Helping out Dan: $2,000 raised in only two days.

The fundraising campaign to help Dan has surpassed $2,000.

In only two days!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-dan-ryckert-repurchase-his-stolen-goods/x/8523903#home

I'm sure many of you know, but for those who don't, Dan had a large majority of his gaming electronics stolen. The campaign was put together to help Dan buy back his stuff and raise some money for charity.

All of the givers are amazing. There are still plenty of days left to give. Remember: All of the money goes straight to Dan and any extra money raised will be donated to Child's Play.

There have been questions raised about the legitimacy of this campaign, and the only thing I can say is: I've done my best to make it look as trustworthy as possible. Saying "trust me" on the Internet means pretty much nothing.

So I've placed my real name and credibility on the campaign - and on the line - to help those feel more comfortable about giving. I also contacted Dan, who never asked for the help, but was super appreciative nonetheless.

If you doubt the campaign, please don't give. I don't want any givers feeling uncomfortable.

Hope y'all have a great Labor Day weekend!

http://www.giantbomb.com/dan-ryckert/3040-109456/forums/our-hero-has-been-robbed-1493408/

It looks like it past 2,000 already.

It's worth noting that Dan said he would donate all the money to charity if insurance ends up covering his theft. I have no idea if he's said anything else about whether or not his insurance will cover it.

I'd be willing to donate some, but only if Dan promises to not stack the money up against a wall and urinate on it.

@mooseymcman: You are absolutely right. That fact is mentioned on the fundraising post.

lol!

@chaserooniman: Right! I hope you didn't mind that I just edited your post so that your URL is an actual link. I wouldn't normally do that, but I can so I did.

@mooseymcman: No problems at all! I'm a journalist by trade, so editing happens to me all the time. I use a ton of programs that auto link, so my apologies for forgetting.

@chaserooniman: No worries, I'm not really sure why the text editor here doesn't do that. It might be some sort of anti spambot thing. But yeah, for future reference, you have to highlight the text you want to be a link, click the link button, and then paste in what you want to link it to (unless it's a page on GB's wiki, in which case you can search for it there).

As tremendous as I think it is that folks are willing to pitch in and make Dan feel welcome, I really think this money would be much better spent with a charitiy organisation like Medicines Sans Frontieres or the Red Cross.

And yeah, yeah, I know, I'm being a bummer by pointing this out, but I just feel guilty about it. I really like Dan and feel for him in this situation, but I really believe a charity case such as this should be applied to folks who are starving or in need of medical treatment, not a fella (albeit a great one) who lost his electronic devices. That said, nobody but yourself should get to decide what you do with your money, so I won't butt in any further than I already have.

I do think it's real big of him to say he'll ensure this money goes to the needy incase he doesn't end up requiring it, however.

How about some stretch goals? Suggestions?

@noitwont: I thought of those but I felt like it would trivialize the situation and make a game out of something serious that happened.

Also I think people would have taken it as more of a joke, thus reducing the trustworthiness factor, instead of taking it seriously.

The point of this is helping out Dan when something really shitty happened to him right after moving to one of the most expensive cities in the country. Extra money will go to charity and if Dan's insurance kicks in, that money goes directly to charity.

At the end of the day something good has been done, right?

Thats kind of dumb. I mean it sucks he was robbed, but the dude is not exactly destitute.

Man it pays to be an internet celebrity...

On another note, hey guys all my stuff was just stolen, halp!

@do_the_manta_ray: This sums up my feelings, for some reason this just looks a little gross to me. There are people that get robbed everyday that can't run to the internet for a few grand, and people in real need that donations could help out a lot more. It just kind of feels off to me, I won't be donating but once again if others want to I guess what's the harm?

This is absurd. I think the multibillion-dollar entertainment company he works for can probably just about cover it if one of their game reviewers needs a new Xbox in order to do his job.

Fuck that guy if he takes a penny of this money or encourages it in any way.

Wow.

Ever heard of help thy neighbour?

What a jerk.

Huh, that's definitely a lot of money.

So, I think people fail to realize in general is that people who do crowd-funding things are not extorting money from anybody. People are actually willingly giving money to them. If you don't think that person should get any money, you don't have to give them the money. Simple as that.

