Nev's First Ever Public Rant!

It's not often I have a little rant about something but this morning on Twitter I saw a tweet go out to help one of our own fellow WoW players regain his sight by raising funds for his treatment. His disease is so rare that the authorities in his area won't pay for the treatment. I'm talking about @DemonicRic aka @Richard_Harlow, a young man I first heard on Hearthcast - talking about how he manages to play World of Warcraft although he is legally blind.

So why did that make me rant? Well, with all the excitement of Blizzcon being announced recently, several fairly well known players with livestreams, podcasts, forums, networks etc are raising money to go to Blizzcon & it's all over my Twitter feed. I am NOT pointing a finger at any one person - there are several going on - I also have nothing against them personally - I applaud their efforts & wish them well - I just wish they'd take a break from raising their own cash & perhaps point their followers to Richards cause. Maybe this post will make them aware of the situation if they don't follow Richard on Twitter.

Having tried to raise money for Breast Cancer Care last year when I was hit with breast cancer myself, I was hoping that my little bit of 'fame' in the gold making world would help me raise just $1500 for such a good cause. I ended up raising just $440 even after some great support from fellow bloggers & being able to talk about it on a couple of podcasts too. At the time I was raising money, there was a fundraising effort going on to raise cash for a CD of original hunter music - that raised $1000's. I know the Hunter community doesn't know me but it still kind of frustrated me.

Now we have a similar situation - a guy who is always positive, actively working to benefit disabled gamers of all types needs some help. I know he's trying to raise a huge sum of money but that shouldn't stop us all dipping in our pockets - even $5 (the cost of a raffle ticket) makes a difference, especially if enough of us donate.

DONATE HERE NOW!

By my rough calculations, those raffles going on have raised over $4000 already - just how much does it take to get to Blizzcon from inside the USA? That would be enough for me to get there from the UK!

I know there have been arguments & disagreements about advertising on blogs, paid for guides etc but at least that is upfront & is obviously there to make money. I have advertising too - it makes me almost nothing to be truthful, but then I don't push it & I don't have my own guide to sell. I'm not perfect but other than my charity fundraising last year, I have never asked for donations & I never will even though I honestly could do with some help myself right now!

I'll probably surprise a few people with this rant - I'm not known for ranting after all but this really galls me. If you can afford $5 for a raffle ticket for a chance of winning an electronic/virtual pet or mount, can't you dip your hand in your pocket for $5 for Richard's medical bill? You could help save his sight.