Massively Uplifting: Labors of love, generosity, and grief in Warhammer, Terraria, Conan Exiles, Albion, ARK, and more

By
MJ Guthrie
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Labor Day in the United States is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievement of the American workers. The official Department of Labor’s history page notes that it’s a “federal holiday to recognize the many contributions workers have made to America’s strength, prosperity, and well-being.” Today, my mind is also drawn to the many labors of love that contribute to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our gaming communities and the whole world.

From the labors of companies championing for accessibility in gaming to studios helping other studios, from World of Warships highlighting the service of naval veterans to an Albion Online making a fun event for others, these labors of love undoubtedly have a positive effect. The generosity shown by Terraria, Warframe, and ARK Survival Evolved studios and their communities contribute certainly to the uplifting atmosphere. And the heart shown by Warhammer Online and Conan Exiles communities as they mourn and honor lost members comforts. Let’s indulge in some warm fuzzies and appreciate the labor of others in making gaming and life better.

Labors of love

Whether it is making games available for everyone, making games available, or a game making history available, there are many avenues to helping make the world a bit better of a place. And there are many examples of those who labor doing just that, putting their heart into enriching the lives of others. We have five stories highlighting these labors of love right here.

Working to increase the accessibility of gaming for everyone? That is definitely a labor that is born of love. Ghost Gaming is an Atlanta-based organization that joined in this labor. The organization, whose goal is “finding and developing exceptional talent that represents the diverse gaming landscape,” in partnership with USATLeSports held a demonstration of adaptive gaming to instructors of assistive technology. Why shouldn’t gaming be considered just as much of a necessity in making life more accessible with assistive tech?

Ghost Gaming, along with Skillshot Media (branched from Hi-Rez Studio), also hosted the Ghost Gaming Adaptive Gaming Cup last September that had a $5K prize pool. Who says those needing adaptive gaming equipment can’t become esports players?

We’ve shared many cases of acts of generosity where gamers helping gamers and developers and studios helping gamers, but this time, it’s a story of developers helping developers — and indie ones at that! Joe Mirabello, who was let go from 38 Studios before it imploded, founded Terrible Posture Games, building the company up from just himself to adding a dozen employees. Unfortunately, when trying to pitch a new project, Battle Train, he discovered the dearth of investors willing to fund games now. On the verge of bankruptcy and shutting down, he found an unusual solution: The head of fellow indie developer Nerd Ninjas, Nate Chatellier, liked the idea and invested. So one indie developer helped another after a conversation at the 2024 Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco. Even more heartwarming is the message the two developers wanted to share with the industry:

“That — unlike 38 Studios — game companies can try to do what’s right for their staff, and hopefully karma, or at least good word of mouth, will catch up. ‘We were both trying to do something different,’ Chatellier said. ‘Treat people like people.'”

Now what if a gamer is just trying to make a bit of fun for other gamers? And what if that fun entails creating the first football (soccer for us US folks) game for players to partake in in-game? No Guilds In Albion Online did that, all to mess with forced movement effects. Going even beyond that, the creators made themselves the ball! It is a sight to behold! And you can indeed behold it, in the video below.

Labors of love can come by land or by sea. World of Warships became a marketing partner with the USS Midway Museum and is the exclusive presenting sponsor of two seasons of short films that highlight naval US veterans sharing their stories aboard the Midway. WOWS is committed to preserving naval history, and these stories will “extend and expand the onboard experiences of Midway visitors.” Ross Falk, marketing lead for World of Warships in the Americas, shared this:

“Our partnership with Midway has been vital to our mission of preserving naval history. Vessels like Midway stand as a significant tangible reminder of profound events in human history. It is our responsibility to convey these crucial stories to future generations, paying tribute to naval heritage traditions, honoring veterans, and promoting the values of remembrance.”

This year, EVE Online’s CCCP games partnered up with Limit Break to support the organization’s mission to increase the diversity within the UK games industry by providing mentorship for underrepresented talent. Limit Break 2024 hosts over 600 mentors across all disciplines both in game development and games adjacent areas and levels. There are mentors from early stage career all the way to seasoned veterans to work with folks.

Gobs of generosity

Generosity is shown in many ways, from helping one-on-one to running and/or contributing to fundraisers to help on a larger scale. And our gaming communities and studios are constantly offering examples of generosity and caring.

First is focused on Terraria. The 2-D pixel game partnered with Make-A-Wish New Jersey to make the wish of one of its player’s battling a critical illness come true. Seventeen-year-old Frank’s biggest wish was to have his very own vanity set in Terraria, so developers worked closely with the youth, all the way from initial concepts to various iterations to adding flavor text and more. That special vanity set was introduced in the 1.4.5 update. It’s a super sweet look that includes wings. And to top it off, the update “also included a brand-new shader, inspired by the ‘film noir’ style of Frank’s design.” And then devs sent a massive swag box out to Frank.

Next we look to Space Ninjas. Warframe’s Digital Extremes does not curtail its charitable tendencies to only TennoCon time. Even before the con, the studio donated $10,000 CAD to and raised additional money for Covenant House Toronto, an organization that serves youth who are homeless, trafficked, or at risk.

And finally, it’s never too late to highlight some Extra Life news, and this time, we want to spread the word of the good deeds of ARK Survival Evolved’s community, which raised nearly $110,000 for Extra Life on behalf of kids in need.

Gatherings of grief

It always saddens me when the gaming community suffers a loss, and this time is no different. (It’s actually even more painful!) However, watching folks come together to honor the lives and those lost always brings comfort and an injection of warm fuzzies. Thanks to Reddit, we discovered that the two sides of Warhammer Online came together for a memorial and march to mourn and honor a player who passed away. The game itself has erected a gravestone in the Graveyard of Prague in memory of Mithi/Starsz. Attendees also reported that “nearly all Order and Destruction guilds attend this memorial & march together. There was constant fights on those Praag streets, but not today.”

Another loss in gaming communities hits closer to home. Not only did I come to know and game with this friend online, we even hung out in real life when I was down his way. Although we met in Aion, Redtail Hawk later became engrossed in another game we both enjoyed, Conan Exiles. It was there he became a pillar of a community on a Hyborian War server he joined in 2018, befriending many and even being credited with a significant portion of that server’s success. The server established a pub in honor of him (as seen in the header image). Additionally, the server’s creator and writer shared this message in a Discord tribute:

“I will pay tribute to Nick as a server member and friend. I will have a new bow added to the server called Redtail Hawk’s Eye, and it will be a seasonal event reward. This will be a seasonal event where you earn Redtail’s backing, which means gaining his bow and three strong Rangers of the Warsong Clan to use as your own. The Redtail Hawk title has been retired, and this clan will become the first player-created clan to become a part of the server lore and an admin-controlled hub servicing the community in his honor. Rest in peace, brother. I will miss you dearly.”

A few more Massively Uplifting stories from the first part of 2024:

From happy stories to good deeds within our virtual worlds and the real world around us, there’s so much good in the gaming community. That’s why Massively OP’s MJ Guthrie pens Massively Uplifting: to highlight those generous, inspiring, heart-warming, and uplifting tales that exist throughout the MMOverse. Send your suggested stories along to warmfuzzies@massivelyop.com for our next entry!
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