Section Content
Gamers Charity Publicity
MSNBC.Com Article
This Publicity article was posted by CrazyJoe at 11:18 AM on September 22, 2005
Tom Loftus of MSNBC.com has posted a story about our work with Ultima Online and Red Cross:
Questing for charity
Over at "Ultima Online," a massive multiplayer online role-playing game, or MMORPG, Joe Harden says he has committed $200 to the Red Cross with another $200 awaiting conversion from gold to U.S. dollars.Gold? Dollars?
MMORPGs like "Ultima Online" are infamous for the time users spend online in their never-ending quest to improve, or level up, their character. Success in questing or other challenges
yields gold, "Ultima Online's" virtual monetary system, or other goods.Over the past decade such items have gained a real world value, particularly among players not content to gain status the old fashioned way, with a gray market for virtual money and goods appearing on eBay and a handful of virtual world-specific auction sites.
Harden first tapped into that market after the Asian tsunami. Selling his own gold and gold donated by other "Ultima Online" players on eBay, he raised $8,000 in five months.
"Although players become absorbed in the virtual world," Harden e-mailed MSNBC.com, "this proves how concerned they are about the real world around them."
Harden's Web site, GamersCharity.com, is now collecting for Katrina relief and word of the project is being spread by game players soliciting gold within "Ultima Online."
"People I have never met or talked to contact me at all times of the day to ask where they may donate virtual goods," said Harden.
It's a great read about all the Virtual Charity work going on, other than Gamers Charity. Be sure to read it!
Kotaku
This Publicity article was posted by Brekkee at 10:54 AM on February 22, 2005
Kotaku posted here about CrazyJoe's one billion gold milestone.
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RPGamer
This Publicity article was posted by Sannio at 10:45 AM on February 21, 2005
RPGamer posted here about Crazy Joe's milestone promise to shave his head.
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The Economist
This Publicity article was posted by CrazyJoe at 08:55 AM on January 28, 2005
A very short mention was in the Jan. 22, 2005 issue of "The Economist" in an article about Virtual Economies:
This month, an "Ultima Online" player set up a scheme to let players donate items and currency to raise money for tsunami relief.
Not much, but it was something! The whole article is scanned here.
Playground.RU
This Publicity article was posted by CrazyJoe at 08:34 PM on January 12, 2005
A blurb found on a Russian site, however I am in need of a transation. For now, I used translation2.paralink.com
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Joystiq.com
This Publicity article was posted by CrazyJoe at 08:13 PM on January 11, 2005
Joystiq heard of the Cross Dressing rumor pretty fast
To add extra incentive to his revived Ultima Online Red Cross drive, Crazy Joe (not pictured!) has offered to shave his head if donations reach 1 billion—and then dawn a dress at 1.5 billion! You can read it in his words over on his forum, or just take our word for it.
And it case you missed it, his donation drive has moved to this site. Let’s keep that gold comin’ in, people!
Proof that weird news travels fast, they even found a real crossdresser for a picture! Source