Breast Cancer charity Event - A simple question...

There is really no need for your judgement of value here, everyone loses in war, and since even china has decided to "live the american way" like pretty much the whole world, its good measure to give credit where credit is due even if you don't agree with the politics.

Some wars can be a total mess, I think about vietnam for example... but victims are victims, I am extreemly offended that someone even entertains a thought like this and then follows up talking about MONEY.

Sometimes its not money thats people need, thats a secondary thing that come when people coordinate. Don't weight people's heart with money.

Here in canada we have an exeptional military and veterans who selflessly give for all kinds of causes and put their lives in danger with a very honorable training that teaches to preserve peace. Both the US and Canada are hosting syrian refugees by the thousand.

We can definately allow a bigger place in our game for those unsung heroes.

 

Video games + Real world politics = No no

but godspeed

 

I couldn't agree more Leostorm!

 

if there is no charity doing what you want support for, then that explains why port hasn't done anything to fund said charity.

 

+1000

Even the WWP turned the OP down. The problem starts with finding good charities.

 

not charities specifically but veteran representative groups that try to help and do what they can. Instead of taking in money and using it for so called 'research', special interest, political crap and so forth, the representative groups use the money DIRECTLY for Veterans as they are able to. But due to very limited funds and size there are very very limited things available.

For example, one group was able to help me during my period but they were only able to do so for ONE month and only ONCE per year because there were so many Veterans in need.

And to be honest, I think that is why you do not see Veteran 'charities' like you do for all those medical issues. I think there is no money in it for them. Because with Veterans the money goes right to help the Veterans in need of immediate help directly instead of into some corporations bottom line under some excuse it is being used for research costs etc. This is why Wounded Warrior Project is under such fire right now... They are taking in butt loads of money but very little of it is getting to the actual Veterans they claim they are helping... In fact, while I think of it I have not seen a new commercial for them since the 'noise' started about that.

 

And while I started this thread as a response as you can see, I actually AGREE with you. And while my issue is as stated, I could probably add to that the fact that I think if you are going to do something special for one charity then be prepared to do it for ALL of them... or keep it out of the 'game' and community like this.

 

FOR EVERYONE: I do not want this thread going off topic into the politics of war, country vs country, or specifics about anything like that... KEEP it ON TOPIC or I will request the thread to close.

This topic is about charity, the support thereof or lack thereof etc. and the right or wrong of supporting one while not supporting others etc.

 

Yes there are number of organizations and they cater directly TO the Veteran.

PVA, DAV, American Legion, VFW to name a few. My personal one I push is the WDVA, Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs. The reason is they have small one man offices in every county in the state and THEY did bend over backward as much as they could to try and keep me off the street and alive... They went above and beyond for me... but being that small with no funding there was very little they could actually do 'above board' so to speak.

One organization I DO NOT SUPPORT is the Wounded Warrior Project. As some of you may have seen in the media lately, they are under big scrutiny because apparently the money they have been soliciting is 70% going to their pockets and corporate interests not Veterans. And another reason is because they pick and choose who they will help.

How do I know this? Because when both myself and the WDVA contacted them for help for me in the middle of my situation we were turned down flat.

There slick TV ads have suckered a lot of people into doing the $19 monthly payment and it makes me sick.

 

I had thought about mentioning that in my OP but decided not to.. I am glad someone else did though.. Isn't it amazing how that works, the NFL charges money to do Veterans days but openly promotes for months at a time the 'pink' cause?

 

You make a good point and so I want to clarify something for everyone...

I am NOT talking about overall funding for Veterans care. I am talking about for the period of time IN BETWEEN serving AND finally GETTING that care. The transition period.

There is NO safety net as I learned the hard way. I was caught in it 3.5 years. I know of some that are STILL in it and started in it when I did. It is THOSE Veterans that have no where to turn nor is there funds or support for them. I hope this clears that up just a bit.

 

Personally, I would support including any and every cause other people care about, even ones I disagree with, in the add-on store because items there also, in my opinion, serve a valuable role in-game as increasing options and diversity in personal expression.

