Y’know, I’ve been a lurker on this site (and the predecessor) for a long time now. I never really felt like taking a side, or voicing an opinion with any discussion, but this one caught my eye. Then again, perhaps I’m just getting so old I need to start putting my two cents in. So, here is my opinion, take it, burn it, throw shade at it, or move along.
As someone who’s been around since nearly the dawn of MU*ing (1995 at the tender age of 23), the idea of archiving old sites, logs, and games that have long since passed is not something that I have ever really considered before. The games I played within have lived, breathed, they have had a life, and then they died, and you move on to the next one. The logs that I enjoyed, I kept, I archived for my own perusal, though even those I can honestly say I have never read over again, and were the first to be deleted as space was needed. (In older computers, kids, you use to have to worry about that!)
I am not one to get sentimental over things, and as a result the idea of a kind of archaeological repository for future generations to find and enjoy isn’t something that I have ever thought of, or about. You are correct in the fact that history tends to forget about the every day life and focus more on the grandeur scheme of things. I guess, for those that really want to have this world, this environment, that we have created to remain, for those that have children, teach them about it. It’s always upon the next generation to learn, and keep it all going for future generations to discover and rediscover.
As far as the last question? If this hobby didn’t exist, if I hadn’t started gaming, I would never have met my husband, gotten married, and enjoyed thirty (plus) years of cooperative story-telling. So, yes, it has been worth while, the good, the bad, the ugly.
Right. My two cents.