Blow Some Bucks on the Dragon Age Auction for Charity

[Andy Chalk]

Blow Some Bucks on the Dragon Age Auction for Charity

BioWare's [http://www.bioware.com] Dragon Age Uber Lot eBay auction to benefit the Child's Play charity is coming to an end, but there's still time to get your bid in - as long as you don't mind paying more for a videogame than you would for a car.

The Dragon Age auction for GameStop [http://www.childsplaycharity.org/]; it's the kind people kill for. A calendar, mug, novel, figurine and water bottle are just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately for anyone interested in loading up on some one-of-a-kind Dragon Age swag, this iceberg is very, very expensive.

How expensive? At the time of writing, it'll cost you $4107 to place a bid. Yes, that four thousand, one hundred and seven freakin' dollars just to get your foot in the door. And there's still eight hours left.

But surely, you might be thinking, nobody is going to drop over four grand on some calendars and coffee mugs. And you'd be right: The Dragon Age Uber Lot also includes a huge Dragon Age: Origins banner signed by the entire development team, a hardcover Dragon Age: Origins Penny Arcade [http://www.penny-arcade.com/] comic signed by Gabe, Tycho, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, three limited-run, autographed lithographs, collector's edition copies of the game in every format and a real live Grey Warden shield, one of only eight ever made. None of this in-game crapola - this is a real shield!

I thought about putting in a bid when I first heard about this auction but when bidding jumped from $10 to $325 three minutes after it opened, I realized I was in over my head. If you're the deep-pocketed sort, though, or you just feel like drooling over some really cool stuff that you'll never, ever have, you can get an eyeful of the Dragon Age Uber Lot auction at eBay [http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220527610251&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#shId].


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[Flamezdudes]

Holy Shit! A REAL Shield! I bet there's atleast 1 person dumb enough to spend money on that stuff.

 

[Swaki]

i'm suspicious about randomly dropping a gamestop link in the article about nice people, if it had been in my price range i would have thrown in a bid because its the first time i have had the possibility to do charity, support gaming and get a freaking shield at the same time.

 

[Monocle Man]

I've always thought the space above our stove is rather empty... They're asking a bit more than I want to pay, however. Significantly more.

Now that's a worthwhile collector's bonus.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Holy Shit! A REAL Shield! I bet there's atleast 1 person dumb enough to spend money on that stuff.

Way to completely miss the point - it's an auction for charity, paying an exorbitant price for that bundle just means you are a very charitable person with a large amount of money to give away.

People paying $500 grand for a gold plated Wii are stupid jackasses with too much money - the folks bidding on this are to be commended, not mocked.

 

[Amnestic]

If I had the money...Oh if only I had the money.

 

[hazabaza1]

Well, if I had the money, I would definitely bet on this. I would love me a real shield.

But I'm already going to be getting the game, so a big no no for me. Still, congratulations to whoever is going to win. They've got a lot of cash to blow.

 

[Cherry Cola]

That's it, first teasing me with that quest and now with this.

I'm going to go rob that place.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Holy Shit! A REAL Shield! I bet there's atleast 1 person dumb enough to spend money on that stuff.

Way to completely miss the point - it's an auction for charity, paying an exorbitant price for that bundle just means you are a very charitable person with a large amount of money to give away.

People paying $500 grand for a gold plated Wii are stupid jackasses with too much money - the folks bidding on this are to be commended, not mocked.

Actually, they are also stupid jackasses with too much money, they just can hide behind the fact that they donated for charity.

 

[Kiefer13]

If I had that kind of money to throw around, I'd definitely put in a bid.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

People paying $500 grand for a gold plated Wii are stupid jackasses with too much money - the folks bidding on this are to be commended, not mocked.

Actually, they are also stupid jackasses with too much money, they just can hide behind the fact that they donated for charity.

So whenever a billionaire gives away vast amounts of money to charity, they might as well be buying ridiculously expensive and tacky things instead? Having money to give away doesn't make you a jackass, using that money to buy yourself stupid crap does.