And also, a part of this will go to charity. What's wrong with that?

@jimbo:

damn i love dan but i agree

Okay, I think there is a good point being made. Regardless of the delivery. It seems like people are really falling on different sides of the fence here. While I agree that everyone is free do whatever they please with their money, perhaps the best solution would be for Dan to simply decline the generous offer being made by the community instead.

This isn't really comparable to charity giving. It is more like if a friend of yours got robbed and you have a whip round at the local bar to help the guy out.

If someone wants to donate $5 or whatever towards making a random persons life easier then good for them - it isn't that they won't donate to charity (remember the $100k we raised for extra life last year), it is that they maybe skip the skinny decaf latte on the way home.

Also - CBS is not going to buy any replacements. Staff will be provided with consoles at the office and they may be allowed to sign machines out for review purposes but "multibillion-dollar entertainment companies" don't stay rich by giving hand outs to staff.

This is an incredibly nice thing to do for someone. And, it's a rare occasion where you can instantly help someone who has been completely fucked over. Do people think GB has made Dan a millionaire or something? He lives in one of the most expensive cities to live in in the world. His apartment is tiny, and he more than likely pays a hell of a lot in rent. He had to move across country to take the job. I know that if I was in that situation, I could never take a 2700 dollar hit. Some people have decided "Hey, you know what? I like this guy, he has entertained me alot and will provide even more in the future. I am going to help him out by throwing him what equates to the price of a couple of beers." Somehow, not only is this reprehensible, Dan is some kind of scumbag for taking the offered charity in the first place. You think CBSi is going to comp him so he can buy new consoles? Not a chance. I don't know what massive multinational corporations some posters here work for, but wow they must be really nice people if they replace all your stuff after you are burgled.

Heres the thing. I WOULD BE FUCKING DEAD SOMEWHERE if not for the help of strangers and my friends charity. No kidding, no joke. Charity comes in many forms. There is nothing wrong about taking help when it is offered. Sure, we could donate to some other charity, but why not this too? It doesn't prevent me from giving to causes I have an interest in.

The only outcome is that a guy who I feel did not deserve to have his possessions stolen by some ratbag, gets to replace his stuff and can continue on with his life, and will hopefully be able to forget about the massive invasion of his privacy.

If my neighbor is in trouble, I help him out. But helping a stranger.... nooooooo. Dan works for a huge company and has money growing out his ears. He doesn't need our help, and shouldn't accept it. Fuck that. If you don't want to donate fine, no one should if they cant afford to or dont care. That is perfectly fine. But saying that it shouldn't happen in the first place? I really do not understand that train of thought.

You said it perfectly. If people want to help, that's fantastic. On top of that, he's said he won't take any more than he absolutely needs (which is less than the actual cost, since they don't seem to include taxes) and the extra money is going to charity, which the people who are whining about donating to charity are ignoring for their convenience.

There is literally no harm. People are not deciding between Dan and another charitable cause with their very last $5. If they want to donate to charity, they can. If they want to donate to Dan, they can. Hell, they can even do both!

I imagine most people who have/will donate to this are the same people who regularly donate to the various charity streams on here/gamespot/tested or anything else. This money isn't being taken away from other good causes; some people(not even rich people) just have the ability to throw 20+bucks at something like this (or a charity stream) and not think anything of it.

This continues to make me feel funny.

On one hand, this community has always been generous (although this extends far beyond GB at this point). I like Dan and considered helping, too. Not like he asked for this fundraiser.

On the other hand, I have many, many misgivings about it. If Dan fucked up and left a window open or something... eh, he should kind of have to face the consequences.

Nevertheless, taking the cash and donating the remainder is something he has every right to do. Won't harm my perception of him at all. And it'll be hilarious if he get more than Canseco again.

This seems weird, what's stopping OP from just running away with the money? Why not let Dan create a fundraiser if he needs to? Also OP is a relatively new user with 5 posts.

I'm not against the idea, I just see potential problems with scams.

@chaserooniman

To help people feel more comfortable about the project the money will go directly to Ryckert. I have emailed with him and worked out the details so he gets the money. The money never comes to me

Could you expand on that? Also your profile on indiegogo has no connected social network accounts. You should to that for credibility.

Dan can't afford to eat real food. Why do you think he can afford to just replace his consoles?

