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  1. Today
  2. Amanda Lynn

    Guild Kickoff

    Amanda Lynn posted a calendar event in Morgantown Guild

    WV Extra Life Guild will be holding their 2019 Guild Kickoff event!
  3. Amanda Lynn

    BuckhanaCon

    Amanda Lynn posted a calendar event in Morgantown Guild

    BuckhanaCon gaming convention located in Buckhannon, WV. Extra-Life will be running the RPG room and will have a booth set up for the event.
  4. Amanda Lynn

    1D4Con

    Amanda Lynn posted a calendar event in Morgantown Guild

    until
    1D4Con http://1d4con.com/
  5. Amanda Lynn

    Causeacon

    Amanda Lynn posted a calendar event in Morgantown Guild

    until
    WVU Children's Extra Life is helping run the gaming room for the Causeacon 2019 convention! Here is the tournament schedule for the convention:Friday, April 26th12:00 PM - Just Dance (Wii U) Tournament3:30 PM - Arcade Tournament: Galaga6:00 PM - Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) TournamentSaturday, April 27th11:00 AM - Arcade Tournament: Ms. Pac Man2:00 PM - Dragonball Zenoverse (PS4) Tournament6:00 PM - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch) TournamentSunday, April 28th11:00 AM - Arcade Tournament: Dig Dug1:30 PM - Halo 2 (Xbox) Tournament
  6. Jack Gardner
    The creators of Myst, Riven, and Obduction are back with Firmament, a first-person adventure game that seeks to be unlike anything players have seen before. To that end, Cyan Inc. has released its preliminary vision of Firmament onto Kickstarter to raise money to complete its production and gauge potential player interest in their latest puzzle-filled mystery. Players will awaken in a mysterious location, frozen in the mountains of an unfamiliar land. In the next room, they will encounter "the device" a strange collection of lights and clockwork that was left on a table in the outstretched hands of an icy corpse. As players approach, the device comes to life and relays a message from its previous owner, a woman who had planned to explain everything in person. That is, until some unexplained something ruined those plans. Armed with scraps of knowledge, the player must venture forth and uncover the secrets of Firmament with nothing but their wits and the aid of the device that was left in their care. "We are a small indie developer and we love the idea that what we are doing is not building games; it is building worlds." says Rand Miller, the CEO & co-founder of Cyan Inc. The teaser shows off just what the worlds of Firmament look like, with concept art and early in-game visions of surreal landscapes and architecture. While the game begins on snow capped mountains, the game will range into lush, temperate lands, soot-covered early industrial/steam-powered locales, and the strange, technological door at the heart of it all. Through it all, an aesthetic of magic and steampunk leaves an unmistakable trail. The inscrutable and anachronistic technology serve as part of Firmament's thematic callback to Myst. Oh, and the soundtrack? Yeah, it's being overseen by Russell Brower, the composer behind World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, and Hearthstone. That design sensibility carries over to one of the big divergent elements of Firmament compared to its predecessors: The device. The clockwork friend exists as both a tool and an ally. It serves as a character in its own right, able to respond to player decisions and actions. It does not speak, but it's able to understands the player's gestures. In a move that's sure to invite some comparisons to the Kinect, players are able to direct the device to perform various tasks by discovering and using hand gestures. In fact, a main part of the gameplay involves working together with the device to learn how to communicate with one another without words. That's actually really cool if the technical hurdles can be overcome and it works as intended. The team at Cyan has embraced VR and built Firmament from the ground up to support virtual reality headsets and sensors. In fact, that might be the primary reason their gesture-based approach to communication with the device will succeed. Of course, the team recognizes that not everyone is able to play games in VR, so a non-VR option will be available. They just heavily encourage people to play Firmament in VR if they can. How exactly the gesture controls will work on a gamepad or a mouse and keyboard remain to be seen. As of this writing, the Kickstarter is nearing $1.1 million pledges from 13,569 people in its crowdfunding campaign. However, it only has three days left to reach $1.3 million. There's also a stretch goal of $1.4 million to add Mac, PS4/PSVR, and multilingual support. The campaign, as one might expect, is packed with backer rewards. One of the most interesting is that fans who back the game at $250 will be able to see and play the proof of concept that Cyan Inc. developed for their own internal use. It's not often that those early vertical slices make it out into the public, but seeing some of that behind-the-scenes game development is always really interesting. People who back the Kickstarter will also receive exclusive DLC for the finished version of Firmament that will reskin the trusty clockwork companion - including one skin that's a direct throwback to Myst. Another exclusive for backers will be some additional unique elements that haven't been revealed. On top of that, players will be able to personalize some elements of the narrative in the exclusive DLC, like naming a special book or leaving behind a significant date that will appear in the campaign. Overall, Firmament looks to be the kind of project that Cyan Inc. does best, an atmosphere heavy adventure full of more questions than answers. The game is expected to ship in July of 2020, though the success or failure of the Kickstarter could cause that window to shift somewhat. Here's hoping this unique project succeeds. Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games! View full article
  7. Jack Gardner
