 |
| Obduction Backer |
Joined: Tue May 09, 2006 1:17 am
Posts: 1702
Location: Spokane, WA
|
Beware, this is another marathon post from yours truly. 
Now that the majority of the discussion regarding the five DRC-sanctioned Guild-esque organizations has died down, I feel now is an appropriate time to step in with my thoughts on drumming up some interest and support for the Archivists. I will note rather unabashedly that I consider myself to be one, after a fashion, and will also note with continual amazement that several others have regularly referred to me as being something of a go-to person for this group (really, I just like doing this, so people paying attention to me always takes me by surprise ). Anyway, since I seem to have some aura of importance in this subject, I figured it would behoove me to actually make use of it, since nobody else seems to be stepping up to the plate.
I'm going to be brutally honest, and probably plug DPWR more than is perhaps necessary, but that's mainly because I don't feel like beating around the bush at the moment, and I have invested a good 7 years of my time building it into the resource it is today. That said, please don't take my comments as ultimatums (ultimata?). I want to discuss what role (or roles) a history-oriented organization should take on in the Cavern, and how to go about realizing those goals, both in-game and out. These are just my thoughts on the subject, which have had considerable time to percolate into what I think are solid ideas. Feel free to contribute your own thoughts to the mix. I also wish to add, for the record, that I am writing this and undertaking this as a fan; not as a moderator, Cyan employee, or anyone else in any sort of position of elevated status. Pretty much the only thing going for me in that realm is the fact that I live in Spokane.
Unlike the Guilds which Cyan and the DRC decided to promote in Kirel, the Archivists don't really have a very well-defined set of responsibilities based on the released canon of the series thus far. Pretty much all we do know is that they were in charge of maintaining an archive of the Council minutes, and had a hall of records dating back over 6,000 years on an Age called Gadar.
Based on communications which Montgomery had with RAWA earlier this year regarding his planned Guild of Inspectors, it would appear that a sort of sub-resposibility of the Archivists was to catalogue changes and maintain accurate accounts of the contents of the D'ni Ages; no doubt they worked closely with the Writers and Maintainers to accomplish this objective, but nonetheless, it was evidently one of their duties.
What I would like to see the Guild of Archivists do is develop and maintain a central repository for information about Uru: the Ages, the characters, the past events (in chat logs, photos, and videos), the machinery, the backstory, etc. As something of an extension, because Uru is situated in such the wealth of (convoluted) knowledge that is the Myst Canon, maintaining an accurate record of the rest of the series and the novels (as well as incidental and apocryphal material) should also be an important goal. Obviously, if content from the games gets released in Uru, the relevant sections of the archive would need to be updated, which means this needs to be easy to do.
The Archivists, then, should have at their disposal a Wiki or Wiki-like site outside of the game in which to store all of this information. It can and should be open to contributions from anyone, but the Archivists would be primarily responsible for maintaining it and ensuring its continued accuracy. This site would also be open to public consumption, and be easily searchable by content and keyword.
This is the point at which I start plugging DPWR for out-of-Cavern information access. With over 875 entries so far, it's one of the largest Myst databases on the 'net (superseded only by MystLore and perhaps Kehrin's D'ni Desk Reference). I personally feel that DPWR is better-suited to be a "Guild of Archivists"-oriented site because I made considerable efforts when I started it to treat the universe as if it existed, rather than just as a series of games and novels (although there are regular references to them, both because that's how people remember the content most of the time, and because Myst canon folds back in on itself like some freakish geometrical monstrosity ). That said, I have no objection to creating a sort of distributed network of inter-linked Archivist-oriented websites, but I'm a big proponent of not having to visit 3 or 4 sites when 1 will do just as well, and be easier for users to interact with, and for staff to maintain.
As it stands, DPWR's Archive isn't exactly "all that", and can be difficult to use, both from a user's standpoint and a staffer's standpoint. However, I'm nearing completion on a long-overdue upgrade to the Archive which drastically overhauls the old system and replaces it with a more Wiki-like structure. It's not a perfect Wiki, but it's by all means a vast improvement over what's there now. I aim to have the new system in place before Exodus begins later this month, and I welcome any feedback or suggestions you may have both before and after I complete the upgrade.
Now, with my plug safely out of the way, I could fully understand it if there was a desire to create a new site whose sole purpose was to provide an archive of information, hosted at a site like guildofarchivists.org or somesuch. I just really dislike reinventing the wheel, especially when three or more well-established sites fit this niche more than adequately. I feel that taking advantage of existing resources is a wiser use of time, energy, and resources than building something completely from scratch simply because a more organized and official Guild-based architecture came along later.
