Guild Chat: WoWathon
Heartbourne
Guild Chat is a regular column where we sit down with notable (real life) figures in the WoW world. Leave a comment or send a tweet to @Heartbourne with people you would like to see in future interviews.
Thanks for taking this opportunity to talk to us. Can you give us a brief introduction to Wowathon and introduce yourselves?
No problem. We're the WoWathon team. We're a team of college students from southern California who were inspired by Mario Marathon's nearly $30,000 raised by Child's Play and decided to do the same with World of Warcraft. We figured that with as many people in the WoW community along with the ability for people to roll toons and level alongside us, it would be a fun experience that would hopefully bring all us gamers together for a good cause. The core marathoning team and founding members consist of Jacob Reynolds, Alex Guerrera, and Kelly Mayfield. We of course have to extend recognition to Alan "Charlie" Joyce for reading patch notes for eveyone during server downtime and Janet Oshiro, Elyse Lemoine, and Elizabeth McTigue for keeping us alive and functioning.
What is Child's Play?
Child's Play is a charity made by and for gamers. They work with hospitals around the world to fulfill movie, book, toy, and video game wishlists of kids stuck in hospitals during the holidays. It was founded back in the early 2000's by the creators of Penny Arcade and has since then become the largest gaming charity in the world.
Is this your first time doing video streaming? How do you have it setup?
Yes, this is the first time we've done streaming video. We have to dedicate a lot of the set-up ingenuity to Mario Marathon; we relied heavily on their FAQ on how to run a marathon and we really couldn't have done it without them. We are set up with two computers: Kelly's desktop PC and Jacob's Macbook Pro. On the PC we have a program called Screencamera capturing the webcam and desktop simultaneously with picture-in-picture. On the Mac, we're using a program called Camtwist to capture the desktop live. We're broadcasting from two ustream accounts: the WoWathon account being streamed from the PC and we're using the cohost feature to add the Mac stream from another ustream account. From our main account, we've added text and information manually.
How did you all meet? Did you first meet in real life or in WoW?
We all met back when we were in middle or high school for the most part. Kelly and EB have been best friends since childhood and Jacob used to be beat up by Janet in elementary school. Jacob and Kelly became friends over middle school and Dance Dance Revolution, and Alex moved to California during high school.
Are you avid raiders? What do you normally do with your WoW gametime?
We don't raid, but we're chronic WoW players. Kelly is an alt-aholic and usually quits playing WoW once she gets whatever current toon she's playing to 6 levels under the current level cap (except for the 4 months she was 60). Jacob hasn't stopped playing since Kelly got him addicted back in 2005. Alex has been going back and forth between WoW and Guild Wars since the summer of 2008. Right now, we're still leveling to 80. We're not too hardcore; in fact we're pretty painfully casual.
How did you manage food for this? Lots of pizza and ramen?
Costco and the wonderful charity of Janet, Elyse, Jin, Scott, Elizabeth, and even our landlord dropped off some white beans and rice. We've had people cooking for us since the very beginning, but other than that, it's been an occasional ramen. We've been drinking lots of Dr. Pepper, coffee, and Bawlz. Thank god for caffeine.
Your original goal was $2,000 and you are now looking at getting as much as $5,000 raised for Child's Play. Are you surprised with the generosity?
Some of us are surprised. Jacob and Elizabeth weren't surprised at all, but Kelly was definitely prepared for a failed marathon (expecting to maybe raise $500). Regardless, we're very thankful of the outpouring of donations and support that has been sent our way. We really have to say that the success is largely because of the people that have come to chat and publicize our event.
Are you using any heirlooms, refer-a-friend, or other XP bonuses?
We're not using any experience boosting bonuses. Our accounts aren't recruit-a-friend linked nor are we using heirloom items. Just blood, sweat, and tears for us.
Do you think leveling has become too easy?
After playing through for about 68 hours before our servers went down, we think that leveling is pretty fair. We're thankful that the new patch has brought the mount levels down just because it'll make it a lot easier for us to marathon. But, as of right now, we're level 42, so perhaps you should ask us again in a couple of days. Maybe then we'll feel that leveling should be made easier XD
Do you have plans to do anything like this again?
Tentatively, we're beginning to plan rolling on the Horde side of a PVP server. The idea that there would be a walking battleground surrounding us constantly sounds pretty epic. But the plans are still up in the air, so who knows?
Thanks for talking with us!
No problem!
Thanks for taking this opportunity to talk to us. Can you give us a brief introduction to Wowathon and introduce yourselves?
