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Buy Zomboid – Get indie game Homesick – Save an indie dev's life!

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Directly from the Project Zomboid developers:

Chloe Sagal, a valued member of our community and fellow indie developer, needs life saving surgery to remove a piece of shrapnel after a car accident, and if she doesn’t have it removed it will be fatal.

She released a wonderful little game called Homesick, along with a donate button, with the hope of raising the money to be able to afford the surgery. Sadly the game got direct links sent around and thus her chances of making the money were seriously scuppered. You can read more about this here:

http://indiestatik.com/2013/04/03/homesick

We would love to help out, and were discussing how much to donate, when we came up with a plan to be able to give as much as possible. Certainly more than we could afford to currently.

As such we’ve made the decision to give all proceeds from Project Zomboid on Desura for the next three days to her indiegogo campaign. While this would normally not be that much, we’re hoping this will help encourage more people to help support her campaign, and spread the word.

We’ve not asked Chloe herself if its okay to do this, since as the indiestatik article shows, she’s received enough vitriol from certain quarters for asking for money for Homesick, so we want to just do this and get her the money she needs ASAP. Time is very much of the essence.

So please, purchase PZ today, and we’ll ask Scott at Desura to announce our sales for the next three days (from today, including what we’ve made so far) to make sure the amount we give is accurate. So buy copies, gift them to their friends (all will be Steam redeemable) and spread the word.

Buy it here.

Forum post here.

This is one fucked up world we live in where poisonous shrapnel is left in patients just because they can't pay up front.

For those skeptical, if you read one of the links, indiegogo have investigated the legitimacy of the situation before allowing the campaign's return.
 

JDSN

Banned
Fucking piece of shit health system, I was gonna buy Zomboid anyway. Ill put some cash at indigogo at the end of the month.
 

Acorn

Member
Healthcare is a right not a privilege, the sooner those lagging behind realise this the better for all humanity.
 
What country does she live in? At least in the US, I don't think a hospital can refuse to perform an life-saving operation just because the person cannot pay the bill.


Am I wrong?
 

bengraven

Member
Can we buy it as a gift?

I already have it, but I'll buy a copy or two and just gift it to some GAFfers or something.
 
Ok I read some more. Why doesn't she go to the emergency room? She's talking about having picked a specific surgeon. If you go to the emergency room, they cannot deny you a life saving operation.
 

Keasar

Member
Wasn't this supposed to be fixed? Like insurance companies not be able to be assholes anymore? Or even better, not having to pay for a life saving procedure? Fucking hell. Buying another copy, will figure out who to give it to later.
 
Ok I read some more. Why doesn't she go to the emergency room? She's talking about having picked a specific surgeon. If you go to the emergency room, they cannot deny you a life saving operation.
Maybe this isn't considered an immediately life threatening emergency.
 

Mesoian

Member
What country does she live in? At least in the US, I don't think a hospital can refuse to perform an life-saving operation just because the person cannot pay the bill.


Am I wrong?

In an emergency situation, yes, you cannot be refused at a modern medical facility.

Her condition does not warrant an emergency situation though. She could work with the fiance department to figure out a way to take out a load for the operation, but that is essentially entering a life of indentured servitude.

The really sad thing about her story was, had all the proper channels pointed back to her indiegogo account and certain links not been deleted, she probably would have gotten the community backing and a really decent amount of funding. Pewdiepie is a piece of shit, but he generates a lot of traffic that was focused on her game for a very short amount of time. But the window of attention for things like her game is very small and hard to reopen.

I hope she gets all the help she can, her position is a very difficult one to be in in this country.
 
Let's keep this thread going, besides saving her life you will also be getting one of the more promising indie games... and that includes a Steam key down the line.

Holy shit American health care is fucked up. And her parents sound like atrocious people.

Where does it mention her parents?
 

Cat Party

Member
Something isn't right about this. She should be able to get such a surgery even without money up front.

Any more details?
 

Mesoian

Member
Something isn't right about this. She should be able to get such a surgery even without money up front.

Any more details?

If you are unable to give proof of employment or the ability to pay, you can be refused a surgery, even if it's life preserving. As I said earlier though, the hospital will often try to help you financially in order for the surgery to progress, but that usually includes a massive loan with a devastating APR that could mean she pays almost 3 times the upfront amount. It's a really shitty situation to be in.

