so wondrous! If you added alt-text to your images there would be a whole bunch more people who could take part in this space exploration!

#AltTxt #VisuallyImpairedEquality

Congratulations!

I dislike to point it out after all the effort that went into it, but I do have some unease with the naming of the instance though. To me it can sound as if it was meant for radical opinions on social work only, or as if it will all depend on you only. Something akin to socialwork.world / socialwork.all might have been more inclusive. But perhaps this is only me overthinking things (?)

I think that's an excellent idea for a future instance that someone else can certainly create!

I created this instance to centre on the direction that I believe would benefit the field - focusing more energy on changing systems instead of people. After all, polices are often what fail folx in the first place.

This is what radical social work is all about. I encourage you to investigate!

Here's an article that speaks more to this: socialwelfareactionalliance.or…

Practice

Visit the post for more.

^{Social Welfare Action Alliance}

I discovered "One Hour One Life" from YouTube, like most people. It's the kind of game that's really interesting to watch, and after watching some of it you really want to try it.

A survival game where you get exactly one hour to live. You start as a baby, in the care of *another player.* Your mom is randomly assigned, just like in real life. If she doesn't feed you and clothe you? You will die!

Once you are a toddler, you can start helping your family survive. 2/

I was so impressed that just one guy made the whole game. When I got into it there would be 100s of people on each server and new technology and tools were always being added.

It's possible to survive on your own in the woods, but with cooperation it's possible to build a civilization.

But, the thing that makes it meaningful is this: the game doesn't force you to be civil. You can kill other players. You can ruin projects, you CAN be a jerk. But most people aren't. 3/

Games provide all kinds of wish fulfillment & power fantasies. I've struggled to find games that I enjoy. But this game, offering a warm feeling of building something together, of getting the chance to *really* help others was perfect! I can't get excited about beating a big monster, or commanding an army, but being the one who made an ax and kept the fire going for our village? That's my power fantasy.

I decided to send a nice note to the guy who made the game & looked for the forums. 4/

In the forums players were mostly praising the game, making suggestions and pointing out bugs.

Jason Rohrer, who created the game was trying to keep up. It was clear that the forums were needed since there were bugs, but it was also clear that the forums stressed Jason out.

He'd sometimes post really hostile things. He seemed to particularly resent suggestions.

Managing a big forum can be a full-time job. Developing a game and managing a forum is two full times jobs. 5/

But Jason didn't want help. Not from volunteers or hired. He started talking about a change to the game that most players said they wouldn't like at all. The feedback on this change was almost universally negative.

But then he went and made the change anyway which made a lot of the players get mad and leave.

Also, fewer youTube videos were being made of the game. Jason hated the idea of reaching out to youTube channels and asking them to play, he didn't seem to want to get new players. 6/

This made everyone sad, because without a critical mass of players the game just slowly dies.

I also think that he never really understood what made the game bottled lightening. How many other games give you the opportunity to help other players? This is possible in games like Minecraft, but OHOL had a structure that looped players in. You start your life getting help from your mom and family. It feels natural to give back. 7/