Slashdot Mirror
Uru Resurrects Fan-Operated Multiplayer Shards
ToriaUru writes "Over at Cyanworlds.com, there's now a newly launched Until Uru page, providing fans with all the information they need to download a new client and/or create their own server for the canceled online part of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. Thanks to all the hard working people at Cyan who made this happen!" We previously reported on Uru Live's cancellation, and the Until Uru FAQ, along with a 'giant gnarly disclaimer', explains the downloadable add-ons are "enabling independently run [fan-maintained] servers that any client can connect to... this is not URU Live" - though there is a "nominal fee" of $5.95 for player authentication for those who want to try the service.
It seems like they cannot. What then will distinguish each server, and what is the point of the whole exercise?
Finally! A year of moderation! Ready for 2019?
People tend to mark posts as flamebait that they become upset over, but their subjective emotional response is not necessarily the intent of the poster.
I designed my first area for a MUD in 1992. I adapted my first Diku in 1994 and coded my first MUDbase in 1998. I've worked on about 6 MUDs and my name's in the manuals of 3 commercial MMOGs.
You can call it idle flaming if you want, but that's my experience. It's easy to determine from circumstantial evidence when a MMOG has gone "over the hill", and like I said, the hard core playerbase at that point will have a difficult time accepting the decline of their favorite game.
Personally, I think an 'outreach' to this sort of person - especially with a $6 fee attached - in the wake of the failed game, is nothing more than last-ditch exploitation. URU will not survive because of this program, but it will offer URU fans a little hope in exchange for their money, which I think is unethical.
I repeat, it's dying and that can't be stopped. Choleric animals are killed to stop their suffering. "Mercy killings" exist. Artificially prolonging the life of URU's fanbase to make an extra buck, when the game is doomed in spite of it, is morally indefensible.
I think it's great that people are at least given the opportunity to have their game back. There were a lot of people who would have spent a monthly fee just to keep URU going the way it was during it's beta phase, and they are now getting what they want, almost for free. That's not a bad idea, and the 6$ are giving Cyan a part of the money back which it lost during URU Live.
Anyone with a mild interest in the Uru community will see that this is going to be a hit "in the meantime" (between now, when they launch Myst: Revelations, and when another Myst-online game is launched). Uru had a rabid (if small) following, just like any other MMORPG, and there has been some serious grieving for the loss of the Online version of the game.
From what I can tell, Uru just didn't have time to get off the ground. It suffered from an extremely poor launch, due to clerical errors and unpreparedness, and then the producing parties just gave up too fast. If the community can do some grassroots work and really push this halfway-there version of Uru Online, I think Cyan will put more into the development of the Myst-Online Something-or-other they hinted at developing within the past few months.
Tristan Paine -- Founder, UFOP: StarBase 118 RPG
Yay! Now we can show the world how geeky our player characters look!
Mine's got the Myst T-Shirt On!!! Yay!