Guild Wars 2 to Introduce a Story-Driven Event Featuring a New NPC Based on a Real-Life Local Hero Supported by Their Partner Children’s Miracle Network
On Oct. 14, to support Extra Life this year, ArenaNet announced a new original in-game content for Guild Wars 2: a story-driven event featuring a new NPC based on a real-life local hero supported by the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN). Every year, CMN Hospitals identify a “champion” in their local community to serve as the face for children treated at their local children’s hospital. This year, Children’s Health of Orange County is recognizing April Arellano, a 10-year-old girl who underwent a leg amputation to save her from life-threatening infection. April will be voiced in-game by none other than esteemed voice actress Jennifer Hale, while her prosthetic will feature the most advanced jade technology, a scientific revelation most recently revealed in Tyria in February’s End of Dragons expansion. You can read more about April’s story here: https://foundation.choc.org/healthcare/choc-2021-local-cmn-champion/
With the new event, ArenaNet hopes to create a 24-hour livestream experience during Extra Life on November 4, that pulls in community engagement and incentivizes people to donate to the stream while also delving a bit further into the event’s plot. As players donate money to reach new stretch goals, additional hints will be granted for players to help them progress through April’s story. April and the new event will be permanent additions to the game and all donations earned during Extra Life will go to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Meet April!
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At 15 months old, April Arellano was sick and struggling to breathe, struck with a 105-degree fever. Parents Antonio and Shannon brought her to a local hospital, where they were able to determine that April had pneumonia in her right lung. However, they were unable to treat her. Her family made a quick decision to transfer her to Children’s Health of Orange County (CHOC), a member hospital of Children’s Miracle Network.
Once there, doctors were able to immediately treat April and diagnose her with septic shock. Septic shock is fatal in 98% of cases involving children, but thanks to the specialists at CHOC, April was quickly diagnosed and treated, saving her life. Further tests showed that the septic shock April was suffering from had stopped the blood flow to her extremities, causing the skin there to die all the way down to the muscle. April was transferred to the burn unit at a neighboring hospital where they determined that gangrene had already begun to set in on April’s right calf. The doctors made the decision to amputate April’s leg to stop any further infection – once again saving her life.
April is 10 years old now, and she loves to sing, dance, perform in local theater, and play video games. Her parents attribute her current good health to the support provided by CHOC and Children’s Miracle Network hospitals.
Meet April, the Mesmer wunderkind!!
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April was born and raised just outside of Divinity’s Reach, in the small village of Garenhoff. She’s an ambitious and adept mesmer- and a serial meddler. We spent a lot of time working together with the real April and her parents to nail down aspects of her design, and we’re extremely proud of the result! April will be appearing in Guild Wars 2 as an important part of a special game update that will go live during our Extra Life 2022 Game Day event.
This event is an important part of our Extra Life plans for this year, so we’re keeping most of the details under wraps for now. We want the maximum impact possible on Game Day to help change kids’ health! Make sure to tune in to our Extra Life Game Day stream on November 4 for more information on how you can access this new content and meet April yourself.
A quick word from our dev team on the upcoming content:
“Hey all, Indigo Boock here! I’m a narrative designer working on Guild Wars 2. We’re so excited for everyone to dig into April’s little adventure during our Extra Life Game Day. I don’t want to reveal too many secrets just yet, but I can say that getting to talk with April Lynn and learn about her story was such a delight. I was immediately inspired by her confidence (and her dance moves, of course). April’s character in-game is resilient, brave, and filled with charm—but she barely compares to her namesake. We can’t wait for you to witness our little mesmer’s shenanigans firsthand.”
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