When I Grow Up

Dear Players of the Game,

Forgive me for being somewhat fixated on political philosophy recently... the scope of the injustice we have just endured has been so great I could not remain silent without feeling that I had failed in my task as a human being, as a philosopher, and as one who has sworn fealty to the now-fallen notion of human rights. But likewise, I cannot go on like this indefinitely. Hopefully, we are approaching a turning point that can bring some kind of restitution and I can let this go. But all I can really do now is see what happens.

In the meantime, my escape has been WAMTNG, which is helping me write about something other than the nonsense and its aftermath. And I am enjoying Substack as a platform too... it is easy to work with, and I get paid for it. Yes, despite only a few dozen followers, I am already making money writing WAMTNG instead of losing it, as I have been doing here for seventeen years. I'm not actually that motivated by the money... but it certainly makes it easier to justify the time when it is paid for!

So I'd like to write another Substack, but I don't know what it would be. It would need to be something that people wanted to read, and it would need to be something I would be happy to write about. Going back to writing about games seems unlikely... I spend forty or more hours a week doing this as my paid job - by the time I down tools at the end of my day, I'm spent on games. But then, I don't want to start a second Substack if it isn't going to be something that some proportion of people would pay for, not because I need or want the money, but because the decision of others to support my writing with their own money helps to justify the time I spend writing it. So I need to know where the balance point is between what interests me, and what people will support. I would prefer it not be games... but I would consider it.

I welcome your thoughts on this. I'm not planning to give up Only a Game - but I do feel I could stand to write fewer of these kinds of essays and more of something else. It's just I don't know what would be the right something else.

With unlimited love,

Chris.