VNs for charity?

[Victoria Jennings]

I'm not sure if this belongs in here or in General Discussion, but if it needs to be moved, a mod will move it. U:

So, last night, I was talking to MusicaFate about how she wanted to teach kids about art and do all this awesome art stuff for her community, which got me to thinking...

What if, not necessarily every year, but occasionally, everyone (or everyone who volunteered, I guess) on the forums either a) dropped what they were doing in order to work on, or b) kept doing what they were doing, while simultaneously working on a VN that would be later be put together in a neat package (maybe in the form of a USB?) with a bunch of other VNs, and then, eventually, be given to kids/teens who don't usually have access to stuff like that?

It'd be a fun and interesting event for everyone to rally around, sort of like NaNoReNo, and it'd be going towards something good.

Of course, there are complications with plans like these, such as paying for USBs (if used), which one could argue should probably go towards something more helpful to children, like food and blankets and stuff (this argument happened with the Dan Green charity fundraiser thing LittleKuriboh did, and I still side with those who supported it). Still, it seems like an interestingly, and increasingly plausible idea to me.

What are your guys' opinions?

[eileen]

I love that idea! Too bad that I don't draw! D: Then I would so help on this. How about we just make this a bundle pack with some visual wrap together? I don't know if you said that already but I will say it here.

[Victoria Jennings]

Well, each person/team would be making their own VN to add to the pack. If that's what you're saying, then yes, you're right.

Of course, it's just a thought at this point.

[eileen]

Well, each person/team would be making their own VN to add to the pack. If that's what you're saying, then yes, you're right.

Of course, it's just a thought at this point.

That's what I am saying. Well, it's interesting thought!

[Arowana]

Sounds interesting, but would underprivileged kids have access to computers and stuff? Maybe if the goal was just to get kids in general interested in math, science, etc. via games or to create fun teaching modules? You might be able to distribute copies to schools, etc. as well.

I have been wanting to do an "edutainment" game about a math team (did anyone else do math team in middle school/high school lol?), where you have Pokemon-style "math battles." (hides in shame)

[Victoria Jennings]

Two words: public libraries. That, or schools. 0:

And omfg, that sounds quite entertaining. xD

[kaleidofish]

Another idea would be to have people "buy" the VN pack (via donation) with the money going directly to a child-friendly charity of choice, like Child's Play.

[Victoria Jennings]

Oh, that actually seems a lot more doable. xD

I just thought it'd be cool if kids could play games that were made especially for them, y'know? But I guess it really comes down to what will actually help out the most.

[Sapphi]

I just thought it'd be cool if kids could play games that were made especially for them, y'know? But I guess it really comes down to what will actually help out the most.

The thing is... I really don't know what "made especially for kids" would look like, beyond the "just learning to read" stage. Usually stuff billed as "for kids" ends up being unintentionally pandering, and therefore distasteful to children. And I can't even use my own childhood as an example, because I was playing stuff like Age of Empires at the tender age of 8. Not only was I not a teenager which is what the game is rated for, I was also a little girl. I wasn't as much into the sparkly princesses and ponies... unless you count my chariots and horse archers.

What I do think would be neat, would be to set up some kind of workshop where kids got to make their own visual novels with Ren'Py. They could write out their script and draw their pictures, then learn the basics of how to put it together. In the end, all of the finished games could be burned to CDs and sent home with each kid.

To answer your original question, I think that giving away books as a charitable act is better than visual novels, since visual novels require a working computer that the child is allowed access to. But I do love the idea of anything that motivates children to write and draw, or that teaches children programming concepts. (For me, it was Neopets!) So I think setting up or leading a workshop would be a good way to use your VN creating skills for charitable purposes.

[Victoria Jennings]

The thing is... I really don't know what "made especially for kids" would look like, beyond the "just learning to read" stage. Usually stuff billed as "for kids" ends up being unintentionally pandering, and therefore distasteful to children.

I didn't mean it like that. xD

I meant that they'd have access to games that nobody else in the world got to play, that were made for the express purpose of them playing it.

