#ESA2014 - European Speedster Assembly 2014 - Gaming for charity

http://www.europeanspeedste...

In just over 24 hours, the European Speedster Assembly 2014 is starting. Hosted by Ludendi in the small locality Skövde in central-Southern Sweden, not too far from Gothenburg, ESA is an annual, weeklong live marathon of speed runners and gaming enthusiasts playing the games they are good at. There have been two previous installments of this event, although it's getting bigger each year. It all started out as a pure speed running event, but it has since evolved to include a slightly broader spectrum of gamers.

ESA can be viewed as the European variant of Games Done Quick ( http://gamesdonequick.com/ ), a bi-annual speed run event in America, run by the people behind Speed Demos Archive. While the gamers are playing their games, anyone may donate for the cause of the year. In 2012 the cause of ESA was Hand in Hand International ( http://www.hihinternational... ). Last year, they raised US $20,155.63 across 1517 donations for Doctors Without Borders ( http://www.doctorswithoutbo... ), which will also be the donation cause this year.

Now why would anyone donate their hard earned money to these wonderful organizations, you ask? Along the way, the speed runners implemented a thing called donation incentives, which are prizes that you may win for donating. All donations are tracked and donations made during a specific game or bracket are also eligible to win any of the prizes for that bracket, given the minimum donation is reached. There is also a grand prize for the entire event, for those lucky enough to run away with that one.

This year, there will be two streams in order to fit in all games. They are dubbed 'blue' and 'yellow' for your convenience. Please feel free to take a look at any time. The streams will be available after the event if you missed or couldn't be watching during your favourite game.

In closing, some practical links:

[ Schedule ]
http://www.europeanspeedste...
All times should be rendered in your local time zone.

[ Blue stream ]
http://www.twitch.tv/ludend...
[ Yellow stream ]
http://www.twitch.tv/europe...
[ Blue stream tracker ]
http://hosted.gamesdonequic...
[ Yellow stream tracker ]
http://hosted.gamesdonequic...
[ Blue stream prizes ]
http://hosted.gamesdonequic...
[ Yellow stream prizes ]
http://hosted.gamesdonequic...

[ Twitter ]
https://twitter.com/ESA_Off...
[ Facebook ]
https://www.facebook.com/Te...
[ IRC ]
irc://irc.quakenet.org/ #esamarathon (requires a registered username)