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General

Game Ventures Introduction

Game Ventures was born from the idea that many video game players and fans are interested in seeing their favorite games pushed to the limit - but may lack the time or gumption to reach that level themselves. These gamers can launch a Venture - a monetary award for completing a difficult gaming task or unearthing a new discovery - to incentivize and reward skilled players to improve that game's state-of-the-art. These Ventures may be for improved speedruns, high score playthroughs, unique challenges, discovery of new tricks and glitches, and much more. Game Ventures supports all of this by providing a central listing service, structured processes that encourage cooperation and optimization, and acting as a trusted intermediary for prize distribution.

Signing Up

Creating an account with Game Ventures is simple! To sign up, simply click the Log In/SignUp button in the upper right of most pages. Select the "Sign Up" tab in the modal that appears, and enter your information. All you need are an email, password, and user handle. For a variety of legal reasons, you must also be 18 years of age or older, and agree to our Terms of Service and rules.

Some caveats:

  • You cannot use the same email to create multiple accounts. The email address you provide will be used for logging in later on.
  • User handles must be unique. Sorry if your preferred handle isn't available; please select another or use a variation!
  • Passwords must be at least 10 characters in length. The password strength gauge is meant to suggest whether you should add more complexity to the password; use weak passwords at your own risk!

We designed Game Ventures to be fairly simple and straightforward to navigate, but it doesn't hurt to explain a bit more how to get around. Below are some of the main sections of the site, and how to get around them. Note that this refers to the typical desktop orientation of the site; if you are on mobile, the navigation options may appear from within the menu accessed from the "hamburger" three-line button.

  • Portal : You probably started here! This page just has our introduction graphics and information on our mission. To return to this page at any time, click the Game Ventures banner image in the upper-left.
  • Venture Board : The Venture Board is one of the main sections listed in the navigation bar at the top of the page. Click the text or symbol to view and search through the available Ventures.
  • Create Venture : Same as Venture Board, click on the text or symbol to be taken to the Venture Creation page. You can set up and submit new Ventures from this page.
  • Library : All the information on site policies, guidelines, examples, and other information is in the Library! It also has its own spot in the navigation bar.
  • Venture Pages : Each Venture has its own page containing more details on its progress, stream activity, Claims, and more. You can access these pages by clicking on the goal text for the particular venture; for example "Any%" or "High Score" while looking at a Venture listing on the Venture Board.
  • Claim Pages : Just like individual Ventures, each Claim has its own page as well! You can access a Claim's page by clicking on "Claim Details" from underneath the Claim video on the Venture page.
  • Dashboard : Each user has their own Dashboard for tracking interesting or draft Ventures, prior Claims, Contributions, and otherwise. Access it by clicking on your user handle in the upper-right (you must be logged in), then selecting Dashboard.
  • Settings : Account information, settings, and other platform connections are available in the user Settings page. While logged in, click your user handle in the upper-right, and click on Settings.
  • Notifications : Game Ventures provides various notifications when significant events occur for the site or Ventures that you follow. When new such notifications are available, a red dot will appear on the bell in the upper-right (if you're logged in). Clicking on the bell will take you to the Notifications tab of your Dashboard, where you can read the current and past notification messages.

Account Linking

Game Ventures needs to interact with some external services to enable access to all of the site features. A list and status of available linked accounts is in the "Settings" page for a user, and then selecting the "Connections" tab. Below are summaries of the available platforms you can link to your Game Ventures account.

Twitch

Linking a Twitch account enables users to have their Twitch broadcasts listed on Venture pages. To link your Twitch account, follow the instructions in the window that appears to log in to your Twitch account and grant visibility permissions to Game Ventures. Game Ventures does not see your Twitch log-in information, and can only detect certain streaming events, such as going online or changing stream title.

Stripe

Please note that currently only users based in the United States will be able to link Stripe accounts. We are investigating other means for users outside the United States to submit Claims, but none are currently ready. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have another solution available soon.

Linking a Stripe account enables users to submit Claims. This step is necessary to ensure that Game Ventures can transfer payment to the user if they should win a Venture. Creating or linking a Stripe account requires quite a lot of information, however, so please make sure the following information is available before starting:

  • Name, email, address, and phone number
  • Bank account and routing number
  • SSN or other legal identifying document

There are also some fields that may be confusing for individual users. If you have an existing personal business, you may use that information where appropriate. But if you don't have a formal business, don't worry, here are some tips for a few of the trickier fields:

  • Business Industry: We suggest using Digital Products → Games as your industry.
  • Business website: You can link to any of your own social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Twitch, or LinkedIn. You may also enter https://gameventures.org if no such accounts are available.
  • Business Description: We suggest just entering "Contest participation" for this field.
  • Statement Descriptor: We recommend using your user handle as the descriptor, for both the main and shortened descriptor fields. If the username is too long, a shortened variant is just fine.

Once you've submitted the information, your Stripe account should be active and linked. You may submit Claims once this is done. However, many Stripe accounts may be listed as "UNVERIFIED" at the start. Stripe may require you to take additional steps to Verify the account. To actually receive a payout from Game Ventures, your Stripe account must be listed as "VERIFIED." Verifying the Stripe account can be done at any time, even after being identified as the winner of a Venture.