Inhuman Bot
2012-01-06, 05:20 PM
The majority of this OP was shamelessly taken with permission from the Something Awful Forums user Violen's OP for the same topic.
http://i.imgur.com/YUFxY.png (http://www.justin.tv/speeddemosarchivesda)
Current Total: $70,314.41 out of $50,000!
**These runs are being recorded. Anything you missed will be eventually available to download and watch (in HD at that), including the room stream.**
Marathon stream and donation/marathon info: http://speeddemosarchive.com/
Alternately: http://www.justin.tv/speeddemosarchivesda
Marathon promo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8G9CmPiGLk
List of games scheduled (kept up-to-date): http://sorrowind.net/marathon/#schedule
Homepage for AGDQ 2012 (with info about how to donate, the marathon itself, a schedule, ): http://speeddemosarchive.com/marathon/
Online donation tracker, with sub-menus for tracking challenges, bidding wars, prizes, how to qualify, and more!: http://donations.uranium-anchor.com/tracker/
Hour-long highlight reel of last year's marathon (watch this, find out the cool stuff you're in for!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1awnOnzDzFA
**To see the most up-to-date game list, make sure you use this schedule page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/marathon/schedule/
This is updated for any and all changes to game placement, start times, and conditions. It's your best bet to make sure you don't miss a run you want to see.**
AGDQ is an annual charity marathon put on by SDA (the web's most prominent speedrunning community) to raise awareness and money for cancer research. Dozens of some of the best gamers around tackle everything from the obscure, to the awful, to the classic, in a 6 day straight trek of beating over 100 games faster than you probably believe is possible. It's a good way to spend your time and whatever money you can spare for an excellent cause. Just so you don't think you're wasting dollars on what amounts to pennies, these guys raised over $53,000 at last year's marathon, and I'm confident this one's going to top that number.
Every cent of donation money goes directly to the Prevent Cancer Foundation, a reputable and influential organization who've done a lot to support the marathon and who will find good use for the money raised. Last year's collection was able to buy integral equipment for both research facilities and underfunded hospitals. These guys can be trusted with your money. There's no red tape or "50% of donations go to furnishing our reception" clause where they pocket anything. The marathon's specs are all paid for out of the attendees' and organizers' pockets.
Here's the Prevent Cancer Foundation website if you want more information about where your money will go: http://www.preventcancer.org
Seriously, if you've got any interest in speedrunning or just watching unreal skill put to some of your childhood or modern day favorites, you could come up with worse things to give attention to. The marathon is not some static stream recording of direct game feeds. It's a fun, active event housed at the 4H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and there are tons of game-specific prizes (to be won within their games' runs, at a max of one win per donator) to donate for at a minimum of $5 or $10 (some more expensive exceptions are noted in the donation tracker prize page) in a single donation to qualify (see the donation tracker for prize lists and eligibility details), as well as bidding wars, big prizes you could win at the marathon's close, and lots of dumb, sadistic conditions you can force runners to do by ponying up. It's an entertaining time and for once you have a noble excuse to watch dudes play video games on the Internet.
**If you've bid $30 or more cumulative at any time during the marathon, on top of the many, many smaller prizes, there is a grand prize at the end of the marathon: a cast metal model of the Master Sword. You can make up to 3 entries at 30$ per to bolster your chances. There is also a secondary grand prize for $20 in a single donation for an SNES bundle. The contents can be found in the donation tracker, and some of these are very rare. At any rate, dig this beauty.**
http://i44.tinypic.com/14lklyd.jpg
Even if you don't have a penny to your name, spreading the word is a huge help. Tell your friends, that one weird roommate who never leaves his computer screen anyway, whoever you think might be interested. Each new viewer is a step toward improving this marathon's reach.
Even just tweeting this (from the marathon home page) is a great start!
**If you've missed a run you wanted to see.**
If you missed a game you were really looking forward to, don't worry about it! JustinTV has been recording the entire marathon as it happens. This is likely a temporary thing that will be deleted once the HD downloads are encoded after the marathon's conclusion. But if you want to catch a run you just didn't have time for while one you've got little interest in is going on live, dig around in here.
http://www.justin.tv/speeddemosarchivesda/videos
Just click a particular video, and the split 2 hour chunks are listed as parts in the header to the right. Use the marathon schedule to help yourself navigate.
