Real Life

Farewell River

stargrace June 12, 2014 0Comment

Yesterday a bunch of us video game bloggers and twitter friends and G+ families heard that we lost one of our own. Christopher “River” Cavelle passed away. He was young, and he wasn’t someone I would say I typically got along with – but that doesn’t matter, I followed his posts and opinions anyway because I think a difference in opinion is a good thing, and River was always very vocal with his. I remember one of his final tweets (though I doubt he knew it would be his final) mentioned that he was going to be “streaming his pee” later that evening. A joke about video game streaming. It still makes me giggle. I marked it as a favorite it at the time.

There has been an enormous outpouring of support from friends and family, both in blog posts dedicated to River, and in a facebook remembrance page set up in his honor.  I never got to know him in person, but I read through all of the comments and pictures others shared, and you can just tell that he was an amazing person.

You will be missed.

Farewell River.

5th Annual Gamers Secret Santa Registration Has Started!

stargrace November 12, 2013 0Comment

It’s that time of year again! Time for the 5th annual gamers secret santa! Have no idea what that is? Well. I’ve been running it for a while now. There was the 2012 one from last year, 2011, 2010, and 2009. It has grown each year, and while it’s not the largest celebration out there, it is one I really take a lot of pleasure from. Geeky gifts are sent out all over the world, and if you would like to participate or are interested in what it is all about please read further!

What it is: Those who want to participate are more than welcome to. You can be a gamer, blogger, a member of the game industry, whatever. As long as games are some how a part of your life. I will take names / addresses, and assign everyone a ‘secret’ person to buy a small less than $20 gift for, as well as give them the address required. Send out your gift and wait for one to head your way, and that’s it. Ok, let me explain it a bit better.

What is “Secret Santa?” here’s the definition!

How:

1. Send your full name and mailing address to me at stargrace@mmoquests.com, make sure it comes from a valid email address. If you happen to run a fansite or a blog, please mention which blog you write for (if you want, you don’t have to). It doesn’t matter who you are or how involved in the gaming community you are, anyone can participate. If you’re worried that I have not gotten your email, please contact me on twitter: @stargrace. I will email you back, so make sure to check your trash folders.

2. On December 2nd I will email you back with someone else’ address.

3. The price limit is $20, don’t spend any more than that. Be creative, make something, have it be unique to your culture or your life, if you need suggestions then please don’t hesitate to let me know. Try to keep in mind that we’re all gamers, no matter where we come from.

4. Keep your person a secret! Don’t tell anyone who else you have. If you DO happen to run a fansite or blog, then when you receive your gift write about it and let everyone know.

5. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to let me know below in comments, or email me.

ALTERNATE METHOD: 

If you live in a location where mail is not very practical and you’re worried about it getting lost, I WILL offer a digital gift exchange method for those who request it. If you choose to participate this way here is what I need from you:

Send your full name and the following: The email associated with your steam account, your steam handle, your raptr handle, the email you would like any digital gift sent to.

More Details: I understand that you may not be comfortable with me or one other person having your mailing address, so if you’re not please don’t feel pressured to participate. The idea is to share with one another and realize what a fantastic community we have, not make you feel on edge that you’re going to potentially run into issues.

If you’d like to participate but simply can not afford to no matter what, send me an email and let me know, I will do my best to help you out. I want anyone who’s interested to be able to participate in this event. I think sometimes we forget that these people we all talk to online are not just random pixels, but are actual people on the other end of those computers.

Please keep in mind that only myself, and ONE other person will have your address. It won’t become a mailing list or anything like that. If you’re only comfortable with me having it and no one else then let me know, and I’ll have your gift sent to me and then I’ll send it out to you. Anything to make sure people are comfortable and still able to participate.

YOU HAVE UNTIL DECEMBER 2nd TO EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS – please take your time to think about whether or not this is something you really want to do. If it is, get me your address by December 2nd so that I can give people some time to get their shopping done. If it’s a little late (the gift, not the address) that’s alright.

If you don’t celebrate Christmas but still want to participate that’s alright too! This isn’t a religious thing. There are some amazing gamers I have met from all over the world, and I think that we have a lot to share with one another.

I think that’s about it. If you can think of something I’ve missed then please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer it. I just wanted to share some of the Christmas joy that’s going to be flying around before too long and figured this would be a fantastic idea for people to experience it with one another.

Extra Life Schedule

stargrace November 1, 2013 0Comment

It’s almost time! I’m still taking donations for Extra Life, which will go to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. I’ll be playing video games for 25 hours (daylight savings!) and streaming these games on my twitch channel. Interested in what games I’ll be playing? This is a very rough outline, games and times can change at any time.

4am-6am – EverQuest 2
6am-8am – Elder Scrolls V
8am-10am – The Sims 3
10am-11am – Terraria
11am-12pm – Wurm Online
12pm-4pm – EverQuest 2
4pm-6pm – Hearthstone
6pm-8pm – Civilization V
8pm-9pm – Triple Town
9pm-10pm – Faerie Solitaire
10pm-11pm – Sim City 5
11pm-12am – Rift
12am-2am – Guild Wars 2
2am-3am – Wizard 101
3am-4am – EverQuest 2

Other games I have lined up but didn’t add to a time slot include BioShock Infinite, Pirate 101, Torchlight II, Tomb Raider, King’s Bounty The Legend, and Neverwinter. I’ll be voicing during part of the stream but not all of it, and while I’ve already met my personal goal it’s such a fantastic cause that I hope I can raise a little bit more!

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!