Finally we get cross-realm mail
Finally we get cross-realm mail
So.... 9 days to go until I get my hands on this mount and that awesome pet ?
Can't wait to see the new mail thing in place too!! Time to try a new server
YEA for heirloom cross realm! finally I can level toons on my friends servers without slugging it out.
Hi there! Talked to Chaud and decided to share the rest of the story.
I was born with congenital heart failure, of a severity that the doctors told my parents I may not make it past the age of five. But, I did. When I was five however, I contracted Kawasaki disease, and keep in mind at the time this was a disease (now known as Kawasaki Syndrome) that was very rare in the United States and was common in people of Japanese descent, but, I wasn't. I was misdiagnosed by the hospital, they told my parents I had a bug bite. Kawasaki Disease if not treated right away can cause serious damage to your heart, and it worsened my heart condition. Kawasaki Disease isn't something you can really test for, but, it is known how to treat it. It takes an IVIG protein drip that can take over 1,000 to 10,000 blood donors depending on the type of dosage, upper numbers are common. Sometimes you need two or three doses.
I survived, and I had to travel to San Francisco just about every weekend. I hated taking trains. I've always had a bad experience with trains. I didn't like going to the University of California Los Angeles, nor did I even like the University of California San Francisco, even though I was sick. I used to refuse to eat the food because they'd lace it with crushed medications and go on gummy bear diets. Anyways, I had my first open heart surgery in San Francisco (it wasn't my first major surgery), but it was the biggest of my life at that point.
Shortly after my surgery a doctor from San Francisco area (who was on residency at Stanford) ended up relocating to a place called Valley Children's Hospital in Fresno/Madera area. The hospital had always been great with children, and it was great to have a surgeon that lived close to us. Fresno/Madera was about an hour to an hour and a half away depending on traffic, it was much more feasible to travel by car than by train. Before this event happened, Make-A-Wish Foundation had approached me about a wish. I wished to fly to San Francisco instead of trains, because I really did not like traveling by train. With this new surgeon in the area and a cardiologist there, I didn't have to take trains anymore. So, it nulled the Wish. Make-A-Wish came to my home a second time and offered to let me fly anywhere, to do anything I'd like. They suggested things like Disney World, traveling some place I always wanted to go. Told me to think of anything I could want.
I thought about it and gave them an answer... I thought about asking if it's possible to go to Alaska, I've always been fascinated by Alaska. In the end, I asked to talk to my President, to have lunch with him. It took a while, about a year to make the arrangements. Make-A-Wish pulled it off. They flew me out of Fresno Yosemite International Airport to Washington, D.C. It took a while to get there, due to there being bad weather in Dallas so we had to switch some flights. Nonetheless, it was my first time on a plane. I loved it. Make-A-Wish took me to the airport in a limo. On the planes they let me board first, I got to meet the Pilots. A pilot gave me and my brother both a hat and let us in the cockpit while on the ground and while flying. They even let us press a few buttons (they told us which ones to press).
In Washington, D.C. I stayed at the Marriott, the one within walking distance of the White House. I remember being so fascinated by how big the lights are, how tall the ceilings are. I grew up in a place where wealth wasn't flaunted. Where streets weren't always safe. While in the capital of my country I was taken on a tour by tour guide companies and the Secret Service. They gave me and my brother both pins of the Secret Service, those gold ones they wear on their suits. They were very kind to us, let us explore. They took us out to eat at Planet Hollywood, they took us to the Treasury, to even the national monuments except for the Washington Monument (as it was closed for maintenance). They kept me busy, my energy was drained, yes. It was mainly because I was so excited and had to explore every little thing in our capital. I was fascinated with the trees, pink leafs, who knew that was possible? Trees were of all different colors. There was so much green, so much life.
I was truly happy in Washington, DC. I didn't once thing about my heart. On Easter Day, I was taken to the White House with my family and we were given a tour. We got to see the Oval Office, we got to sit in the President's chair. The staircase the President comes down to give an address to the nation on Easter Sunday, we got to stand behind it with the VIPs, separated from the crowd. Right after his speech we were taken inside the White House and I got to spend an hour with President Clinton and the First Lady, Hillary Clinton. My brother asked to see the dog, and Hillary requested Buddy be brought up to us.
Though, we were exhausted from the tour. My brother did try to run up the private staircase and found himself surrounded by security. It was a surreal experience to talk to the President of the United States. I was only eight years old. This is the main I learned from television and school that is the most powerful person in the world. This is the man that led our nation. I asked to see him, Make-A-Wish made it happen. Granted my wish to meet the President of the United States while he was a sitting President, despite the Kosovo War going on.
Make-A-Wish didn't cut me off after meeting the President. They kept in contact, invited me to holiday parties, to events, to air shows... The Blue Angels even performed for us Make-A-Wish Kids. At one of the parties they gave me a gift, Warcraft III. This sparked my fascination in World of Warcraft.
People argue it's a waste to give a dying kid a wish. It's not a waste of money. I survived. This gave me hope. This inspired me. Living this dream in Washington, D.C. and meeting a person I called a hero and respected so much gave me life. So yes, the mission is true. A wish is a game changer. It changed my life. It inspired me, enriched my life. It showed me a world greater than I was, and showed me I have a spot in this vast and great world. I survived, where many of my Wish peers may have not, but, a lot of us do survive. Make-A-Wish helps us fight, gives us strength.
So yes, when I have a spare $10 I will buy this pet. Why? Make-A-Wish gave me hope. This adds up, the donations add up and can cause great wishes. Look at what was recently done in San Francisco, they turned it into Gotham for Miles. Make-A-Wish Foundation is amazing, and I thank you Blizzard for doing it. So, thank you in advance.
