Donations for a good deed

Last weekend was the Canthan New Year festival, and lots of people were excited to try their hand at the new roller beetle mini-game. One of the draws to this event was the promise of prizes for the top 100 finishers. We know how it all worked out, and there have been hard feelings in some corners over various issues. One thing that may have been missed during the post-event discussion, however, was an extremely good deed that is (at the moment) in danger of going unrewarded.

I don't know about you, but I was horrible at beetle racing when I first tried it. I was finishing last in races where the top scores weren't that high. We all could see the big scores posted on the leader board. Chatting with my fellow racers, we all admitted there was pretty much no chance for us to hit those marks. I spent a fair amount of time learning the track and bettering my skills, and I did improve... but still wasn't close to the top 100. I wasn't racing to win a prize, but of course I wanted to do as well as possible and the lack of success was frustrating.

Now the first nice thing is that one of our forum members, Feathermoore Rep, created an excellent general roller beetle guide to help players get familiar with the game. In this thread people were giving each other tips to improve their play. But it wasn't until a forum member named namkey posted this annotated map that things really turned around.

Why is this of interest? Because at the time he posted the guide, namkey was ranked amongst the top 100. He had no reason to share his secrets. All he had to do was sit on his scores for 43 more hours and he's got his prize. Instead, he risked his position in the ladder and took time out from competing to craft a detailed guide so that average players (like me) could feel the pride of improving their scores.

The result was a collective leap in competitive play. Within hours of namkey releasing his guide, scores in the beetle arena began rapidly rising. No doubt this was in part due to increasing familiarity with the skills and course, but given the thousands of views of Feathermoore's thread (and namkey's guide) I think it's fair to say that namkey's strategies were having a significant impact. Between the release of namkey's guide and the event's conclusion, the bottom scores of the top 100 had jumped by a whopping 7,000 points! And though most people didn't crack the top 100, many people got to enjoy much greater success in the beetle arena than they had originally hoped to have.

There was one unfortunate side effect of this generosity, however: By offering up his strategies, namkey lost his place amongst the top 100. Again, I don't know about you, but I think this is extremely unfortunate. This is a person who was not involved with any kind of cheating or griefing and who was saddled with the additional handicap of 500+ pings due to playing in Australia. He did something nice for the community and ended up with nothing to show for it.

That's where we can come in. I'm proposing that people who recognize this kind of selflessness is good for the GW community as a whole submit a pledge for a donation to namkey. This donation is not to purchase a beetle; that's an unrealistic goal given their going prices. Instead, this donation is intended to be a small sign that good deeds like this are appreciated. There will be no minimum or maximum amount attached to this pledge; you can just give what you would like to and can afford.

If you're inclined to participate, here's how it will work: Between now and next Tuesday you can respond by simply stating your interest in donating. No specific donation amounts need to be mentioned. We'll be waiting until Tuesday because there is still some (small) hope that the roller beetle ladder will be modified this weekend to display the top 100 scoring individual accounts rather than the top overall scores. If this change were to occur, namkey may well get his beetle after all, and you can save your money (or perhaps use it to buy him a pint of ale in celebration). Once Tuesday arrives, if no changes to the ladder have been made, I'll start asking for specific pledges (which you can PM to me along with your IGN and times when you're likely to be available in-game). Once the pledges are collected, I'll match the highest pledge and turn over the total donation to namkey.

Again, there is no minimum or maximum to pledges, so don't be concerned if you have little to give. This is one of those times when "It's the thought that counts" is the apropos ideal to work with. You don't have to be rich, you don't have to have posted a top 100 beetle time, you don't even have to have raced at all to get involved with this: you just have to have an interest in seeing that good deeds do occasionally go rewarded. Thanks in advance for your support!

I'm a bit short on cash at the moment (I lent some dough to guildies...)

I feel that there ought to be a modest reward involved. Showering anybody with enough to buy FoW is a bit much, Namkey probably ought to weigh in on what's appropriate, especially if he's already rolling in plat. We'd want to make a meaningful gift as a community, no?