I had to get surgery done about a year ago and the day of the procedure was the day my health insurance switched over from one agency to the other, so for 1 day, I was without health insurance (or rather the forward information to give). The doctors tried to convince me to wait until I had all the information I had was in order or else I would be on the hook for it all but I couldn't due to the internal bleeding. Thankfully I spoke to the head nurse who had me speak with the fiance office and as long as I could offer up my insurance the next day, it would all be fine. But that didn't stop them from sending me multi-thousand dollar bills to my house, that, had I not had health insurance, would have been 100% unable to pay.

I don't think Medicare would cover her particular surgery either. Probably something about a preexisting condition.
 

fushi

Member
Donated. I hope she'll make it.
Holy shit American health care is fucked up. And her parents sound like atrocious people.
Yeah, that bit about her mother just pissed me off. Treating your own flesh and blood like that just because of her sexual orientation? What the fuckkkk.
 
In an emergency situation, yes, you cannot be refused at a modern medical facility.

Her condition does not warrant an emergency situation though. She could work with the fiance department to figure out a way to take out a load for the operation, but that is essentially entering a life of indentured servitude.

The really sad thing about her story was, had all the proper channels pointed back to her indiegogo account and certain links not been deleted, she probably would have gotten the community backing and a really decent amount of funding. Pewdiepie is a piece of shit, but he generates a lot of traffic that was focused on her game for a very short amount of time. But the window of attention for things like her game is very small and hard to reopen.

I hope she gets all the help she can, her position is a very difficult one to be in in this country.

I guess I can see how it could not be immediately life threatening, but she is outright saying that she will die without the money collected from this campaign (or any fundraising campaign for that matter).

I still take issue with that, because even it the emergency room won't consider it an operation requiring immediate medical attention to save her life, any major hospital is almost certainly willing to bill her for it with 0 money up front, even if the terms are... shall we say, less than agreeable.

Is it more expensive that way? With almost 100% certainty, and she would be in debt for a long time, but I don't know, I just find it very strange that there's no mention of having tried that at all. I mean sure, who wouldn't want to have someone else pay for their operation. Maybe it's just me though, but I don't like to place my burden upon others, even when I've been legitimately wronged.

And what of the other countries? In India or Thailand she could probably get this operation for pennies on the dollar. But it sounds like she wants the best, and I don't know, maybe it sounds cold but beggars can't be choosers, even if it's not fair.
 

Mesoian

Member
I guess I can see how it could not be immediately life threatening, but she is outright saying that she will die without the money collected from this campaign (or any fundraising campaign for that matter).

There are a lot of cancer patients out there or people suffering from (for example) HIV that are in this position. It sucks, a lot. And there's very little that can be done most of the time.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
I guess I can see how it could not be immediately life threatening, but she is outright saying that she will die without the money collected from this campaign (or any fundraising campaign for that matter).

I still take issue with that, because even it the emergency room won't consider it an operation requiring immediate medical attention to save her life, any major hospital is almost certainly willing to bill her for it with 0 money up front, even if the terms are... shall we say, less than agreeable.

Is it more expensive that way? With almost 100% certainty, and she would be in debt for a long time, but I don't know, I just find it very strange that there's no mention of having tried that at all. I mean sure, who wouldn't want to have someone else pay for their operation. Maybe it's just me though, but I don't like to place my burden upon others, even when I've been legitimately wronged.
How about reading more? All the links are there. She's tried pretty much everything people have suggested here. She can't get medical loans because of bad credit, she's lost twice in court, once with the hospital for malpractice and leaving the shrapnel in there to begin with and once with her insurance company for not being willing to cover the costs. Furthermore, she's tried different hospitals and nobody's willing to let her pay later because the probability of survival from the surgery itself is actually lower than normal. Sure, it could all be lies, though indiegogo supposedly investigated the case, but at least it's all there.
 
How about reading more? All the links are there. She's tried pretty much everything people have suggested here. She's lost twice in court, once with the hospital for malpractice and once with her insurance company. Nobody's willing to let her pay later when the probability of survival from the surgery itself is lower than normal. Sure, it could all be lies, though indiegogo supposedly investigated the case, but at least it's all there.

I guess I've just never heard of this, so I'm a little skeptical that Nobody actually means nobody. But who knows, maybe it really does, in which case I stand corrected.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Obviously nobody from those she tried, not anybody in the world. Which is probably all she could viably reach.

Or maybe she enjoys having metal poisoning so she's stalling just to get a handsome hand picked doctor to do it instead of a random.

If you want me to prove it's nobody in the world, I cannot. At the same time, I feel confident in saying she as a person with a given set of abilities is doing what she can to solve her problem, and it's not enough.

