flameboy Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) LIVE NOW! Main Stream link; https://gaming.youtube.com/user/happenstanceuk/live TO SPONSOR TODAY'S PLAYERS; LINK TO COME [/color] @Happenstance LINK TO COME@Goafer https://www.justgiving.com/ExtraLife-Mike-Luckett @Mike1988uk There are always lots of questions being asked about how to get involved so to start things of I'm going to try and answer some frequently asked questions. I love playing games! What's the easiest way to jump in? Go to our team page; http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=20671'>http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=20671 and JOIN! Then hit one of us either via PM or Facebook to start telling us how you are getting involved. How else can I take part? If you aren’t in a position to play games for 24 hours then there are other ways to join us. Come and donate to one of your fantastic team members, have some steam keys you don’t want give them to us for free giveaways…if you can draw send us some cool artwork that we display on the feeds/give out to donors. There are tons of ways to get involved I’m sure I’m only scratching the surface. So please post here and talk to us. Also you can help us spread the word via social media by promoting our twitch streams; twitch.tv/happenstance twitch.tv/flameboy84 Finally the guys over at humble bundle https://www.humblebundle.com/ periodically offer bundles, right now you can pick up 11 classic Tom Clancy games for as little as $8.41 whilst this doesn't directly support the N-E Team efforts it all goes into the Extra Life fundraising effort for 2015. How do I donate? It's as simple as clicking on this link clicking the link below picking your favourite N-Europe member and sponsoring them as little or as much you want; http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=20671'>http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=20671 Do I need certain equipment? Need to be on camera? Nope not at all. Back in 2010 we didn’t stream ourselves probably at all. We found other ways to engage with the N-E members. We posted regular picture updates on the forums and played Mario Kart Wii with other forum members. If you do want to stream it's never been easier with the built in streaming capabilities of the PS4 and Xbox One. You could simply hit that button and stream out pure gameplay footage for 24 hours. If your on PC; the open source OBS can very easily window capture you game of choice and your good to go. If you want to go down the streaming consoles with a dedicated device and overlay let us and know and we can chat about your options. Can I play x the whole day? Yep you sure can, marathoning one game for 24 hours is not a prerequisite it is certainly impressive and would certainly help get people engaged and sponsoring. Do I need to play Nintendo games? Nope whilst yes N-Europe is a Nintendo focussed forum there are plenty of people who mostly reside in the Other Consoles forums! Do I need a certain amount of sponsorship? There are no minimum sponsorship amount and there is no sign up fee. Every little helps and it all goes towards helping out sick children. Do I have to donate to one of Extra Life's charities? So this is perhaps the one question that is perhaps going to be answered with another question…. So the first thing to get out of the way is that the team as a whole doesn’t all give to the same hospital each team member can chose where they want their money to go. Extra Life in relative terms is an extremely small charity. The amount they raise whilst life changing pales in comparison to other more famous charities. Their budgets and size make it extremely restrictive to operate in countries other than the US. They used to support donating to UK hospitals however ran into difficulties (including tax issues) when it came to giving such big sums of money without having charity status in the UK. So for the time being donations only go to US and select international (Canada due to some of them being part of the Children’s Miracle Network) hospitals. This has been a sticking point with people in the past and it is something we understand. People do like to sponsor causes closer to home. It’s a tricky issue no one wants to say I don’t care it's not in my country, we’d encourage people to go out and look at the material on http://www.extra-life.org and perhaps you’ll find a story from one of the many supported families that resonates with you and then you’d see the great work. If I’m to get a bit personal for 5 of the 6 years I’ve been supporting Sick Kids in Toronto because my wife’s kid cousin was diagnosed with leukemia aged around 8 he is now 12 and after a long battle he is finally in remission. For all of the hospitals great work I will always sponsor them for as long as I take part in Extra Life. It is also worth pointing out as well if you can’t pick a hospital then you just pick to play So I said I’d have a question. Now we’ve brought up the possibility of setting up a Justgiving page