On Being The Pwnage I Want To See In The World

The other day I found myself spending some much overdue time with my mother and as usual we wound up sitting around drinking tea and talking about all kinds of unrelated stuff. One of the things we talked a lot about was Headshots From the Heart. My mother had a lot of questions and while many of them centered around the kind of technology we used to take donations and set up the event mostly she wanted to know about why I was doing it. This, among other things has gotten me thinking about why I am doing Headshots. A little while ago I did a post about what I think about charity in general so this time I thought I might talk specifically about the charity event that I am most involved in.

Headshots_FinalMy involvement with Headshots From the Heart started last year when I volunteered a few hours of my time to be a Moxxi. Being a Moxxi basically means you get to stand in front of the camera and be one of the live faces for the event. I learned a little bit about how these kinds of events are run, met a lot of new people, and had a heck of a lot of fun. I even had a great experience wherein strangers in the community came together over social media to challenge me to do something a little extra to raise money. It involved a song, a dance and a cat costume. I had found out about the event because it was being organized by several friends of mine and they had asked me to participate but it wasn’t until I decided to take a greater role in the event this year that I started to think about why I had said yes and what made me want to take part.

I think part of the reason is the charity with which Headshots From the Heart is involved: Child’s Play. Child’s Play is a children’s charity which supplies games and activities for children stuck in hospitals. I’m sure we all know of some child or another that has had to spend time in a hospital and how lonely and terrifying that can be. I have a niece who has lung problems and spends more than her fair share of time in our local hospital. In my post on charity I mentioned that one of the things I like charity to do is help people help themselves but in the case of children this is often different. Children aren’t always able to look after themselves especially when they are ill. I think that it’s important that we are all willing to help them when needed.

Another reason that I think I said “yes” when I was asked to help is simply that I was asked. My friends needed help with an event they were planning and I wanted to help them out. The involvement I was requested to commit to last year was minimal and would cost me basically nothing. In return I would do them some good. This year it is a lot different. I have been involved in the planning and organization process from the beginning, I’ve been writing weekly Bestiary blog posts for our website, and I am also one of the players. Partly it’s because I have seen how fun the event is and how much good we can do. Additionally I see the organizational part of the event as a way to meet new people (I have met tons!) and acquire some new skills. I’ve learned a lot about marketing and event planning and all kinds of fun-time-event-related stuff.

Dan_BorderlandsBeing one of the players is an additional challenge as I will have to play Borderlands 2 for 24 hours straight. Not only that but I will have to play in such a way that the game is much harder (only going for crit kills and head shots) but I also have to do it well. How well my team mates and I do will be directly reflected in the amount of money that we raise. I’ve already played this game a lot and as I will tell anyone who will listen to me, I have yet to play it for fun. I have logged something like 193 hours in Borderlands 2 and I have spent most of that time in prep for Headshots. Practicing,  learning the game, planning our route, and more practicing.  I almost always play in the limited way we’re going to be playing this weekend and always with an eye toward how we can make our charity run successful.

Almost 200 hours on one game. Seems kind of ridiculous doesn’t it? Well I’m a gamer and that is one of the things that I do. When he talks to people, mostly non-gamers, about Headshots Jim always likes to tell people that this is a way that gamers can give back to the world. Some people help charity by selling cookies or running marathons, or taking part in walks. Well let me tell you, I recently took up jogging and I can’t do it well enough to raise enough money to by a kid a cup-and-ball. Also I ate all the cookies. My mom makes quilts for auctions all the time, but quilting is what she does. I can play games for charity, because it’s one of the things I do. When you donate, or pledge, or bid on an auction for Headshots, it’s the same as supporting any other charitable group initiative.

I am proud to be a member of the Headshots From the Heart team, and I hope you will all join us this weekend for our event. If your in the area come out and join us at Kwartzlab, if you’re not join us online. Drop in and say hi, and have loads of fun with us.

D.

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