Here are some pictures:
http://i.imgur.com/bwgz75Eh.jpg (I wasn't very good at smiling as a kid, one with glasses)
http://i.imgur.com/SacUqqbh.jpg
My condition is still having it's ups and downs, my chances and outlook is better today, much better. A ton of medication + pain + random strokes. But, it's all worth it. I like living.
And plenty of people have been bitching about this model for years, ever since the sparkle pony. Time doesn't make it any better. Shut my mouth? Cute, if you take a look around, this is a discussion forum. But you have fun telling everyone with a different opinion to shut up, and calling them twats. Stay classy.
Oh look, another one with horrible reading comprehension who likes to flame using the word twat. You guys are so trendy, it's adorable! What part of I don't like that they're profiting off charity with a mount they made from our sub and expansion money do you not understand? What part of I am donating 100% of the money directly to the charity are you not comprehending? I typed all of that out really really slow hoping maybe it would make you read it slow but somehow I don't think it works that way.
If the Alterac Brew Pup is going to be per WoW account and not Battle.net as indicated on at least WarcraftPets then which ever is the money grubber can suck it. We are already penalized by not being able to both access the Pet Battle Feature. If I can only access one pet battle at a time, then why do I need to buy the same pet multiple times? If it's Blizzard, don't anger your already dwindling subscribers. If it's Make A Wish, Your CEO doesn't need a raise or you could have gotten $10 but strong arming us into having it by multiples you get nothing from at least this family.
This is exactly what Make-A-Wish is about. Hope/dreams is what lots of people need to survive, especially children, and sometimes that's even more important than an appropriate treatment. Some wishes may seem quite "crazy", but most of the time there really isn't a lot of money involved in it, while it gives a lot not only to one kid, but also to his family/friends/close people. And yes, it also saves lives, but in a way much harder to evaluate than most charity.
Once again, you can't really compare Make-A-Wish with the Philippines current needs. These are two very different people in need of very different things, and with very different ways to obtain them.
Also, I agree with Cerberussian and many others, criticizing Blizzard for not making it 100% donation is just... plain stupid and greedy, since it infers that you'd want to make a "donation" only if you got something in return (which is kind of... not what a donation is ?) while Blizzard gets nothing. Kind of the same as people criticizing humble bundles sometimes for not being "worth $1".
Could Blizz give more of the money? Sure, but it's entirely up to them to give 50%. The fact is they are bringing in a lot of money to a charity that people wouldn't be donating otherwise. If it inspires others to donate 100% directly out of spite, all the power to them.
I always love these threads in which Blizzard donates potentially millions of dollars to worthy charities, and people bitch and complain. They could just sell them and return some profits as a shareholder dividend instead. Would you all like that better?
Askir, great story. Glad you're still breathing and living dude I have congestive heart failure, and heart disease, and many other heart related problems. I wasn't born with the problems, all were self-inflicted (party hard, you get to live with the crap!). Every year I donate as much as I can to Make a wish, and other charities. I think it's a great thing, and i wish others.
again, thanks for the story, and I hope your condition(s) get better some how, and just follow your health plan(s). And don't forget to take your meds! And sometimes take a bit of salt here and there!
take care buddy
I hope we will be able to send items and gold soon after this cross server mail thing goes live. Still, it would be nice to send heirlooms to another server so I can fuel my alting addiction (before heirlooms go into their own tab in WoD, I assume this is for connected realms and hooopefullly will include other stuff by WoD release).
Why does it matter? Blizzard isn't the only company to do this. Do you whine about when other companies only do partial donations to charity from proceeds of sales or just when big bad evil meanie Blizzard does it? Get a grip. If you want to donate more to Make A Wish you are completely free to do so and no one is stopping you. Seriously don't even try to turn this into the usual hater circle jerk nonsense. It would be truly disgusting.
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Again do you take issue when other companies do the exact same thing or is it only bad when Blizzard does it? Again if you feel the charity deserves more donations you are more than welcome to donate any amount of your choosing.
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Oh jesus christ. I know this is difficult to comprehend but there are more zones in Wow than just what will be available in Wod. They aren't removing flying entirely.
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Companies exist to make a profit not to spend all their time and resources giving away freebies.
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If you don't like how Blizzard does business, stop giving them money entirely. You do realize it is quite likely some proceeds from Wow subscriptions have gone towards developing items for the Blizzard store right?
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Wow has had 9 anniversaries and only 2 out of NINE years and I repeat NINE years gave away pets and those were for two very specific reasons one being the introduction of the achievement system and the other for the 5th anniversary and revamp of the Ony raid for level 80. They have told us for the past THREE years that we won't be getting a pet every year.
Let. It. Go.
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Again put up or shut up. If you don't like how they do business then stop giving them money. Just because you refuse to buy mounts and pets doesn't mean your money hasn't gone towards them.
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What is especially hilarious are the twits whining about how greedy Blizzard is in a news post announcing cross realm heirlooms. Looks like they aren't so greedy after all but that isn't going to stop all this hurr durr bullshit.
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What is especially hilarious are the twits whining about how greedy Blizzard is in a news post announcing cross realm heirlooms. Looks like they aren't so greedy after all but that isn't going to stop all this hurr durr bullshit.
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Because the people bitching about it could care less about the actual dying children and don't have an issue using them to push their anti-Blizzard agenda and yet somehow Blizzard is the evil one here.
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Get. Out.
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Blizzard also has an employee donation matching program which results in some quite significant contributions to various charities which aren't advertised at all because they aren't doing it to look good. Give it a fucking rest already.
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Quite honestly it is none of your god damn business what Blizzard does with their own money. Why don't you worry about your own money and how its spent?
The pet I will definitely make sure to buy before the charity end date.
Nice, some kid gets to meet with one of the most evil people in the world.