**How to Donate**
http://i.imgur.com/f3e7p.png
... if you are intending your donation to go to a specific bidding war, challenge pool, or otherwise, MAKE SURE you specify which in your ChipIn comment, or the money will not be counted toward anything specific outside of total donations/prize eligibility.
**Details on Prizes and Eligibility**
For the vast majority of the prizes, you have to donate during their game or their block of games. Different prizes have different minimum necessary donation values. You have to meet that value in one single donation, not an aggregate of several donations over the course of the run(s). If you win one of these prizes, you are no longer eligible to win any other run-specific prize. You can find a list of the prizes and their minimum donation values, as well as pictures of many of the prizes, here: http://donations.uranium-anchor.com/tracker/prizes/
There are also a couple exceptions. The Master Sword is a marathon-wide prize, meaning you're eligible as long as you meet the donation value during the course of the entire marathon. Additionally, you can be eligible for up to three entries in the drawing, AND all of your donations will be summed together to determine your number of entries. As long as you donate a total of $90 over the course of the marathon, you'll be in for the maximum of three chances to win. Even if you win a run-specific prize, you can still win the Master Sword.
There's also some random games as a grab bag prize. I don't know when they are being drawn, but what I do know is that these won't count against you winning any other prize.
**Twitter Banner Prize**
If you're strapped for cash but still want to contribute, tweeting the marathon is a great way to do it. But more than that, you have a good reason. There is a Twitter contest prize set up separately from the donation prizes. You can win the AGDQ 2012 banner adorning the back of the marathon room, and to become eligible, all you need to do is tweet the marathon. Follow these instructions.
1) Register a Twitter account if you don't have one already.
2) Visit www.speeddemosarchive.com.
3) Click the 'Tweet' button at the end of the Twitter contest bullet in the marathon bulletin at the top of the page.
http://i.imgur.com/v69tH.png
... and there you are.
MAKE SURE YOU ONLY TWEET THIS ONCE. IF YOU TWEET IT MULTIPLE TIMES YOU WILL BE INELIGIBLE FOR THE DRAWING.
Good luck!
Let me know if I've missed something. Please enjoy the spectacle, and consider donating or telling others about the marathon!
http://i.imgur.com/YUFxY.png (http://www.justin.tv/speeddemosarchivesda)
Current Total: $70,314.41 out of $50,000!
**These runs are being recorded. Anything you missed will be eventually available to download and watch (in HD at that), including the room stream.**
Marathon stream and donation/marathon info: http://speeddemosarchive.com/
Alternately: http://www.justin.tv/speeddemosarchivesda
Marathon promo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8G9CmPiGLk
List of games scheduled (kept up-to-date): http://sorrowind.net/marathon/#schedule
Homepage for AGDQ 2012 (with info about how to donate, the marathon itself, a schedule, ): http://speeddemosarchive.com/marathon/
Online donation tracker, with sub-menus for tracking challenges, bidding wars, prizes, how to qualify, and more!: http://donations.uranium-anchor.com/tracker/
Hour-long highlight reel of last year's marathon (watch this, find out the cool stuff you're in for!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1awnOnzDzFA
**To see the most up-to-date game list, make sure you use this schedule page: http://speeddemosarchive.com/marathon/schedule/
This is updated for any and all changes to game placement, start times, and conditions. It's your best bet to make sure you don't miss a run you want to see.**
AGDQ is an annual charity marathon put on by SDA (the web's most prominent speedrunning community) to raise awareness and money for cancer research. Dozens of some of the best gamers around tackle everything from the obscure, to the awful, to the classic, in a 6 day straight trek of beating over 100 games faster than you probably believe is possible. It's a good way to spend your time and whatever money you can spare for an excellent cause. Just so you don't think you're wasting dollars on what amounts to pennies, these guys raised over $53,000 at last year's marathon, and I'm confident this one's going to top that number.
Every cent of donation money goes directly to the Prevent Cancer Foundation, a reputable and influential organization who've done a lot to support the marathon and who will find good use for the money raised. Last year's collection was able to buy integral equipment for both research facilities and underfunded hospitals. These guys can be trusted with your money. There's no red tape or "50% of donations go to furnishing our reception" clause where they pocket anything. The marathon's specs are all paid for out of the attendees' and organizers' pockets.
