WARNING. Contains whining from The Electronic Software Association.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/games/video-game-archivists-celebrate-new-victory-in-preservation-of-abandoned-games/ar-BBmvrnS?ocid=spartandhp

That's good news, although the definition of games that would qualify seems vague.

Reading these articles always gives me the impression that the decision makers don't even really understand what they're deciding on. And the ESA objections are always ridiculous.

I'm all for that. Maybe this means that we'll get more pinball games;

Well, so I understand that correctly: You are allowed to bypass online communication for games that need it to run but where the online service is no longer working.

How far does this extend? Are you also allowed now to essentially make a private MMO server just for yourself if the official ones are down? What about MMOs that REQIURE multiple people to play, such as MOBAs? Are you allowed to set servers up for non-public groups?

No it doesn't. The exemption applies to any game that is rendered completely unplayable by the shutdown of the original authentication server. This encompasses MMOs and multiplayer-only titles, but also those single-player games which cannot be started without connecting to an authentication server.

What is doesn't include is multiplayer servers in games with single-player modes, but this is rarely a major concern.

You're right. I should have read that one line more carefully. Thanks for pointing that out. :)