Mindspace
Belford has written a long but very-much-worth-reading essay on the future of Uru. I have very, very mixed feelings on this whole thing, so I feel I need to speak my peace and lay everything out in the open. A lot of this is going to re-tread history that has already been covered and re-tread in many places, and I’m almost certainly going to say things that offend some people, but I need to say this, and I’m tired of holding it in. At this point, I really don’t care if I end up pissing off some of the people in this community, or becoming unpopular because of something I’ve said. And really, some people deserve to be offended 
.
Back when Uru was MUDPIE, and we got our first tiny glimpses of it through Spyder, Cyan’s open house at Mysterium 2000, and realMYST’s easter eggs, it was the culmination of a dream for me and, I imagine, many other people who had not only spent time in this universe, but grown up in it. If you think I’m joking about this at all, you are sorely mistaken. I first played Myst at the age of 11, and I’ve been a member of the Myst community since September of 1998. I may not have literally grown up in D’ni (wishing to avoid improper use of that word), but I did effectively or perhaps figuratively grow up there, spending copious amounts of time better applied in school learning about the D’ni and linking theory, endlessly debating Rivenese water, reading and re-reading the Myst novels, cementing images of these magnificent places in my mind’s eye. To me, at least, MUDPIE was a way to finally be able to see those places “for real” and share them with others. Story, at that time, was unknown and unimportant. My desire for what would eventually become Uru Live was driven by 10-year-old fantasies of seeing the place where it all began. And throughout my time in the private beta for Uru that was run by UbiSoft, I saw things, went places, and performed feats I never thought I would be able to do.
To be certain, there were issues with the game itself on a technical level, and I reported those issues as I was expected to, but the game’s world is something that has and will always be a special place to me, because all the while, I was living a dream. I was exploring D’ni. And despite the hobbling of the online release by UbiSoft at the final hour, Cyan’s plan seemed to be working… the Cavern evolved on an almost daily basis, and real characters with real depth set the stage for an adventure that would sadly never come.
Until Uru was released shortly after the final expansion of Uru’s offline content, and was hailed by the community as a glorious resource and a way to keep the dream of Uru alive, and continue to share the Cavern with our friends. At the time, I was overjoyed to be able to keep exploring with others; I had actually been surprisingly overwhelmed by the emptiness of the Cavern in To D’ni, and to this day have very rarely had occasion to venture into Ae’Gura via Complete Chronicles, because it’s simply depressing knowing that I will never see another person there.
For a while, Until Uru provided the respite and safe harbor that I had been wanting since Live’s closure; a place to explore and laugh and be with friends, even if that was all there would ever be to the journey. But over time, something changed. UU became something other than what it was supposed to be: a way to keep the idea of Uru alive. It evolved, and not, I think, in a way that has been entirely healthy for either the community or the game itself. To this day, certain people still will not speak with each other, and whole groups hold absurd grudges against other individuals, groups, or the community as a whole for things that happened in UU. I can’t even begin to summarize what went on, because by that time, I had lost interest in going there due to the bickering, the in-fighting, and the general nastiness that existed on most of the shards. There were plenty of good people in UU, and many valuable projects were started there that have lived on to this day, but unfortunately (and I’m not sure for whom), I let those motivated by anger, frustration, and bitterness drive me away from my second home in the Cavern.
Beyond the ugliness that grew out of UU, there also came a certain sense of ownership and entitlement, which I think more than anything else has seriously altered the way that some segments of the community see Uru. The shards were ours, after all, and there was no authority standing between us and the game’s content. And so, UU once again changed, and certainly not for the better, in my opinion. The UserKI and AdminKI, as well as the myriad other ways in which the game was modified, are some of the worst things to have happened to D’ni that I can possibly fathom. In 2003, there was a realism to the world of Uru, a sense that this was a real place, with rules, structure, and a certain adherence to the laws of nature. What it became was Myst: Second Life, with people leaping hundreds of feet in the air and walking around with neon blue skin, the lake tinted to whatever color struck the fancy of the shard administrator(s), etc. Whatever realism was in Uru was destroyed for me by what was done to it in UU. I know a lot of people in the community adored the UserKI, the skydiving “feature”, the ability to literally be a little green man, the fact that the shard admins could upturn Kerath’s Arch and turn the sky in the Cavern pink, and spawn a massive copy of the DRC’s laptop in Tokotah Courtyard for everyone to play on, and so I’m sure, moreso than I was when I suspected (incorrectly) the last time I said it, that I will be lynched for uttering these words, but I hate what UU did to Uru (or, to be even more direct, I hate what this community did to Uru in the name of making their own fun). More than that, though, I hate that UU’s atmosphere of happy-go-lucky do-as-you-please-ness has become so accepted and ingrained in the minds of some people that they outright protested Cyan’s efforts to do the very thing that UU was intended to facilitate: re-launch Uru Live, citing that over-developed sense of entitlement as the sole reason why UU should be left running (oddly, pretty much everyone I saw protesting UU’s closure on the grounds of MOUL’s limited international availability were people who lived in supported countries).
