Community Kidney Quest: A point-and-click fundraiser where you need to save Steve The Developer - UPDATE

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Infamous Quests; Steven Alexander

Who's Steve I hear you ask. And it's a good question. Here's the dramatic tale:

On New Year's Eve in 2002 Steve was rushed to hospital. He'd been feeling unwell for a while but that evening he collapsed and after some tests, the doctors told him that his kidneys had failed and he needed a transplant. In November 2003, after eleven months of dialysis, Steve received his transplant. His father had donated one of his kidneys. Everything seemed fine.

Long story short, things didn't work out and now Steve needs to harvest the organs of another. This time a woman his wife.

But who is Steve?

Steve is known as Blackthorne here on the Codex and is a Creator/Designer at Infamous Quests, where he was as the Writer/Director/Producer of Quest for Infamy and Order of the Thorne.

At least that's what's in his signature.

We're doing our own fundraiser for Steve to help cover the costs. As a special incentive, we are giving everyone who donates to this campaign extra potato and a special forum badge because who doesn't love digital items that don't actually cost us anything to deliver?

As an extra special bonus, Steve has also promised that if it doesn't work out, we'll get to keep the kidney!

We'll be completing our fundraiser in the next couple of weeks (1 Nov), so if you haven't donated yet, go ahead and do so before you miss out on sweet kidney action.

UPDATE:

Steve is throwing in anyone who donates to this campaign a copy of "Quest for Infamy: Roehm to Ruin" when it comes out. On any platform you like.

Peter Ohlmann of Ceres Games would also like to help. If we pass $3,000 he's throwing in a Codex guildhouse into his upcoming game. And if we pass $3,500, that guildhouse will have 10 named NPCs chosen by (or named after) the top 10 donors.

Because of these two new offers, we're extending the fundraiser for another 2 weeks until 17 Nov.

NOTE: Because of our recent switch to https, some donations weren't being recorded in the tally. That should have been fixed so that all donations from now on will be properly recorded (PM me if yours isn't). I'll be going through the donations received to PayPal to add any of those that were missed.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

Is that street price?

 

[MicoSelva]

Nice cover-up for getting funds to back Realms Beyond kickstarter campaign. Obviously the codex secret society should then be named Order of the Thorne.

Seriously, though, good luck, Blackthorne .

 

[CyberWhale]

DarkUnderlord please change the thread title into Quest for Kidney: A point-and-click fundraiser where you need to save Steve The Developer.

 

[Falksi]

Nice work. Best of luck Steve. Get well and then get off your lazy arse & making some more games.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Good Guy Codex.

Unfortunately, there have been some sad developments since this fundraiser came up and Steve has been hospitalized. Reposting from the other thread, for those who aren't up to speed:

Spoiler

Things are not going well for Steve: https://www.facebook.com/StevenGAlexander/posts/10156447180753153

Just posted this to his Twitter, as well:

Steven Alexander
October 12 at 8:38 AM


Hey there, this is probably going to be a long post; it's an update about the status of my health, my kidneys and my future. w/Jordan Elizabeth Alexander

Three years ago, we noticed that my function began to decrease slightly; ever since, my transplanted kidney, which I got in 2011, has been losing function. This year, as you may know, my function depleted rapidly, and currently I have less than 9% function left. I was in constant contact with my nephrologist and I had several biopsies performed by the people in the transplant department.

They discovered several antibodies in my blood, and investigated them to try and determine what had caused what they eventually diagnosed as "membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN)". There seemed to be a variety of symptoms, and they tested for many things - including hepatitis B, HIV and Lupus.... all markers ended up being negative. So they performed a special genetic test, sending my blood off to a specialized lab to be analyzed and to see if there was a genetic component or a complement disease that contributed to me developing MPGN.

The results came back, and I have no genetic component or complement disease. I am a very, very rare case of what they call idiopathic MPGN. They literally have no idea why my body ends up killing the nephrons in my kidneys. The nephrons are the specific cells that filter and clean the blood; through this, the impurities are filtered out and made into urine. This process happens continually in the body, 24 hours a day. Your kidneys are amazing filters, and we never really notice what they do. We just go and go, and the only marker we really have for them is when we urinate. Weird, huh? Such a small organ too, but it regulates so much for the body.

For some unknown reason, my body kills kidneys. And it will continue to do so. They suspect that if I have another transplant, I have an estimated 80% chance of this developing again - and they really have no way to treat or prevent it. There was talk of such things a chemotherapy or plasma-furiouses if it developed, but these are basically, "We don't know what else to do, so we're going to throw this in you and see if it works."

The truth is, this condition is terminal. This will kill me. I have been used to to the notion that I would not live a long time for quite a while. It's definitely an experience to face your own mortality so harshly; most people don't have to do it so young, and it's a worry we file away for that mythical someday. Some people do have to face it, and yes, it is unfair... but we all know life isn't always fair. I have lived longer than I ever really expected to, being diagnosed at 24. I have survived things I never thought I could, and I have endured experiences that have left other people dead. I don't know how much time I have left, really. I will have to go on dialysis, and I will most likely be there for a long time.