and directing people to that page from their Extra Life donations page. Whilst this may seem against the spirit of the event in that its drawing people away from Extra Life’s direct cause. I personally still feel if that’s genuinely what makes the difference between people donating and taking part then it’s worth doing. Where it gets sticky is where would the Justgiving page be giving money to? We have a sizeable UK membership here at N-E but there are people from elsewhere as well and then where in the UK? Let us know what you think about the Justgiving part like I said if it means more get involved then it's worth us doing and it’s all benefiting children in the end. Does it have to be on a certain day? Extra Life as an event runs over the weekend of 7th-8th November where millions of gamers across the world will be playing videogames for 24 hours non-stop. However to get involved playing you don’t have to do it that weekend. As a team we currently have 3 teams running (more on that later) with 2 of those teams playing the on the above weekend in different time zones and the other the weekend before. This gives us a great opportunity to focus on each stream individually and promote each other. Playing for 24 hours non-stop isn’t even required if you have another innovative way you want to raise money then go for it. Want to stream every night of the week and raise money then do it! Is it safe to play games for 24 hours? Yes! As long as you look after yourself (eating well, keeping hydrated, moving around) it's perfectly safe. We will post some safety guidelines closer to the time. Do I have to travel and meet up with other people in your team, or can I organise my own under your banner? We aren’t going to force anyone to sign up and then have to travel anywhere. Being part of a team is a really great way to be part of Extra Life and the camaraderie and excitement help make the event what it is. Despite this down the years we’ve had people complete the 24 hours completely alone and again not streaming or anything so it’s certainly an option. Whilst we’d love you to be part of our N-E Team the most important thing is raising money for children so if you would rather go completely out on your own and not be part of the team by all means do so and don’t forget to promote your own page in this thread. Where are people currently playing? As things stand we have teams England (North and South),Canada, Wales I’ll leave each of the people who are currently hosting to come in here and let everyone know what space they have. We’ve also had plenty of instances in the past where people have relied on getting rides or using public transport so it’s as important to see who has a spare TV as well as a spare spot on their sofa! So Extra Life 2015 isn’t until 7th November but we already want to get the ball rolling and get YOU, yep I actually mean YOU involved in a major way. Over the years our Extra Life efforts have continued to expand. Our teams have progressive got bigger as time has gone. Last year represented the first time all of our UK team were in one place at the same time! Our Canada team completed their second year and had a third gamer join them for some fighting game fun during the afternoon. Most importantly we raised a ton of money we blasted past our previous years totals. We raised a massive $1,310.33 our previous bests were $701 and $671. So we came so close to raising double our best. This year we want to go one better and break the $2000 mark. To achieve that we need to expand. We started this last year by naming our team N-Europe and Friends. We drew in many different communities through twitter and facebook and in Rez’s case his excellent following on Youtube through Food Review UK. With this in mind we’ve changed our team name to Super Happy Go Force NE, LSL, FRUK ETC…. This is a working title for now but we want to push out further…ultimately I would imagine we find an all encompassing team name as we draw in NE to a greater extent as well as other communities. So many of you on here have your own communities out there whether it’s your own blog, group of friends who meet on a sofa and game, your own podcasts, video series the list goes on. It doesn’t even have to be solely gaming related people do all kinds of events to raise money. We can draw this all together through THE POWER OF N-EUROPE N-Europe is a fantastic community and our Extra Life efforts over the last six years have been down to this place. All of our team members thus far met via N-E when I decided to do it on a whim 6 years ago! That’s why I’m posting this massive here, down the years others have expressed an interest and now is time. I’d also at this stage like to address some of the “problems” people have sighted with the efforts being US centric. As someone who is trying to get involved with my local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital it does make sense why it’s happening this way. Extra Life have people employed/volunteers who act as those liaisons drawing