by Olivia_Allin, HSM team writer

Games like World of Warcraft, and virtual social environments like Home, give players the means to save worlds and incentive to learn the habits of heroes.

What if we could harness this gamer power to solve real-world problems?

From the first moment I logged into Home, I could see that it had the potential to be vastly more valuable than the sum of its parts. As I became more accustomed and comfortable in Home, I tried to utilize such capabilities. I found in doing so that my experience was much more fulfilling — to a point. It also sometimes made me feel a little naïve and overoptimistic.

As some of you that have read my previous articles will recognize, I tend to be positive and optimistic, preaching honor and integrity. When I go back and read over past articles, I fear that I come off as out of touch with reality. A bloody do-gooder with very dark rose-tinted glasses. Recounting my good deeds unfortunately might come off as insecurity or feeding my ego instead of its intended purpose as a positive example.

I am not book smart. I cannot speak intelligently on subjects such as the economic impact of the developer revisiting and updating some of published personal spaces. Nor can I speak to how they should monetize any potentially groundbreaking customizable pet companion. To be completely honest, I don’t even understand the last two sentences, and can admit that that was the first time I’ve ever used the word “monetize”. But my past life experiences — running the spectrum that ranges from very good to devastating — has given me insight and perspective which allows me wisdom that is much greater than my age.

That said: in retrospect, I sometimes feel that my actions and my writings have painted me with the brush of unrealistic hope. Blindly believing that humanity is humane. And that good should always be victorious over evil. And even as avatars we hold the power to not only make our virtual environment better but also the real world. And, naïve or not, I’m okay with that generalization of my beliefs. Could be much worse.

The readership of this magazine tends not to be the people that log into Home for the sole purpose of antagonizing or bullying others. So to some extent my previous articles that address the social side of Home have been preaching to the choir.

Recently, while surfing Netflix, I discovered a speaker that validated my core beliefs. Of course, there’s nothing controversial about saying being good is good. Comments on my articles tend to be one-sided and lacking the foundation for a good debate. This is not a bad thing. My readers seem to be good people, and for the most part agree that being good is good. The people that need to hear that message are seldom the same people that research, explore or read up on the virtual playground that they are the bullies in.

But let’s get back to that video I was talking about. This video consisted of a speaker at Ted Talks whose name is Jane McGonigal. She is an accomplished video game developer. And, like me, she believes that video games can transcend the virtual and affect reality in a good way.

As Home may or may not be winding down, and my physical and mental capacities confirm that I am doing the same, I hope to help cement my legacy by once again shining the spotlight on the good that doing good can do.

Please enjoy the video below. I hope it demonstrates that the same hands that push buttons and twirl joysticks while holding game controllers are the hands that can make changes for the better in the real world.

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One Response to “Saving the World”

1. Godzprototype says:

   May 18, 2014 at 1:32 am

   The right motivator. A sense of completion from the start. Achievable goals. Good tools to work with.

   Anything would be possible!

   Nice one Olivia.8)

   Reply