An issue with the torrent scheme is efficiency. Networks of home computers will suck down considerably more power from (potentially) less than ideal energy sources than dedicated servers in well-planned locations (i.e. near reliable renewable energy sources, with backup generators). I don’t see a way to have this without involving large institutions, whether private or public.

Regarding media creation, there’s a middle ground between direct payment and government-sponsored: Universal Basic Income, or a related scheme of generic grants for art/education producers. Ensuring people don’t starve or become homeless as they start projects or grow large enough to be sustained by direct payments from an audience could foster this sort of growth.

I prefer the lack of downvotes, personally. As others have said, they usually just turned into a pile-on, and trolls/bigots are better dealt with by reports and moderation.

The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. The narrator and main character is a psychotic teenager, and being inside their head just feels so gross. Fantastic book, but genuinely disturbing.

In close second is Earthlings by Sayaka Murata. The main character goes through some stuff as a child, and comes to believe that she isn’t human. Meets some others like herself and it gets weird. Great book, not for the faint of heart!

I like the idea of instances, but would like to see the development of more “themed” servers. So maybe one instance is a cluster of related topics (science, arts, LGBT, whatever), or one that caters to a specific country/local area, or particular users (IT professionals, students, mechanics, librarians, etc).

Currently everything seems a bit slapdash, with larger instances each having a bit of everything. It will be interesting to watch the cultures here develop.

I got 500 hours in Factorio before tying mods, and over 2000 since (1000+ in an SE run alone). It’s been a year or so, maybe time to start up another game…