What I do think would be neat, would be to set up some kind of workshop where kids got to make their own visual novels with Ren'Py. They could write out their script and draw their pictures, then learn the basics of how to put it together. In the end, all of the finished games could be burned to CDs and sent home with each kid.

Aww, that sounds awesome! I don't know how we'd pull it off, though. orz

To answer your original question, I think that giving away books as a charitable act is better than visual novels, since visual novels require a working computer that the child is allowed access to. But I do love the idea of anything that motivates children to write and draw, or that teaches children programming concepts. (For me, it was Neopets!) So I think setting or leading a workshop would be a good way to use your VN creating skills for charitable purposes.

I totally understand where you're coming from. And I mean, it wouldn't just have to be traditional VNs is what I'm thinking. Ones with game play other than the typical branching choices, to the point where they aren't just VNs, but actually -games- (I count VNs as games anyway, derp).

Books are great, but some kids (and when I say kids, I don't just mean young kids, I'm also talking about teens) are more into interactive stuff. There are usually places kids can get computer access, like public libraries and school, as I stated above.

Of course, this matters less if one were to go with kaleidofish's idea, which still sounds like the best way for LSF users to give back, imo. 0:

[PyTom]

We probably have teachers here that can correct me - but my impression is that getting educational software into a school setting is very difficult, as the computers tend to be locked down and the teachers need to get approval from some sort of IT staff. (That was the case in my sister's school district, maybe it's saner elsewhere.)

Insofar as we're charitable as a forum, I see it happening in multiple ways:

First off, we've simplified game development to the point where it's accessible to a lot of people, and we're helping people get through that process. That helps people learn that computers aren't scary, and that development is something that they can do. And so I suspect that as time marches on, we'll have people from the forum who go into various development related fields. When you answer a newbie's question, it's an act of charity that will help them out.

Secondly, we help by making the sorts of games that people want to read. I dare say that Harry Potter did more to help with literacy than hundreds of books written for purely educational purposes. By creating games that are fun to read - but ones that are accessible to people of all levels - we can help people learn.

If you're one of the people here who's successful enough to have some disposable income, be sure to give a bit of it to charity. (For example, I just gave some money to vitamin angels, because of how hilariously cheap their interventions are.) And that means that becoming successful is a charitable imperative, as long as you don't hurt others why doing so.

Finally, we could choose to do a charity fundraiser, for one of the many charities out there.

[Reikun]

I have been wanting to do an "edutainment" game about a math team (did anyone else do math team in middle school/high school lol?), where you have Pokemon-style "math battles." (hides in shame)

Oh wow, I totally did math team in middle/high school too! xD I've been wanting to do an intense shounen-style math competition comic for a long time!! But I never got around to thinking about how it would best "teach" math, while also being entertaining.


On topic: I think the one of the best ways this could be done would be as Kaleidofish suggested. It would be like a "humble bundle" thing except the proceeds could go to a charity (or if there's enough to go around, maybe even split up between multiple charities).

The workshop idea is also pretty interesting. The Adventures of Boris Munchausen is an open source animation project run by a guy who guides kids in the animation process using only open source software such as Synfig, Blender, etc. You could start a VN making group at a public library and do a similar thing except with VN creation

[Arowana]

Oh wow, I totally did math team in middle/high school too! xD I've been wanting to do an intense shounen-style math competition comic for a long time!! But I never got around to thinking about how it would best "teach" math, while also being entertaining.

Omg, that's a crazy coincidence! That's actually what my math team game idea originally was - a shounen manga in the vein of "Hikaru no Go"! I ultimately decided it would work better as a game than a comic because it'd be interactive. Hahaha, I really want to do this now.

Right, ahem, yes, back on topic. (cough)

I think the workshop idea sounds really interesting! I remember hating computer classes in high school because I wasn't interested in the kinds of things they made us program (okay, so I solved the Tower of Hanoi...so what?). It's not until I started coding for a project that I was actually interested and invested in that I started thinking programing was fun. Given that so many kids like video games, giving them the opportunity to make their own seems like a great way to get them interested in CS fields.

Logistically, though, giving out a pack of VNs for donations seems like it would be easiest.