    The creators of Myst, Riven, and Obduction are back with Firmament, a first-person adventure game that seeks to be unlike anything players have seen before. To that end, Cyan Inc. has released its preliminary vision of Firmament onto Kickstarter to raise money to complete its production and gauge potential player interest in their latest puzzle-filled mystery. Players will awaken in a mysterious location, frozen in the mountains of an unfamiliar land. In the next room, they will encounter "the device" a strange collection of lights and clockwork that was left on a table in the outstretched hands of an icy corpse. As players approach, the device comes to life and relays a message from its previous owner, a woman who had planned to explain everything in person. That is, until some unexplained something ruined those plans. Armed with scraps of knowledge, the player must venture forth and uncover the secrets of Firmament with nothing but their wits and the aid of the device that was left in their care. "We are a small indie developer and we love the idea that what we are doing is not building games; it is building worlds." says Rand Miller, the CEO & co-founder of Cyan Inc. The teaser shows off just what the worlds of Firmament look like, with concept art and early in-game visions of surreal landscapes and architecture. While the game begins on snow capped mountains, the game will range into lush, temperate lands, soot-covered early industrial/steam-powered locales, and the strange, technological door at the heart of it all. Through it all, an aesthetic of magic and steampunk leaves an unmistakable trail. The inscrutable and anachronistic technology serve as part of Firmament's thematic callback to Myst. Oh, and the soundtrack? Yeah, it's being overseen by Russell Brower, the composer behind World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, and Hearthstone. That design sensibility carries over to one of the big divergent elements of Firmament compared to its predecessors: The device. The clockwork friend exists as both a tool and an ally. It serves as a character in its own right, able to respond to player decisions and actions. It does not speak, but it's able to understands the player's gestures. In a move that's sure to invite some comparisons to the Kinect, players are able to direct the device to perform various tasks by discovering and using hand gestures. In fact, a main part of the gameplay involves working together with the device to learn how to communicate with one another without words. That's actually really cool if the technical hurdles can be overcome and it works as intended. The team at Cyan has embraced VR and built Firmament from the ground up to support virtual reality headsets and sensors. In fact, that might be the primary reason their gesture-based approach to communication with the device will succeed. Of course, the team recognizes that not everyone is able to play games in VR, so a non-VR option will be available. They just heavily encourage people to play Firmament in VR if they can. How exactly the gesture controls will work on a gamepad or a mouse and keyboard remain to be seen. As of this writing, the Kickstarter is nearing $1.1 million pledges from 13,569 people in its crowdfunding campaign. However, it only has three days left to reach $1.3 million. There's also a stretch goal of $1.4 million to add Mac, PS4/PSVR, and multilingual support. The campaign, as one might expect, is packed with backer rewards. One of the most interesting is that fans who back the game at $250 will be able to see and play the proof of concept that Cyan Inc. developed for their own internal use. It's not often that those early vertical slices make it out into the public, but seeing some of that behind-the-scenes game development is always really interesting. People who back the Kickstarter will also receive exclusive DLC for the finished version of Firmament that will reskin the trusty clockwork companion - including one skin that's a direct throwback to Myst. Another exclusive for backers will be some additional unique elements that haven't been revealed. On top of that, players will be able to personalize some elements of the narrative in the exclusive DLC, like naming a special book or leaving behind a significant date that will appear in the campaign. Overall, Firmament looks to be the kind of project that Cyan Inc. does best, an atmosphere heavy adventure full of more questions than answers. The game is expected to ship in July of 2020, though the success or failure of the Kickstarter could cause that window to shift somewhat. Here's hoping this unique project succeeds. Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!
  8. danaefae started following Guild Meeting Minutes - April 2019
  9. danaefae
    4/19/2019 – The Comic Signal Members attending: Bryan, Jen, Erik, Issac, Ashley, Adam, Amy Agenda Summary items: Prior meeting summary - Jen Review handouts – Amy - Positions - Budgets/goals - Resources - Communication General discussion – all Committee – Jen Positions – primary positions are President (Jen), Vice-president (Erik), Secretary (Bryan/Lisa). The formal responsibilities under these positions has been largely disregarded in favor of a more casual sharing of the load. Budgets/goals – Amy has completed some numeric breakdowns for some initial goals for the guild. Please see a member or ask on discord if you want to see these values again. Resources – Amy spent made it very clear we have support from the foundation to accomplish our fundraising goals, including event planning, designers, materials, and so on. Communication – Numerous emphasis on communication and social media use. o Email blasts o Facebook – foundation and children’s hospital o Event linking/advertising o Where appropriate, potential partner sharing o Include Amy with any ideas of how she or the foundation office can be of help! General discussion – There was great discussion on a wide variety of fundraising possibilities, expanding on the prior meetings and getting further details into the events we discussed. Potter in the park and Coast guard festival are a definite GO. We worked on some of the details and expanded how the Foundation can assist in making this a better experience and capitalize on the opportunities. An example includes overcoming security/technology concerns by having locked down Foundation web devices accessible for booths. For GrandCon we’ll need to come up with a few ways to propose improving the gain for our volunteer time/effort. The game day discussion had a wide variety of ideas – including having it at another location, better integration of eSports, improvements in fundraising. Much of the conversation also centered around adding a new targeting a audience –families with one or more individuals who like the game, rather than just the more predominate high school/college age individuals. We are going to try and start having many months with a fundraiser and a greater number of volunteers. Some events include: - Panel on streaming (game focused) - eSports college competition - High school competition - Dice promo at certain events - Including miracle network kids and their stories at select events Jen introduced the idea of creating committees specific to our favorite gaming type – currently board games, RPG, and video games to advise and organize based on their passions. Next meeting May 17th at The Comic Signal
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  22. Jack Gardner
