Thanks Eleri - I keep planning to try other MMORPGs, but never get to them. Ah well, one day.

I do like it that the world of Uru is open for exploration.

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Retired forum mod, mszv, amarez in Uru (KI 89257), other online games
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Whether you approach URU as a game or as a world wide community, there will be something for everyone to see - do - enjoy. I think those who come into URU looking only for the "game" will soon find the rich and immursive "community". And as Shadowcats stated above - there are many for whom this is the only "community" they can truely participate in and enjoy. The "game" for them is secondary to the "community" and fortunately - with a few exceptions - does not require the kind of eye/hand coordination and manual dextarity that most of the other MMORPGs require.

Will there be hard core "gamers" who blast through "the game" in two days then complain because there is nothing for them to do? I would say yes. Trying to constantly come up with new ways to keep such people entertained would be one long lesson in futility. I would cheerfully welcome them and just as cheerfully say goodbye when they leave.

Is URU a Game? I would say it is as much a "game" as Life itself. And each one of us has been playing That game from the day we were born.

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All things come to those who wait.

Well now - if you need some of those pesky complaining people so that Uru Live would have enough subscribers to survive - then you wouldn't want them to leave! Ideally, you'd get the "right sort" of players, but it's an online game. Everyone isn't going to get along with everybody.

I'm sure that there is happy medium where there is "enough to do in the game" that people stay. And the cool thing about this discussion is that it will cease to be academic - we'll get to see out it all turns out, when Uru Live opens its doors and we all get to go in!

I was also thinking - maybe that's another great thing about having Uru Live being part of Gametap, for US folks that is. Gametap has more games, not multiplayer games, but games. Nothing happening in Uru Live - zip on over to Gametap and play some games, and come back when a new age in Uru gets released! It's a thought!

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Retired forum mod, mszv, amarez in Uru (KI 89257), other online games
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lightshadow wrote:

I'm meaning this by the fact that there is no way thay cyan can release content any faster than players can beat it.

Well, I think that's part of the disconnect on considering it purely a game. That it's simply content to be 'beat'. Things like puzzles and story-arcs, yes, those have a limtied shelf-life. And you can only explore an age so many times. The continuing pipeline is (hoepfully) going to be addressing part of that - there will always be new content in a month or two.

But I think that's a rather narrow view of what Uru could be. If players do get to make ages (and I don't see why not eventually - Second Life does exactly that, allow players to create content), then we will see 'sandbox' content, for example.

I guess my point is that the more likely Uru is to allow a diversity of possible experiences, the more likely it is to succeed. IMHO.

Joey Zoonishii wrote:

Uru has a story, but, you aren't confined by the story. That's how I'd put it.

Yeah, the story is only part of the experience.

Eleri wrote:

Uru is much more like, say a Civil War reenactment group, or the SCA,

I agree. Instead of historical re-enactment, it's a 'speculative re-enacement'. I could be considered akin to fan groups like Star Fleet Command or the Klingon groups. In fact, the fan art I've seen for Myst (plushie squee, anyone?) is more like you'd see in that sort of group.

mszv wrote:

It will be interesting to see what people get to do, after they played a new age.

I think that is what will make or break Uru. What can you do besides just tromp trhough the new Age after it comes out.

mszv wrote:

I'm sure that there is happy medium where there is "enough to do in the game" that people stay.

I certainly hope so.

Well, I think Cyan have said that they will try to insert new little things on a daily basis. Besides, you never know who you might come across in the cavern; someone from the DRC, for example. Or think about "the explorers are going to be part of the plot" thing. I believe there will be reasons to visit every day, even if someone isn't very fond of chatting etc.

Sorry to post to a slightly old thread, but I haven't looked in here for a while, and this thread pulled at me.

I am glad that Uru Live will be more than a game. I lead a hectic life; I'm very busy, way too busy to play computer games -- but I got hooked on the Myst worlds 10+ years ago when I wasn't so busy.

What I need is, is a place to go to get away from it all. I might want to play Uru, the game; but I suspect that when I enter Uru Live, I'll just wander around and look at stuff. I'd love to be able to saunter around and explore without having to solve any puzzles. Sounds boring, I know, but I have enough excitement in real life. I'd really look forward to an hour a day in Uru, appreciating the beautiful scenery, having pleasant conversation with people, or just sitting, looking at a work of art. It would be like a mini-vacation for me, on a daily basis. I'm really looking forward to it!

Shorah jemel - welcome to the URU Live forums. I kind of agree with you. While I do like playing the game and exploring. sometimes I just want to visit the cavern and walk around. I know that is boooooring to a lot of folks but is does offer a way to relax after a hectic day on the serface.

Definitly a mini vacation and one I wouldn't mind taking an hour a day.

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All things come to those who wait.

I go agree that URU can be way more than a game. In the early days, I was very involved with the URU community and discovered that I could become so involved that occurances within the community could affect me deeply.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, especially if you have no other outside interests. When URU:Live died, a piece of me died right along with it. A dear community member passed away and I was dealt another blow. For a long period of time, in order to deal with those and other events, I walked away from the community to give myself time to heal.

