Here, at the Club, different people have gathered. We are independent professionals: most of us are Artists and Animators, Game and Narrative Designers, Landowners and Producers. We are all different. What is the purpose of all of us being here?
I have always answered this question like this:
The Club unites people with similar sets of values. Those who share them stay for a long time, and those who don't accept them quickly fall away. Values are what unite us. They help set goals and provide direction in a chaotic world.
So, I identify five core values of The Club:
- Genuine Human Experience
- Sincerity and Honesty
- Lightness and Openness
- Long-term Relationships over Fleeting Hype
- Decentralization of Initiative
Everything we do in the Club aligns with one or more of these values. If a feature or idea doesn’t support these values or contradicts them, we simply don’t pursue it.
Let's break down each value 🔥
1. Genuine Human Experience
The Club is an aggregator of its members' experiences. The internet used to be about genuine experiences, but it has shifted towards endless media and shallow content with endless “media,” cheap copywriters with their “12 the best blockchains this summer”.
We aim to revive the exchange of experiences rather than attention. We believe personal experiences, however "trivial" they may seem, are the most valuable and interesting things to share online.
In the Club, we support newcomers sharing their mistakes and learning moments. We build the Club as a place where it would be nice to come to share your experience and read about others.
Experience can be different, sometimes it may seem wild, naive, even “wrong” to someone, but that’s its value. Any experience is important if it’s heartfelt and detailed!
What we do:
- Encourage posting and sharing personal experiences.
- Use question formats and threads to foster collective knowledge exchange.
- Maintain a friendly atmosphere where rudeness is quickly addressed.
- Develop a network of chats for real-time experience sharing.
- Bring in external valuable content and host AMAs and offline events.
- Issue badges, awards, and achievements to recognize quality contributions.
2. Sincerity and Honesty
We’ve all seen those who project a false image online. Honesty is about being truthful about who you are, not constructing a fake persona. We gather here to speak openly, leaving pretense behind.
Examples:
- Comprehensive intros: Members must introduce themselves honestly to join.
- Non-anonymity: We promote sincerity, which conflicts with anonymity.
- Private and Public posts: Sometimes discussions are best kept within a trusted circle sometimes not. You decide :)
- Moderation based on behavior, not opinions: We focus on maintaining a respectful atmosphere.
3. Lightness and Openness
Everyone has become overly serious. We want to bring back the joy of having fun and making light-hearted jokes.
Examples:
- Open communication: Everyone can reach out to anyone. This is the basis of openness to people.
- We value different opinions: Yes, posts go through post-moderation, but moderators only evaluate their format and presentation, not the opinion.
- Embracing memes and jokes: Humor brings the community together.
- "Toxic-control": We keep the community lively and free of negativity.
4. Long-term Relationships over Fleeting Hype
Many projects aim for quick success and profit. We focus on building long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.
Examples:
- Paid subscription: This supports the Club’s development and independence.
- Supporting infrequent readers: We provide summaries and top posts for those who visit less often.
- Long-term memberships: We prioritize quality and thoughtful engagement over rapid growth.
- Respecting Silent Readers: They can participate passively without judgment.
- Easy exit: Members can leave easily if they no longer find value.
5. Decentralization of Initiative
We encourage individual initiatives. Any member can start an event, challenge, or gathering.
Examples:
- Supporting member-led activities: We welcome personal initiative in the Club. Any member can organize their own movement — gather a meetup, arrange a presentation meetup, start an online challenge about Level Design or Game Jams, organize a video game tournament. Anything you want — now you have a whole community.
- Independent guilds moderation: Each chat sets its own rules.
- Parliament: A group of active members making decisions for the Club.
- Author moderation: Post authors can manage comments on their posts.
- Data portability: Members can download their posts and comments.
Thoughts about the club 🤞
This article will be updated as the club evolves. This club is a grand experiment. The future is unpredictable, but we hope it will become a cool creative hangout for those who love The Sandbox metaverse, voxels, UGC, game development and art. We'll try to create a community for those who care about all these things.
If you're still reading, it means you resonate with our values. Welcome to the Club! ✨