    Dario Argento, the writer and director of the 1977 cult classic Suspiria (recently remade in 2018), has decided to turn his talents for visual storytelling to the world of video games with the help of Clod Studio. Argento got his start as a film critic before breaking into screenwriting, helping to pen the script to Sergio Leone's iconic spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West. From there, Argento went on to specialize in giallo film, a style and genre of film making that blends pulp thriller with horror and psychological drama. This landed him jobs collaborating with a number of great horror directors like George A. Romero on Dawn of the Dead. Director John Carpenter has frequently cited Argento's work as a major inspiration for the film Halloween. Unfortunately, outside of a few breakout hits, many of the director's films failed to find a large audience and the critics of his time viewed his work as low-class. Luckily, many of them found cult followings and today many of them are held up as the finest examples of horror and giallo film making. However, in more recent years he's become less active due to age, but at 78 years old he still shows a passion for creating new films and has taken a liking to Clod Studio, becoming their artistic director. "Dreadful Bond is a project that's very close to my themes, to my films, to my dreams: it has something deep that struck me immediately. I got carried away on this new journey with Clod Studio," said Argento while explaining how he had fallen in love with what the game could be. Clod Studio itself is relatively new. It formed in Milan, Italy in 2016 and has been refining their idea of what Dreadful Bond might become since then, growing to over fifteen people in the years since. Their vision of a giallo-like game exploring issues both psychological and supernatural culminated in a Kickstarter that has unveiled both a short film created in-game with the direction of Dario Argento and a playable demo that allows players to explore Wharton Manor. Dreadful Bond is an atmospheric, first-person dive into surreal horror. Players take on the role of a mysterious individual whose identity slowly reveals itself as Wharton Manor's estate is explored. The mansion, as one might imagine, is not a happy place. It's glory has long since faded and been replaced with a collection of horrible events that have left their marks strewn through its many rooms. The developers warn that the underlying horror of Dreadful Bond might strike people as an incredibly disturbing and possibly off-putting reveal. Their Kickstarter reiterates this point by saying, "We are serious about this: if you're not willing to face a disturbing truth, do not support this project!" The mansion plays host to a variety of supernatural entities, visions, and memories. The memories play out in a unique style, they are projected onto walls as shadows. At the heart of all of this lies something called "Empuros," something that inspired the horrific acts that afflicted the people who entered Wharton Manor. The team describes the player's journey as an experience of that individual's personal hell, melding science and mysticism to concepts of love and death. One of the interesting stylistic choices for Dreadful Bond is the use of hyper-realistic environments mixed with the decision to make the entire production a black and white affair. It even makes use of a subtle film grain effect to harkens back to the game's roots in giallo cinema which also used black-and-white heavily during the 60s and 70s. The team at Clod Studio has created the game using a technique called photogrammetry in which they scan objects and environments that can then be reproduced in-game almost perfectly. Even the shadows seen in-game were captured from real actors performing the scenes. This lends the game a very grounded feeling and heightens the feeling of disconnect when supernatural events begin to occur. The Kickstarter... might not make its goal. As of this writing, the project has only amassed a little over $24,000 of their $67,000 goal. Less than five days remain for the team to raise the remaining funds. However, the game appears to be far enough along that it seems inconceivable to me that it won't get made. It already has an impressive short film, "For Bridget," that you can watch below and a demo of Dreadful Bond has released that shows off a good chunk of the mansion. At the very least, I hope the world is blessed with the insanity that is a horror game created under the artistic direction of Dario Argento, one of the best horror directors working today. Honestly, if you are a fan of horror games, this should be on your radar. It looks like a lot of time and care has been poured into this project by a team that feels passionate about horror alongside the input of one of the greats of the genre. The presentation feels fresh and eye-catching. The subject matter seems bold and twisted. Even if this eventually comes out and receives some harsh criticism for elements we haven't seen yet, I have no doubt that Dreadful Bond will be incredibly interesting and unique in a genre that has contented itself with ripping off Amnesia: The Dark Descent for the past seven years. This could be a breath of fresh air in a genre that really needs it. The Kickstarter ends on the April 24, so be sure to back it if you find it interesting. Dreadful Bond, if successful (and hopefully even if it fails to succeed on Kickstarter) will release for PC and, possibly, PlayStation 4 in late 2020 or early 2021. Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games! View full article
  23. Jack Gardner
    Dario Argento, the writer and director of the 1977 cult classic Suspiria (recently remade in 2018), has decided to turn his talents for visual storytelling to the world of video games with the help of Clod Studio. Argento got his start as a film critic before breaking into screenwriting, helping to pen the script to Sergio Leone's iconic spaghetti western Once Upon a Time in the West. From there, Argento went on to specialize in giallo film, a style and genre of film making that blends pulp thriller with horror and psychological drama. This landed him jobs collaborating with a number of great horror directors like George A. Romero on Dawn of the Dead. Director John Carpenter has frequently cited Argento's work as a major inspiration for the film Halloween. Unfortunately, outside of a few breakout hits, many of the director's films failed to find a large audience and the critics of his time viewed his work as low-class. Luckily, many of them found cult followings and today many of them are held up as the finest examples of horror and giallo film making. However, in more recent years he's become less active due to age, but at 78 years old he still shows a passion for creating new films and has taken a liking to Clod Studio, becoming their artistic director. "Dreadful Bond is a project that's very close to my themes, to my films, to my dreams: it has something deep that struck me immediately. I got carried away on this new journey with Clod Studio," said Argento while explaining how he had fallen in love with what the game could be. Clod Studio itself is relatively new. It formed in Milan, Italy in 2016 and has been refining their