[game_preservation] 2008 Whitepaper

[Julia Brasil]

I am not sure how much I can add to the general discussion, but I am a
fairly good writer and I'd be more than willing than proof read or organize
information if need be. Somehow the idea of hosting a meeting in WoW brings
forth imagery of it being suddenly interrupted by blood thirsty mobs or
worse, horde/alliance players, not to mention issues with lag and just the
general chaos involved in this type of game. I am familiar with Second Life
and it seems to be a popular place for meetings and workshops nowadays but I
am not sure how simple it would be to store the ongoing discussion..unless
one made a video, I guess.

I agree with Andrew though, Skype is really cheap and we can combine text
and voice if need be. There are some programs that offer webcams as well (I
think Gmail and MSN have that) so that could be an option to keep in mind.

~Julia


On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 10:58 AM, Captain Commando <evilcowclone at gmail.com>
wrote:


> I don't use WoW and I find the concept of hosting a scientific conference

> inside a fantasy role-playing game hilarious. The only MMO I have is Guild

> Wars, which I have never installed. Though Second Life is free, I don't have

> much intention of starting considering I had enough experience with Active

> Worlds almost ten years ago, so the novelty has worn out for me! I use text

> chat through AIM, and it helps that I can type pretty fast :)

>

> -DM

>

>

> On Mon, Apr 21, 2008 at 11:48 AM, Andrew Armstrong <andrew at aarmstrong.org>

> wrote:

>

> >  (I renamed the topic title just so we can distinguish it later).

> >

> > I'm happy to help out in an admin role on the whitepaper although I

> > won't be readily a candidate for writing any of it due to limited

> > experience. If you need a notetaker/secretary (who can put it up on the

> > wiki) I'm your man. I note that I don't have any "MMO" games installed

> > though ;-) and doesn't WoW and Second Life require subscriptions? I'm a bit

> > too poor to delve into WoW right now even if I wanted to in the first place!

> > :-P

> >

> > A cheaper idea might be to use Skype and possibly at the same time text

> > chat to perform a meeting, although a virtual world is a lot cooler I guess

> > :-)

> >

> > Andrew

> >

> > Henry Lowood wrote:

> >

> > I think for the 2008 report (the rationale, rather than the best

> > practices, which are saved for 2009),  your third point is indeed the core

> > target of the effort.  I think the second point should always be kept in

> > mind as the key context for this group.  If we just start there --

> > rationale, with careful attention to our primary readership being the

> > industry for now -- then we will make good progress this year; we can sort

> > out the issues more directed towards practice next year.

> >

> > I wonder if it would make sense to call a meeting in a virtual space,

> > say around late May to early June, at which we launch a collaborative

> > workspace (meaning basically a wiki page) around principles organized at the

> > meeting.

> >

> > The first space that comes to mind is Second Life, but I'm also

> > attending a scientific conference in WoW on May 9th <http://convergentsystems.pbwiki.com/>

> > so that works, too.  Or anything else that would work.  Ideas?

> >

> > Henry

> >

> > At 10:04 AM 4/21/2008, Captain Commando wrote:

> >

> >   Which brings me to the next logical question: How to start up the

> > White paper effort?

> >

> >

> > I thought you'd never ask! Unfortunately, I have the privilege of having

> > too much time on my hands due to unemployment (which I certainly hope

> > changes within the next couple of weeks! And I know nobody has budgets for

> > game preservation, but it never hurts to ask if anyone is interested in a

> > newly-minted MFA graduate! :). As a result, I can put in a lot of time given

> > goals both clear and proper (though admittedly, it's kind of hard to

> > motivate volunteers).

> >

> > I am thinking a discussion list or central page might be the best way of

> > doing this. However, I don't quite think that message boards or discussion

> > lists are the way to go for a more final organization as this means you have

> > a LOT of unorganized information that needs to be sifted through to distill

> > the important central points. However, having scheduled meetings with some

> > form of real-time communication certainly helps as it allows for more direct

> > addressing of issues. So ultimately I think we'll need some form of system

> > or documentation where we can keep a head on exactly where the process is at

> > so everybody can be on the same page in a short time.

