User:Nos
Nos, Founder of the Unofficial Team Fortress Wiki.
Golden Wrench Charity and my Community Rocket Launcher
I'm posting the following both on my user page at the official wiki ([url]http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/User:Nos[/url]) and in the official TF2 Forums
Hopefully most of you have heard of this, if not, please check out [url]http://www.toptiertactics.com/golden-charity/[/url] first.
I think this is a great idea, and unfortunately have a personal interest in charities like this one. My two children and two of my nephews were diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Even at my boys' young ages (1.5 and 4.5), they've spent far more time in hospitals than most people do before they're 20.
I donated, not to see the weapons destroyed necessarily, but because its a good charity and this is a good way to draw attention to it. I don't have a golden wrench to contribute, or I would. Not because I have anything against the wrench, or the distribution method, but simply because I think its a good idea and a worthwhile charity.
In a few emails with WiNG, who is heading it up, I've tossed around the idea of deleting my community weapon if a certain dollar amount or similar goal is reached. I want to gauge the community's reaction before I commit to doing anything. This is not meant as an insult or to be disrespectful to Valve or any part of this community. On the contrary, Valve felt my contributions to the community warranted this special treatment, and for that I am very grateful.
In short, I'd like to know what you think. Do you feel deleting this item in support of a charity is disrespectful to Valve, the players, or the community in general? Would you be more or less willing to donate if there was a chance this weapon would be deleted? Is there another option I haven't thought of that I should consider, perhaps the rumoured trading system?
As I said, I haven't made up my mind yet. I really like the weapon, but if giving it up for this, or another similar event meant money for charities I'm in favour of, I'd love to be able to say I helped out. I'll be checking both my talk page on the wiki and the forums for feedback. When I make a decision, I'll post for sure on my page at the wiki, and try to do a follow up post on the forums as well.