idea of what Dreadful Bond might become since then, growing to over fifteen people in the years since. Their vision of a giallo-like game exploring issues both psychological and supernatural culminated in a Kickstarter that has unveiled both a short film created in-game with the direction of Dario Argento and a playable demo that allows players to explore Wharton Manor. Dreadful Bond is an atmospheric, first-person dive into surreal horror. Players take on the role of a mysterious individual whose identity slowly reveals itself as Wharton Manor's estate is explored. The mansion, as one might imagine, is not a happy place. It's glory has long since faded and been replaced with a collection of horrible events that have left their marks strewn through its many rooms. The developers warn that the underlying horror of Dreadful Bond might strike people as an incredibly disturbing and possibly off-putting reveal. Their Kickstarter reiterates this point by saying, "We are serious about this: if you're not willing to face a disturbing truth, do not support this project!" The mansion plays host to a variety of supernatural entities, visions, and memories. The memories play out in a unique style, they are projected onto walls as shadows. At the heart of all of this lies something called "Empuros," something that inspired the horrific acts that afflicted the people who entered Wharton Manor. The team describes the player's journey as an experience of that individual's personal hell, melding science and mysticism to concepts of love and death. One of the interesting stylistic choices for Dreadful Bond is the use of hyper-realistic environments mixed with the decision to make the entire production a black and white affair. It even makes use of a subtle film grain effect to harkens back to the game's roots in giallo cinema which also used black-and-white heavily during the 60s and 70s. The team at Clod Studio has created the game using a technique called photogrammetry in which they scan objects and environments that can then be reproduced in-game almost perfectly. Even the shadows seen in-game were captured from real actors performing the scenes. This lends the game a very grounded feeling and heightens the feeling of disconnect when supernatural events begin to occur. The Kickstarter... might not make its goal. As of this writing, the project has only amassed a little over $24,000 of their $67,000 goal. Less than five days remain for the team to raise the remaining funds. However, the game appears to be far enough along that it seems inconceivable to me that it won't get made. It already has an impressive short film, "For Bridget," that you can watch below and a demo of Dreadful Bond has released that shows off a good chunk of the mansion. At the very least, I hope the world is blessed with the insanity that is a horror game created under the artistic direction of Dario Argento, one of the best horror directors working today. Honestly, if you are a fan of horror games, this should be on your radar. It looks like a lot of time and care has been poured into this project by a team that feels passionate about horror alongside the input of one of the greats of the genre. The presentation feels fresh and eye-catching. The subject matter seems bold and twisted. Even if this eventually comes out and receives some harsh criticism for elements we haven't seen yet, I have no doubt that Dreadful Bond will be incredibly interesting and unique in a genre that has contented itself with ripping off Amnesia: The Dark Descent for the past seven years. This could be a breath of fresh air in a genre that really needs it. The Kickstarter ends on the April 24, so be sure to back it if you find it interesting. Dreadful Bond, if successful (and hopefully even if it fails to succeed on Kickstarter) will release for PC and, possibly, PlayStation 4 in late 2020 or early 2021. Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!
  24. danaefae started following You're the captain, now what?
  25. Gabriela Yepez Gabriela Yepez joined the community
  26. Jack Gardner
    Cuphead captured the hearts of gamers around the world when it released during the tail end of 2017. The distinctive, early animation art style in particular caught the attention of artists and fans, which has lead to an incredible partnership between the game's developer, Studio MDHR, and the incredible illustrator Uki Hayashi. With the help of Bottleneck Gallery, a number of illustrated prints have been made for sale that meld the game's wonderful aesthetic with Hayashi's unmistakably Japanese stylings. The print collection has been put togehter to pay homage to the Japanese titles that inspired Cuphead, the indelible classics that many continue to hold up today as gold standards for gameplay and aesthetic. Cuphead took the finely balanced side-scrolling shooting from games like Contra and combined it with jaw-dropping visuals, garnering almost universal acclaim. Three unique prints have been made by Uki Hayashi and been made available through Bottleneck Gallery. Each Giclee print sells for either $40 or $50 and, though there are three basic designs, each one has a color variant that plays with and changes the use of white in each design. You can view the full collection on Bottleneck Gallery's site. Bottleneck Gallery hosts a variety of contemporary art and artists. It makes an effort to provide space to both new and well-known artists for events intended to build up the local community and benefit charity. It also focuses on bringing unique and interesting pieces of pop culture art to the masses with works ranging from Bob's Burgers enamel pins to incredible artistic renderings of iconic moments in cartoons, blockbuster movies, and more. Some mainstream critics maintain that Cuphead was one of if not the hardest games they have ever played. Despite that, or maybe because of it, Cuphead received some of the highest awards and scores outlets could bestow on a game, helping to propel the indie game's success around the world. Now, Cuphead is coming to the Nintendo Switch tomorrow, April 18. Maybe it's a good time to pick up a cool art print while buying the game for the first, second, or third time? Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!
  27. Jack Gardner