> >

> > There are also other problems too, scale being one and another that we

> > don't yet know the full shape of what we're trying to do (and unfortunately

> > we likely won't until we get pretty far along!). So it's basically trying to

> > think on multi-dimensional large scales (though thankfully not as large as

> > it could be!) and at that point it's really easier to just go out and start

> > doing things. Definitely something I can write on that point...

> >

> > For this reason, I think the initial primary goal is to build a list of

> > what we need (certainly as we're doing it). I have always said that a

> > citation format will be crucial for constructing a catalog (which is

> > important for archival) and so we would definitely need to bring this to a

> > point with the journalist SIG (and I keep bugging David Thomas about this,

> > but he's always busy). And let's face it, having a format that the

> > journalists can also agree on makes everybody's life that much easier

> > (library/archive + research support).

> >

> > The second is that the SIG should not be interested in simply archiving

> > everything separate from the industry but should be contributing to the

> > industry, primarily in educating companies about the importance of internal

> > preservation (organization and smooth internal communication being one

> > benefit, culturally/industrially important and/or marketable assets being

> > another). Certainly a GDC panel and some Gamasutra articles on the subject

> > would be one good point of bringing this to the foreground and also give the

> > SIG more support from inside the industry - and also more importance beyond

> > itself.

> >

> > The third important point (which really should come first) is pressing

> > forward that strong argument about why preserve in the first place. I think

> > we've already got something to that affect on the wiki, but if we don't have

> > a strong mission statement we can put to the forefront, it makes our job

> > harder.

> >

> > Fourth, getting support from other preservation groups should also be

> > part of the goal. We're not 100% separate from what say film archivists are

> > doing and so sharing interdisciplinary information I think is going to be

> > crucial.

> >

> > I think this is about it for now. If you've got ideas about how we might

> > organize the White Paper team, or anything else to add, please bring it up!

> >

> > -DM

> >

> >

> >

> > 1. We have a list of people (about 10) who would like to participate in

> > this effort.

> >  2. The people on the list are scattered about the globe.

> >  3. So, what form of meeting should we employ?  Should we open up a

> > dedicated discussion thread on this list?  Then move to some form of

> > collaborative authorship?

> >

> >  Henry

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >  At 08:35 AM 4/21/2008, Captain Commando wrote:

> >

> > I recently blogged about the debacle of Capcom using an image

> > watermarked by IGN for the US Okami Wii box art. I think this is something

> > the IGDA Preservation SIG should be concerned with as it seems to me if

> > you're organized and have good communication between studios, you're also

> > able to preserve stuff better (and perhaps get a better product?).

> >

> >

> > http://deserthat.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/ign-watermarks-and-lack-of-studio-intercommunication/

> >

> >  Another point to add to the White Paper?

> >

> >  -DM

> >

> >  --

> >  The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

> >

> >  "Until next time..."

> >  Captain Commando

> >  _______________________________________________

> >  game_preservation mailing list

> >  game_preservation at igda.org

> >  http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

> >

> >

> >  Henry Lowood, Ph.D.

> >  Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;

> >   Film & Media Collections

> >  HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall

> >  Stanford University Libraries

> >  Stanford CA 94305-6004

> >  650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood<http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

> >

> >  _______________________________________________

> >  game_preservation mailing list

> >  game_preservation at igda.org

> >  http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > --

> > The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

> >

> > "Until next time..."

> > Captain Commando

> > _______________________________________________

> > game_preservation mailing list

> > game_preservation at igda.org

> >  http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

> >

> > Henry Lowood, Ph.D.

> > Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;

> >  Film & Media Collections

> > HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall

> > Stanford University Libraries

> > Stanford CA 94305-6004

> > 650-723-4602; lowood at stanford.edu; http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood<http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

> >

> > ------------------------------

> >

> > _______________________________________________

> > game_preservation mailing listgame_preservation at igda.orghttp://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

> >

> >

> > _______________________________________________

> > game_preservation mailing list

> > game_preservation at igda.org

> > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

> >

> >

>

>

> --

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

> "Until next time..."

> Captain Commando

>

> _______________________________________________

> game_preservation mailing list

> game_preservation at igda.org

> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/game_preservation

>

>

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