The History of PWN: Part 1

How it all began...

In early 2008 the 2old2playHalo clan only had one remaining member that had not purchased an Xbox 360 and so couldn't play Halo 3 with the rest of us.  He was a father and fighterfighter going through medical training to become an EMT.  Mulchinator took initiative and started the GLAD360 drive (Get <member's name> A Damn 360).  That drive got off to a good start but later fizzled.  It's tough to keep motivation going when you don't actually see people or have anything tangible to remind you of the issue at hand.

So, we decided to take another stab at it with a new twist.  We didn't just ask clanmates for donations, we challenged them.  We came up with wacky stuff like "I'll donate $10 if Flapjaxx and DaQueen dual teabag someone in a game while singing the "I love you" Barney song."  It wasn't just a fundraiser, it was a gaming event that members could relate to.  It was a blast and a total success.  A new 360 was shipped to our member in need about two weeks after the new drive started.

During the GLAD360 drive, some clan members expressed interest in doing another similar drive for a charity organization.  We wanted to use the same energy and excitement but go bigger and broader.  The choice for our charity became glaringly clear when we remembered another clanmate that wasn't playing Halo3 with us.  This time we couldn't actually help the person, but we knew we could show our support.

SwankyVariable joined our clan in April of '07. He quickly became a crowd favorite, due to his excellent game play and irreverently awesome attitude. And we were all happy for him when his son, Nathan, was born in August. What we didn't know for a while, until January 2008, was that his beautiful son was afflicted with PKD (polycystic kidney disease). Swanky posted in January on his blog of the hardships they had faced to that point. Due to all of the issues with this, he was out of touch. But you are all gamers, and most of you are in a clan. As much trouble as you give each other, real friendships form, and endure. Swanky was still in our clan, minds, and hearts. PKDCure.org and the PKD Foundation were a natural fit for the fundraiser we wanted to do.  We were going to fight for a PKD cure in Nathan's honor.  2o2p style.

At the time we didn't have a name for the event, but the Pwnathon was conceived.