Here's the Prevent Cancer Foundation website if you want more information about where your money will go: http://www.preventcancer.org
Seriously, if you've got any interest in speedrunning or just watching unreal skill put to some of your childhood or modern day favorites, you could come up with worse things to give attention to. The marathon is not some static stream recording of direct game feeds. It's a fun, active event housed at the 4H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and there are tons of game-specific prizes (to be won within their games' runs, at a max of one win per donator) to donate for at a minimum of $5 or $10 (some more expensive exceptions are noted in the donation tracker prize page) in a single donation to qualify (see the donation tracker for prize lists and eligibility details), as well as bidding wars, big prizes you could win at the marathon's close, and lots of dumb, sadistic conditions you can force runners to do by ponying up. It's an entertaining time and for once you have a noble excuse to watch dudes play video games on the Internet.
**If you've bid $30 or more cumulative at any time during the marathon, on top of the many, many smaller prizes, there is a grand prize at the end of the marathon: a cast metal model of the Master Sword. You can make up to 3 entries at 30$ per to bolster your chances. There is also a secondary grand prize for $20 in a single donation for an SNES bundle. The contents can be found in the donation tracker, and some of these are very rare. At any rate, dig this beauty.**
http://i44.tinypic.com/14lklyd.jpg
Even if you don't have a penny to your name, spreading the word is a huge help. Tell your friends, that one weird roommate who never leaves his computer screen anyway, whoever you think might be interested. Each new viewer is a step toward improving this marathon's reach.
Even just tweeting this (from the marathon home page) is a great start!
**If you've missed a run you wanted to see.**
If you missed a game you were really looking forward to, don't worry about it! JustinTV has been recording the entire marathon as it happens. This is likely a temporary thing that will be deleted once the HD downloads are encoded after the marathon's conclusion. But if you want to catch a run you just didn't have time for while one you've got little interest in is going on live, dig around in here.
http://www.justin.tv/speeddemosarchivesda/videos
Just click a particular video, and the split 2 hour chunks are listed as parts in the header to the right. Use the marathon schedule to help yourself navigate.
**How to Donate**
http://i.imgur.com/f3e7p.png
... if you are intending your donation to go to a specific bidding war, challenge pool, or otherwise, MAKE SURE you specify which in your ChipIn comment, or the money will not be counted toward anything specific outside of total donations/prize eligibility.
**Details on Prizes and Eligibility**
For the vast majority of the prizes, you have to donate during their game or their block of games. Different prizes have different minimum necessary donation values. You have to meet that value in one single donation, not an aggregate of several donations over the course of the run(s). If you win one of these prizes, you are no longer eligible to win any other run-specific prize. You can find a list of the prizes and their minimum donation values, as well as pictures of many of the prizes, here: http://donations.uranium-anchor.com/tracker/prizes/
There are also a couple exceptions. The Master Sword is a marathon-wide prize, meaning you're eligible as long as you meet the donation value during the course of the entire marathon. Additionally, you can be eligible for up to three entries in the drawing, AND all of your donations will be summed together to determine your number of entries. As long as you donate a total of $90 over the course of the marathon, you'll be in for the maximum of three chances to win. Even if you win a run-specific prize, you can still win the Master Sword.
There's also some random games as a grab bag prize. I don't know when they are being drawn, but what I do know is that these won't count against you winning any other prize.
**Twitter Banner Prize**
If you're strapped for cash but still want to contribute, tweeting the marathon is a great way to do it. But more than that, you have a good reason. There is a Twitter contest prize set up separately from the donation prizes. You can win the AGDQ 2012 banner adorning the back of the marathon room, and to become eligible, all you need to do is tweet the marathon. Follow these instructions.
1) Register a Twitter account if you don't have one already.
2) Visit www.speeddemosarchive.com.
3) Click the 'Tweet' button at the end of the Twitter contest bullet in the marathon bulletin at the top of the page.
http://i.imgur.com/v69tH.png
... and there you are.
MAKE SURE YOU ONLY TWEET THIS ONCE. IF YOU TWEET IT MULTIPLE TIMES YOU WILL BE INELIGIBLE FOR THE DRAWING.
Good luck!
Let me know if I've missed something. Please enjoy the spectacle, and consider donating or telling others about the marathon!