To get down to brass tacks, I think the Archivists should work very closely with the other Guilds and organizations in the Cavern. The Messengers (i.e. Relayers, TCT, CCN, etc.) would be of considerable assistance i collecting logs and documentation of important events in the game for archiving in whatever database ends up being used. The Cartographers could provide maps and other data to accompany Age documentation, with reciprocal links placed back to their own website. The Writers and Maintainers, at whatever time they end up taking center stage, could easily benefit from integrating their libraries, catalogs, and findings with the Archivists' efforts for continual (perhaps mirrored) information storage out-of-game. The Linguists (or the DLF, or whomever) could work with the Archivists to make their translations and resources available in multiple locations, again with reciprocal links back to their site from the archive.
Ideally, I'd like to see information recorded for each day in the Cavern, be it an Episode day or not. Special events, Guild meetings, etc could be archived for future reference in print, photos, and videos. Each day's details would be tagged with a day, month, and year, and be easily discoverable by members, creating an ever-expanding timeline of Uru history. In addition to strictly in-Cavern tags, content could also be tagged for the episode in which it took place, since at some point we do have to recognize that this is ultimately a game, and should construct our resources accordingly. However, a little realism never hurt anyone, and I think it lends itself to a more compelling account than viewing this whole thing as just a game. Ultimately, I'd like the archive to be in-Context, by which I mean it treats the game as a reality insofar as it's appropriate, but will stray out-of-character in the event that it benefits the article (like discussing gameplay-related changes to Er'cana between PotS and Live).
THis is all well and good, but I'm basically documenting a system by which Uru can be organized, quantified, and easily referenced. While that's a great amount of what I think being an historian is all about, this all does nothing for making information available in-game, or taking advantage of the DRC's presence in the Cavern to get things accomplished. Allow me to expound upon this.
A couple of months ago, I created a "walking tour" of Ae'Gura from a User-Created Marker Mission. I used the text field of the markers to print historical information to the chat channel for that player to read. The markers followed a set path, and wound around the City, covering the names of buildings, ancient D'ni history, and concepts like the Great Zero's original purpose – as well as more recent events, like Phil's incident in the Guild Hall back in Prologue, or Wheely's death in Scars. I received numerous comments thanking me for creating such a useful guide to Ae'Gura, and asking if I was planning on making more such guides for the other Ages. While I never quite got around to it because of real-life concerns, I continue to feel that these sorts of self-guided marker tours are an excellent resource for the Archivists to take advantage of, requiring no special tools or additional design/development work on Cyan's part. It's something that can be done now to enrich the content we already have access to, and provide newer players with new insights into the Ages they're exploring.
In addition to this, though, I want to begin pressing the DRC (and, by extension, Cyan) to release additional information they may have on the Ages that have been released. By releasing information to the Archivists for distribution through existing channels, the DRC can get more information out to the explorers with a minimal amount of effort on their behalf. Ideally, better ways to distribute Marker Missions and maintain collections of text files in the game itself would be welcome improvements, but grassroots content distribution is already possible, and I feel it is important for Cyan and the DRC to take advantage of it. This would enable Cyan to provide a richer content experience without placing the onus of development, integration, and testing on them.
Now, for the pavement-pounding...
I strongly encourage anyone interested in the history of the D'ni, and the history of Uru itself, to make yourselves heard when the DRC return for Exodus this month. Talk to Cate, Marie, Laxman... anyone who will listen, and illustrate to them that there are avenues of communication ready to be taken advantage of in the Cavern. I want to stress that this needs to be done in a productive manner. Simply demanding more information from the DRC without providing useful options for making that happen is just asking for a repeat of the ADM's loudmouth and ultimately worthless clamoring back in March and April. Send feature requests to Cyan through the support site as well; hit them on both fronts with this request, but by all means, do so politely and constructively.
I am open to anyone who is willing to discuss ways to move forward with bringing the Archivists back to the Cavern in a real way, especially if there is going to be a span of a few months until the next season's first episode. It may not be new content and puzzles, but more information is at least something that can be used to tide players over without resorting to sparkies and santa hats. I will be making every effort to be in-Cavern to drum up interest in this cause during Exodus, and anyone who sees me is more than welcome to join me. I would also like to discuss plans for both in-game and out-of-game ways to record our history, be it here, at DPWR, or in the game itself, so feel free to chime in if you are at all interested. I may try organizing a meeting or a town hall or something in the Cavern if interest is high enough, but we'll see what happens.
_________________ Grand Master
Guild of Archivists
|
|
Login
FAQ
Search
)
[/quote]