    Cuphead captured the hearts of gamers around the world when it released during the tail end of 2017. The distinctive, early animation art style in particular caught the attention of artists and fans, which has lead to an incredible partnership between the game's developer, Studio MDHR, and the incredible illustrator Uki Hayashi. With the help of Bottleneck Gallery, a number of illustrated prints have been made for sale that meld the game's wonderful aesthetic with Hayashi's unmistakably Japanese stylings. The print collection has been put togehter to pay homage to the Japanese titles that inspired Cuphead, the indelible classics that many continue to hold up today as gold standards for gameplay and aesthetic. Cuphead took the finely balanced side-scrolling shooting from games like Contra and combined it with jaw-dropping visuals, garnering almost universal acclaim. Three unique prints have been made by Uki Hayashi and been made available through Bottleneck Gallery. Each Giclee print sells for either $40 or $50 and, though there are three basic designs, each one has a color variant that plays with and changes the use of white in each design. You can view the full collection on Bottleneck Gallery's site. Bottleneck Gallery hosts a variety of contemporary art and artists. It makes an effort to provide space to both new and well-known artists for events intended to build up the local community and benefit charity. It also focuses on bringing unique and interesting pieces of pop culture art to the masses with works ranging from Bob's Burgers enamel pins to incredible artistic renderings of iconic moments in cartoons, blockbuster movies, and more. Some mainstream critics maintain that Cuphead was one of if not the hardest games they have ever played. Despite that, or maybe because of it, Cuphead received some of the highest awards and scores outlets could bestow on a game, helping to propel the indie game's success around the world. Now, Cuphead is coming to the Nintendo Switch tomorrow, April 18. Maybe it's a good time to pick up a cool art print while buying the game for the first, second, or third time? Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games! View full article
  28. MedievalMelody started following Guild Meeting Notes April 2019
  29. MedievalMelody
    This seems like the best place to still house these, so this is where they will go! Extra Life Kansas City Guild Kickoff Meeting Notes April 10 Game Day is November 2nd Join our team here: https://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.team&teamID=44644 Guild Information: 1) We increase funds and awareness for KU Medical Center Pediatrics 2) Together we Save kids' lives through rallying and connecting local organizations together! 3) Purpose of the Guild is to Register, Fundraise, and Get Social! MEETING NOTES: 1) The meeting started off by a welcome from Jill, our hospital contact at KU Medical Center. New leaders are Brie Clemens as President and Lora Williams as Vice President. 2018 Recap: Over $80,000 raised and around 450 people registered. 2) Then, we had presentations from a local family and a Guild member about their experiences at KU and how money from Extra Life helps kids and families. 3) 40 people in 4 minutes activity: meeting attendees were asked to find 40 people who they could ask to donate to them or recruit for their team. 4) Future Expectations Meetings will continue to be the second Wednesday of every month In addition to recapping events and signing up for new events, each month will feature a workshop May's Workshop: What tools are available to you from Extra Life? June's Workshop: Perfecting your "Pitch" Future workshop topics: Streaming, how to fight the FB algorithm, and a Pitch-Off Contest with prizes! VOLUNTEER EVENTS: PLAZA POPCON Extra Life Organizer: Brie Location and times: April 27th 12pm to 5:30pm @ Plaza Library Notes: We should have enough volunteers! LIGHT SABER BATTLE Extra Life Organizer: Brie Location and times: May 4th 3pm to 11pm (finalizing times we would need to be there) @ Berkley Riverfront Notes: We should have enough volunteers, but we are finalizing details! Please share the public event: https://www.facebook.com/events/298267234219848/ MAKER FAIRE Extra Life Organizer: Brie Location and times: June 22 and 23 @ Union Station How to Sign Up: Sign up at the May meeting! Next meeting Date:Next meeting is Wednesday, May 8th at 6:30PM at Local Legends Gaming Workshop: Your Extra Life Tool bag
  30. Earlier
  31. Jack Gardner
    The console that will replace the PlayStation 4 has officially been glimpsed on the horizon. While none of the next-gen consoles have been officially announced, a number of details have come out regarding what they might be capable of achieving and what the gaming landscape will look like in the next few years. Now, tantalizing new information has been revealed about what Sony has been working on courtesy of Mark Cerny, the device's lead systems architect. In an interview with Wired, Cerny revealed a treasure trove of new information and even displayed the capabilities of one of the early development kit units that have been sent out to a number of developers currently working on titles for the next-gen system. Perhaps coming as a surprise to many, the name of the new console was not confirmed to be the PlayStation 5, though perhaps Sony's track record with their console naming convention would make that a safe assumption. The new machine won't be releasing this year and it might even be a 2021 release, but even so, what we know about it so far seems fantastic. Standing in stark contrast to the move away from physical media in Google's Stadia, Apple Arcade, and Microsoft's continuing inclination toward phasing out of discs, PlayStation's next console will play discs. In fact, due to its foundations resting in the design of the PlayStation 4, it will be backwards-compatible with physical PlayStation 4 titles. Also, the next console will support PlayStation's current iteration of PSVR, even if a new version of that hardware releases at a future date. On top of that, the PlayStation 5 will possess the things people most expect from a new console: Improved GPU, an enhanced CPU, more memory, and a greatly increased storage capacity. These improvements will make the device able to support ray tracing, the hot new technique in game development that helps light to reflect more realistically in-game. Cerny expects that ray tracing will have wider applications as more developers make use of it, allowing an increase to audio quality, too. However, the biggest feature the new console will bring to the table is a solid-state hard drive enhanced with proprietary software that makes it perform faster than anything available for PCs. Cerny demonstrated the "low-speed" development kit of the PlayStation 5 for Wired; the dev unit performed 19 times faster than the PS4 Pro. It reduced load times on the same game from 15 seconds to 0.8 and was able to render the same files in a fraction of the time it took the current hardware. That improvement is largely due to the improved ability of the hard drive to pull data efficiently, aided by the specialized software. Though the current unit was connected to a 4K television, it will be able to output up to 8K resolutions. Though no new software or cloud gaming strategies were revealed during the interview, Cerny hinted that Sony has plans to compete with Microsoft and Google on that front. Perhaps PlayStation Now might merely be a test run for what the gaming giant has in store for the next generation of hardware? What features would you like to see included in the PlayStation 5 (or whatever it winds up being called)? Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games! View full article