@forcen: I definitely can expand on that. The money goes directly to Ryckert's Paypal account. IndieGoGo allows me to choose where the money is distributed.

I don't have a social network tied to the account, and I can link my Twitter account no problem.

I decided to make the fundraiser because I wanted to help Dan and many people shared that sentiment.

Yes, I am a new user. I can't really change that. I've grown attached to this site over the last couple of weeks and I've been an avid listener of the Bombcast for a year or so. I don't have the same clout as others, but my intentions are good, and I don't know what else I can do to help on that front.

@the_nubster: Truth, Duder! This is reminding me of those people who refuse to do the Ice bucket challenge because there are people in the world deprived of water. As if they are gonna take that bucket of water and mail it to someone in Africa instead.

Grumpy much? I don't get why people are so so grouchy about people wanting to give money to help him out. Its really absurd how mad people are getting about this. I'd hate to be your friend in a jam. "Hey, can I borrow $50 to cover..." "No fuck off you greedy fuck!"

I mean people can do what they want with their money but I bet most people donating make much less money than dan does. playing devils advocate.

I don't really think either sides opinion is wrong really. I tihnk some like you said are a bit more angry about it then really is needed

I think @jimbo is a great poster, but I think it's silly to get upset about this. I would rather Dan receive support from his community rather than just about anyone else. He should know we're there for him, and he should be there for us too.

@darkstalker: And even if he does make more money then them that doesn't matter people are completely missing the point here its not even really ABOUT the money its about helping out someone that they consider a friend that has given and will continue to give them a ton of entertainment. The money just happens to be the method of help Dan needs right now.

Its not about who makes what money here its about the spirit of giving and generosity and letting Dan know that we appreciate him. And I think that is worth supporting especially since Dan said up front that if he gets covered by any other method the money will instantly go to charity.

like i said devils advocate.

I mostly agree with that. its hard not to feel like these people are your friends. I mean some of these guys ive been following for over 15 years.

I like how some people here are actually angry about people doing something nice for a fellow human being. Like, what?

Also, GB/the community raise money for charity every year. We raised over 100 grand last year in 2 days for extra life.

@vetterli: Or put the penny's in his ass.

i have to agree with you here. this is already pretty out of hand....

I'm probably not going to contribute but I really don't see the problem if people do. The man was robbed it's not like we're just giving him money to have.

Either way I hope he gets back to full tech strength soon!

First off, I think this is a nice idea that has been executed intelligently. Well thought out.

It's too bad people are being so poo-poo about it. The common complaint seems to be that since few else but someone popular like Dan would have this opportunity, he shouldn't deserve it. I firmly believe that more people and their surrounding social circles should function like this, and that there should be no problem having it start with Dan. If you're really tied into knots over his good fortune? Remember that he earned it by being a guy who inspired others to like him enough to want to help him out in a tough time. People deserve what they've earned, and Dan's earned trust capital and a feeling of friendship with his audience. Ain't nothin wrong with that.

Seems like most of it is for kind of silly reasons, but to be fair it is really weird. It's one thing to give a buddy $50 because he got robbed or cover lunch or whatever. It's another to have the internet completely take care of something like this. I could understand people reaching out for a really serious loss. But the guy lost maybe $3000. I think it's a little uncomfortable for him to get that just magically taken care of because he's on the internet. I think things like that are what make fame such a potentially toxic thing. And I think that a lot of people believe that when you go through a hard time you should have to lift yourself up. Not just to prove that you can or that you're "worthy" but because it's what you should do.

I would gladly help a friend I knew who'd been robbed. But the fact is none of my buddies could get even a $3000 loss just taken care of unless it was because they were responsible with their property and insured it.

There's a balance between helping out your fellow man, your neighbor, your countryman, and just throwing money at someone because they are popular. If I see Dan this weekend at PAX, I'll give him a pat on the back, tell him I'm sorry and that shit sucks, and leave it at that. The fact is, he can take care of himself and I think it's reasonable to see money that unquestionably does not need to be given to the guy, no matter how great he is or how little he deserves it, and feel uncomfortable about it.

It doesn't help that, in theory, his job roughly resembles journalism.