I could go on at length about the ways in which either Cyan or GameTap screwed the pooch this time around, but I’m not going to. I’m pretty sure that Cyan knows what went wrong, I’m pretty sure that GameTap doesn’t read my blog, and I know for a fact that the community has been all over this facet of Live’s second closure, and so I see little point in continuing the exercise. Suffice it to say that mistakes were made which probably contributed far more to Uru’s second death than any failure of imagination or effort on the part of the community. And now that Uru is gone again, everyone wants desperately to have something else to hold on to, and the only thing that comes to anyone’s mind is another UU.
While I can’t blame people for wanting to return to the only known way of keeping this game alive on an unofficial basis, to put it bluntly, this notion scares the living shit out of me. I’ve seen this community turn D’ni into an amusement part for its own entertainment, when years ago, the very notion of such a thing would have turned the stomachs of everyone I knew. I don’t want to take over D’ni, and turn it into the community’s plaything. I don’t want to usurp Cyan as the arbiter of D’ni canon. I don’t even want to usurp the notion of there being an arbiter of D’ni canon. At the same time, I have no qualms with people who build Ages, or tell stories, or create artwork that increases the depth and breadth of the D’ni universe; people who – like those of us who signed on to this game eight years ago – see D’ni as a real place and want to share their interest and enthusiasm for it; people who genuinely want to give something back to the community. If left in the hands of people like that, I wouldn’t be concerned at all, because I would know that D’ni was in good hands, and I would work with them as long as I could to make sure that the Cavern was never silent again. Even before Uru, there were attempts at something similar through the Writers of D’ni MOO, and though I sadly have never participated in it, I know some of the most creative members of the community in ages past did so, and created a place second only to Uru in its representation of D’ni. More than anything, though, I fear turning D’ni over to people who would once again turn it into an amusement park to make it more “interesting” or “fun”, not seeing or even understanding that D’ni is interesting and fun enough for a great many people on its own merits. Based on the dedication I have seen from the Guilds in their present form, I don’t think Guild-managed new content with ultimate approval from Cyan would be a bad idea. But anything that removes Cyan from the equation entirely for a second time is begging for a repeat of the bickering, anarchy, and entitlement that ultimately stemmed from Until Uru, and I don’t think I can stand to see my childhood desecrated like that again (yeah, I’m one of those people; the kind who finds stuff like Pyst to be beyond simple poor taste). Sadly, I don’t think there are many people left in this community who share my experiences of D’ni, and I weep for what may be done to it again in the name of “entertainment”. Perhaps it would have been better never to have dreamed at all…
February 12th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
For the most part I agree with you about Until Uru. A while ago, I posted at the MOUL forums, that if Uru should die, I would not want Until Uru back. Well, now that MOUL is dying, my heart tells me the opposite.
I do want some sort of Until Uru…
But I want to see it handled differently than before. I would like there to be an official shard, maintained by Cyan. I’d like to see Cyan finalising the Guild structure that they had in their minds.
Writers should write Ages that don’t conflict with the storyline and those Ages should be approved by Cyan.
This means that Cyan is still in control over D’ni and the storyline, but this way they can allow us to continue finding a way and making a home. Cyan would have to invest some time in creating some sort of structures for the Guilds though. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a way for people to add to the game (after Cyan’s approval).
Perhaps they could let us buy some sort of key to enter that new UU, that would cover those start-up costs.
Perhaps this wish can’t be realised, that would be a shame. I really want a way to return to D’ni, but I don’t want Uru to be completely given in the hands of the fans, for the same reasons you stated.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
To say this sums up exactly how I feel about it would be an understatement, in fact it is more akin to you being actually inside my head…which is concerning now please get out ouch, now I don’t know math.
The concept of UU returning is one that worries me considerably, I have a nasty feeling Cyan will bow to fan cries and do that. I think if they are going that root they either need to have a single shard, Cyan operated so none of the issues of before happen or have a stand alone version with a few online places such as Hoods, Guild Pubs, City, Jalak, but then that almost amounts to a similar vein to UU.
Either way if there is an UU Cyan needs full control over it like they did with MOUL.