So I feel your skepticism is crossing a line here, being so fierce about it as if you somehow know of her situation better than herself just because you haven't heard about things like this in the past. Everyone else has.
 

Mesoian

Member
I guess I've just never heard of this, so I'm a little skeptical that Nobody actually means nobody. But who knows, maybe it really does, in which case I stand corrected.

It happens and it's fucked up. It's one of those things that you hear about and think, "there's enough common sense in society in general to make sure that things like this don't happen", but then you look at the facts and...no, there's not.

I tossed her a few bucks. I'm not really interested in her game, but everyone deserves a break.
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
Healthcare system aside. It's a worthy cause. Project Zomboid is a really fun survival game. A lot more than it should be.
 

Tempy

don't ask me for codes
Already had my eye on Zomboid for a long time now. Guess now is a good time to finally buy it.
 
Looks like the developer of Thomas Was Alone is pledging all money from direct sales of his game off his website (where you get a Steam key + DRM free), as well as organizing a bundle of some sort. His twitter is kind of hard to follow cause he's conversing about this with a bunch of people:
https://twitter.com/mikeBithell

Mike Bithell ‏@mikeBithell 7h
indies.. can we get a bundle together to help with this? Who can help us organize this?

Mike Bithell ‏@mikeBithell 7h
people dashing around. If you don't want to wait for our solution.. 100% of my earnings from Thomas direct sales are going to this from now.
 
What country does she live in? At least in the US, I don't think a hospital can refuse to perform an life-saving operation just because the person cannot pay the bill.


Am I wrong?
Welcome to privatized health insurance. Better hope you don't lose your insurance, it can be a death sentence (or at best financial death).
 

cluderi

Member
Been meaning to pick up Thomas Was Alone but was waiting for the Vita version.
I'll pick that up when it appears but in the mean time I've gone for the direct version and PZ.

Seriously fuck a system that lets someone die slowly because they can't pay.
 

Hasney

Member
Holy shit American health care is fucked up. And her parents sound like atrocious people.

Pretty much sums it up. Just wanted to add that Zomboid is terrific so you should buy it anyway, but buying it now makes it even sweeter.

I am so thankful to have the NHS in this country when I read things like this though.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
oddly enough from work it was blocked condition red by site adviser .. is this all legit? Hope she pulls through.!
The indie stone isn't even where you go to pay, it's just the forum where she initially posted her free game on a while back.

Just turn such silly and useless security features off.
 

Easy_D

never left the stone age
In an emergency situation, yes, you cannot be refused at a modern medical facility.

Her condition does not warrant an emergency situation though. She could work with the fiance department to figure out a way to take out a load for the operation, but that is essentially entering a life of indentured servitude.

The really sad thing about her story was, had all the proper channels pointed back to her indiegogo account and certain links not been deleted, she probably would have gotten the community backing and a really decent amount of funding. Pewdiepie is a piece of shit, but he generates a lot of traffic that was focused on her game for a very short amount of time. But the window of attention for things like her game is very small and hard to reopen.

I hope she gets all the help she can, her position is a very difficult one to be in in this country.
Wait, so since it's not fatal right now, they'll refuse her because she can't afford surgery? And when it IS critical, it'll pretty much be too late? Fucked up.

Edit: Why is Pewdipie a pice of shit? Did I miss something? I mean other than him being incredibly annoying and putting on an incredibly fake personality.
 

fallagin

Member
Fuck our healthcare system, how can we even call ourselves a first world country if we cant even get that right?
 

RotBot

Member
Some people think she's lying about the nature of her surgery.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comme..._homesick_developer_needs_life_saving/c985j27
So, Metal Poisoning is not a thing. You also cant just lose a court case like this for no reason, no matter how unprepared you are, and a hospital would not bother to take it to court unless they were very convinced there was a possibility they were not responsible.

This comment:

" I called and talked with my mother the other day. It started as me breaking the news about all of this, pleading for her help, to her telling me I'm a disappointment, and that all my problems were my fault or in my head, because of my 'lifestyle choice'. I screamed at her and that was that."

this comment:

"Unfortunately the metal object is in a compromising place"

this comment:

"On a side note, there is a second surgery that I am seeking to get caused by the accident, however, it is not vital to my survival, but it is vital to myself being able to live a normal life. "

this video:

[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KbFJZHTzuy0

Did you see it yet? The reason her surgery is not covered by insurance, and the hospital was able to get out of this, and she made up a disease is... You're funding a Transexuals follow up to a botched surgery.