Even now, my return is a cautious one. I do wish to be a part of URU and it's wonderful community, but perhaps not as involved on a personal level as I once was.

Very nice to see you, Pa'ula!



The ending of the original Uru Live was painful for a lot of us. Many people had to wander off for a bit to process the loss and the effect it was having on the community, but it feels good to be back!

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"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library."
-Jorge Luis Borges, "Poem of the Gifts," from "The Maker"

Whenever I see some disparagement of people who want to solve puzzles quickly, I get annoyed. I guess the speedy folks aren't thought to have the right sort of "reverence" for the game. In reality, Uru is an online environment, an online game, and I think that people will have different playing styles.

I think that the deal is that you provide enough "things to do" so that your target market doesn't get bored, wants to keep subscribing to the game and also wants to play the game. You need both, people subscribing and people playing the game, getting into Uru and sticking around. If you think that people will be happy doing a few things, and then talking about those few things a lot, or spending a decent bit of time just enjoying teh environement (and I like that too!), then well, so be it - you've got something that will work. If you think that your target market is going to need more stuff to do, then that's what you have to provide.

In my opinion, if you want more than a small dedicated group of avid fans and/or beta testers, then there has to be something to do whenever you log on, something more than talking about stuff, and enjoying the world ambience (And again, I like that world ambience too, quite a lot).

So, we'll need lots of new areas to explore, new puzzles and new "stuff to do", new content. Personally, I don't think that puzzles will give you enough to do. I don't think it's possible to release enough puzzles, and I also think that if all you had to do was solve logic puzzles - I think that would be boring. And if you want people to "make their own fun" - you have to give them the tools to "make their own fun".

Yes, Second Life gives you tools to "make your own fun", but it's specifically designed to be that sort of game. It's not an afterthought. The whole Second Life environment is designed with that in mind - the sandbox concept. I suspect that, even if Cyan wants to do more in the way of letting people create ages, that's for a future development.

But you know, I think that Cyan knows this - so it will be extra interesting to see what they come up with.

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Retired forum mod, mszv, amarez in Uru (KI 89257), other online games
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Last edited by mszv on Tue Jun 27, 2006 12:47 am; edited 2 times in total

Cyan has indicated that some of the new content that will be added to Live early on will be "repeatable" content. (Mentioned here via DRC member Marie S.: http://www.mystembassy.net/drcliaisons/?q=node/109 .) They're clearly aware that there will be some "slow times" between content releases... and that mini-games and activities will be needed to fill in.

Now if they put in a Bejeweled clone, I may never log off.

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MOULa 26838 | Prologue Video Project: On Hold pending Minkata support
Visit rel.to to explore Myst, Uru, and D'ni communities!

Marten, Marten - thanks so very much for finding that reference!

Wow - now I really am jazzed up!

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Retired forum mod, mszv, amarez in Uru (KI 89257), other online games
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I actually wanted more information than what Marie had said regarding repeatable content, so I asked at this evening's Town Hall. Here is the result:

(06/26 20:04:05) Marten: In another Town Hall meeting, Marie Sutherland of the DRC has mentioned that the DRC is focusing on content with "repeatable" value. Can you expound upon what that means for the pipeline in an OOC sense?
(06/26 20:04:48) JStaub: Sure. W
(06/26 20:05:20) JStaub: Without getting TOO specific, I think we are always going to want to find a balance between the types of ages that we make available...
(06/26 20:06:14) JStaub: One type of age we feel is important is one that can be played over and over again and be entertaining...in most puzzle ages, you get through the age, and for many people it feels "over"
(06/26 20:07:39) JStaub: ...so we want to try and come up with some ages that are fun no matter how many times you play it...an example of this might be an age that is still interesting visually, and perhaps has some puzzle elements, but is also one that can encourage friendly competition of sorts...I'm NOT talking about leveling or anything like that, just simply providing players with something fun to do, that they may want to challenge eachother with
(06/26 20:09:16) JStaub: for example, we would love to provide a vehicle in an age at some point...I'm not saying we can do that NOW, but we would like to...well, you provide a couple of vehicles in an age, and guess what? people are going to want to race. :) Again, I'm not saying you HAVE to race in this age, but it is something that people WILL do because it's there
(06/26 20:09:31) JStaub: Again, we would like to find a good balance :) Make sense?

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MOULa 26838 | Prologue Video Project: On Hold pending Minkata support
Visit rel.to to explore Myst, Uru, and D'ni communities!

Thanks again Marten!

I like this a lot - giving us a little something to do when we are between new ages. I think it's a great idea.

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Retired forum mod, mszv, amarez in Uru (KI 89257), other online games
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I got into Prologue on Nov 17th and stayed in till the lights went out on. I never wondered whether I was playing a game or not playing a game. I had already finished Uru before getting into prologue so that aspect didn't bother me. I was mainly there for the community, sure it was fun and exciting with Phil, Sharper or other DRC members appeared in the hoods or when something new was released but it was the community that brought most of us back day after day in Prologue. After the plug was pulled I moved on though with other things and can count on two hands the amount of times I've been actually logged into Until Uru. I've lurked in the background though and with what I've been reading lately is getting me excited again about the community that once again will be inhabiting the Cavern.