I'm not a big fan of large-scale, public awareness events in game because I feel like that need is already met well enough through social media programs if I want to be a part of it and it's not something I'm looking for when I log into a role playing game.

I sympathize with what Malakie is saying, both because living in a veteran household myself I know what he is saying is true and because I personally prefer to give direct assistance to individuals in need rather than to organizations, so most fundraising efforts are irrelevant to me, not because I don't care, but because they don't allow me to give the way I want to give. I'd also like to see veterans be one of the groups supported here, but I'm not hindered in giving to them on my own if it's not, so I don't have a complaint against how things are now but saying that including veterans would have my vote.

So basically, I support expanding the Make a Difference store further, but I'd not be a supporter of in-game events tied to out-of-game issues. For the most part though, I can handle my own giving preferences through other venues than here, so I'm not that concerned about what other people do as long as it doesn't get to the point that we all have to start wearing certain colors on certain days to not be thought of as being an insensitive jerk.

 

The Shooter Jennings event was more based on the fact that Richard Garriott himself was part of the album, and was helping to promote it in the game. Since players asked for the option to purchase in-game goods, the Developers chose to donate proceeds for Breast Cancer awareness, which was one of several reviewed from what we were told.

I agree there are MANY worthy causes out there to donate and be aware of. Hopefully, we can see more events take place that can support them. I have friends and family who are veterans, and support the Wounded Warriors group myself.

 

All it takes is for somebody to step up and organize an event. @dallas is very supportive of such efforts.

 

Hello Malakie,

My heart goes out to you, and others in your condition, for the pain and suffering you have endured. I can only imagine your plight, as I am not a veteran of any war, I have never served in the military, and I have never suffered from any disability that has impaired my ability to work. And although my father was a veteran of World War II, and three of my brothers are veterans of the Vietnam War, they were fortunate in that they were never physically disabled to the point they could not work.

There is no doubt that the suffering you have endured is no less real, and no less intense, than the suffering of those afflicted with cancer, or poverty, or starvation, or human rights abuse, or any multitude of diseases, on every corner of this earth, independent of where people draw the lines that separate and divide them, and ofttimes isolate them, into countries.

There is so much human suffering on this earth, that it can be overwhelming to even know where to begin trying to help. Mother Nature did not adequately provide us with the ability to experience, and endure, the suffering of a planet filled with over 7 billion tribemates. Our ancient ancestors lived in tribes of less than 150 people. They had no awareness of the needs of anyone beyond their small tribe. Our emotions of empathy and compassion were well suited to small tribes where we were not drowning in the staggering levels of pain and suffering of thousands, millions, or even billions, of other human beings.

How does one even begin to make a dent in all that suffering?

As others on this thread have pointed out, we at Portalarium have not been proactive in driving our Make a Difference charity activities. Because we are such a small team, with very little bandwidth, with every team member wearing multiple hats, racing to create a game, a service, an experience, that unites people around the globe in shared play, that fosters a global community, that facilitates generosity and stewardship regardless of where divisional lines separating countries are drawn, that we have not had the ability to proactively drive the charity events that we have thus far participated in.

We have lots and lots of charity causes brought to us by our community of almost 60,000 backers, and over 150,000 registered members. Over the past three years, we have only been able to provide some form of in-game support for just 3 causes. This most recent support for Breast Cancer was indirectly caused by some of our backers wanting to be able to purchase some of Shooter Jennings' Countach album materials that were generated for the in-game World Premier of Shooter's new album. Shooter generously offered to provide his album materials to Shroud of the Avatar for no royalties, just as his way of backing the game and helping it to remain sustainable for all community members. We suggested that the items he was so generously contributing be tied to a charity of his choice, and he chose breast cancer because his wife, Misty, is a victim of breast cancer. Other members of our team, such as myself and Starr Long, were supportive of this cause as our mothers died as a result of breast cancer. I then did the due diligence to select a breast cancer foundation that made the best use of the proceeds generated by Shooter and the entire SotA community, and selected the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

When we founded Portalarium in 2009, it was my intention that Portalarium strive to make a difference in reducing the suffering of all humanity. How best to do that is difficult to determine. There are so very many people in need, so very many worthy causes. It is a staggering and overwhelming undertaking. But I do know this: any small step of kindness and generosity and compassion that any one of us can extend to others, is a step in the right direction.

