So I already mentioned Robert Ashley’s podcast when it premiered, but as episode two manages to keep up the quality, I can’t help but bring it up again. The opening minutes are the best, most elating thing I’ve heard in a long time.
It’s 45 minutes of game collectors talking about what they love enough to fill their lives with it (instead of getting kite-high and playing electronic music), why they do it and what it all means.
But does it mean anything? Themes of preservation and nostalgia come up a lot, as you might imagine.
The episode ties up with a look at how virtual worlds are being preserved. What happens after that last server is shut down? It’s something I’ve been thinking about quite a bit lately, for some reason. Can you imagine World Of Warcraft… ending? I can’t, but I have a feeling it would be noted far and wide in mainstream media, due to the very real weight it has and the millions of people it touches. Hellgate London and Tabula Rasa shut down recently. Is the sense of loss of those players any less worthy of our attention than the countless people who’ve walked in Azeroth?
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