Wikipedia's War on Gaming History

Most people think Wikipedia is a wonderful source of information, both serious and obscure. That used to be true. But the current trend is to purge obscure topics - an area of information that has generally been one of Wikipedia's strengths.

Articles related to the gaming industry and gaming history are particularly vulnerable to this. Little of the history of online games is preserved in any mainstream sources, so it is easy for deletionist Wikipedia editors to get rid of it. The net result is a lot of great history is being lost.

I wrote an article about a recent issue that has been a very hot topic in the gaming blogosphere for the last week or two. It details a specific incident related to a 13 year old MUD, Threshold RPG. But the implications for gaming history in general are enormous. Check it out:

Wikipedia's War on Gaming History and Threshold RPG

I think you will be surprised to learn about the darker side of what is going on right now at Wikipedia.

What do you think of the issue?

That article is remarkably unspecific about exactly what sort of content is being deleted, so far anyway (I only read page 1).

*naturally a cynic*

You mean Wiki isn't the best source!? O_O

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Originally Posted by Oisterboy

You mean Wiki isn't the best source!? O_O

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-_-

No.

But I still use it. :/ I hope this doesn't **** with gaming history, lord knows we haven't got it down in the books yet.

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Originally Posted by Muckbeast

Little of the history of online games is preserved in any mainstream sources, so it is easy for deletionist Wikipedia editors to get rid of it.

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Originally Posted by Muckbeast

What do you think of the issue?

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I think "Deletionist" is an awesome term!:D

Where do I sign up?

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Originally Posted by MoonlightDarkness

... So MUDs were the first MMOs?

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Yes indeed. It is a shame this is not more widely known, and that is why this issue is so important to me.

Almost all of the early MMOs were developed by former MUD creators. Everquest, UO, and Meridian 59 had development staffs that were almost entirely made up of former mud developers.

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Originally Posted by Soren

How can you assume that history only exists in Wikipedia. All legit info from wikipedia comes from a source, thats why they have footnotes. If you delete an entry, there is still the source where the entry originated. You are saying if someone deletes the whole article of lets say "molecules", all data on molecules will no longer exist.

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Due to bitrot, a lot of internet-based sources disappear over time. One of the benefits of a site like Wikipedia is it can document information, long after sources disappear, go out of business, etc.

That's why this is a moderately important issue.