AGDQ and Adapting to the Pandemic and Online Environment

The gaming community is full of yearly celebrations. E3 is a celebration of gaming, as is the annual The Game Awards. Only whereas these events are cocky-congratulatory, one series of events instead looks outwards. Games Done Quick, otherwise known as GDQ, is an organization that regularly hosts gaming marathons. Donations are open up during the class of these marathons, with every cent going towards one charity or another. But similar everything else in today'south world, Games Done Quick events accept had to change to fit the Covid-nineteen era.

Merely like major esports events, the once physical nature of events for Games Done Quick had turned from one of its biggest tools, into a hazard for attendees. That'south why this year's AGDQ, or Awesome Games Washed Quick, was completely online. It's non the showtime fourth dimension a GDQ outcome has shifted to an online-only format, in fact, there have been multiple. However, this has been the first time that the outcome has kicked off the year for GDQ completely online. It'southward a landmark marathon, full of speedrunning, cosplays, and giveaways, and this year the GDQ team had to completely change how information technology worked.

Every bit with whatsoever celebration of gaming, Games Done Quick events take a history of bringing community members together. Audience members and players would be packed into rooms inside a large venue, watching games get, well, done quick. This togetherness has spawned its own icons —the caster and thespian burrow, cosplayers, the interview table— that made GDQ events immediately recognizable and memorable. Since beginning in 2022, Games Done Quick events have made themselves a staple for anyone in the gaming customs.

If it wasn't clear, GDQ events are virtually beating games quickly, and that means speedrunning. Speedrunners are a special kind of gamer — someone more defended to a game than your completionist friend with a ton of platinum trophies. They focus downwards on a game, learning how it works at a base level, fifty-fifty if that means starting to understand the game'southward code. This is all in an attempt to beat a game every bit fast as possible. Sometimes that results in players only using extremely efficient strategies to crush bosses and blitz through a game. Other speedrunners really perform actions in games to dispense the game's lawmaking, resulting in extremely weird, game-breaking runs.

But, GDQ events aren't just about watching people play games in a way they usually aren't played. They're massive fundraising marathons that, over the form of the past decade, have raised over $31 million for multiple charities. Commonly, donators will exist sending coin to the Foreclose Cancer Foundation, a US health organization dedicated to the early detection and treatment of cancer, or Doctors Without Borders, an international humanitarian organization that sends doctors to countries plagued by war or disease. Co-ordinate to the GDQ website, the organization'due south events are currently the atomic number 82 fundraisers for both of these charities.

"I do recollect we took the lessons we learned from SGDQ 2022 Online and improved AGDQ this year."

That record and operation have remained consistent well into the pandemic. AGDQ 2022 was the 4th online-only GDQ event since the beginning of the pandemic last twelvemonth, with the first existence Corona Relief Done Quick. That special event, ane of many that GDQ hosts, raised over $400,000 to assist people affected by Covid-xix. However, speciality events don't raise nearly every bit much every bit the two main GDQ events each yr, AGDQ and SGDQ. Last twelvemonth'south all-online SGDQ managed to raise $2,345,785 for Doctors Without Borders. AGDQ 2022 raised over $2.7 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

Credit: Games Done Quick

Organizing events like AGDQ earlier the pandemic is challenging enough equally information technology is, and shifting to online has introduced more challenges. Event organizers accept to ensure that everyone is where they demand to be and that the stream is running smoothly. Accomplishing the aforementioned tasks without physically existence around attendees, staff, or speedrunners only exacerbates those difficulties. Still, every effect sees some comeback in how they're run, including those that take place online.

Speaking to Matt Merkle, the managing director of operations at Games Done Quick, it was articulate that things are running smoother now than ever during the pandemic. "Our goal is to brand every event an improvement on the last," he said. "But yes, I practice think nosotros took the lessons we learned from SGDQ 2022 Online and improved AGDQ this year."

Merkle specifically cited one of the standout additions to this yr's AGDQ stream, the virtual crowd. At whatever normal GDQ event, one hosted in a big venue filled with spectators, the crowd is an integral office of each event. They're a constant source of cheers and applause for large donations or impressive tricks during runs. For viewers watching at home, whatever the oversupply is doing represents how they feel, even if information technology's coming together a bad joke with complete silence. They're some other role of the events that bring viewers tuning in.

For the entirely online events marking the Covid-era, the crowd has been missing. That was until AGDQ 2022. This year, stream viewers were treated to a small digital crowd, seated facing away from them and towards the action. In using the event's special Twitch emotes in chat, viewers could brand members of the virtual crowd perform actions such as clapping or turning to face the viewer. While these may be small things to boost interactivity, they were a reminder to other viewers that they were part of a community of people watching.

Amazing Games Done Quick 2022 stream of donation goal

Credit: Games Washed Quick

With all its improvements over previous online events, things still have the potential to go wrong. During AGDQ 2022, there was at least 1 case of the stream going downwards, substantially shutting downwardly the result for thousands of viewers. According to Merkle, problems like these are "but the internet cutting out" and internally "we just work the trouble and effigy out what the all-time solution is."

Even with the threat of problems that stem from online-simply events, AGDQ 2022 certainly won't be the last one. Merkle said that these events will exist the become-to…

Even if they're apace resolved, online events are prone to more issues, it's simply in their nature. Instead of having a controlled environment to piece of work in, organizers have to deal with the hardware and fix-ups at runners' homes and promise that everything on their finish works as well. In these cases, there's but i affair the folks at GDQ can do. "The best affair you tin do is test, test, test," Merkle said. To ensure that the event ran as smoothly equally possible, Games Done Quick provided each runner and commentator with a prepackaged OBS installer. From there, each person'south stream would be tested one-on-1, and if that wasn't plenty "we even try to conform their streaming settings based on their figurer and internet capabilities," according to Merkle.

Even with the threat of issues that stem from online-only events, AGDQ 2022 certainly won't exist the final one. Merkle said that these events will be the get-to "for situations that call for a quick response, similar [Hurricane] Harvey Relief Done Quick or Corona Relief Done Quick." Other special GDQ events will too use online-but formats, such as the all-women Frame Fatales events.

Until the pandemic ends, we won't encounter GDQ events similar the ones we're used to. For the foreseeable future, everything volition be online in order to keep people condom. While these events won't exist able to supercede the accurate experience of a live GDQ consequence, Matt Merkle is confident that the visitor is getting closer and closer to a perfect online marathon. "It was an incredibly successful event, and we owe that to all the runners, volunteers, and the community itself for their support," Merkle said. "Despite the limitations, I feel this one came closest to capturing the energy and atmosphere of an in-person event."

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