[game_preservation] PVW final report has been issued

[Rowan Kaiser]

Andrew - performances aren't quite media, I'd say, and I think there's an
expectation that it's ephemeral. You don't go to the store and buy a "play"
or "concert" which you expect to be able to use continuously.

Henry - The change in the game world is one thing, but there's also the
increased leveling scale. Every expansion that raises the cap renders
previous content easier and less relevant. I haven't played Wrath of the
Lich King and I'm not likely to at this point, so I'm almost certainly never
going to have that game experience.

This also came up for me when I was writing about the original Neverwinter
Nights. I never played it, and now I can't. So unlike every single other
game I've talked about in my book, I have to rely on interviews instead of
direct experience.


Rowan

On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 3:58 PM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu> wrote:


>  Rowan,

>

> I think games and virtual worlds are the tip of the iceberg for digital

> media.   As all our media (text, music, movies) most to server-based

> platforms with intermediate players and subscription services, we may start

> seeing similar problems across-the-board.   But I agree that games and

> virtual worlds are at the edge, which is why it is so interesting to work on

> how to preserve them.

>

> WoW is going to be an especially interesting case soon, when the world is

> "replaced," so to speak, as part of Cataclysm.  Not a shutdown, as in many

> other cases, but not continuous either.  It will be interesting to see video

> captures from the same areas (but different times) that will no longer show

> the same surroundings.  Plus there are still likely to be private servers

> based on the old code and assets.

>

> Henry

>

>

> On 9/21/2010 3:46 PM, Andrew Armstrong wrote:

>

> Rowan, plays and other performance arts might have something similar if

> they're not ever recorded - and if the script is lost, then who knows...

> They're not quite as interactive though!

>

> Also, good to hear there might be further news Henry :)

>

> Andrew

>

> On 21/09/2010 20:48, Rowan Kaiser wrote:

>

> Thanks for this - I was actually just thinking and writing about it

> slightly lesser version of this for a piece on World of Warcraft, and how

> every time an expansion is released for an online game, everything else

> becomes obsolete - and it's far worse when the game simply shuts down. I

> really can't think of any other form of media where this is the case.

>

> Rowan

>

> On Tue, Sep 21, 2010 at 9:58 AM, Henry Lowood <lowood at stanford.edu> wrote:

>

>>  All,

>>

>> We just completed the final project report for Preserving Virtual Worlds

>> I.  You can find the report here:

>>

>> https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/17097

>>

>> A number of you have asked about our findings; many thanks for your

>> patience while we went through the drill of completing the report.

>>

>> Henry

>>

>> --

>> 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

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

>>

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>

> --

> 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

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

>

>

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