I am also willing to donate. I had a hard time in the races too, but it was fun. Maybe with the map I can do better this weekend.
He should be rewarded for his teamwork attitude, but lets find out what would be appropriate as suggested above.

It's really Anet that should do something about the top 100 list so I hope they update the list to include all the winners. In any case I was one of the people, if not the first, to ask namkey how he managed to get those highscores so consistently so I will donate something (if namkey agrees with this initiative of course). Perhaps someone who won a beetle is willing to sell it for a "reasonable" price?

I have already committed myself to donating in the previous thread, but will restate it here as well.

I was going to make a poll suggesting that if the rankings are readjusted to take out duplicates and Namkey still does not make the top 100, that he be given an honourary top 100 placing anyway!

However, Dragou beat me to the punch with his idea :-)

I'd say an "appropriate" donation would be any amount you'd feel comfortable with. The first responder offered a very specific (and generous) pledge, but you don't have to do that. In fact, right this moment I'd almost say I'd prefer people not to make a specific pledge just so we don't run into a situation where someone is dissuaded from giving because they feel their contribution wouldn't "live up" to someone else's offer. For now, if you have a serious interest in making a donation, it's enough to post in this thread to make your intent known. We'll start talking specifics on Tuesday, and you can submit pledges to me then via PM so that no one has to worry about pledge comparisons.

I don't think namkey will have a problem with our effort, but if I happen to be wrong about that just drop me a line and I'll let people know, okay? For now, keep posting if you have an interest in giving! Let's see how much community support we can generate.

Aurorah Winterfox IGN, make me aware through PM's first because sometimes I'll be off doing something else and miss whispers.

JGaff DOES have a point though, about providing a meaningful gift.

Perhaps what we can do is if he doesn't get a beetle, WE do the work in buying him one (money and all) and present it to him as a community present for his selfless act?

hey yeah i know how hard he worked to stay in top 100 i saw him drop out of it wasnt fun i tell you but i will let him know whats going on here if he doesnt know already since hes in the alliance was good fun trying to top his times

I just have to say that we may be displaying the Top 100 scoring characters, but you can be assured that the top 100 accounts will receive a prize. No one is receiving multiple awards, so it's very possible that Namkey will have gotten a prize. Or he may find he's entitled to one when the Rollerbeetle Arena reopens this Friday. (We don't list the accounts for obvious reasons -- user names are confidential, as part of the security measures we take to protect your accounts.)

So don't give up hope -- all may work out very nicely for this good and generous community member!

Thanks for the update Gaile, I guess we'll have to wait until Friday and hope he got the beetle as well. The only thing I'm wondering about is if you could already get the beetle if you had a top 100 account score last weekend? In other words if I didn't get one at the end of the event does that mean I'm not in the top 100 accounts either? It would be nice to have a list with player names that only shows the top time per account so that everyone can verify whether or not they got one.

Wow, never felt so much love before. Thanks to Rampager for bringing this to my attention, Dragou for raising this suggestion and all the people who have contacted me offering donations, including some who I helped in game during the event. I am definately, not rolling Plat as I've never been very good at the PvE side of things, though I do enjoy greatly these special events and PvP. My main goal for the Beetle race events was to get the prize (which I always thought would be a Beetle Mini), so I'd love to get my hands on won, though if the prices are too insane, I might spoil myself with something else. :P

Thanks again everyone, but I still hope that no-one has to make a sacrifice for me.

So does that mean that there will be prizes awarded again when it reopens or was that a one time thing?

probably just means that they'll have access to the npc that gives out the reward again.

Just to clarify, does this mean that even if your name does not appear on the list of top 100 times, but you scored near a top 100 time, you should talk to the Reward NPC to see if you are in fact in the top 100 accounts and will receive a beetle if this is the case?

Or - is the top 100 list going to be revised?

If the first option is correct, then anyone with a score in the 671-672K range would be wise to check with the Rewards NPC just in case.

I don't see any harm in talking to the NPC, and I do think there may be gain. So yes, I would recommend that people talk to the NPC and determine if their account is in the Top 100! Good luck!

Well this is outstanding news, Gaile. Thank you very much for clarifying the situation!

