What is so attractive in Myst Online: Uru?
Cyan Worlds just announced that it will be reopening Myst Online: Uru Live in a limited capacity. Uru’s history has been filled with anticipation and disappointment as it has opened and closed in various manifestations. Which brings Eleri to ask the question “Why do we fight so hard for Uru?”
My answer? I have an emotional attachment to the world and storyline. I want to explore more of this world. I can envision myself there.
I’m not sure why Azeroth or other worlds have not drawn me equally close. Maybe it’s because D’ni was a place that was hinted at for 10 years in the Myst series until we finally got to “go” there. Maybe it’s a level of realism and lack of a cluttered user interface. Maybe it’s because I’ve met Uru’s players in game and in real life. Maybe that, when I play Uru, I play “myself” and not “my character.”
I think all of these points draw towards one word: emmersion. Whatever the reason, D’ni is a unique place that I want to continue to explore.
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July 3rd, 2008 at 10:44 am
I’m wondering… with UU, there was no story because it wasn’t sustainable in a static enviroment, so story became a casualty. And in MOUL, people who wanted story, were focused on Cyan doing story, and in some cases, actively not wanting fan story.
So where will story and immersion come in in MORE?
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:28 pm
In response to Eleri, the reason I suspect fan story was rejected was that it had no way (until a few people cleverly asked for special images to be imported into MOUL for them) of altering the environment for other players, so no way of making an impressive impact on anyone. New things to talk about don’t hold attention for long when they don’t come with new things to _do_ as well. Uru is about having experiences, and players have a tendency to think that the only source of new _experiences_ is Cyan. Without fan-created content to support and enhance fan story, they’re often right. When players realized a story was not coming from Cyan, they became scornful of it because they couldn’t envision it leading to an experience that would be meaningful or fun for them.
Once Cyan redirects the attention of those players toward fan story and fan-created content, the players will reset their expectations of where they will be able to find a fun experience, and they’ll be more accepting and supportive of what other fans have to offer them. I feel that, with careful guidance to keep fan created content true to the Myst universe, fans will be able to greatly enrich and add to the experience already provided by Cyan’s content. It will take effort and teamwork to focus the fragmented talent bases in the community, but this is already happening in places like the Guild of Writers, where people band together on group creations as well as their own personal projects.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I’d like to add that the pendulum can also swing too far in the opposite direction. Without interesting and rich stories, additional environments can feel shallow, as Jalak, Minkata, and the pod ages did for many players, and the experience of exploring them is over comparatively quickly.
By contrast, the city of D’ni retains interest because its rich story element contains many mysteries that continue to provoke thought even while the environment itself remains static. The feeling is that many more experiences are possible, so people continue to visit.
It will be interesting to see whether fans will be able to achieve a golden balance of experiences based on exploring an area with those based on thinking about a story. Being able to add each kind in just enough quantity that a little more of the other is wanted is, I think, the formula to keep players coming back for more.