What Is Exilian?

[Jubal]

So I was asked this question, seriously, earlier. I thought I'd make this thread to share my own thoughts and get other people's if they have things to add. I realise that my own views may differ from other people's so I thought a fact-finding mission plus my own rant might be a good place to get us started.

The constitutional definition, clause 1a, is as follows:

Spoiler

a) Exilian website and forum exists to;
- Promote a friendly atmosphere among all its citizens and members
- Promote the creation and releases of our own free, independent and community-made games and software.
- Help with and facilitate modifying games owned and used by its citizens and members
- Give help, advice and a place to talk about said games
- Help with and facilitate other projects and creations undertaken by its members
- Give its members and citizens a place to talk about things of their choosing.

I think that may have to change in the near future, if only because we should balance the focus to be a bit more expansive as regards other projects and frankly our modding sections are increasingly slow. But it's a starting point to think about, I guess.



So... my definition. Or rant, or something. Exilian has, for seven years, been somewhat my baby; I don't think there'd be any mileage in me trying to deny that. It's been shaped partly by my experiences: our democracy is the democracy I always thought TWC, the first online community I was really part of, should have had and developed. Our structure too; starting with modding, growing this way and that like a hydra as my interests sprouted in a million and one directions.

Despite that, and despite the apparently nebulous and contradictory nature of what we've built here, I feel a profound sense of personal mission in what Exilian does. I believe that creativity, making useful things, and having those ideas and projects validated by a community, are all fundamentally good things that people enjoy. And they're things we pigeonhole too much; the cutting edge of ideas and design is always best reached by breaking moulds, and I think that by encouraging people from different backgrounds to join forces and throw ideas together we can help people get there. It's also still a very difficult world to live in as an individual and independent creative; even with the possibilities opened up by crowdfunding and the web, the general case is (as it has been since the mid twentieth century at least in the UK) that most markets for such products are dominated by larger companies and manufacturers. We can help give people a friendly base to build up from, where they can draw from a base of prior knowledge and have access to our social media resources etc. Ideas and projects are things that can reach across dividing lines, too; people who would never meet each other or believe they had anything in common can find things to share in the fundamental, basic, human urge to create. And it's something that the modern world often leaves people without. We live in a world of "social media" which can ironically be frankly the loneliest thing in the world. People update each other frequently on the minutiae of their lives, often stuck doing somewhat less than fulfilling jobs, or stuck at home isolated for one reason or another. I've been one of those people at times, and I want to reach out to at least a few of the huge number of other people in that position. A teenager in a rural area whose internet connection is his main link to the wider world, someone who wants to be creative but is stuck at home with mental health issues or a disability, or someone whose life and area lacks avenues for creative or intellectual pursuits; those are the sorts of people I envision Exilian being here for.

So what does that make Exilian's task? I think it's twofold. Firstly, we're here to signal-boost and stand up for independent content creators, and give them a friendly "incubator" in which they can discuss ideas with like-minded people, and start building up a fan and user base. That's sort of the "economic mission" and also what I think will give us a lot of our reach and achievements as a community. We can provide cross-disciplinary links between independent content creators in a way that they may not otherwise have access too, by avoiding being a "pigeonhole site" for only one type of project. The strength and resilience of our core community is also important here; we won't just give "boom" support in the way a media site can, but we can provide support all year round. There is also the second (though intimately linked) part of the task created by what I sketched out above, though, what I guess is the "social mission". We're here to find people who want to be part of what we're doing; we're here to help people find things they can be part of that are productive or exciting or intellectually stimulating. Exilian is not just about connecting fans and creators, it's based (for me at least) in the assumption that anyone can be part of the latter group. What that means varies. Some may come here and discuss and learn how to sculpt, others might review games people have made, others may come with no skills except how to use a word processor and find themselves getting roped in to help produce online resources for historians or a help file for a computer program. But the belief that everyone can, if they want, not only be part of the site but be part of making and doing and creating is pretty sacrosanct to my view of the Exilian and where it is.

Of course there are other bits of what we are and who we are; I'm as much here because you guys are my friends and because this is a good little safe bolt-hole compared to the rest of the world and because, having built as much of Exilian as I have, it often feels like the world that I wish the real world was. There's now no question, if there ever was, that Exilian is more than just a website; we're a society and a community, and that's a central feature of how we do things and what makes people stay here. But there's the mission statement of what drives Exilian from my perspective, as much as it seems a bit crappy and wishy-washy probably.



So... what do you see in Exilian? Why are you here? What got you here in the first place and why the hell have you stayed long enough to read this post? All viewpoints very welcome, no matter how much they contradict the above!

[Clockwork]

someone whose life and area lacks avenues for creative or intellectual pursuits; those are the sorts of people I envision Exilian being here for.

This.

Thanks

[comrade_general]

Exilian is where I go for people who will appreciate things like "I can typing".