But as you said there could be legal issues with the whole "exclusive" tag.

[maartena]

I am aware of this, but unfortunately time has not permitted us to carve out dev time for new charity rewards. I am hopeful to either dig up something long lost, or make something new, in the near future, but it's true that if you have all of this, and don't want to give it to a friend, you're just donating to help the kids.

And I am satisfied with that either way - it's about the cause. That said: If the codes for pets and horses are indeed give-able, I'll just spread them around in the kinship. As for digging something up long lost.... unless there are plans to bring back the "pick a mount" box that we could get from old lootboxes, this might be a good prize to give away as well.

[Ronimli]

There's ways still the steed of the red dawn, part of extra life in 2014
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Ite...f_the_Red_Dawn

And the steed of the first marshal, only part of a giveaway in a German magazine
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Ite..._First_Marshal

Both of these would make for some pretty awesome mounts if you could grab some codes and distribute them here (Will donate soon regardless, but would be a nice bonus)

[Hannariel]

Oooohhhhh! How about getting the brusque bassoon now! (Along with Hobbit Dance 3 or some other dance we don't have available now.)

[Cordovan]

And I am satisfied with that either way - it's about the cause. That said: If the codes for pets and horses are indeed give-able, I'll just spread them around in the kinship. As for digging something up long lost.... unless there are plans to bring back the "pick a mount" box that we could get from old lootboxes, this might be a good prize to give away as well.

They are delivered through codes, so you should just be able to give the code to a friend.

There's ways still the steed of the red dawn, part of extra life in 2014
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Ite...f_the_Red_Dawn

And the steed of the first marshal, only part of a giveaway in a German magazine
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Ite..._First_Marshal

Both of these would make for some pretty awesome mounts if you could grab some codes and distribute them here (Will donate soon regardless, but would be a nice bonus)

I did look into these for this year, but it isn't clear if I'm legally allowed to give either of these away. There was also a technical issue in that it wasn't available in our internal catalog of items, so additional work will be needed to re-add it, then make codes against it.

[Cordovan]

THANK YOU to everyone who has donated so far! We're doing fantastic.

A couple of reminders:

- Whoever you want to donate to is fine! Just make sure to get me your info on the forums here through private message, and if you didn't donate to me, let me know who you donated to and how much you donated.
- We are also doing this over on the Dungeons & Dragons Online side, so if you play that game as well your donation can count in both places if you want. Just let me know in PM.
- TOMORROW, 10:00 AM to Midnight Eastern, we're doing a livestream Extra Life Marathon on Twitch.tv/LOTROstream! We'll be doing giveaways over there as well. Hope to see you in chat!

We're currently sitting at a bit more than $2400, which means we've CRUSHED the 1k and 2k milestones! Just so y'know, more than $1600 of that comes from the Shroudpalooza DDO side, so if you're feeling competitive and want to stand up for us over in Middle-earth, now's the time!

As always, it's an honor to be able to do a small bit of work for a really good cause on behalf of ALL OF YOU.

[Lord.Funk]

As I am very careful and cautious as to where I sign-up and give out personal info online, not to mention CC etc. I'd like to donate, but does that require signing up to some 3rd part site and give out payment details as well as personal details to something outside SSG ??? I mean SSG already have my details since I'm a customer but I'm reluctant to sign up and give out info to yet more places online. I keep it to a bare minimum.

[maartena]

As I am very careful and cautious as to where I sign-up and give out personal info online, not to mention CC etc. I'd like to donate, but does that require signing up to some 3rd part site and give out payment details as well as personal details to something outside SSG ??? I mean SSG already have my details since I'm a customer but I'm reluctant to sign up and give out info to yet more places online. I keep it to a bare minimum.

Extra Life is a trustworthy company that you can trust your credit card details with. They are not going to charge your card for anything after you have donated. You also don't have to create an account, and you can donate anonymously.

