Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland recalls his experience with 24 hours of Rift and sleep deprivation!

The Extra Life charity event was a marathon-style gaming session that started on October 15 and invited gamers across the world to play games for 24 hours straight and raise funds for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Trion Worlds got on board by hosting a Rift Extra Life event on the Belmont and Astrophinius servers. Players who signed up and joined the event-specific guilds received the title “the Charitable,” while players who stayed up for 24 hours received the title “the Insomniac.” There were also prizes for the best results in certain categories: highest level, most favor, most critters killed and so on.

I decided to try it out — partially because it's a great cause, and partially because I'm insane. The following is a record of my thoughts on the Rift Extra Life event and my increasingly sleep-deprived mental state over the 24-hour session.

Oct. 14, 10 p.m. EDT: I'm as ready as I'll ever be! Tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. the 24-hour gaming marathon begins. Trion is giving a handicap — “the Insomniac” title will be presented to anyone who logs 24 hours before Monday. Still, real gamers go all out, and I've decided to marathon all 24 hours in one go from 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. My donations are ready: I raised $137, dedicated to Shands Children's Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. I've signed up for the event on Trion's Extra Life page. And I've decided on a character: Guardian cleric, Inquisitor/Justicar/Sentinel build. Also known as the Duracell build later on (because like the batteries, it just keeps going and going), I think it's solid at the beginning too. I've never gotten a cleric above level 11, and haven't ever reached Gloamwood on a Guardian. Hopefully it'll be new and exciting.

And of course I have a four-pack of lo-carb Monster energy drinks. I have a feeling I'll need those!

Bed now, up bright and early tomorrow.

While visions of epicness danced in my head.

Oct 15, 7 a.m. EDT: Let's do this! I woke up like any normal day of the week; brushed my teeth, took a shower, even got dressed and made some eggs for breakfast! No way I'll look like an unpolished hobo by the end of this event! Time to check out Trion's website, see what the servers are, and make my character with time to spare!

7:10 a.m.: Oh, right. Trion's on the West Coast, and I'm on the East Coast. The event won't start until 11 a.m. here. Uh... guess I'll go play Glitch.

10:30 a.m.: Went back to sleep for an hour after nerding out on Glitch. I kinda wish I chose that as my marathon game instead, but I'm committed. The server selection is up: I've chosen Belmont! I've made a character named Aureliano, a High Elf. Now it's time to play the waiting game; I won't log in until right before the event begins.

10:55 a.m.: WHOA, lots of people here! I should have logged in early. I haven't played Rift since Update 1.3, and forgot that I need to adjust my options! Auto-loot, action bars, turn off tips... time to join the general spam of 1-29 chat to get into Extra Life Guardians!

12:15 p.m.: And in pretty good time I've finished the starting area and moved onto Silverwood. I was wrong about there being a lot of people in the starting area; I forgot they are in separate instances divided by zone population. Silverwood is a whole new ballgame; I haven't seen this many people since launch.

12:25 p.m.: Everyone has a spider mount!? What is this?? (I later asked and found out it was Spindrel, a mount received through an upgrade purchased in Trion's cash shop) I also noticed I now have Veteran's awards; mostly vanity armor and prestige/favor boosting potions I can't use until 50. Still, it's nice to have a mount again, even if it's a turtle and not a spider.

The first zone invasion was about level 10. The second was level 18. One of these hurt significantly more than the other.

1 p.m.: Two hours down, 22 to go! I'm only level 10, but I already know the hardcore players gunning for the extra goodies are going to blow past me. There were some rules added: anything boosting EXP or favor gained is not allowed... yet someone players are still flying ahead. People were getting their mount achievements while I was still level 4 in the newbie area! Silverwood is swamped. There's competition for every questing area, and almost everyone has an Extra Life Guardian guild tag. Guild chat is like a carnival, and I'm having a blast. Advice to the complainers: instead of competing for mobs, why not team up and share the credit?

1:45 p.m: A big attack on the Marsh House is under way; a ton of level 18 elites is swarming down on the characters. As I just dinged level 12 and finished all my quests there, I ran away before they could get me. Mwahahaha (evil laugh). Time to take a quick bathroom break.

1:49 p.m: Dammit, not far enough off the road; the 18 elites found me and I came back to the computer to find my High Elf in a bloody puddle of himself. Doh!

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