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The story of a little boy, a book, and the on-line community we’ll never forget.
It’s a long story, but worth the read. The Shack is a truly incredible community.
In reply:
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I’ve been a gamer since I was five years old. For me, it’s an incredibly fun hobby that has provided more personal enjoyment than almost any other form of entertainment. I knew when our son came along that he’d be a gamer through either his own love of the art or by association. Indeed, at eleven years old he’s experienced much of the joy the genre offers through many different systems and styles of play.
I’m sure all of us can attest to the fact that through our gaming history there is one or two games that profoundly shaped our love of the art. For Nathan, Half-Life is undoubtedly one of those games. Nathan was born the year Half-Life was released and he began playing it regularly a few years ago. Eventually he started asking why’s and how’s of game mechanics. He began doing his own research on the Hammer editor and eventually came across Garry’s mod. He’ll spend hours upon hours in Garry’s mod making cool contraptions and messing with all the tools. He draws characters/monsters from the game and is constantly conceptualizing different gameplay mechanics and weapon types. He gobbles up anything Half-Life related and will literally fall asleep with the game manual or strategy guide by his side in bed.
December 2009:
As the holidays approached, Nathan had very little on his Christmas wish list. He’s a great kid, and doesn’t ask for much. At the top of his list was the book “Half-Life 2: Raising the Barâ€. Cool, this will be a piece of cake I thought. Thus began my search. Unbeknownst to me, the book has been out of print for some time. I called many local book stores both brick & mortar and used/antique dealers. No luck. Google searches yielded both new and used copies of the book ranging in price from $175 to $450. Hey now! These results prompted this initial post:
http://www.shacknews.com/laryn.x?id=21634658
Maybe there’s a fellow Shacker out there willing to barter or sell the book. Although at this point, I had to face the reality that this may not happen. $175 to $450 is a ton of money for a book, and not near what we’d typically spend on any single gift. This was not a practical option for us. I had to be honest with Nathan and let him know what was up. He was great and completely understood the situation, although it didn’t mitigate his desire.
Then, I received the following Shack message:
“I think we still have plenty of copies here in the office. What's your address and I'll have one sent outâ€
Awesome! This was beyond my expectations and I was elated. I received a subsequent message:
“Actually I guess we're out too. Sorry man. :(“
:( indeed.
The search continued. Low and behold another Shack message, this one from “Ecksâ€:
“Still need a copy? If so, what's your address?â€
Cautiously optimistic, I reply with my address and inquire how much he would like for the book. His response: Nothing, indicating that he looks at the book so rarely he’d rather my son have it. I’m pretty speechless at this point as this was totally unexpected.
Okay, now that I’ve found a copy of the book, how can I make it extra special? Maybe I could try to make contact with somebody at Valve to see if they’d have a couple dev’s sign it for Nathan. I could ship it with a pre-paid return package to make it as convenient for them as possible. This could work, although I wasn’t sure whether I’d have any success with an unsolicited request like this.
I explained to Ecks what I was going to try to do and he thought it was an excellent idea. More surprisingly, he works in the game industry and lives only a few miles from the Valve offices. Ecks offered to try to contact someone at Valve through a colleague who may be able to set this up. NO…F’ing…WAY! At this point, the goal was to have Ecks get the book to Valve for a couple sig’s and then out to us by Christmas. It was December 14th.
December 19th:
We received a package, and kept it hidden from Nathan:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Christmas%202009%20Rebel__0028R.JPG
The hell? What’s this? It’s from Ecks, but it’s too big/heavy to be a book. We opened it up:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Christmas%202009%20Rebel__0030R.JPG
We read the note:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Christmas%202009%20Rebel__0031R.JPG
At this point, it was difficult to keep my composure. I could not believe what I was seeing. This guy, a complete stranger from 3,000 miles away, spent almost $30 to send a loaded box of games, movies, and a valuable book to another complete stranger. I had no words. Here’s the whole lot:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Christmas%202009%20Rebel__0039R.JPG
Christmas was six days away at this point. No way to continue my signature pursuit and get the book back by Christmas. The plan now was to give Nathan the package/book at Christmas and sew the seed about shipping it out to Valve to get a signature or two. I still wasn’t sure whether I could make this happen or if it would happen at all.
Christmas, 2009:
We saved this gift for last. We hid it way in the back, and he thought he was done opening gifts when we pointed it out. The reveal:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Christmas%202009%20Rebel__0012R.JPG
The book:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Christmas%202009%20Rebel__0016R.JPG
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Christmas%202009%20Rebel__0019R.JPG
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Christmas%202009%20Rebel__0021R.JPG
We will never forget the joy expressed by our son on that day. It was one of those times when the experience goes right to the pit of your stomach and it takes all you have to contain your emotion while your son’s happiness takes center stage. Amazing.
Video:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20the%20Bar%20-%20Nathan%202009.avi
Nathan spent the next several days completely attached to the book. Wherever you found Nathan, you found the book. Nathan was extremely thankful for the gift and wrote a note to Ecks thanking him for the book. One of Nathan’s Christmas gifts was a $50 Best Buy gift card. Nathan absolutely insisted on giving it to Ecks:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_0016R.JPG
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_0018R.JPG
I let Nathan give Ecks his gift card, although I reimbursed Nathan for it by putting $50 in his savings account.
Now onto mission number two. How do we go about getting this over to Valve to get signed? Wait a minute, the first person that responded to my initial post indicated that he thought they had a few left “laying around the officeâ€. If copies of these were laying around his office, that means he either works for the publisher, a retailer or…VALVE! I searched my SM history and sent “locash†a message. Here’s his response:
“Yep I work at Valve and can make this happen…â€
Holy crap! locash works at Valve! For my son, this would be like having a direct line to a rock star. Nathan was beside himself with excitement that I was able to actually correspond directly with someone at Valve. Nathan set about writing a letter to Valve/locash and included a couple of his drawings to share with the crew at Valve. We carefully packaged up the book with the letter and shipped it off on the 28th of December. Nathan waited patiently for about three weeks. locash thoughtfully held onto the book since many of the dev’s were still on Christmas break in early January. I told him to take whatever time he wanted and that we were very thankful for his effort.
We weren’t quite sure what to expect at this point. Nathan would have been perfectly content with a single signature. Imagine the bragging rights for an eleven year old boy to have a signed copy of a collectible hardcover book based on Half-Life 2 and its associated development. His close friends are all gamers and very into Half-Life.
January 20th:
Nathan received a package in the mail:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_Rebel_0001R.JPG
Bonus!
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_Rebel_0004R.JPG
More bonus!
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_Rebel_0005R.JPG
locash got some sig’s!
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_0010R.JPG
Many sig’s!
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_0009R.JPG
Many, MANY sig’s!!
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_0007R.JPG
Gabe?
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_0011R.JPG
Happiness!
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Raising%20The%20Bar_Rebel_0007R.JPG
Video:
http://punchdog.shackspace.com/Raising%20the%20Bar/Valve%20Sigs.avi
So that’s the story. The whole event worked out better than I could have possibly imagined. The fact that members of this community were so willing to go out of their way exemplifies the diverse and thoughtful character of many here on the Shack. To Ecks and locash: There are few words that could describe the happiness that this entire event provided for our family. You’ve provided unending encouragement for a young boy who looks up to you. Nathan’s smile on that Christmas morning is seared into my memory forever. We will never forget it, and we will never forget you or the Shack.
Sincerest regards and gratitude,
PunCHdoG, Nathan and family.
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