Myst Online: Uru Live

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Myst Online: Uru Live
Information
Developer	Cyan Worlds
Publisher	Ubisoft
Released on	February 15, 2007
Platform	Windows • Mac OSX
Source

"Myst Online: Uru Live" is the online counterpart to Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, officially released on February 15th, 2007. It contains all the ages from the Uru games as well as several variances, such as different puzzles.

Though the game has been cancelled several times, Uru Live is currently hosted through Cyan Worlds after gaining back the rights from Gametap. It is currently free of charge and is run through fan donations.

Plot

To be Added

New Features

The online version added many new things to the Uru interface not included in the offline games. Users with KIs could take pictures or make diary entries. The KIs also served as a chat interface between players and could be calibrated to collect and set markers around ages.

Players were also able to travel to D'ni for the first time (excepting linking stones). The ferry terminal, library, and many other areas were open for players to explore. However, nearly all of this content was added into the single player game with the free expansion pack Uru: To D'ni, released after the cancellation of Uru Live.

Development

Uru Live was originally the concept of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst until their publisher Ubisoft asked them to create a single player portion of the game, unsure whether or not the game would sell. After Uru: Ages Beyond Myst was released, Uru Live was supposed to be a subscription based service that would be separate from Uru: Ages Beyond Myst.

Uru servers were briefly live over the end of 2003 and into 2004, during a period called the Prologue, ostensibly for testing of the online code and server loads. A number of important events occurred in-character, such as a group of explorers witnessing a wall collapsing on Phil Henderson.

In January 2004, Ubisoft decided to cancel the planned online content. Due to a "clerical error," everyone who had signed up for the eventual launch was immediately let into the Prologue. This lasted until February, when it was shut down.

Some of the online content was released as a free single player expansion entitled To D'ni in April 2004 with the Path of the Shell expansion in June.

Cyan releases Untìl Uru in August 2004, a the binaries of the Uru Live server for operation on Linux and BSD. Fans began to host private server versions of Uru. In February 2006, Cyan was in a better position, and hosted their own official Untìl Uru server, D'mala.

Myst Online: Uru Live was announced at E3 in April 2006 by GameTap, a service owned by Turner Broadcasting. A closed Beta began in Fall 2006 run through Cyan Worlds. In late Fall and early Winter 2006, the Beta became open, but still separate from GameTap. In early 2007, an open beta was offered through the Gametap service. Gametap also began to feature an informational "Myst Online: 101" video to help initiate new "explorers" to the game and interface. On February 15, 2007, the game was officially launched through GameTap.

The game lasted until just shy of its one year anniversary, with GameTap announcing its closure on February 4, 2008.

In 2010, after much fan backing, Cyan Worlds reacquired the rights to the game and opened their own server, called Myst Online: Uru Live again (MOULa). Shortly afterwards, Cyan Worlds released the source code for the game, allowing fans to make add-ons and tweak the software and even accepting some fan made content for the official server.

It is currently free of charge and is kept open by donations.

Release

MOUL launched with the standard Yeesha Journey and access to Ae'gura and the Bevin neighborhoods; all the content that was in the base single-player game and the To D'ni expansion. Returning players found that a new rotating stone sculpture in their Relto would keep track of their progress in completing each Age.

Each Bevin had one of two new garden Ages available: Eder Delin (Jan 19, during the beta) or Eder Tsogahl (Feb 17, at launch). These Ages had their own trials which could only be completed by multiple people working together, forming a Second Journey.

The Third Journey was the gradual release of links to four pods ("zik" in D'ni), akin to the observation pod orbiting above Todelmer (Myst V): Negilahn (March 1), Dereno (March 15), Payiferen (April 5), and Tetsonot (April 19). Each zik was in a different biome. It took some time to realize that all four were part of the same Age. A portal appears in each pod in a roughly 16-hour cycle, but at different times for each pod due to their different positions on the planet.

Cyan-run NPCs representing the D'ni Restoration Council would often be present and interacting with players. Many expressed disappointment that these interactions were unannounced and largely random, and there was no way to know when they might be missing out on important story events. Cyan opted to move towards an Episodic format, where each month would feature a scheduled few days of activity. The episode numbering began at 5, since it was the fifth major release of the software, allowing the episode and version number to remain consistent. One might consider the Prologue to be Episode 1, Untìl Uru: D'mala to be Episode 2, GameTap Beta to be Episode 3, and initial post-release gameplay to be Episode 4.

Episode 5: Scars ran from May 19-24, and introduced Minkata as the Fourth Journey.

Episode 6: A New Light (June 23-27) re-opened The Watcher's Sanctuary and Er'cana, launching the Fifth Journey, the Path of the Shell.

Episode 7: Familiar Voices (July 30-August 3) Jalak and Kirel are opened.

Episode 8: Deception (September 8-12) The various Guild pubs (five customized versions of the Watcher's Sanctuary) and Phil's Relto are opened.

Episode 9: Exodus (November 1-6) The Finale of Season 1. Ahnonay, K'veer, and Myst Island are opened, allowing completion of the Path of the Shell.

Any planned content for Season 2 was abandoned with the announcement of the end of Uru on GameTap.

Notes & Trivia

To be Added

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