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What if you created something that changed someone's life?

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Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
What do you think it would look like? How would it make you feel? How would you carry that responsibility?
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
For better, or for worse?
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
Better, I hope!

But that's the real question, isn't it?
I think I'd feel accomplished, to be honest. I'd be glad that I brought something important and meaningful to someone else. If it were for the better, that is.

Although I can't say I've ever heard of someone's life being changed for the worse by a piece of art.
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
author=Pizza
Although I can't say I've ever heard of someone's life being changed for the worse by a piece of art.

Perhaps pieces of art that glamorize violence, illicit drugs and harmfulness, or even place it in a subtly negative light, may inspire people to commit heinous crimes of hatred towards others. In a sense, I think art can inspire people's lives for the worse, but generally, it's easily impressed audience members that will see negative behaviours as things to be mimicked.

author=Solitayre
What if you created something that changed someone's life?

I think that every piece of art changes people's lives, it's just to what effect that the art changes people's lives that matters. We pull morals from art, and ideas to base our lives and worldviews on.

For me, my aim is to create media that will inspire people to think about life, to analyse things logically, but also to become better and more open people, to derive enjoyment but also personal fulfilment from that process. I think there is something very deep about every medium. Not all pieces of art might be on the same rung on the ladder of consciousness, but nevertheless, the ladder is climbable, and the artist should be able to import their thoughts, ideas, and impressions into something that can resonate with someone else and allow them to feel, think, and reason with themselves and shape themselves. So, in essence, artists have a big responsibility to bring to the table something that may fundamentally change someone, and I think that responsibility should not be taken lightly.
i'd probably cry

happy tears? sad tears? hopefully the former
Isrieri
"My father told me this would happen."
6155
It really depends on the person rather than the game, doesn't it?

I'd be flattered, but by no means feel personally responsible for any life-changing revelations.

Like...football could change a guy's life. Or going to communion. But its not the thing itself, it's the passion a person finds in it.
that's something I dream of one day, although people have already said that my art and endeavours have inspired them to become better artists and pursue their expressions themselves. I feel honored in knowing that, even if most people that like my work admire it silently and passively from afar.
Sooz
They told me I was mad when I said I was going to create a spidertable. Who’s laughing now!!!
5354
author=Pizza
Although I can't say I've ever heard of someone's life being changed for the worse by a piece of art.


It's quite possible for a work to influence someone's thinking if they're already inclined in a certain direction. For example, there are quite a lot of stories that I know I shouldn't ever experience because, for all their quality, I know they'll feed into my depression and make it harder for me to function afterward.

Extrapolating from this, I can see someone being profoundly influenced by a work in a bad way, especially if they're already in a bad place.
I helped create a couple of lives, if that counts...
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
One of the things I think when I see something really amazing or cool or inspiring is "I really hope one day I can make something that inspires someone 10% as much as this did for me".

I would love to think that my projects might change someone's life for the better. I hope that all the things I make will cheer someone up in some way, either because they had fun or overcame a tough game challenge, or because I made them laugh - this stuff makes me smile for days when I hear it. If something in it gives them hope or cheers them up, or makes them cry and remember something nice, or maybe if they're just inspired by the style and design alone to make their own thing... honestly, I'd probably cry.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
I seriously don't know how I would react if I found out that something I did/made changed another person's life. I think I would be exceptionally surprised, at the very least?
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
author=Marrend
I seriously don't know how I would react if I found out that something I did/made changed another person's life. I think I would be exceptionally surprised, at the very least?


Yes, it would be surprising, wouldn't it? But I think we all underestimate just how much impact even a small thing can have. Even a game.
I once helped get a staff member at RMN a real job.
Solitayre
Circumstance penalty for being the bard.
18257
author=kentona
I once helped get a staff member at RMN a real job.


You totally did! I would likely still be scrubbing toilets if not for you. That is a real change kentona (and Anaryu!) made in my life. Not some nebulous 'they inspired me' but a real, actual measurable difference.
I'm with Isrieri on this one. One of my friends likes to thank me for getting him into art. He insist my art "inspired" him, and made him pursue a career in animation. But I'm like: "Nope. All I did was showing you some old drawings. YOU did the rest." And I think he knows that too. He just wants to make feel good. I guess that's what friends do...

Likeweise. I don't think any form of media ever "changed" my life. Not in the way that sounds at least, because obviously, I decided to pursue art myself because I thought art was cool. What I mean is, I don't think any individual piece of art shaped my life in any significant way. Sure there were times when I thought: "This resonates with me", but those ideas were already part of who I was at the time. Even if you claim we all pick things up subconsciously at some point, you have to own them at some other point in your life. And that is a conscious process. And besides, media is not the only outside stimuli in your life either...

Long story short, if someone told me I changed their life for the good, I would feel like I'm taking credit away from that person.

And if someone said I changed their lives for the worse... well, you probably know what kind of contempt I harbor for that idea.
Well. While it is true we need to make changes all by ourselves, an inspiration or someone to look up to can go a long long way.

It gives a guidance for your efforts, so you know where to go, what to be wary of, what to look out for, what to focus on, and then are able to give it your all.
And taking someone elses viewpoint and skills into consideration gives you a chance to reflect your own.

Anyhow .. we have quite a lot of influence when the timing is right, and that's pretty cool. You won't be responsible for any efforts that are made, but I think being inspiring is something beautiful.
slash
APATHY IS FOR COWARDS
4158
author=Soli
You totally did! I would likely still be scrubbing toilets if not for you. That is a real change kentona (and Anaryu!) made in my life. Not some nebulous 'they inspired me' but a real, actual measurable difference.


Hmm... not to say that concrete, physical, "real" differences aren't in a league of their own, but it's one of those things that makes me wonder...

Like, I was once convinced I should go into engineering because it'd be the best way to "save the world", y'know, discovering some new invention or doing research or whatever. But what about movie directors or game developers or writers? That stuff still counts, right?

A doctor who saves someone that would otherwise die has obviously totally changed their life. Even the most inspiring writer will probably never change that person's life nearly as much. But on the flip side, a writer may reach multitudes of people with a book, but a doctor only treats one person at a time. And I think it's safe to say that my life would be very much different if I didn't have the media I did growing up (books, shows, music, games) or if the media I had been exposed to was different.

I don't know, I guess I get the impression that people glorify the heroics of some jobs as being noble because of the blatant and obvious effects they have on others' lives, while the value of arts or less explicitly life-changing professions (teachers! fast food workers!) are considered somewhat unimportant because they have a gradual effect over time, instead of a powerful and sudden one. This is just me rambling though! I'm not trying to condemn anyone :P
LouisCyphre
can't make a bad game if you don't finish any games
4523
I aspire to this.
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