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Hey y'all, this is @CharlesHHuang. Before plugging our stuff, I'd thought I'd mention some inspirations and link to resources to those interested in inclusivity in games
So we're doing a megabooth for marginalized folx. In comparison, the indie megabooth tends to be wealthy... We're hoping to provide an alternative
indiemegabooth.com/indie-economic…
indiemegabooth.com/indie-economic…
The reality is that even making 5000 in sales is unsustainable... But this thread shows that even that's high!
The reality of financials as a "successful" marginalized artgame dev is not something to bank on. Great thread by @alienmelon (the sweetest person!)
Efforts to make dev/academic conferences more inclusive have had mixed results. We're hoping that expanding to consumer conferences will be another avenue @jofsharp
heyimjohn.com/conferences-an…
heyimjohn.com/conferences-an…
Very shortly after starting this, we heard of @allymcleangames's efforts to do something similar with the NEXT exhibit in Australia. We wish y'all best of luck!
@danctheduck's argument for sustainable business provoked thoughts on alternative lifestyles to making games as a business. While we hope our exhibitors financial success, we understand that there's a toxic culture of making games a business
lostgarden.com/2015/04/minimu…
lostgarden.com/2015/04/minimu…
@pippinbarr responded on winning the love and career lottery with his partner...
pippinbarr.com/2015/04/15/on-…
pippinbarr.com/2015/04/15/on-…
@radiatoryang on how the culture of making games only as business was against his personal interests
blog.radiator.debacle.us/2015/04/embarr…
blog.radiator.debacle.us/2015/04/embarr…
And how being an indie dev intersects with being a woman in unfortunate expectations from society @emshort
Speaking of which, I had an amazing time at @PixelPopFest this past weekend. Despite it's unimposing prescence, it did an amazing job making an environment that felt inclusive and friendly! Please check them out!
So, let's start these conversations to make spaces more inviting. This lovely thread on how to make GDC accessible is a great resource
Gameplay-wise and scientifically, male-centric biases have focused on flight or flight, but @briecode proposes alternatives: tend and befriend. This motivation for these values makes games more inclusive AND more fun!
We should keep our biases in check. Here's a great thread by @innesmck for hiring of trans and nonbinary folk
Also, we tend to bias towards what we think gamers want, but in reality it's really more. Here's a great gif from @bobdeschutter
We're proud to say that 100% of our applicants have said they identified as PoC, queer, non-male, or otherwise marginalized groups.
That being said, representation in media shouldn't lie solely on the shoulders of marginalized folks. Here's a great talk discussing how to handle representation from @cattsmall and @aNuChallenger
And many people say you can't represent stories that aren't your own without appropriation. Not true! See this great thread!
Through our struggles, we have to maintain self care and self respect. Here's an intimate talk by @jboggsie I saw at GDC 2016
He also happens to be Board Director of @CheckPointOrg, an org dedicated to mental health and wellness in games and for gamers. @TakeThisOrg serves a similar function in the US (I can attest their AFK Room at @MAGFest was amazing)
Btw, I was at Magfest helping out @Babycastles, a cool games gallery nonprofit dedicated to cool weird stuff! We just had @alienmelon present at Game of the Month Club. Check em out!
It's important to keep the fight alive, especially in difficult times like this. But art is important and so are games. Our voices as creators and consumers is important! Inspiring words from @quinnae_moon
blackgirlnerds.com/gaymerx-east-2…
blackgirlnerds.com/gaymerx-east-2…
And if you're doubtful as to how much impact you can have, @mikamikem gave a great talk on your potential impact and how you can make it a better place (with scientific backing!) (I chatted him up after his talk and we became fast friends :))
gdcvault.com/play/1023403/Y…
gdcvault.com/play/1023403/Y…
Since 2016, we're seeing progress and I hope our efforts as Friendship Garden can keep hope alive for devs everywhere.
bbc.com/news/technolog…
bbc.com/news/technolog…
There's still so much more I'd like to talk about but we're running out of time!
Shout outs to @GDoCExpo @DifferentGames @LOOOST_LEVELS @DMGToronto @QGCon @PixellesMtl for making spaces more inclusive
Shout out to @tha_rami who received the GDC Ambassador Award this year, to much delight of many devs across the industry
Much love to @mountainsgames and @LifeIsStrange proving inclusivity and mental health can be entertaining, sustainable, and life-affirming
You can support our efforts at our gofundme at: gofundme.com/friendship-gar…
I want to emphasize, please only give what you are comfortable with. If you can't support financially, follows, RTs, and kind words help us immensely!
Feel free to support via liking our Facebook page and event here facebook.com/events/2847176…
We are also accepting submissions til end of day EST. Submit here: goo.gl/forms/Jc92as3k…
Also if you're interested in becoming staff or supporting us via sponsorship, email us at friendshipgarden.gamedevs@gmail.com
Remember: Representation leads to more better stories and a better world. We have a full write up but here's some graphical representation
docs.google.com/document/d/1e7…
docs.google.com/document/d/1e7…
Stay happy, stay healthy, stay strong! (Ending with this quote from Mr. Rogers)
Also much love to @lucid_coffee who is my co-organizer who isn't here because they're currently driving from Boston to Pittsburgh after showing their demo at Connected Learning! Stay safe!
We’d also like to announce our first exhibitor for next week! Play the new episode now! #Meatpunks
EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER: Powered By Blood is a serialized visual novel/mech brawler about gay disasters beating up neonazis in giant robots made of meat.
EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER: Powered By Blood is a serialized visual novel/mech brawler about gay disasters beating up neonazis in giant robots made of meat.
And the dev: Heather Robertson (she/her) is a broken fleshmonster from Oklahoma. Her solo work spans over fifty games, and focuses on themes such as queerness, mental illness, trauma, and being crushed by forces outside of your control. @HTHRFLWRS
Original blog post emshort.blog/2015/04/20/tha…
Our gofundme is down the thread but here’s a quick plug top side gofundme.com/friendship-gar…
Forgot to tag the wonderful academics responsible for this @miaC, @jivory, Dmitri Williams of @USCAnnenberg/@USC and Nicole Martins of @IUMediaSchool
Friendship Garden would not be possible without the generous support of @schellgames and @cmuetc. Thank you so much!
We also look to @NightInTheWoods for inspiration! Hopefully Friendship Garden will feature the next devs (the next @FinjiCo?) to create a work with a fraction of its heart ❤️
Moving talk discussing mental health, unemployment, crunch
gdcvault.com/play/1024984/N…
Moving talk discussing mental health, unemployment, crunch
gdcvault.com/play/1024984/N…
We still look to orgs like @iThriveGames to financially assist causes like @IndieCade but understand it’s a tall order
We hope you’ll play at Play NYC but you can also play now, episodes currently ongoing until it’s finale episode on September 13, on @itchio! hthr.itch.io/extreme-meatpu…
We also admire the work of @Thekla_inc, developers of @witnessgame, in their grant efforts for underrepresented puzzle game creators
the-witness.net/news/2018/06/c…
the-witness.net/news/2018/06/c…
Fun fact: When I (Charles) was in college, I was given an assignment to edit a wikipedia article related to computer science, and, having watched all his Youtube videos and read all his interviews, I chose to edit @Jonathan_Blow's
Much love to @FredRogersCtr @MrRogersMovie. You're a huge inspiration <3
