Games for Change (G4C) provides support, visibility and shared resources to organizations and individuals using digital games for social change. This is the primary community of practice for those interested in making digital games about the most pressing issues of our day, from poverty to race and the environment.


Listserv for the Games for Change movement

Our community uses an email listserv for discussion, announcements, and more.  This page provides information on how to subscribe, unsubscribe, and much more in a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) format.

HOW DO I JOIN?

The only way to join is to use this form, or to contact Games for Change.
Email address:
Your name: (required)
(optional) Set Your Password:
Confirm you're a real person: you must
type in 'gamesforchange'
(without the single quotes)
in order to join this list:


WHO RUNS THIS LIST?
This list is run by Games for Change, the nonprofit dedicated to building the field of social change games. We are the social change branch of the Serious Games Initiative.

CAN I ASK OTHERS TO JOIN?
Absolutely!

HOW DO I LEAVE?
It's at the bottom of every email from this list. Click the link. Or send an email to:
leave-socialissuegames@listserver.dmill.com

HOW DO I GET THE DIGEST VERSION?
Send an email to: digest-socialissuegames@listserver.dmill.com

HOW DO I SWITCH BACK FROM DIGEST MODE?
send an email to: mail-socialissuegames@listserver.dmill.com

I THINK I MISSED A POST OR POSTS ARE COMING OUT OF ORDER!
The nature of listservs, and the Internet does not guarantee every posting gets through at all or perfectly in order. If you see serious problems or consistent problems please email suzanne@weblab.org. We are doing our best concerning uptime and making the list work well. Your feedback on problems helps with that process.  Do not repost your item for 24 hours if you think it didn't go through unless you get a specific notice from the listserver.

ARE USERS MODERATED?
Not exactly. We do approve new members when they join to make sure no spy/spam-bots or misinformed users join. From time-to-time new members' posts may be moderated for the first 2-3 posts to improve against listspam.

ARE THERE BASIC RULES/ISSUES OF LIST I SHOULD KNOW?
Yes...

  • Trim down your message as much as possible when replying.
  • Please improve and change subject lines when changing topics or threads.
  • Please make sure the name of the person you are responding to is included in your replies.
  • Don't use the list for what should be off-list items like requesting someone to call you, or obtaining their contact information, or emailing logistical items to the moderators.
  • Stay on topic. This is not a list for an all-encompassing talk about games, game development, or the games industry, or how you're passing the time until Half-Life 2. There are other forums for superset discussions.
  • Don't say anything you don't want made public. The list is a public forum.
  • Don't ask the moderator to remove posts. If you hit send will be posted.
  • Shorter is better (that goes double for the moderator!)
  • Controversy is welcomed
  • If controversy = good debate it is welcomed. If controversy != good debate it is not.

IS ADVERTISING OR OTHER BLATANTLY COMMERCIAL POSTING OK?
If it's tastefully done, a job posting, or a contractor needed for a specific project are fine. Announcing some cool news is fine. Posting a "we're open for business give us money!" item is NOT. If you're unsure of a potential post, please email suzanne@weblab.org.

CAN I BE KICKED OFF THE LIST?
Yep. But you'd have to do something really dumb and offensive to the community or post way off topic stuff consistently to do so. Making the admin mad or telling him he is a moron is not grounds for being kicked off. Any action that is borderline results in a warning. Any action that is over the top will be swiftly dealt with.

WHO OWNS THE POSTS AND WHAT ELSE WILL THEY BE USED FOR?
The list is public and you should treat it as such. The list archives are "technically" owned by Games for Change and Digitalmill. We will not otherwise use any portion of a post commercially without proper accepted use of attribution, or permission. We would also ask all other posters utilizing the archives or posts to utilize the same discretion. There is interest by The Wilson Center to potentially republish some posts or excerpts on the Serious Games web site to enhance the promotion of the "serious games" concept. Anything that will be done here will NOT happen without explicit permission from the post's author to which it applies.

WHAT IS THE RULE ABOUT THE EMAIL ADDRESSES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LIST?
We don't resell them, we don't give them to other people; they are private.

WHAT IF I SUSPECT THAT MY EMAIL ADDRESS WAS ACQUIRED INAPPROPRIATELY VIA THIS LIST?
Send Suzanne a note. He will investigate and otherwise deal with it on a case-by-case basis. We can't 100% guarantee that emails won't be found through your posts, or a hack of our site/list infrastructure. We are otherwise doing our best to properly protect the privacy and security of your information.

DO YOU NEED ANY HELP WITH THE LIST?
If you'd like to help with the list beyond being an active member email suzanne@weblab.org offlist and I will reply as needed. Assistant moderators are always welcome.

I HAVE OTHER QUESTIONS SHOULD I POST THEM TO THE LIST?
If they deal with operational matters of the list please email suzanne@weblab.org off list. We will reply to them ASAP. If you have an abject emergency (and We mean EMERGENCY) and we don't respond in several hours please send an email address: updates at the dmill.com domain which goes to the entire staff at Digitalmill.

Thank you and enjoy the list!

Suzanne Seggerman