  32. Jack Gardner
    The console that will replace the PlayStation 4 has officially been glimpsed on the horizon. While none of the next-gen consoles have been officially announced, a number of details have come out regarding what they might be capable of achieving and what the gaming landscape will look like in the next few years. Now, tantalizing new information has been revealed about what Sony has been working on courtesy of Mark Cerny, the device's lead systems architect. In an interview with Wired, Cerny revealed a treasure trove of new information and even displayed the capabilities of one of the early development kit units that have been sent out to a number of developers currently working on titles for the next-gen system. Perhaps coming as a surprise to many, the name of the new console was not confirmed to be the PlayStation 5, though perhaps Sony's track record with their console naming convention would make that a safe assumption. The new machine won't be releasing this year and it might even be a 2021 release, but even so, what we know about it so far seems fantastic. Standing in stark contrast to the move away from physical media in Google's Stadia, Apple Arcade, and Microsoft's continuing inclination toward phasing out of discs, PlayStation's next console will play discs. In fact, due to its foundations resting in the design of the PlayStation 4, it will be backwards-compatible with physical PlayStation 4 titles. Also, the next console will support PlayStation's current iteration of PSVR, even if a new version of that hardware releases at a future date. On top of that, the PlayStation 5 will possess the things people most expect from a new console: Improved GPU, an enhanced CPU, more memory, and a greatly increased storage capacity. These improvements will make the device able to support ray tracing, the hot new technique in game development that helps light to reflect more realistically in-game. Cerny expects that ray tracing will have wider applications as more developers make use of it, allowing an increase to audio quality, too. However, the biggest feature the new console will bring to the table is a solid-state hard drive enhanced with proprietary software that makes it perform faster than anything available for PCs. Cerny demonstrated the "low-speed" development kit of the PlayStation 5 for Wired; the dev unit performed 19 times faster than the PS4 Pro. It reduced load times on the same game from 15 seconds to 0.8 and was able to render the same files in a fraction of the time it took the current hardware. That improvement is largely due to the improved ability of the hard drive to pull data efficiently, aided by the specialized software. Though the current unit was connected to a 4K television, it will be able to output up to 8K resolutions. Though no new software or cloud gaming strategies were revealed during the interview, Cerny hinted that Sony has plans to compete with Microsoft and Google on that front. Perhaps PlayStation Now might merely be a test run for what the gaming giant has in store for the next generation of hardware? What features would you like to see included in the PlayStation 5 (or whatever it winds up being called)? Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!
  33. RikaxNipah RikaxNipah changed their profile photo
  34. RikaxNipah RikaxNipah joined the community
  35. Jack Gardner
    Back in August of 2018, I put together a short campaign with Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition called Dragonguard as a part of Extra Life Tabletop Appreciation Weekend. For Game Day 2018, we released a second set of episodes and followed it up with a third set continuing the adventure. The last series of episodes ended on something of a cliffhanger, and while the full fourth set isn't quite done, at least one more episode is ready for listening! Join Naomi Lugo (Nomsooni the druid), Marcus Stewart (Scratch Mangy the ranger), and Kyle Gaddo (Barphus the bard) as they don the armor of the illustrious Dragonguard, sworn to defend and protect the realm of Alterra from the dragons at its doorstep. Jack Gardner serves as the Dungeon Master, guiding our heroes through their journey. Dispatched to the small town of Verne, the party began investigating rumors of draconic activity in the area. Learning of a kobold encampment deep within the Morrithil Wastes, they made their way into the vast swampland only to find a largely abandoned village built in the shadow of an ominous dragon skeleton. Encountering a number of old and infirm kobolds in the heart of the town, our heroes learned of an impending attack led by the vengeful dragon, Fallowfell. In an effort to convince Sir Rothurt, Verne's leader, to take the threat seriously, the party made an attempt to rescue his recently kidnapped son, Charles. Risking life and limb, they were able to save Charles only to be met with the awful revelation that Fallowfell had allies in the town itself. Now, Nomsooni, Barphus, and Scratch attempt to consolidate their power in the areas outside of Verne only to find themselves in ever-deepening danger from draconic evils, cunning opportunists, mystical threats, and (of course) themselves. If you want to get a sense of how great a time tabletop roleplaying can be, you're invited to enjoy the adventure along with us. Here's to the amazing things the gaming community accomplished in 2018 and to the even greater things we will all do together in the years to come! You can listen to the new episodes below or start at the beginning with this handy SoundCloud playlist. Intro and Outro music: "Furious Freak" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ You can download or listen to the podcast over on Soundcloud, our hosting site, and iTunes. A YouTube version is available as well. Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games! View full article
  36. Jack Gardner
