treehat

It looks like Myst Online: Uru Live is really starting to shape up! It's good to see Cyan Worlds back on their game.

Let me explain: Uru was originally a massively multiplayer game by Cyan Worlds. The thing I particularly enjoy about it is that it's very much story-driven. It builds on the large, rich backstory created by the Myst games and places a new one on top of it. The story is acted out through digital actors - people at Cyan communicating with the other players just like any other player would. It's much more interesting than World of Warcraft and the like that way.

The other great thing is that everyone is incredibly helpful and friendly. There's conflict and drama, but almost always related to the story. It certainly helps set an atmosphere of cooperation that is becoming essential to the game.

But today, I feel like the game has truly taken off. They have made available the Guild Halls for five Guilds. While the Guild system itself has not been implemented, these are a great step forward. The moment I entered one of the halls, I was hit with the feeling of being part of something. The hall itself was grand and ornate, and everyone inside was busy planning what to do, how things should be structured, and so forth. It was great.

Mind you, the halls are referred to the Guild Pubs (e.g. Guild of Writers' Pub), which has led to several jokes along the lines of "Where's my drink? What's a pub without drinks?"

I'm supporting the Writers for now, but I might switch to another Guild once things have settled into place - probably whichever one needs people the most. Probably the Messengers.

(Sorry if I'm not making sense. I'm trying to be as coherent as possible.)