I just now came across a well-written suggestion for life beyond Uru's cancellation by Andrew Plotkin, a.k.a. belford:
http://gameshelf.jmac.org/2008/02/myst- ... ncell.html
It pleads the case for a fan-run Uru, citing GoW's progress in age creation as the key.
You can also find it on Gamasutra:
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_i ... tory=17595
Forgive me if this has been posted elsewhere.
Well done, belford!