    Back in August of 2018, I put together a short campaign with Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition called Dragonguard as a part of Extra Life Tabletop Appreciation Weekend. For Game Day 2018, we released a second set of episodes and followed it up with a third set continuing the adventure. The last series of episodes ended on something of a cliffhanger, and while the full fourth set isn't quite done, at least one more episode is ready for listening! Join Naomi Lugo (Nomsooni the druid), Marcus Stewart (Scratch Mangy the ranger), and Kyle Gaddo (Barphus the bard) as they don the armor of the illustrious Dragonguard, sworn to defend and protect the realm of Alterra from the dragons at its doorstep. Jack Gardner serves as the Dungeon Master, guiding our heroes through their journey. Dispatched to the small town of Verne, the party began investigating rumors of draconic activity in the area. Learning of a kobold encampment deep within the Morrithil Wastes, they made their way into the vast swampland only to find a largely abandoned village built in the shadow of an ominous dragon skeleton. Encountering a number of old and infirm kobolds in the heart of the town, our heroes learned of an impending attack led by the vengeful dragon, Fallowfell. In an effort to convince Sir Rothurt, Verne's leader, to take the threat seriously, the party made an attempt to rescue his recently kidnapped son, Charles. Risking life and limb, they were able to save Charles only to be met with the awful revelation that Fallowfell had allies in the town itself. Now, Nomsooni, Barphus, and Scratch attempt to consolidate their power in the areas outside of Verne only to find themselves in ever-deepening danger from draconic evils, cunning opportunists, mystical threats, and (of course) themselves. If you want to get a sense of how great a time tabletop roleplaying can be, you're invited to enjoy the adventure along with us. Here's to the amazing things the gaming community accomplished in 2018 and to the even greater things we will all do together in the years to come! You can listen to the new episodes below or start at the beginning with this handy SoundCloud playlist. Intro and Outro music: "Furious Freak" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ You can download or listen to the podcast over on Soundcloud, our hosting site, and iTunes. A YouTube version is available as well. Don't forget to sign up for Extra Life to help sick and injured kids in hospitals around the US and Canada by playing games!
  37. WHS Wizards eSports
    until
    Join Washingtonville High School's big-hearted gamers as we gather to raise money for those in need. Students and their families are welcome to attend an evening party of video games, board games and more. You may even get a chance to square off with our Varsity eSports teams! Tournaments and prizes, dozens of games, and snacks ... did I say snacks? That's right. Snacks. Friday, May 3rd from 6-9 pm at Washingtonville High School! Press Start!
  38. Akuheikumori Akuheikumori changed their profile photo
  39. Akuheikumori started following April 2019 Meeting Minutes
  40. Akuheikumori
    Meeting Minutes from April 6 2019 Upcoming Events: April 12th - 13th Cecil Con April 26th-28th Awesomecon May 4th Free Comic Book Day Members in Attendance: 17 New Topics: We have new buttons guys they are awesome if you haven't seen them yet have a look here: Signup Pin Donate Pin Silver Pin Let us know if you like them! Mike is building us a new wheel (Yay Mike!) in the meantime we do have a new rainbow wheel so this means in the future we will have two wheels to work with when planning events! There will be a new form on Timecounts for equipment sign out, Artem our amazing quartermaster will be checking this. If you want to have something for a local event you will use this form to request/sign-out whatever you need here. You will need to place address in so Artem may bring equipment to you - please remember this is first come first serve and convention events get first dibs During this meeting we discussed the importance of Table setup and having a good Pitch. When setting up your table first thing you will do is place table cloth down (at the end of the day most items can be stored under the table the table cloth will help conceal these things) try and center the logo when placing the cloth down it should fit well on most 6 to 8 foot tables Unpack the 3 large and 2 Medium clear baskets and place them in the center of the table, placing the wheel and a display case on either side of the baskets. These items will help draw in people, the wheel especially! Front baskets get candy and the back baskets get bracelets and pins. Setup the Extra life Banner next to the table placement is key so make sure you still have a view of the room and people still have a view of you. (This banner as of right now has a bit of misinformation that can scare people off "Stream for 24 hours" that 24 hour part can scare people so do not forget in your pitch to include that it can be done in any time frame!) Please remember for the wheel one spin only! Take any prizes/swag we are giving away and place them in the display case (Please note not every convention will have raffles/giveaways) do try to tailor items in box for the event this will help gain more interest! Place the donation jar on the table within reach and in a place you may keep an eye on in please remember that not all conventions will allow donations at the table. If the convention does allow donations at the start of the day slip a few bills/change into the jar this will encourage people to donate. If you are at a event where we are not allowed to take donations at the table and someone wishes to give cash there, take the money and safely tuck it away into the lock-box. (this should be kept under the table in the blue bin) or open your extra life page and have them donate electronically there! Tablets are used for sign up make sure these are charged during the event! (Remember to lock these up at night.) Keep track of signups! Using not only a paper tally of sign ups but the clicker as well! (the clicker is fun seriously! give it a try!) If you have room on your table depending on the size place out the pamphlet stands! We have two types of pamphlets one that goes over Participation and Volunteering! Make sure to place out the Participation one! (They look really similar.) They Grey stand includes all items you may need during the event promotional materials, markers, raffle tickets, guild information Tips for Pitching: Greet everyone when they pass by some people will say hello, smile and keep walking, some will have ignored you, some people will be off in their own world. It is important to keep a smile on your face no matter how many grumpy gusses ignore your friendly hello. When someone does show interest (usually in the wheel) ask if they know about extra life - explain if they seem interested! Remember try not to say it is 24 hour stream, that length of time can scare people away. A good example would be "One day a year where gamers of all kinds, video, table top, board games, sports, you name it, stream, play, record for a cause. Some people go that entire 24 hours but me myself and a few friends break it down to 4 hours. The fundraising doesn't even have to be all in one day, anyone can donate to your extra life page at any time throughout the year." Best tip of all: wear comfortable shoes we do not always have enough chairs for everyone to sit, so make sure your shoes are comfortable for standing for long periods, as well as a pitch tends to go better and feel more comfortable when you are at eye level with the person/persons you are speaking with. Hope to see all of you May 11th at CrabTowne 1500 Crain Hwy S, Glen Burnie, MD 21061 12pm to 3pm for our next ExtraLife meeting!
  41. danaefae