For anyone still confused, what Gaile is saying is that multiple top scores from one account will be thrown out when deterring who gets awarded prizes for top 100 scores. Right now my count has 13 individuals holding 48 spots on the top 100. If I've got that right, it means that 35 people were knocked out of the top 100 by duplicate entries from individual accounts. In other words, the 35 people who just missed out on the top 100 are now in line for a beetle! This is great news and a really good call by ANet.

This also gives some hope that namkey will get his beetle, which would be the perfect happy ending to this story. This isn't a given, though, as namkey's top score may not be close enough to the top 100 to qualify. So I'd encourage everyone to keep posting if you're interested in making a donation. Best case scenario is that namkey gets his beetle and we all keep our gold to use on a round celebratory drinks. If he misses out, though, hopefully we'll have a good number of people ready to step up to the plate to show him his good deed was appreciated.

C. Ryker I think that was a one time thing..... Gailes statement leaves it open to think otherwise but I am fairly certain that she said somewhere before that it was a one time prize event or something of the sort.

Anyways
IGN Lady Eviance
My folks were in town and my mom had a severe cold so I only got to make one run at it. I wish I had gotten more time to play and maybe I will this weekend. I know I never could have gotten into the top 100, but to risk your slot....

Dragou Du Porzan:
Your concerns for fairness in regards to Namkey is praiseworthy in itself.
Your taking the time to create and manage this situation is to be commended!
My hat is off to you. Nicely done!

Count me in!
- I've PM'ed you my donation info -

Many thanks for the clarification Gaile :-)

I made the post to which you replied just before leaving work today, and on the way home realised that I had written the scores incorrectly. "No Problem" I thought, "I'll fix that when I get home" *I am not addicted.. making posts at work, thinking about Guild Wars whilst driving home, and then logging on to the forums to fix a post as soon as I get in LOL*.

Anyway, when I got home I saw you had already quoted me, complete with my mistake!

It will be preserved forever now in the Gail archives! LOL

I am sure that anyone for whom this is likely to matter though will realise that I meant to say that people with scores in the 471-472k range, rather than 671-672K should check with the rewards NPC to see if they have in fact got a beetle waiting for them

Thanks again for the clarification.

I think that people who do good for the community and by doing so put their personal goals aside should be rewarded in some way. Count me in on a donation
I'll be more than glad to give to someone of namekey's character.

Alright, so we've reached Tuesday and it's time for anyone interested in donating to namkey to start making specific pledges. What you can do is send me a PM with the amount you'd like to donate along with your IGN and a time and place we can meet (international districts would be the best choice). I'll be accepting pledges through Sunday; next Monday I'll present the accumulated total to namkey as a sign of our appreciation for his contribution.

@ namkey (or anyone who knows him): This is a bit embarrassing, but I don't know your IGN! Could you send it to me?

@ the forum member previously known as "beetlebomb": Your message his since been removed, but earlier in this thread you pledged your support. If you are reading this and still interested in donating, my forum name is my IGN; contact me when I'm online to set up a donation time.

I feel he should have understood the sacrifice he was making to others when he made it. If you weren't ok with not winning, you shouldn't have spent time making the guide and helping players. Most of the players who read that guide would not have if they knew you wanted money from them.
Too many people acts without understanding the implications of their actions.

Just to clarify, Dragou, are u Namkey in disguise? anyway i salute Namkey for taking the time to do whatever he did but I don't think u guys should ask for donations. This will encourage contributers in the suggestion forum, PvP forum and the other forums that contribute guides to also ask for donations. I would be broke if i have to donate to every single contributer here in GWG!

And if this donation drive is really allowed i would suggest ppl to donate directly to Namkey as we cannot be 100% certain that you won't take the money and disappear.

I didn't make the guide wanting money from people, and as you saw in what I wrote in my first post, I was quite concerned that helping people out would end up hurting me profusely, which it did.

The idea of a donation is that if you feel inclined, you may do so. I am not forcing anyone to donate and really do not expect any donations. Anything on top of that is a bonus. Just like Western Australia's politicians, there are a lot of bad apples, but don't assume them all to be bad.