Granted, for some charity is certainly a way to feel good about themselves after indulging wholesale in the stupid crap purchasing, but some people just want to do something meaningful with their excess cash.

 

[Cherry Cola]

People paying $500 grand for a gold plated Wii are stupid jackasses with too much money - the folks bidding on this are to be commended, not mocked.

Actually, they are also stupid jackasses with too much money, they just can hide behind the fact that they donated for charity.

So whenever a billionaire gives away vast amounts of money to charity, they might as well be buying ridiculously expensive and tacky things instead? Having money to give away doesn't make you a jackass, using that money to buy yourself stupid crap does.

Which they are doing. I don't think anyone who is buying that stuff wouldn't buy it even if there was no charity for it.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

So whenever a billionaire gives away vast amounts of money to charity, they might as well be buying ridiculously expensive and tacky things instead? Having money to give away doesn't make you a jackass, using that money to buy yourself stupid crap does.

Which they are doing. I don't think anyone who is buying that stuff wouldn't buy it even if there was no charity for it.

Probably true, but there you've missed the point: If there was no charity for it, it most likely would not be for sale via auction and thus the price would not be anywhere near as high. If the bidding had opened at $4,000, then I would probably be agreeing with you, but it wasn't even remotely that expensive to begin with.

 

[Jared]

Holy Shit! A REAL Shield! I bet there's atleast 1 person dumb enough to spend money on that stuff.

Seriously...I wouldnt mind one but for that price I think I will pass...

 

[Cherry Cola]

So whenever a billionaire gives away vast amounts of money to charity, they might as well be buying ridiculously expensive and tacky things instead? Having money to give away doesn't make you a jackass, using that money to buy yourself stupid crap does.

Which they are doing. I don't think anyone who is buying that stuff wouldn't buy it even if there was no charity for it.

Probably true, but there you've missed the point: If there was no charity for it, it most likely would not be for sale via auction and thus the price would not be anywhere near as high.

That would mean that BioWare are really nice guys, not necessarily the guys buying the stuff.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Probably true, but there you've missed the point: If there was no charity for it, it most likely would not be for sale via auction and thus the price would not be anywhere near as high.

That would mean that BioWare are really nice guys, not necessarily the guys buying the stuff.

Still missing the point: If this were say... $500 dollars, we'd collectively bemoan the price and belittle the folks who'd pay that for it (while secretly envying them because we totally want it ourselves). The folks bidding on this are knowingly offering to pay way the hell more than that, in the certain knowledge that what they are bidding is far more than what it actually costs, because the money is going to charity. In my book there's a big difference between buying expensive crap because you can versus dramatically overpaying for things in the interest of a good cause.


Then there's the bit where the folks who started the Child's Play charity have been encouraging us to break last years record:

For your Child's Play Update, I am pleased to report that we've reached $1,394,519.57, which is very high as numbers go. When you decouple it from raw numerics and instead think of it as a truly gigantic pile of rad toys, it becomes difficult not to smile reflexively. We have succeeded at our general goal, which is to rock, and rock hard - but the bonus objective remains.

Maybe I'm hung up on this number, last year's gaudy $1,434,377, clucking and strutting around like it owns the place. Maybe I shouldn't think about it in game terms, like a high score or something, but I can't help it. The metaphor runs in my blood, as I suspect is common among our people, and I speak now to that blood: be known. We're so close that an eyelid's flutter will send us over the top.

So, come on people. Let's win charity.

Part of why the whole "rich people buying stupidly expensive things" issue bugs us non-obscenely wealthy types is that we see it as a grotesque waste of money they could have used for something meaningful instead (and of course part of it is just plain old envy). Dropping a large chunk of cash via a charity auction is the precise opposite of a grotesque waste of money - if nothing else we should be egging those with the funding to spare to donate even more, not calling them a jackass for bloody donating to charity. Seriously.