    GrandCon

    danaefae added images to a gallery album in Grand Rapids, MI Guild

  42. danaefae

    Monthly Game Nights

    danaefae added images to a gallery album in Grand Rapids, MI Guild

    Shots of our various game nights
  43. danaefae

    24hr Marathon

    danaefae added images to a gallery album in Grand Rapids, MI Guild

    Pics from our yearly 24hr marathons! 😀
  44. danaefae

    Tabletop Day

    danaefae added images to a gallery album in Grand Rapids, MI Guild

    Pics from our TableTop day events
  45. danaefae started following Guild Meeting Agenda/ Minutes - March 2019
  46. danaefae
    Extra Life Meeting Agenda/ Minutes: Location: Butterworth Hospital; Rm 1710D Date: 3/22/19 Time: 6:30pm Members attending: Jen, Erik, Phil, Bryan, Michael, Ashley, Lisa, Brandon, Rugrats Agenda topics & details: 1) Guild Status i) Leadership Changes (1) Interim officers – Jen/ President (2) Elections ii) New hospital Liaison – Amy Larson At the February guild meeting, Phil announced that he was most likely stepping down and taking some time off. We announced that this had officially taken place and that Jen had stepped in as interim president until the role could be filled. Erik nominated Jen for the position, and it was seconded by Bryan and Mike. She accepted with the understanding that due to other obligations, she would need assistance planning any events. Erik will keep his position as vice president, and Bryan and Lisa will step in to handle secretary duties as needed. It was also announced that due to restructuring within the Spectrum Health foundation, Jim would no longer be our liaison, and we would instead be working with Amy Larson. Jen will reach out to her and schedule a meeting to touch base. 2) Guild Goals i) Fundraising ii) Events iii) Meetings iv) Game Nights The guild discussed which events they would like to have on this year’s schedule. Our initial list includes Potter in the Park, Coast Guard Festival, GrandCon, GR ComicCon, and Game day. Further discussion needs to take place once we get a better idea of individual availability and fundraising opportunities. Due to scheduling conflicts, Jen suggested that we move the game nights to the same night as our guild meeting, and that the location change from the hospital to The Comic Signal. Attending members agreed that this would be more convenient. 3) Volunteering i) Training revisited ii) Benefits of volunteering This topic has been tabled until we have a better idea of our 2019 event schedule 4) Open Discussion Several marketing ideas were tossed around, including doing “Why We Extra Life” videos and ways to improvement our reach with Facebook Next meeting – April 19th at 6pm at The Comic Signal
  47. danaefae
    until
    Interested in being more involved with Extra Life? Come on out to our monthly guild meeting! Our meetings are open to everyone. Meeting will start between 6:00 - 6:15pm and usually last about an hour. After the meeting is over, we play games! If you just want to play games, you're welcome to come out too! We usually start games around 7:00 - 7:15pm and play as long as we like (until the store closes, anyway). We pick three featured titles each month, and The Comic Signal has been kind enough to offer players a 15% discount should they decide to take one of them home. It's a great way to learn new games and meet new gamers!
  48. danaefae started following Grand Rapids Guild Meeting and Game Night
  49. danaefae
    until
    Interested in being more involved with Extra Life? Come on out to our monthly guild meeting! Our meetings are open to everyone. Meeting will start between 6:00 - 6:15pm and usually last about an hour. After the meeting is over, we play games! If you just want to play games, you're welcome to come out too! We usually start games around 7:00 - 7:15pm and play as long as we like (until the store closes, anyway). We pick three featured titles each month, and The Comic Signal has been kind enough to offer players a 15% discount should they decide to take one of them home. It's a great way to learn new games and meet new gamers!
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