I'm with Cody on this. (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Tuesday, January 15, 2019, 15:42 (1940 days ago) @ cheapLEY

To erase parts of the game you don’t want anymore, like Dinklebot or the original mission order?

For some of us, yes. And it's the developers right to do so.

So I guess you are cool with not having an official HD version of the Original Star Wars Trilogy. It's Lucas' right after all.

Honestly? Yes, I’m fine with that. I think it’s sheer idiocy to suggest otherwise. If I paint a masterpiece, put it in galleries all over the world and everyone falls in love with it, it’s still my painting, and I’ll draw little squiggly mustaches all over it if I want to. George Lucas doesn’t owe the world a fucking thing.

Do I wish we had an HD version of the original cut? Sure. But I didn’t make the goddamn movie, so that’s not my choice.

Do I wish I could go play Destiny with Dinklebot? Absolutely! But again, that’s not my choice, and I’m not losing any sleep over it.

Art is part of culture, and the bigger impact it has on the culture the more important it is. Whether you call it art or culture it's important historically to preserve Star Wars in its original form.

Everything can't be preserved. "Living world" games perhaps can't be preserved in such a form that they can be experienced as they were originally, but I understand why you would want to, and I understand the concern about it. Perhaps Bungie has archival builds. I like to think where there's enough desire to be preserve, a way will be found.

All the talk about ownership by artist is a distraction. Name an artist who wouldn't like their work to live longer than they do. Sure they have the right to modify and change what they've done--let them. The only thing wrong with what George Lucas did was his insistence that the originals cease to exist. He destroyed culture. He destroyed history. Sure it was legal but that doesn't mean it was right.

Cody cares about the history of games. That's good. And he's right to talk about the lack of preservation given how games exist now. Where I differ with him is when he argues that any gamer should be able to have the experience they had originally forever. The game and gamer in this case can't exist without outside support. It's unrealistic to expect that to last forever or remain the same. For games of this sort preservation might not look like playability. Nothing last forever, but knowing what's gone before is rarely useless knowledge.