Had the guy lost $30,000 or something, I could see trying to raise a few grand to help soften the blow. But $3000? That sucks to lose but I also know that Dan could have taken care of that on his own. Maybe it would have taken a bit longer but he wasn't hurting in a real serious way. His way of life was not threatened, and he's not going to have to sell his kidney just to keep his job or his place of residence.

And it's also fair to point out that almost all of what he lost was pretty unimportant. Other than the data on his phone and laptop, which money will not bring back, he just lost some devices that range from "nice luxuries to have" to "useful but not essential for work."

Had this been a "replace Dan's phone!" thing with the rest of the money going to Child's play, I would feel way more comfortable giving. But I don't think charity is the answer to someone losing their video game consoles.

I also don't like that people are so against the idea that the money could have been better spent. $2700 could do a lot of good for some sick kids. I believe that priorities are important, and I believe that a lot of people aren't helping to be helpful but just because they get to interact with fame in a novel way. Maybe that's cynical, but it's not exactly central to my feelings on the subject.

All of that said, while I feel it's a little uncomfortable, I think most people (on both sides) are over-reacting. And I don't blame the guy for accepting the money. He's in a shitty situation and if that brings him comfort and makes his life easier, it's totally sensible to accept what was willingly offered.

I just wish people would see there's more to life than internet stardom. There are as many people incensed that anyone is suggesting that money should be put to better use as there are people incensed that it's going to replace a grown ass man's video game consoles. It's easy to get caught up in these kinds of things and feel the need to help, but it would not hurt to redirect that desire to help someone in a more effective direction. Send Dan kind words, wish him a speedy financial and mental recovery, and send a few bucks to help dieing kids die a little less often.

It is very cool to see how supportive this community is, I just think it ended up being a little misguided and over-blown. Personally if I had suffered a loss of the same scale, I would not have accepted any help from anyone beyond someone helping to clean up if the thief managed to fuck up my place in any meaningful way.

I sorta just wish people would stop bickering about it though. I don't care what side you're on, it's not really something that warrants the kind of "conversations" I've seen on this thread and the other.

How is this different if someone mails Dan those consoles? Didnt someone send a whole PC for Patrick?

It's hilarious that you think a "multibillion-dollar entertainment company" would give a shit about Dan's stuff being stolen enough to reimburse him. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure that it was Dan's personal belongings that were stolen, not the company's property/game systems.

I think it's clear that the community is deeply passionate and involved with the staff. Many of us regard the staff members as our close friends, even though many of us will probably never meet them in real life. I don't see a problem with us giving staff members money at all. All of the subscribers on this website (and there are plenty) are already indirectly giving them money, what's wrong with directly giving them money for specific causes or when they really need it?

Hell, I want to take it one step further and remove the middle man. Honestly, I don't see the reason why Giantbomb needs CBSi at all. Giantbomb's word about Kickstarter projects always seems to massively bump the projects that they choose to speak about. They have a lot of power.

I've always wondered if the best route for Giantbomb would be to ditch any parent company and be directly funded by subscribers themselves via crowd funding.

@jarmahead: You are over thinking it to the extreme. You don't look a gift horse in the mouth. You can go on and on about the details, but at the end of the day it's just people being nice to a person they like. And if you think this doesn't warrant conversation why did you post the largest comment in the whole thread detailing your opinion on the subject?

I don't even know what the fuck is going on anymore with this "community".

Man, this community never fails to amaze me (in a good way btw).

@jimbo said:

Clearly, you aren't familiar with CBS. :/

Nobody is helping the guy replace work property. They're helping him replace personal property that is related to providing us the entertainment we get from him. I think it is a nice gesture and whether he accepts it or not is fine with me. It's only a few bucks and it is started and conducted by fellow users; not something official. Not even promoted officially in any capacity whatsoever. If he were a twitch streamer or youtuber making money off ads, nobody would have a problem with helping him after a burglary.

I understand finding it a grey area. Or even being off put by it. Entirely rational and reasonable. I just don't personally find any reason to take issue with it, myself. It's not like the same community doesn't raise deep into six figures for Child's Play, too. Or that it doesn't kick in a ton during Oktobercast for Tested. Or that chipping in a few dollars for a duder is somehow going to deprive other charitable contributions that people would or wouldn't have made.