Raiding has been a part of World of Warcraft’s gameplay portfolio ever since the game’s original launch, and part of its challenge involves having to deal with a default user interface that’s not very intuitive. It is because of this that, for nearly as long as World of Warcraft has existed, one fan-made mod has long been considered a mandatory add-on for any and all would-be raiders: Deadly Boss Mods.
Considering how beloved Deadly Boss Mods (or DBM) has become to the World of Warcraft community, it’s probably not very surprising that when the mod’s creator, a man named Adam Williams, recently opened up about some real-life financial difficulties he was facing, thousands of players and fans stepped up to offer both moral and tangible support.
Earlier this month, Williams (who goes by the online handle MysticalOS) posted a lengthy update on the official DBM website in which he chronicled the real-life problems which had been preventing him from keeping up with the mod’s ongoing development. Along with taking care of his disabled mother, Williams had been putting off expensive dental surgery which he couldn’t afford because the Patreon revenue he normally depended on had taken a major hit in December due to a potential platform change that had later been reverted.
Williams made it clear that he wasn’t looking for sympathy or handouts, he just wanted to explain his situation. Still, that didn’t stop thousands of World of Warcraft players (many of whom hadn’t even realized that DBM is the product of a single hard-working person) from donating money and offering words of encouragement. As of this writing, Williams’ Patreon page has reached its highest funding goal, which means he’ll be able to get his dental surgery, see to both his and his mother’s needs, and even hire a second developer if he feels he needs one in the near future.
The story of DBM creator Adam Williams is just the latest feel-good story to come out of the online gaming space, a space which could certainly use as many such stories as it can find. For more inspiring stories, be sure to read about the group of Destiny 2 raiders who helped an 81-year-old player clear the game’s Leviathan raid, or this group of deaf players who conquered the Destiny 2 Spire of Stars raid lair using a custom-built visual tool.