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Myst MMOG Details Announced
Ubi Soft and Cyan announced the title for their upcoming online game. Uru: Online Ages Beyond Myst , developed by Cyan Worlds, Inc., is slated for release late this year. From the press release, "Uru will take advantage of broadband to deliver a continually updated, immersive environment and storyline, with content that grows, changes and evolves constantly. It will also be the first persistent world to support real-time voice communication." Sounds like a different road than online games like The Sims Online and Star Wars Galaxies are taking, with the entertainment consisting in exploration and storyline rather than in player status and achievement.
Uru is called a MMOG, not MMORPG.
Reading the press-release, and considering the Myst series, it will be a game more concentrating on a story line and riddles, than leveling. (Wonder, how they want to achieve story lines in MMOGs)
I think it is an interesting approach, since leveling always introduces a competetive element, which a) is often less appealing to women (see success of Myst) b) is more appealing to pks.
> I mean how many MMOG [...]
So many, that the different type of players have their type of game, e.g. Roleplaying-people don't have to be bothered by Hack-n-slay-people, or strategists have their little empire, while more reactive-oriented people can have their ego-shooter world.
I think, currently the problem with MMOGs is, that most MMOGs are only variation of the same game with different themes and rules. Not different MMOGs.
"Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
As new massively multiplayer worlds are emerging, we're going to see the worlds begin to resemble the cellphone industry, in that similar but incompabile technology will prevent (intentionally or not) users from crossing from one rhelm to another. The way individual manufacturers feel (be it games or cellphones), anything that cooperates with a compeditor would make it easier for that person to switch.
It would be nice if early on, the multiplayer industry members got together and agreed tho make their worlds and technology compatible, allowing one single account to which individual game charges are applied. This would a) reduce the cost of companies running their own billing sections, and b) allow a person to switch to another game without having to establish yet another account.
But most importantly, this would open the way to having an Ether -- a plcae outside all of the game rhelms where characters of all sorts could interact (imagine a Sim talking to a Stromtrooper while an Ultima Online player rode by on a horse!). THIS social in-between area would be the start of the Metaverse.
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But it wont' feel like it. The whole point of Myst was the abandoned feeling you got from the areas. Crowding a Myst world with "asl??" isn't going to make it better in any concievable way. This just isn't going to make money.
-- The Sage does nothing, and nothing is left undone. --Lao Tzu
To be honest, I'd be very much interested in seeing how they involve the Myst universe. The games Myst and Riven were quite good, and the books even better. There is a lot of potential for the Myst universe, given the idea that if you are trained, you can become a writer (creator/linker of worlds).
I personally hate the competitive aspect of the typical MMORPGs. That's why I've never gotten into them. I tend to like cooperative situations more, but Myst was one of THE best games to ever come out IMNSHO. I also really enjoyed the sequels Riven and Exile. The games left me wanting more though, and it looks like they are getting ready to deliver! :)
One more note... the game "Lighthouse" (From Sierra) was awsome as well. While many people probably percieved it as somewhat of a Myst ripoff, I thought it was very innovative for it's time. They had much nicer graphics and better sound/music. However, it felt more SciFi than Fantasy when compared to Myst. Anyone else here ever tried Lighthouse?
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I too am a serious Myst fan, though I was very disappointed with Myst III: Exile. I remember scouring every bit of Myst and Riven in order to get to the end.. but III, which I believe was done by a different company than Myst and Riven, was insanely easy to get through. Their logic puzzles were more "use every movable object" than "pay attention to every detail and use what you learn in order to complete complex tasks" So... yeah... hopefully their puzzles will be back up to par in this version :)
For those who don't know, _Ender's Game_ is a great sci-fi book by Orson Scott Card. I've heard they'll be making a movie about it, but I don't know when.
...I don't have enough faith to believe in the "big bang"...