Things arent going to get better for Cyan until they figure how to reach a mainstream audience. Maybe they forgot that the reason they became such a huge sucess in the first place is because Myst was a mainstream game for its time. The new games have been games for a small fanbase niche market and then they dont make enough money to keep Cyan afloat. Now most of us on here are sitting around wondering why Cyan is announcing that they're closing their doors every couple of years. URU was a great idea but wasnt executed/designed the right way. The classic Myst gameplay formula, with other people, and new content being the only reason to come back would only work if there were enough subscribers. There wasnt any real replayable gameplay different from the previous games that would compel a mainstream audience to buy the game and keep coming back for more. If URU had some kind of fun game worth coming back to play than the pressure wouldnt have been on Cyan to have to deliver new content. I wonder why they didnt make URU a lot more than just the classic Myst style of gameplay. After all, those games were about being alone and figuring things out. It didnt really fit with an online multiplayer world concept that way. They shouldve made the gameplay a lot different but kept elements of the classic gameplay in the game as well for people who want to stop and smell the roses.
Speaking of Disney, as someone up above did, I was hoping URU would be like a themed ride at Disney World. Where you are initially brought down into the cavern through the great shaft in a linear way with a bunch of scripted NPCs. Kind of like the beginning of a game like Fallout 3 before you get the guns. Once you were in you could go back up to the cleft or look around for other linear plots to follow and then you can stop and smell the roses and explore in deeper detail different side stories and different ages. Either way URU needed more gameplay and rock paper scissors, a rock climbing wall, and pellets werent enough to keep people subscribed. Expecting that they'd be able to have enough money to constantly develop new content was unrealistic. If URU had some type of replayable gameplay maybe some people would think that it wouldnt even be a Myst game anymore. Either way, Myst+Online wasnt going to work as a income generating project unless they adapted what the "Myst" portion of that formula meant. I dont want to see Cyan fall apart and Myst become a forgotten series.
Myst on the iPhone looks great. RealMyst on the iPhone would be even better though just because of the way things are animated. I dont think the iPhone can run that level of 3D though... Either way I'll still buy it.