Please understand that the Portalarium Tribe serves a global humanity. When we stop ourselves from the daily frenzy of creating the world of SotA as a collaborative effort with almost sixty thousand backers, and devote some small part of our time to looking at, and helping, the suffering of our fellow humans, we look first at those suffering from global maladies of natural cause. This isn't because we feel any less compassion for the pain and suffering of those on our very front doorstep, suffering from the maladies of man-made causes. We feel the pain of anyone suffering pain, but we are not able to encompass them all.

Therefore, with our very, very limited team resources, we must limit ourselves to only directly supporting causes that are global in nature and (mostly) the result of natural maladies. However, we, in no way, limit our global community members from using the virtual world of Shroud of the Avatar, that we have all created together, to run events and raise funds for any charitable causes of their choosing (as long as those causes are not, in any way, promoting or causative, of human rights violations or human abuse). And we will promote those community-driven charity events through whatever communication means we have available, even if we don't have the resources to promote them all with in-game items from the SotA Make a Difference Store.

Malakie, we feel for the suffering you have endured, and that of others in your plight around the globe, and hope to one day, during our lifetime, contribute toward the easing and perhaps even elimination, of such suffering. Until such time, we will continue to do what we can, one small, compassionate step at a time, while providing our growing community of global tribemates with the tools to help with the humane causes of their choice.

warmly,
dallas

 

@dallas
Good stuff.
Since this is not the first such request and since there will definately be more, I'd advice on taking some of those paragraphs and add them to the Make a Difference page under a heading akin to "How we chose our charities" and maybe a bit about player run events for their own choice of charities.
*tips hat helmet*

 

If a veterans medal is too much to ask for and "takes too much ressource that might not be available in the maybe world" then I will have to rethink if I have the moral ressources to keep going on this adventure.

This is honestly freaking me out. My heart goes out to all of you who are going through hardship equally.

When charities that help poor people suffering from cancer directly by providing food and support have trouble making ends meet and "research" foundations are receiving corporate benediction and rake in cash without having to be transparent about the allocation of funds or how they publish research, something is definately wrong. Thanks Malakie for opening my eyes.

Call me crazy, care about my sake, or censor this post entirely if its too much ; all the same to me... my heart is torn asunder.

 

Look I will empty my heart once and for all, I live a very difficult fight with cancer and many around me also are, but there is no question that each and every of my friends that suffer from a "natural malady" know that scientists all over the world are working to find a solution, sure funds help but they are going to do it anyways, government give funds and subventions.

I'm repeating myself it makes me feel so bad.

If someone told me we're 500000$ away for finding a cure for my bone cancer, but gave me (or any of my friends I'm sure) the choice. There is no question in my mind I would give those funds to people who are suffering from worse, being left on their own after fighting in a war ?

That is a problem our society created and been staying way too silent for way too long about. Cancer is not.

Cancer research is going to be there tomorrow, but all my veterans friends who commited suicide are not, there is not one day I do not think about them, in fact their pain haunts me because I know there is not a worse mix of emotional and physical pain in the world, especially for the disabled.

My pain can bring me to tears and i'm a tough guy, but it pales in comparison.

In fact there is no comparison to be made. The logic applies outside of the box... There are thousands of causes which are errors of our society that I would donate to before I thought about financing a research foundation that might, maybe help people eventually.

 

People will give if they want to give, noone forces you to do anything, we're talking about making it possible to do so and perhaps a little design along the way, which is really not much to ask for.

 

Ah. I was about to write something down the lines: I see and understand your point. And a few other things I now see would have been wasted anyway.
Sure you are entitled to your opinion. As I am to mine.