Coming Up: The Gaming Mammoth
I promised you big projects, so here comes the first one: TSU's 2016 Gaming Marathon. Or, as we like to call it, the Gaming Mammoth.
The idea is to stream a weekend of playing computer games on twitch.tv and let others donate for watching us. For a whole weekend in March (25 - 27) a whole bunch of Toy Soldiers will refuse to sleep or rest to collect money for a good cause.
It started out as a rather small, spontaneous project by Engineer Airhead of the TSU. I say rather small, but we did manage to collect around $1000 for Child's Play in 2014. Back then, the only stream running was Minecraft. I liked this idea so much that I volunteered to organise the 2015 Marathon. And that one was such a success, we decided to go even bigger next year. So, we formed a committee and set up a Google Drive to collect and discuss ideas. After the first month of brainstorming and planning, everything slowly started coming together.
We picked out a few charities we found suitable ad trustable and let our Toy Soldiers vote for their favourite on the forums. This way, after Child's Play and Alzheimer's Society in the past two years, we decided on e-Nable. E-Nable, as a community, is not so very different from TSU. Roughly 3600 members that are united by the wish to create, help and improve people's lives. They dedicate their time to design and 3d print prostheses for children worldwide. For free. They don't want anything in return and will most likely never meet the families they support so much with their work. But they know they're part of what makes this world, us as humans, so awesome. I must admit, I really admire their work.
This year, we wanted to use our full potential, and have as many Toy Soldiers help us with their talents as possible. The very talented Dr. Malice contributed a musical piece for promotional purposes and use during the Marathon itself. Also, lovely Doktor Konundrum might be assisting us in our attempt to reach the masses via Youtube. This time, we will do our best to use all possible resources to make the Marathon a smashing success - for those who need it most.
We decided to restructure our streaming system. As every year, there will be a constant Minecraft game on the main channel. People from all over the world will play and build together around the clock for your entertainment.
Besides that, we will have themed channels. SilentAddle will give us the honour of guiding us through space on his. My humble self however, will go out to slay monsters and the evils of this world with a sword, spell und a bit of luck on my RPG themed channel. There might be more differently themed channels popping up with the actual event getting closer.
But on top of that, we will have a special event on Saturday night for you. We will broadcast, live, a boardgame evening with friends, dice and fun. Yet, we haven't fully decided on what game it will be - but I promise you, it will be entertaining.