If anyone wants to contact me, my in-game name is Namkey Ferocious [PvP] or Namkey Yi [most likely PvE character I'll be playing]

If you are not comfortable passing money through Dragou, feel free to contact me directly and if you are uncomfortable with giving anything, feel free not to.

A lot of forum members have taken their time to contribute guides, which is just awesome. Heck, I've even posted one of my own. The reason that we're doing a fundraiser in this particular case is because of the circumstances. Normally the only thing a person is risking by posting a guide is their time (and maybe some unsolicited PMs in-game), but here namkey risked his shot at a prize (which turned out to be very valuable). That takes a special kind of selflessness, and it's that more than the guide itself that is being recognized.

Thanks for the IGN, namkey! If anyone wants to donate directly to namkey, go right ahead and do so. For those going through me, I'll be collecting through Sunday so get in touch with me via PM to set up a meeting time.

Donation is nothing more then a pretext for scams, like gaile said he might have gotten his prize so don't see the point of this donation drive

I hope you get what your looking for I felt the whole idea of rollerbeetle racing was a nice change of pace but not the giving away of such a rare gift as a mini beetle, many people do not have a hell of alot of time to play non-stop to accomplish the goal of being one of the top 100 players, and then take the time out to write a guide and then have someone of the people below you bypass you in a flash.

Because I am just figuring that is what happened, no one that was at the bottom of the list could even move that quickly up the ladder in such a limited amount of time.

This will be my one and only bump for this thread. I just want to let people who I've spoken to via PM that I'll be logging on several times over the weekend, so if you see me online feel free to send a whisper to arrange a meeting. Also, to anyone who still wants to get a donation in, Saturday and Sunday will be the last collection days. Send me a PM with your IGN to let me know you're interested and we can arrange a time and place to meet.

So far we've collected a nice little chunk of change thanks to some generous contributions! It's not going to get namkey a beetle (prices for those are just insane), but I do think we're going to achieve our goal of recognizing his good deed. I'll be posting one last time on Monday with the final collected total and the names of all those that donated.

Any chance of posting a time when you will be making the presentation and perhaps making it in an International district? I'd kinda like to be there if I can make it :-)

Donated... just leave us a time and place and we'll gather as a community to present a prize.

I've sent namkey a PM to set up a time to transfer over the donations. As soon as I've heard back from him I'll post the details here so that anyone who'd like to can come join us.

@ namkey: One of the donors should have contacted you directly regarding a particularly generous offer. If you could confirm that you got that message when you write me, that'd be great.

Alright, I've spoken with namkey and we've scheduled the meeting for tomorrow at 1:30 P.M. GMT @ the fountain in LA Int Dist 1. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come, whether you donated or not. Unfortunately it'll have to be a fairly quick exchange since I'll need to get going to work as soon as I'm finished, but I think there should be enough time to have a nice little presentation. Hope to see you there Monday!

This morning we had our little "ceremony" at the fountain in LA Int Dist 1, and namkey received the donations collected over the last week. There were some very generous donations contributed to the cause. All in all we collected a modest total, not enough to buy a beetle but hopefully enough to show our appreciation. When everything was said and done, the total donations came to... *drum roll*...


I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to the cause: Draikin, Hengis Stone, Hoyt, JGaff, and Risky Ranger. You guys really stepped up big time!

Once again, thanks go out to namkey for putting his prize on the line by posting his excellent roller beetle guide. Lots of people do little acts of kindness all the time in the GW world, and unfortunately many go unnoticed. It'd be great if every one of these kindnesses could get the recognized. Hopefully this serves as a sign that good deeds are noticed from time to time.

I'd just like to say thanks, specifically to Dragou Du Porzan for organising this donation, but also to Draikin, Hengis Stone, Hoyt, JGaff, and Risky Ranger for their kind donation. While the reward wasnt a rollerbeetle, the thanks and gratitidue that I've receive as well as this rather substantial thank you gift is more than reward enough.

I will most certainely continue to contribute in the future if I have the chance, if only to pay back the kindness of these people who have been so kind.

Thanks once again.