together the communities and ultimately helping the groups. At this point in time it seems like they struggle to keep up with those in the US and Canada. Some of things they are doing are truly incredible, especially the fantastic work that the money does with terminally ill children and supporting their families. Giving them those once in a life time experiences, providing counselling etc… That entrenched service and their guilds program ultimately helps to ensure the money is being put to good use. Problems arise when you are just throwing money at hospitals and have no idea where it’s going. Overtime it will expand and that will only happen by continuing to support them and helping those sick kids!!! They continue to find new ways to support gamers who are playing. Be it through media packs for streams, humble bundles and other support services. Is there anyone our there that wants to host an event? The designated weekend is November 7th but if you can’t do that weekend who cares? If we can stretch out across multiple weekends that’s even better and all support each other! We have so many pockets of NE members who live close to each other, the possibilities are endless as to how many teams or solo streamers we could have! Streaming alone is another option it’s never been easier with the built in functionality on Xbox One and PS4. PC also has a whole bunch of options with OBS, X-split etc… If your shy/internet weary you don’t even have to put your mug out there on the internet just stream game play for 24 hours. Hell you could even stream using periscope! I myself will be slowly building up to Extra Life on May 22nd and 23rd I will be streaming for at least 12 hours each day as a sort of preview and to push my streaming set up and see what I can do. I’ll be streaming the Witcher 3 on May 22nd and then on the 23rd I’ll be streaming some N64 action (3D platformers for the win!) as well as having some other Xbox stuff going on (if I'm joined by a fellow team mate.) Finally here is a showcase of some of the fun that can be had; Team UK’s time lapse video In amongst this video you will see the guys playing Sonic 2. We did a quick challenge to see who can get the quickest time on the first level with the losers giving donations to the winners. We have more fun like this planned and would love to get you guys involved. Team Canada Football Tournament: http://www.twitch.tv/flameboy84/c/5413712 (another one of which is coming this year with an entire new slate of retro football games) So please I implore YOU to come on over to http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=20671'>http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.team&teamID=20671 Join our team. Then hit us up and facebook and join in on our planning! If you aren’t in a position to play games for 24 hours then there are other ways to join us. Come and donate to one of your fantastic team members, have some steam keys you don’t want give them to us for free giveaways…if you can draw send us some cool artwork that we display on the feeds/give out to donors. There are tons of ways to get involved I’m sure I’m only scratching the surface. So please post here and talk to us. Like I said the weekend of 22nd/23rd May there will be a streaming event 24 hours over the weekend, come suss it out and see if you want to join us on November 7th. If you’re still reading thank you for taking the time! And remember it’s all FOR THE KIDS Edited November 14, 2015 by Cube
Cube Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 I know it's a bit out of the way, but if anyone is interested in an event in North Wales, I'm more than happy to host one.
flameboy Posted May 4, 2015 Author Posted May 4, 2015 I know it's a bit out of the way, but if anyone is interested in an event in North Wales, I'm more than happy to host one. There we go getting the ball rolling that's what I like to see. Isn't @Jimbob near there somewhere (apologies if I'm completely wrong!)
Jimbob Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 There we go getting the ball rolling that's what I like to see. Isn't @Jimbob near there somewhere (apologies if I'm completely wrong!) I'm in the South, it's pretty easy to get to the North (depending where @Cube is) from here.
flameboy Posted May 4, 2015 Author Posted May 4, 2015 I'm in the South, it's pretty easy to get to the North (depending where @Cube is) from here. Nice! I see a new Team Wales forming already
Jimbob Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Nice! I see a new Team Wales forming already I'm up for Team Wales.
flameboy Posted May 4, 2015 Author Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) I'm up for Team Wales. Team England Team Canada Team Wales Team UK RIP. Anyone wanna make Team Scotland?! Team Northern Island? The possibilities are endless.... Edited May 4, 2015 by flameboy
Cube Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 I'm in the South, it's pretty easy to get to the North (depending where @Cube is) from here. It's not far from Rhyl.
