Documenting Pocket Universes: New Approaches to Preserving Online Games

Abstract

Abstract When preserving massively multiplayer online video games over the long term, archivists must reckon with their player cultures or risk losing a crucial component in understanding the games. This article advocates for documenting player cultures in these games, investigates recent amateur archival efforts, and suggests possible new methods of documentation and preservation when one works with these games. Successful and suggested approaches include ethnographic writing, video documentation, and the crowd-sourcing of contributions from the player community itself.

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