No problem. We're the WoWathon team. We're a team of college students from southern California who were inspired by Mario Marathon's nearly $30,000 raised by Child's Play and decided to do the same with World of Warcraft. We figured that with as many people in the WoW community along with the ability for people to roll toons and level alongside us, it would be a fun experience that would hopefully bring all us gamers together for a good cause. The core marathoning team and founding members consist of Jacob Reynolds, Alex Guerrera, and Kelly Mayfield. We of course have to extend recognition to Alan "Charlie" Joyce for reading patch notes for eveyone during server downtime and Janet Oshiro, Elyse Lemoine, and Elizabeth McTigue for keeping us alive and functioning.What is Child's Play?
Child's Play is a charity made by and for gamers. They work with hospitals around the world to fulfill movie, book, toy, and video game wishlists of kids stuck in hospitals during the holidays. It was founded back in the early 2000's by the creators of Penny Arcade and has since then become the largest gaming charity in the world.
Is this your first time doing video streaming? How do you have it setup?
Yes, this is the first time we've done streaming video. We have to dedicate a lot of the set-up ingenuity to Mario Marathon; we relied heavily on their FAQ on how to run a marathon and we really couldn't have done it without them. We are set up with two computers: Kelly's desktop PC and Jacob's Macbook Pro. On the PC we have a program called Screencamera capturing the webcam and desktop simultaneously with picture-in-picture. On the Mac, we're using a program called Camtwist to capture the desktop live. We're broadcasting from two ustream accounts: the WoWathon account being streamed from the PC and we're using the cohost feature to add the Mac stream from another ustream account. From our main account, we've added text and information manually.
How did you all meet? Did you first meet in real life or in WoW?
We all met back when we were in middle or high school for the most part. Kelly and EB have been best friends since childhood and Jacob used to be beat up by Janet in elementary school. Jacob and Kelly became friends over middle school and Dance Dance Revolution, and Alex moved to California during high school.
Are you avid raiders? What do you normally do with your WoW gametime?
We don't raid, but we're chronic WoW players. Kelly is an alt-aholic and usually quits playing WoW once she gets whatever current toon she's playing to 6 levels under the current level cap (except for the 4 months she was 60). Jacob hasn't stopped playing since Kelly got him addicted back in 2005. Alex has been going back and forth between WoW and Guild Wars since the summer of 2008. Right now, we're still leveling to 80. We're not too hardcore; in fact we're pretty painfully casual.
How did you manage food for this? Lots of pizza and ramen?
Costco and the wonderful charity of Janet, Elyse, Jin, Scott, Elizabeth, and even our landlord dropped off some white beans and rice. We've had people cooking for us since the very beginning, but other than that, it's been an occasional ramen. We've been drinking lots of Dr. Pepper, coffee, and Bawlz. Thank god for caffeine.
Your original goal was $2,000 and you are now looking at getting as much as $5,000 raised for Child's Play. Are you surprised with the generosity?
Some of us are surprised. Jacob and Elizabeth weren't surprised at all, but Kelly was definitely prepared for a failed marathon (expecting to maybe raise $500). Regardless, we're very thankful of the outpouring of donations and support that has been sent our way. We really have to say that the success is largely because of the people that have come to chat and publicize our event.
Are you using any heirlooms, refer-a-friend, or other XP bonuses?
We're not using any experience boosting bonuses. Our accounts aren't recruit-a-friend linked nor are we using heirloom items. Just blood, sweat, and tears for us.
Do you think leveling has become too easy?
After playing through for about 68 hours before our servers went down, we think that leveling is pretty fair. We're thankful that the new patch has brought the mount levels down just because it'll make it a lot easier for us to marathon. But, as of right now, we're level 42, so perhaps you should ask us again in a couple of days. Maybe then we'll feel that leveling should be made easier XD
Do you have plans to do anything like this again?
Tentatively, we're beginning to plan rolling on the Horde side of a PVP server. The idea that there would be a walking battleground surrounding us constantly sounds pretty epic. But the plans are still up in the air, so who knows?
Thanks for talking with us!
No problem!
Reader Comments (5)
First
It seems like a cool and fun way to raise money for a charity.
BTW: People who say "First" can't use bridges
"Firsters can't use bridges! Oh sh-!"
back on topic, that's a nice thing you guys got going on :D
Like that little girl who died after getting her wish of watching Up. (she died right? just checking my info)
Maybe there are other WOW players out there that is on their dying bed who have wishes need fulfilling.
PS: WOW binge kills!
I've been watching the stream as much as I can since they were at hour 5 :) Now they're at hour 100 and still going strong! They've had a few friends helping, too (Charlie! EB! Ginger Ninja!) and it's pretty entertaining.
It's for a good cause, and since this interview that have surpassed their $5000 goal and are now aiming for $10,000.
Grats on everything, WoWathon team!
It's funny, if anyone watched TheSpeedGamers marathon a few weeks ago, they over doubled thier original goal!
And who said gamers are not generous!?