Jimbob Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 It's not far from Rhyl. Aye, just had a look. Can get a direct train (as i don't drive) from Cardiff to Rhyl then figure something out from there.
Happenstance Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 Should be quite interesting if we can get everyone streaming and then do our speed challenges like last year with Sonic 2
Cube Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 Aye, just had a look. Can get a direct train (as i don't drive) from Cardiff to Rhyl then figure something out from there. The bus is every 30 minutes. The only problem is how much stuff you may need. I may be able to borrow a TV. I don't live in the house yet, so it will be something to work out closer to the time.
Jimbob Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 The bus is every 30 minutes. The only problem is how much stuff you may need. I may be able to borrow a TV. I don't live in the house yet, so it will be something to work out closer to the time. I think all i would need is a TV, i got the rest covered in terms of consoles, games and leads. Oh, and supplies. But i'm sure a nearby store would provide these (for a fee of course) But yeah, it would be something to properly sort out nearer the time. It's certainly looking promising for a possible first Extra Life for myself.
Shorty Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 I think you should keep N-E at the centre of it. Not just saying that, but if you branch it out... split it up... well, I dunno, just seems like you're going to saturate the experience a little. You might end up with lots of tiny events and nothing big, which will could get less donor interest overall. Instead maybe it just needs more of a push, directly suggest it to lots of people. Get something on the main site, I could put something at the top of the forum. I realise that even though this is a cool idea, I never really ventured into these threads, something about it just didn't feel overly inclusive. That was obviously a mistake, but could still be a problem with others. If not already obvious, I'd like to join in this year. If I'm still living in the same place come November, I offer up my place to use. If not, I'll travel to wherever.
flameboy Posted May 5, 2015 Author Posted May 5, 2015 (edited) I think you should keep N-E at the centre of it. Not just saying that, but if you branch it out... split it up... well, I dunno, just seems like you're going to saturate the experience a little. You might end up with lots of tiny events and nothing big, which will could get less donor interest overall. Instead maybe it just needs more of a push, directly suggest it to lots of people. Get something on the main site, I could put something at the top of the forum. I realise that even though this is a cool idea, I never really ventured into these threads, something about it just didn't feel overly inclusive. That was obviously a mistake, but could still be a problem with others. If not already obvious, I'd like to join in this year. If I'm still living in the same place come November, I offer up my place to use. If not, I'll travel to wherever. I'd like to reiterate that NE is very much at the forefront of this. I've not gone and posted this in other forums. Just we've felt the need that we have to acknowledge that a great deal of donations came from other projects outside of NE (other projects that NE is very supportive of as a community) I'd love it if this thread somehow became sticky so everyone sees it? I know what you mean about the inclusive nature...it's a hard one to pinpoint. I'll hold my hands up and say it's something we need to work but I do feel we have made strides over time. The first two years were at my place and we pretty much hit capacity there the 2nd year when we jumped from 3 to 5 people. and turned someone down because we already had all confirmed (apologies don't remember who). My moving to Canada and the move to Rez's freed up a space and we welcomed The Peeps and Cube into the fold. I did a year alone in Canada before befriending Nintenchris from here and we've done 2 years together now. So things have rumbled on slowly. So I guess the final part of my reply to you is where are you? I think you're part of the Sheffield N-E crew but I could be wrong? I know I'm far away in Canada but doesn't mean can't muck in and help work out some stuff. Also if you are definitely going to do one way or another (please do) then please get signed up on the website and send us a message on facebook to join the group convo we have over there! Edited May 5, 2015 by flameboy
Goafer Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 I realise that even though this is a cool idea, I never really ventured into these threads, something about it just didn't feel overly inclusive. That was obviously a mistake, but could still be a problem with others. This is exactly why I think its a good idea to branch out a bit. You're not alone in not venturing into these threads and we've all noticed a waining of interest from NE over the years. I cant say I blame people, as the novelty does wear off after 6 years, but we are finding it harder.