There is an alternative though: In most of the western world (in any case North America, Australia, Europe) you can get "reloadable" credit cards or credit gift cards from VISA, MasterCard, or American Express. These cards are 100% safe to use, as you would only fill them with the amount you want to spend. In many countries (at many grocery stores in the US & Canada, and at the Post Office in the UK) you can reload these cards with CASH, so you don't even have to link a bank account to reload them. This might be an option if you don't want to use a credit card outright.

One word of caution though: It often costs around $4-$5 to activate one of these reloadable cards, so if you wanted to donate say.... $50, it would actually cost you $55 or so. So it becomes a question of whether $5 is worth keeping your data.

This all said: If you own any type of smart-phone, such as an android or iphone.... you have already forfeited your privacy in much more gruesome ways. (Telecom companies keep track of you, and it is likely attached to an account that has your name or your family member's name on it). This is a discussion for another time though...... rest assured that Extra Life is a trustworthy organization, and you should have no problem using a credit card (or above method) to make a donation.

[Hroldrin]

First of all, thank you for organizing this event again.

Watching the streams is always fun and I guess everything has already been said about the cause of this event.



Now I got two questions:

1. Would there be any difficulties to verify, if I do multiple donations to different streamers when it comes to counting those together for the rewards? (E.g. If I donate once 15$ to one Streamer and 15$ to another streamer, but I would like to have the 30$ individual goal)

2. For possible rewards: How about the old Isengard Ponys? Red-Clad Pony of the Gap (https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Red...ony_of_the_Gap), Green-Clad Pony (https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Gre...ony_of_the_Gap) and White-Clad Pony (https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Ite...d_of_the_Gap)? I already got those myself, but I do know a couple players that would like to have them.

[Cordovan]

First of all, thank you for organizing this event again.

Watching the streams is always fun and I guess everything has already been said about the cause of this event.



Now I got two questions:

1. Would there be any difficulties to verify, if I do multiple donations to different streamers when it comes to counting those together for the rewards? (E.g. If I donate once 15$ to one Streamer and 15$ to another streamer, but I would like to have the 30$ individual goal)

2. For possible rewards: How about the old Isengard Ponys? Red-Clad Pony of the Gap (https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Red...ony_of_the_Gap), Green-Clad Pony (https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Gre...ony_of_the_Gap) and White-Clad Pony (https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Ite...d_of_the_Gap)? I already got those myself, but I do know a couple players that would like to have them.

The main thing is if you donate to someone else (which is fine!), I won't have visibility into your donation unless you get me that info through a PM on the forums here.

I did actually look into the old Isengard ponies as well, but similarly to the earlier one, it isn't clear if I can give them out or not. Anything we did a pre-purchase for with an "exclusive" tag is something we are legally bound to not distribute outside of said pre-purchase. When time permits I do intend to dig further into our archived marketing materials and such to see whether these are things we can give away in the future.

ALSO: Thank you everyone! We've already crushed $5,000! Things are cooking along with big crowds and fun times on LOTROstream.

[Raegaen]

This is a very worthy cause that I'm happy to donate to, Cordovan, especially since Boston Children's Hospital is where some of the donations will be going to. That hospital has a deep place in my heart as it saved my sister's life many times over from a heart condition she was born with.

[Marxlne]

Hello Cordovan, any chance you could change 75$ incentive to additionally give away BOTH Ghost Bear AND Little Tundra Cub pets ?
There are many people who would like to complete their pets collections and missing these two ...

[Cordovan]

Hello Cordovan, any chance you could change 75$ incentive to additionally give away BOTH Ghost Bear AND Little Tundra Cub pets ?
There are many people who would like to complete their pets collections and missing these two ...

For sure, no problem.

[Fraushgrish2]

when does this even end?

Nvm just saw it

[Sun-Tzu]

very kewl thing. very good cord.

happy see you get to goal n more. I kno my dad also donate yesterday. we get to see you in kilt now?

[Cordovan]

Wow, what a day! Thanks everyone for being there and participating. We had a huge turnout in Twitch chat and a lot of great gaming, too. We also crushed out goal(s) and ended up with more than $11,700 raised! Also, yes, I did commit to wearing a kilt at PAX East if we raise $20,000 during this drive, dunno what I was thinking...