Friday, November 30, 2018

YouTube Channel Launch (Law and Order: Thedas)



Be afraid, be very afraid—I've officially launched my Dumped, Drunk and Dalish YouTube Channel! Because I'm an incredible doofus, my first video is... yeah... it's pretty dumb. 

But it was fun.

Thedas is made up of two kinds of people -- those who believe magic is dangerous, and those who believe it is simply a tool like any other. These are their stories. Welcome to... LAW & ORDER THEDAS.

Yeah, I did it. I couldn't help it! If you've been following on Twitter, the idea has haunted me for a month or two now -- I just thought Bull and Solas would be fun together in a "Law & Order" parody (if you check the video out, you can probably tell that I originally edited it to the actual "Law & Order" theme, but unfortunately even in parody, I felt I needed to take a "better safe than sorry" route on the music, so I used a stock sound-alike instead (it's not as good, but it works).

Anyway, it's dumb, but I hope you enjoy it. And if you like this, I'll be posting more videos in the future (and yes, most of them will be smarter than this one). I'll be offering both lore analysis videos as well as fun fan videos like this one. Thanks for checking it out!

(And don't forget to help us celebrate #Dragon4geDay on Twitter and across the web on Tuesday, December 4, 2018!)

Celebrating Dragon Age Worldwide with Dragon4ge Day!


I'm sorry I haven't posted much over the past month -- I've been incredibly involved in the launch of something great, and I hope you'll join me.

In the Dragon Age community, our enthusiasm for Thedas is powerful, magical, undeniable and all kinds of awesome. And now a group of Dragon Age fandom communities are banding together, thanks to the fantastic @Imasithduh, who has brought together some wonderful people to help create Dragon4ge Day 2018 -- a worldwide online celebration of Dragon Age, to take place on December 4, 2018!

We've been celebrating this ridiculous awesomeness across Twitter, and now we're down to the final five days!

So here's a quick update and overview, both on the evolution of #Dragon4geDay and the festivities and supporters thus far...

Putting it Together

#Dragon4geDay is the brainchild of the fabulous Teresa M. (@Imasithduh on Twitter), who wanted to create a day along the same lines as #N7 day, and that would both honor Dragon Age while also paying homage to our hopes for a Dragon Age 4. With this in mind Dragon4ge Day was born -- December 4, 2018!

The team helping Teresa put all this together included me, @GhilDirthalen (who runs one of my favorite channels on YouTube), @CaptainSavvy, @Andrastini, and as an amazing contributor and cheering section, @FoodsofThedas. We've spent the last six weeks sharing our love of the games with our followers, and creating, materials, buzz, and a rewards donation platform on Tiltify. It's been incredibly fun and satisfying, and of course, it's been especially special for me to work with people whose love of these games rivals my own!


Child's Play and Donation Rewards

Agreeing that every cent we bring in should go directly to a great cause (with no middleman), the charity we decided upon for our first year of Dragon Age Day was the lovely Child's Play charity, a game industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in its network of over 100 hospitals worldwide.

Child's Play works in two ways: it receives cash donations which it uses to purchase consoles, peripherals, games and more for hospitals and therapy facilities for kids. It also sets up gift lists through Amazon that are filled with video games, toys, books and more requested by kids in local hospitals, and then enables people to help fulfill those wish lists directly!

Here's how you can support Dragon4ge Day's support for Child's Play this year:

  • You can donate directly to Child's Play via our Tiltify campaign here
  • You can purchase a special donation item (like plushies, art, signed swag and more!) via the Rewards here
  • Or you can also give DIRECTLY to a Children's Hospital in the Child's Play network here

 
Celebrating Dragon Age Artists and Accomplishments

As we put Dragon4geDay together, we've been reaching out to as many of the talented artists involved in creating Dragon Age across the years as possible, and I'm incredibly delighted to share that thus far, some really special and talented folks are donating signed items (and in some cases, video greetings) to celebrate Dragon Age and bring in donations for Child's Play!

The amazing talents who are helping us celebrate thus far include:

Alix Wilton Regan (Female Inquisitor, UK, Dragon Age: Inquisition)
Jon Curry (Zevran, Dragon Age: Origins; Male Inquisitor, US, Dragon Age: Inquisition)
Allegra Clark (Josephine Montilyet, Dragon Age: Inquisition)
Corrine Kempa (Leliana, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition)

These four prolific actors are all acclaimed across a variety of performance mediums, from TV and film, to voice performance for games, animated television shows, and more. Each one of them has created classic unforgettable characters for Dragon Age—from the voices of many of our Inquisitors, to characters like Zevran, Josie, and Leliana!

The best part is that we can also report that these people are as kind, generous and humble as they are talented, and we couldn't be prouder to have their participation in our first-ever Dragon Age Day. Alix is offering donation rewards including a  personalized video greeting, and both she and Jon are offering a limited number of personally signed photos to Dragon Age fans. Allegra and Corrine, meanwhile, are offering a limited number of gorgeous signed prints (of Josie and Leliana, respectively) by talented fan artist @Margaw.

So if you aren't already following these fantastic artists and performers on social media? Please do!

We've also got so many talented fan artists, bloggers, videographers and other hugely creative participants offering rewards for Dragon Age Day, as well as sharing their favorite memories and insights, so please follow our campaign using the hashtag #Dragon4geDay! And we have some other very special talents taking part that we hope to be able to announce over the next day or two, as well, so stay tuned...

Celebrating All Things Thedas

Ultimately, this effort was simply created to unite fans and celebrate the world of Dragon Age, with zero negativity or fandom toxicity. We hope you'll join us to celebrate the many hard-working, creative and talented BioWare team members who contributed so much to all three games.

We'll be adding more here in the final days before December 4, celebration activities include:

  • Social Media Sharing, "What Dragon Age Means to Me"
  • Writing, Art & Meme Celebrations
  • Writing Prompts and Challenges
  • Art Prompts and Challenges
  • Twitch Live Streams
  • Dragon Age Fan Videos
  • Dragon Age Fanfics
  • Dragon Age Memorabilia Auctions and Giveaways

It's been an honor for me to take part in the first unofficial Dragon Age Day this year, and I hope you'll join me and my friends as we celebrate Thedas and the world we love!

Bare your blade, and raise it high. More developments to report in the next few days!


"Dragon Age: Dreadwolf" Predictions & Ponderings (and "What's in a Name?" Redux)

He doesn't call, he doesn't write, but finally, it looks like we might be hearing from Solas at last (2023?), as BioWare announces t...