The doctors/transplant program are hesitant to give me a kidney from a living donor, due to how high risk I am now. The doctor spoke to us the other day, and though he made it sound like it was our choice, the choice was easy for me. I can not, in good conscious, take the kidney of my wife - the mother of our children, in this manner and with this risk. The chance of her developing complications is something I can't live with, especially if it doesn't work out for me. She is a match, for me, genetically but we cannot proceed this way. They may not even give me another transplant at all; the doctor said he would offer me a cadaver donor, like last time, but that would be it. If I got another transplant, this would most assuredly be my last one. And it would most likely eventually fail. My body would kill it.

So, I will return to dialysis. I do not know how long I will last on it; the last time I was a dialysis patient, I was on for almost five years, and by the end, I was hanging on by a thread. I was younger and stronger then. I just do not know how much I have left in the tank. I am still waiting on word from the transplant clinic to see if they will allow another transplant at all. Even if so, the chances of me getting a cadaver donor are low... and the wait time would be long. Maybe longer than I have.

I have been very fortunate in so many things in life: family, friends, love... these really are the important things. I'm sorry to share something so heavy with you all, but the truth is the relationships in my life are the most important thing to me. I communicate with a lot of friends and family through this medium, and some for some of you, this is the only way we've been able to communicate over the years.

I'm sure I will keep updates on things here, but this is what has been weighing on me for days. I've been thinking so much about my family - my wife and kids. My extended family. So much to do, so little time. I don't know what the future holds, or how long I have. I'm just going to try and live my best life as long as I can. There aren't many miracles left on the end of my health any more; I think I've outrun fate for a long time. 15 years of dodging death has been an adventure. I just want to thank everyone who has supported me and my family over the years. You've given so much of yourselves, and through this and my experiences with it all, so many of you have shown your quality: it is of the highest degree, and I'm so proud to call many of you friends. I hope that this kind of kindness and compassion continues on in your lives, and we can all share a bit of it over the years. This is what makes the world a better place, no matter how small the act. I've felt the ripples from a pebble in a pond, and I've felt the tidal waves that crash over the sides. I'm looking forward to feeling those a little longer, and maybe sending out a few more of my own before I have to go.

Fifteen years living like this on the edge. I hope Steve will avoid the danger to spend his time with the family.

 

[Flou]

Damn Upper Management, making sure people's kidneys don't work! Best of luck to you Steve.

 

[markec]

DarkUnderlord I donated 2 times 20$ and it shows I donated only 20$.

 

[MicoSelva]

DarkUnderlord I donated 2 times 20$ and it shows I donated only 20$.

I am having a similar issue. Maybe that is some kind of delay in Paypal processing?

 

[thesheeep]

So, if things don't work out, do we gather in secret to devour the kidney?
I know many recipes.

 

[vazha]

Fucking hell, this broke my heart.

 

[Maelflux]

I sent money now, to get Steve that Kidney DLC he needs.

 

[Darth Roxor]

DarkUnderlord please change the thread title into Quest for Kidney: A point-and-click fundraiser where you need to save Steve The Developer.

The pixel hunts in this thing are way too extreme (I literally can't find the money that you are supposed to use to pay for the kidney). I'll wait for someone to make a let's play or write a walkthrough.

 

[Alienman]

DarkUnderlord I donated 2 times 20$ and it shows I donated only 20$.

I am having a similar issue. Maybe that is some kind of delay in Paypal processing?

Having issues too. my donation didn't register but money was taken.

Anyway, I hope it ends well for Steve.

 

[aratuk]

Guys, I think this can be done so much cheaper.

Just look at this beautiful hospital! It's stunning. And watched over by the gods! It's like a temple of healing.

See? In their lobby they prominently feature the question, "Would you go?" in bold, red letters. As if the answer could be anything but a resounding YES.

And, I bet they'll do it for just the money Codex has raised so far.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Best of wishes for Steve, and a lot of strength for his family, they have endured more than most people should be expected to

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Money's coming through to PayPal account. For some reason some aren't being recorded in the callback on the Codex.

Will investigate.

 

[Haba]

Will there be a cool achievement badge for donating money on this? At what tier will we get a boxed copy?

 

[Bocian]

As an extra special bonus, Steve has also promised that if it doesn't work out, we'll get to keep the kidney!

Dibs on the kidney in that case.

 

[Blackthorne]

Hey Guys,

I got home from the hospital yesterday. It's been an experience; I start in-center dialysis on Monday, and that's what I'm doing for the foreseable future. My blood pressure is still sky high, too, despite all the meds they have me on. Hopefully I'll be able to recover, it's been a shitshow for sure. Thanks to everyone who checked in and supported. I'll keep updating when I can, and I promise I'll keep making games when I can and I will make the pixel hunts way more obscure and hard now because this is what you fuckers deserve. Hah!

But seriously, what the hell, this all sucks and I hate dialysis.

 

[Pope Amole II]

What's with this newfaggotry? The only prestigious way to name this would've been "Kidney Quest".

 

[HoboForEternity]

I will donate 10 bux when i get home tomorrow, i havent played QFI yet, but played OoT, love it.

Best of luck to you and your families man.

 

[Tacgnol]

Donated and purchased Quest for Infamy.

Hope things get better for you and the family.

 

[fabrulana]

I have put something in the kitty... all the best to Steve!

 

[commie]

As an extra special bonus, Steve has also promised that if it doesn't work out, we'll get to keep the kidney!

Dibs on the kidney in that case.

I think Konjad already begged for it in the Giftstravaganza thread.