I have nothing against transexuals, but its pretty shitty to lie about why you need surgery while at the same time asking for handouts.

Her story seemed sketchy or at least ambiguous, so other people have asked her to share more details about her condition, but she has refused. I'd be wary of giving this campaign any money before these issues are clarified.
 
Some people think she's lying about the nature of her surgery.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comme..._homesick_developer_needs_life_saving/c985j27


Her story seemed sketchy or at least ambiguous, so other people have asked her to share more details about her condition, but she has refused. I'd be wary of giving this campaign any money before these issues are clarified.

Im sure i sounded like a heartless ass when i was questioning this earlier in the thread, but shit like this is exactly why im so jaded. I just KNEW that a piece of the story was being conveniently omitted, or that something wasnt adding up, and now it kind of makes sense.

I dont even remember the last time i saw one of these "please give me money" things that turned out to be justified.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Im sure i sounded like a heartless ass when i was questioning this earlier in the thread, but shit like this is exactly why im so jaded. I just KNEW that a piece of the story was being conveniently omitted, or that something wasnt adding up, and now it kind of makes sense.

I dont even remember the last time i saw one of these "please give me money" things that turned out to be justified.
All I did was point out that she claimed she did in fact try every single suggestion you were giving out as some kind of authority in such matters and how you could at least read everything before posting about what you feel is wrong, simply to avoid recycling points that have in fact already been addressed. At the same time I myself said it could still very well all be an elaborate lie. Saying something is potentially a lie (which you also did, but with nothing of substance to so fiercely make that claim over, outside somehow refusing to believe corporations can unjustly win cases, which does happen whether it's a lie in this case or not) is one thing, suggesting to try this or that when the claim is she has already done so is another. Please don't try to act like some kind of victim that has now been unquestionably vindicated for everything you told.

I also don't see how any of that is proof. There are metals like nickel that do cause poisoning, so that claim's out, though I don't know if they're included in cars, and everyone knows insurance companies have expert legal teams that try to dodge their way around paying up. So, you can't just lose cases but she still provided reasons for losing those cases, like how much time had passed since the incident before the issue was discovered and how that because of it she has no proof that it was in fact that accident which caused it. So, once again, truth or lie, that has been addressed reasonably, not unreasonably as the claim is, so they need to disprove it in a different manner, or request to see some official document that proves her side of the story before believing her, rather than make things up as proof against her side of the story.

The claim she's a transsexual looking for a follow up operation is clearly just a reaction to her voice. Perhaps it's true, but it's not true because some guy on youtube or reddit said it or because you don't find her cute.

I didn't read all of it so perhaps you can tell me why you turn RotBot's post about how "some people think she's lying" into something like "so I was right, she's in fact lying, take that nay sayers who told me off" or whatever.
 

JDSN

Banned
Im sure i sounded like a heartless ass when i was questioning this earlier in the thread, but shit like this is exactly why im so jaded. I just KNEW that a piece of the story was being conveniently omitted, or that something wasnt adding up, and now it kind of makes sense.

I dont even remember the last time i saw one of these "please give me money" things that turned out to be justified.
Id there any conclusive evidence in that reddit post that makes you think she is lying?

It honestly seems more dishonest to me that you think that the campaing backing is shady, but hace no trouble jumping on that ruined mexican sex change bandwagon based on an ignorant post made by someone that doesnt have a clue about medicine, illness and both mexican and Us health systems.
 
Id there any conclusive evidence in that reddit post that makes you think she is lying?

It honestly seems more dishonest to me that you think that the campaing backing is shady, but hace no trouble jumping on that ruined mexican sex change bandwagon based on an ignorant post made by someone that doesnt have a clue about medicine, illness and both mexican and Us health systems.

Everything on the internet is a lie unless proven otherwise. Its so easy to make up a story and ask for money that occam's razor is usually right. There's no proof of anything, literally, just her saying it's true, and she gets actually belligerent when people have publicly adked for proof.

Sorry, but when youre asking for money, the burden of proof is most definitely on you. And when your life is on the line and youve got nothing to lose, it's hard to imagine why you'd refuse completely reasonable requests.

the biggest thing is that the pieces actually fit with this version of the story. The "compromising place", the fact that suing for medical malpractice wont work, the "lifestyle choices". Oh and the smoking gun? she LOOKS and sounds like a guy in the video.

I dont care if she's a transexual and she actually does need the operation, what i care about is the concocted sympathy story
 
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