Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is WoWathon?

WoWathon is a charity event put on by a bunch of college-age people, benefitting Child's Play.

We play Blizzard's ultra-successful massively multiplayer online game, World of Warcraft constantly and consistently on two PCs running 24/7 for about 2 weeks, rotating people in and out for food, sleep and hygine. We take two characters from level 1, to max level in one sitting, and put it up on a live video feed for all to see.

So you play WoW for hours and that's it?

Beleive it or not, that's the long and the short of it. In addition, we hang out with eachother and our viewers, chatting the nights and days away. It's really a lot of fun sometimes.

We get this question in a variety of fashions and tones. My favorite is always the dissaproving tone; the one that essentially says "shouldn't you be out running, or doing something else with your lives?" To those people I ask: What does it matter how we raise the money? It's for the children!

What is Child's Play?

Child's Play is an charitable organization which donates toys, games, books and cash to sick kids in children's hospitals across North America and the rest of the world.

It was founded in November 2003 by the people responsible for Penny-Arcade, in response to Mr. Bill France's anti-gamer story run on the Herald a week before Thanksgiving that year. The story spoke of what we gamers are more than familiar with; that apparently, we are all training and being trained to be the most violent people on the face of this earth, and add no positive value to society as a whole. To spite that, PA's Gabe organized the first Child's Play, where tons of toys and games were delivered to their local children's hospital. It was so successful, that the organization has run a drive every year since.

How can I help?

There are hundreds of ways to help. I'm sure we haven't thought of most of them, so that's the first way: suggest your ideas to us! We have a variety of ways to take criticism, suggestions, and compliments; a twitter feed, a facebook page, an e-mail account, and a chatroom which opens when the stream goes live.

Also, donating to our cause via ChipIn is greatly appreciated. Without your patronage, our show hardly means anything at all! So if you can, do your part and donate! If not, join us in chat, watch our show, draw us pictures, tell your friends. Anything and everything is appreciated.

How do I donate and know Child's Play is getting the money?

We set up an account with ChipIn before every event. The ChipIn windows litter this website, and we periodically link it to our chat channel. ChipIn takes paypal and credit card payments, and dump the money straight into Child's Play's coffers. We don't touch the money at all, and it goes straight to the children :)

Can I play with you guys?

Yes, indeed you can! Just take a look at the server and faction we're playing, and either roll up a character and level with us, or move your existing characters over! :)

I don't have a subscription; can I still play with you?

As cool as that would be, unfortunately, that's just not feasible. Sorry :(

Do you guys play WoW for money?

What, you mean like gold-farmers? No. That sounds like a terrible way to earn a buck. I guess technically, that's what we're doing for this charity, but it's for a good cause, and we don't earn anything from it.

Doesn't Blizzard staff flag you as account hackers?

Nope, Blizzard is aware of us, and what we are doing.

What happens to the characters when you're done?

Sometimes they're transferred to other servers, sometimes they remain on the server they were created on; but every year so far, they've been given to two of the participants who helped organize the event. The guilds set up for the event sometimes remains active for a good while after the event, and its a great way to keep playing with the people you've met.

How many people are involved?

There are the four people who organize the event, and provide the space and hardware with which to run it, there's the dozen or so other friends of ours who pop in to help out when they can or help to get the word out, there's the people at uStream and ChipIn and Child's Play, and then there's you, the viewer. All several hundred/thousand of you.

What kind of energy drinks will you be using?

There will be Mountain Dew. OR ELSE!

Also, whenever Shane comes to help, there will be Monster.

Beyond that, coffee, I guess. We tried Mana Energy Drinks last year; they tasted horrible. And I quote: "like butt."

What is your Hardware/Software set-up?

We're running everything across two computers. Both will be running WoW and VHCapture. One will be running VH MultiCam Studio, to splice the four (two games, one webcam and one mic) feeds together and be our editting suite. We'll be uploading that finished feed to uStream.

Does this look like a cold sore to you?

Uhh, you should get that looked at by a professional.

What is the recipe for the Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes?

http://littlechefandi.blogspot.com/2009/07/oreo-cookie-cupcakes.html

Donations:
Donating through Chipin means we never touch the money; any donation will go straight to the paypal account of Child's Play!

Help us reach our goal of helping kids in hospitals worldwide have a better hospital experience.