Sheikah Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 I think you should keep N-E at the centre of it. Not just saying that, but if you branch it out... split it up... well, I dunno, just seems like you're going to saturate the experience a little. You might end up with lots of tiny events and nothing big, which will could get less donor interest overall. Instead maybe it just needs more of a push, directly suggest it to lots of people. Get something on the main site, I could put something at the top of the forum. I realise that even though this is a cool idea, I never really ventured into these threads, something about it just didn't feel overly inclusive. That was obviously a mistake, but could still be a problem with others. If not already obvious, I'd like to join in this year. If I'm still living in the same place come November, I offer up my place to use. If not, I'll travel to wherever. Trials of Osiris, first 'til 9 straight wins. I'd be up for that.
flameboy Posted May 5, 2015 Author Posted May 5, 2015 This is exactly why I think its a good idea to branch out a bit. You're not alone in not venturing into these threads and we've all noticed a waining of interest from NE over the years. I cant say I blame people, as the novelty does wear off after 6 years, but we are finding it harder. Not that I feel the need to back up everything but yeah finding that new energy is very important. NE has been massively supportive down the years but we don't want the same people to constantly feel like they are the only ones sponsoring. I think all i would need is a TV, i got the rest covered in terms of consoles, games and leads. Oh, and supplies. But i'm sure a nearby store would provide these (for a fee of course) But yeah, it would be something to properly sort out nearer the time. It's certainly looking promising for a possible first Extra Life for myself. Jimbob as soon as you decide it's a go get signing up via the page I linked in OP and get in touch on facebook to join us in the planning.
jayseven Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 I would like to contribute this year but I cannot confirm anything until much closer to the time! @Shorty I'd be happy to join you
flameboy Posted May 6, 2015 Author Posted May 6, 2015 Delighted to say @Jimbob is now officially a member of Extra Life 2015 welcome to the gang mate!
Cube Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 Oh, and even if you aren't thinking of taking part, we'd more than welcome suggestions for events we can do between us. Last year, we had a speedrun of Sonic 2's first act/zone.
flameboy Posted May 6, 2015 Author Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Yeah might not be a bad idea to potentially source those in the general gaming thread in a retro challenges thread? Either way when running the challenges think will put up some sort of "Challenge suggested by XTZ" whilst it's running. Edited May 6, 2015 by flameboy
Happenstance Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Yeah if possible we like to run the original carts for added novelty so last year both myself and @flameboy had our original Sonic 2 carts to play on. Any suggestion is welcome though, I know I'm always looking to expand my retro collection so as long as a game isnt super rare I would probably buy it for the event. Oh and a recommendation to any first timers at this years event. If you do the speed challenge then dont go first! The others learnt from mine and @Goafer mistakes! Edited May 6, 2015 by Happenstance
flameboy Posted May 6, 2015 Author Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) Yeah if possible we like to run the original carts for added novelty so last year both myself and @flameboy had our original Sonic 2 carts to play on. Any suggestion is welcome though, I know I'm always looking to expand my retro collection so as long as a game isnt super rare I would probably buy it for the event. Oh and a recommendation to any first timers at this years event. If you do the speed challenge then dont go first! The others learnt from mine and @Goafer mistakes! I had my route planned from the start!!! Also didn't stop @Nintenchris from fucking up royally! EDIT: Events starting to fill out; Edited May 6, 2015 by flameboy
flameboy Posted May 8, 2015 Author Posted May 8, 2015 I finally joined the microphone master race and picked up one of these; My plan is to along with making it easier to hear us during to streams to have some form of viewer call in that can then be rolled out into a podcast/ be part of the stream highlights.
flameboy Posted May 12, 2015 Author Posted May 12, 2015 Are there any classic N64 games people would like to see on a stream? Currently trying to look for stuff...already streaming Banjo for sure.
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