[game_preservation] A Life Well Wasted

[Henry Lowood]

Stuart,

Yes, that's right for multiplayer games; for single player, I would 
probably pick software, too.   (Though of course, when you take the gun 
away, I will want it all.)

Henry

Stuart Feldhamer wrote:

>

> Henry,

>

>  

>

> It sounds like we don't disagree much at all, actually.  : ) I was 

> talking about preserving the experience, and only in that context, but 

> I agree that preserving the events in a multiplayer world is also 

> important.

>

>  

>

> Bottom line -- you really can't fully preserve the experience of an 

> MMO. That's why I made sure to play Majestic before it died, knowing 

> it would die. Same for other MMOs like Uru. (Can you tell I'm more of 

> an adventure gamer than an RPGer?)

>

>  

>

> The only place where we disagree is that although I want both, if you 

> put a gun to my head I would have to pick the software over the 

> documentation, at least for a single player game. Or were you only 

> talking about MMOs?

>

>  

>

> Stuart

>

>  

>

> *From:* Henry Lowood [mailto:lowood at stanford.edu]

> *Sent:* Monday, March 09, 2009 7:24 PM

> *To:* stuart at feldhamer.com; IGDA Game Preservation SIG

> *Subject:* Re: [game_preservation] A Life Well Wasted

>

>  

>

> Hi Stuart,

>

> Well, I guess we disagree a little on the value of gameplay 

> documentation (which is not just video).   My point was that 

> documenting a complex multi-player or massively multi-player world is 

> as much about documenting events that happen in those spaces as it is 

> about preserving software.  I don't think that's marginal at all.

>

> If the focus is on "experiences," then I agree with you. That sort of 

> preservation is closer to re-enactment than history, however.  Ok, 

> yes, it is possible that groups will get together to play Everquest in 

> 100 years, just like they camp out in Civil War replica uniforms and 

> fire muskets in line.  But that experience is NOT the experience of 

> what happens in virtual worlds today, i.e., it is not going to be 

> history.  It is still going to take place 100 years from now, no 

> matter how you cut it.  For similar reasons, I disagree strongly that 

> playing with bots is going to be informative, at least in terms of 

> historical work.

>

> In Preserving Virtual Worlds, our goal is to do both -- software 

> preservation and "event" preservation (for want of a better term).   

> My emphasis on documentation of player behavior is more of a 

> corrective to the idea that it's all about software preservation than 

> it is an attempt to say we should only do video capture and gather 

> documentation.  But if you put a gun to my head and say pick one or 

> the other, software or documentation, you can't have both, as a 

> historian I would go for documentation.

>

> Last, video capture of single-player games is absolutely useful; I 

> certainly agree with that statement. 

>

> Henry

>

> Stuart Feldhamer wrote:

>

> I just listened to both episodes. I thought they were very well done, 

> although I think they would both have been improved by video -- 

> especially the one on collectors. You can't begin to understand 

> collectors until you actually SEE some of their collections.

>

>  

>

> Henry, you made a comment in the podcast that a single player game can 

> be booted up in 100 years and enjoyed, but a multi-player game can't 

> be, because it requires other people to play, and the guy won't be 

> able to find other people to play it with him. Regardless if that is 

> true or not, it's impossible to preserve the actual experience of 

> playing the game by taking video and screenshots. The only way the guy 

> in 100 years is going to be able to have the experience of playing the 

> game is if he manages to get a whole bunch of other people to play 

> with him, or if we can design suitably convincing bots to take the 

> place of the other players.

>

>  

>

> I agree that gameplay videos have value, but the same applies to 

> gameplay videos of single player games. What is specifically added to 

> the mix by preserving gameplay videos from multi-player games? It 

> sounded from the podcast as if this was some kind of solution to the 

> problem of preserving multi-player games in general. I think it's 

> useful, but it only adds marginally to the preservation of the game 

> experience.

>

>  

>

> Stuart

>

>  

>

>  

>

> *From:* game_preservation-bounces at igda.org 

> <mailto:game_preservation-bounces at igda.org> 

> [mailto:game_preservation-bounces at igda.org] *On Behalf Of *Henry Lowood

> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 04, 2009 1:11 PM

> *To:* IGDA Game Preservation SIG

> *Subject:* [game_preservation] A Life Well Wasted

>

>  

>

> Some of you may be interested in the far-flung corners of the world 

> that the Preserving Virtual Worlds project has reached.  Others I know 

> are intensely interested in the world of game collectors.  In either 

> case, check out Robert Ashley's new podcast, A Life Well Wasted:

> http://alifewellwasted.com/feed/atom/

> The second episode covers the world of game collectors, which I have 

> to say is not so different in some ways from book collectors (said 

> from a library perspective). The last quarter or so is about our 

> project. Robert Ashley, the man behind ALWW, has said on forums he 

> might release the interview with me in its entirety.  He is a bright 

> guy and a great interviewer -- makes you wonder about all the talent 

> shaking loose from 1Up.

> Oh, the first podcast is also interesting, covering the history and 

> demise of EGM.

> Henry

>

> -- 

>

> 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 <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>; 

> http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood <http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

>

>  

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

>

>

>   

>  

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>   

>

>  

>

> -- 

>

> 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 <mailto:lowood at stanford.edu>; 

> http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood <http://www.stanford.edu/%7Elowood>

>


-- 
Henry Lowood
Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;
     Film & Media Collections
HRG, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall, Stanford University Libraries
Stanford CA 94305-6004 USA
http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood
lowood at stanford.edu; 650-723-4602

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