As y’all know, Worldbuilders is steadily growing into something much bigger than I ever dreamed.
Last year, for example, we had to design inventory software for all the books we were giving away as prizes. We’ve brought in competent, organized staff to replace my incompetent, disorganized self, and we started seeking out corporate sponsorships.
This year, companies have started to seek *us* out, looking to have superhero team-ups up for fundraising purposes. Big companies like GOG.com.
GOG is really cool. They sell games that you can download off the internet.
Boy, that doesn’t do the job of explaining how cool they are at *all.*
I think of GOG as the place that saves cool old games from the abyss. Looking through their stock, I see pretty much every game that I *loved* to play back in the day. Games I remember 10, even 20 years after I played them.
Games like the original Fallouts (Fallout 1 and 2, not Tactics.) The original Deus Ex. Arcanum. Anachronox. System Shock Two. King’s Quest. Planescape….
Looking through GOG’s inventory, you’ll see a huge piece of my childhood. You’ll see a lot of the games that made me *love* games. You’ll see games that helped make me the person I am today.
I’m guessing a lot of you with a history of gaming will feel the same way.
Oh, look at that. They have the Zork games too.
The original trilogy and a few of the follow-ups. Raw text badassery. Zork III was the first game that I ever played on my very first computer. It took me, quite literally, YEARS to solve. There was no internet back then, you figured shit out or you choked on your own frustration….
Oh god. It’s been thirty years since I played it.
But that’s exactly what I’m talking about. GOG has saved this beautiful old game from the dustbin of history. They even make sure it’s compatible with current operating systems. Want to play Zork III on Windows 8? Go right ahead. That’s what GOG does, and that’s why I love them.
Well, that’s *one* of the reasons I love them.
The other reason is that they’ve decided to include Worldbuilders in a fundraiser they’re running this week: from November 5th to November 12th.
There are two ways you can help bring in money to Worldbuilders.
1. One is to simply sign up for an account on GOG.com. When you sign up for a GOG account through our affiliate link (that was it), they will donate 10% of everything you purchase for the rest of the year to Worldbuilders.
You need some reccomendations? Just scroll up a bit, and you’ll see the begining of my list….
You owe it to yourself to try Zork if nothing else. Seeing it there makes my fingers itch. I’m not even kiddling, half of my current problem-solving skills came from playing those early Infocom games. I learned to type so I could play that game….
2. The second way is to buy some games off of the Worldbuilders Fundraising Page on GOG’s website.
For the next week, you can pick three games from a selected list of GOG’s titles and it will only cost you five bucks.
You have to agree that’s a good deal. And even better, 100% of the money collected will come to Worldbuilders. ALL of it. GOG will even pay for the transaction fees themselves, using their own money.
That means if you buy a $5 game, Worldbuilders will get $5. Period.
The games that were chosen for Worldbuilders in particular are Driftmoon, The Whispered World, and Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. That said, on our page, your purchase comes to us on *all* of the games listed, so you could also get Walking Mars, Botanicula, Incredipede, Faster Than Light, Darwinia, and Pid.
Did I mention that Amanda loves Faster Than Light? She does. She told me to tell you that…
Be warned: this second option only lasts for a week.
So. There you go.
I really can’t stress enough how big an opportunity this is for Worldbuilders, folks. We stand a chance to raise some serious money on this one….
But only if we can get the word out. Would you mind helping me with that?
Thanks again, everyone. I’ll see some of you tonight in Barcelona.