February 12th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
For me, the big problem ever since I joined UU in May 2005 is Cyan\’s silence. I think Cyan\’s people, the ones who made this game, should take the leadership position that goes with being the game designer, and lead the Explorers. I played all the games to discover the story of the D\’ni, which I find very interesting. After I took Yeesha\’s journey, that was it. A few crumbs fell off the table but in all the last year we have learned nothing new except for things like the made-up \
February 12th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Yeah Cyan were more talkative before the first fall of Uru, since then they have been more tight-lipped, doesn’t really do much in their favor I find.
February 12th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
I weep with you Alah. It’s been kinda sad watching UU be a pale shadow of what fun Prologue was.
Actually, in some ways I envy those friends of mine who said/say that Prologue was perfect, and they weren’t going to sully the memory with a pale imitation of it. Yes, some feel that way. Others, like Matt, just lost interest, and didn’t come back for whatever reason. That hurts, as well, due to the memories of their presence. It’s like I can’t get over the sadness of not having them in the game.
I honestly, truly agree with all the other comments on here. I don’t disagree with you. You could be saying what I feel, pretty much exactly. Sadly, I don’t feel anything but fear when I think of another Uru incarnation that may, or may not work out. I wonder: do I want it, or do I want it to simply die a dignified death?
*sigh*
February 12th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
You and GS are the two who have best summed up the general attitude I have. Of course, my perspective is kinda different, ’cause I STARTED with UU thanks to being a Mac person until after the first Uru fall. But I started UU playing with people like TW and GS and a lot of other CC folk who tried to make it like what I imagine Prologue was- a way for friends to explore the Cavern together. The reason I was so sad about Uru not being for Mac was because, like you, I dreamed about the Cavern, I loved D’ni, I spent years invested in it, and I was miserable that I couldn’t see it. UU helped that, but it also destroyed it. There was a reason I stuck to TW’s ‘CC’ shard, where everyone was fairly like-minded, there was no fan-done content, no AdminKI, etc. And I think if UU comes back again, it’s going to be in the later, more fractured model, and that’s the upsetting part.
If Cyan does do more games, do you think they’ll continue to be in the Myst or D’ni universe? Do you think we would ever get to see D’ni again, whether alone (singleplayer games) or in groups?
February 12th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
That’s pretty much me to a T. I was always very frustrated by the UU crowd who just did whatever they wanted with D’ni. I condoned some dissection of the ages and fly-mode behavior simply out of desperate curiosity to see anything that Cyan had not shown us “legitimately,” but once it became about freakish mods to the games just for entertainment, with no reverance whatsoever, it went too far. I would love a way to continue the D’ni-verse, but it needs a control point, so that people don’t take it away from what it ought to be. I’m even learning Blender so I can try to join the GoW in supporting the dream of Uru. I desperately hope that Cyan will allow us to do that, but also keep a hand in, or delegate some trusted people to do so if they cannot.
February 12th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
My experience was different, so I have a slightly different take on it. I too love the realism of D’ni, and if there was a return to UU, I wouldn’t want a Cyan shard where people could do that kind of stuff. Not because it isn’t fun or improper in general, but that it’s improper in context. I started out in UU and loved being entertained by admins like Rex Havoc when he made the shroomie pic huge and made smoke come from the treebolisk, etc. I also wouldn’t want to see that go, and would also be eager to see behind the scenes in these new ages to see how things were constructed and how they worked.
So I guess I’d like to see a mix. Perhaps many smaller shards and a central, Cyan-controlled one. The various groups could form in the smaller shards and do whatever they wanted. While the Cyan-controlled one would block that kind of stuff and provide a canon space for a mixture of limited, rare, Cyan events and content and more frequent fan-made ages. I’d also like to see any Cyan-run shard also have trusted fans able to turn things on and off to create a more living environment. Thingsl ike the Relto pages or Delin’s seasons, or DRC work sounds, or the host of other objects.
I also agree that this entitlement was a bad thing. The shards are and were Cyan’s baby. They were not our’s. While they were our home for a while, we had to let go as we have to now. That doesn’t mean we cannot get a new home in either the next Uru or the next game Cyan makes.
February 14th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I can’t say just how much I agree with this. I always wanted a D’ni where the explorers could leave their mark in uncovering the past, and that’s why I don’t like the whole ‘New Writers of D’ni’ thing that Cyan has going, but at the same time I could never understand this idea some people had that you could do whatever you want over Cyan’s head, that Cyan *had* to accept any and each of our contributions, and that on top of that we were even allowed to destroy the game and turn it upside down, as if (to use the famous example) we could understand what makes a ball bounce by cutting it open.
UU was meant to keep the magic living, and instead it destroyed it for many; it gave much, but it also took much. We were appointed stewards of the kingdom, and we thought we could be kings. That almost tore us down.