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<font size=3>Devin,<br><br>
as it happens, we have someone from our Stanford team doing video capture
in EA-Land as it is about to close. As you rightly point out,
that's a different model -- documentation of what happened in the world,
rather than an experience of running the software -- from what you
would get from software preservation alone. And that's why we
created the Archiving Virtual Worlds video collection -- now noted on our
SIG page.<br><br>
The France 1888 analogy is more like re-enactment than archiving,
although the two are related. So, yes, I agree with you.<br><br>
Wouldn't another model be the well-understood one of
"replay." I have spoken to a couple of VW designers who
thought it was technically possible, though mind-bogglingly complex: If
one could produce every version of a world's software, synced to every
version of it database, you could replay some things -- however,
there is a lot that the database does not record (e.g., chat, though some
games do offer that) that you can only get from capture. <br><br>
Another point -- even with the software, wouldn't you need hacks to get
it to run, since the authentication servers would no longer be
operational? I.e., no database of accounts, no server at all.
<br><br>
Henry<br><br>
At 02:38 PM 7/23/2008, Captain Commando wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Technically, an archived online
world would only be what it was like in the last stage of its existence
(though you could technically load an original build if you had the
code). You would need many people to play the game in order for it to be
close to what it was originally. Preserving an online would would then be
the equivalent of preserving 1888 France minus the people.<br><br>
I think the most interesting thing about preserving MMO's is preserving a
record of what happened during its life, a record of what the game was
about and how it was played, and the things that were in the game. If you
have the code, that's great, but that's basically just like saving the
last two minutes of an hour-long performance art piece.<br><br>
On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 12:29 PM, Andrew Armstrong
<<a href="mailto:andrew@aarmstrong.org">andrew@aarmstrong.org</a>>
wrote:<br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>Relatively interesting look at the reasons for and against open
sourcing "dead" MMO games,
<a href="http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/23/165237">via.
slashdot</a>, here:<br><br>
<dd>
<a href="http://stroppsworld.com/2008/07/22/open-sourcing-the-mmo-game/">
http://stroppsworld.com/2008/07/22/open-sourcing-the-mmo-game/</a><br><br>
<dd>Fair points most of us know, and it's a patent fact that most
companies won't even want to dark archive their code or assets when a MMO
or any other game dies, but nice to see a discussion on it.<br><br>
<dd>Andrew<br><br>
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<br>
-- <br>
The sleep of Reason produces monsters.<br><br>
"Until next time..."<br>
Captain Commando <br>
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</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Henry Lowood, Ph.D.<br>
Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections;<br>
Film & Media Collections<br>
HRG, Green Library, 557 Escondido Mall<br>
Stanford University Libraries<br>
Stanford CA 94305-6004<br>
650-723-4602; lowood@stanford.edu;
<a href="http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood" eudora="autourl">
http://www.stanford.edu/~lowood</a></body>
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