I just found out about this... I've kind of been reading the forums on and off in between my studies. I'll be honest, and I'm sorry if it upsets anyone - that's not my intent, these are just my feelings on Uru, MORE and everything else.
After much thinking, I think it's time Cyan kind of moved on to be honest. If they get MORE going that'd be great and stuff, but I for one am more interested in seeing Cyan do something new. I mean let's face it. Uru is getting old. It's been shut down no less than twice now. It's been played thoroughly, every nook and cranny in the current game accounted for. I really think that Cyan would be better off to move on, at least for now, and do something new. Uru has become well known as a failure to the general industry by the sounds of things, and each time it gets resurrected, it's gonna have less and less people going for it because of the simple fact that it has failed twice before and is getting old. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see MORE happen and stuff, but I think Cyan would be best to focus more on what they do best - new and innovative games that offer something different from the mainstream. Can anyone remember when Myst V was announced? We were all excited about the prospect of a new adventure and new ages to explore. That's what I miss. It's been so long now since we've seen anything substantial come out of Cyan, besides MOUL, which, as more of a lone explorer, never did that much for me. I do want to see MORE happen, but not at the expense of Cyan. In fact, I actually preferred it when we had the expansion packs. In that form we got good quality content and a story told through more than just chat logs. It was something that offered a decent time of gameplay, as opposed to a single age that can be solved really quickly, as well as allowing for story arcs spanning more than just a single age. Plus there was the excitement and anticipation leading up to the release. To be honest, I don't think that Uru in it's current form, MORE or otherwise, will succeed in the current gaming market anyway, especially with the financial crisis, so maybe it's time to stop worrying about whether or not it will happen.
That said, the concept of Myst is a sound one, and one I reckon could be developed much further. This Guild exists to make ages, to extend the Myst/Uru experience where Cyan is unable to do so. I think that is where our efforts should be placed. In this time while MORE is on hold, it would be best for all concerned I think if we just press on making quality, immersive 3D worlds, and deep stories with them, not to mention innovative puzzles and gameplay, to add to the current single player experience. That is what I'm hoping for the SftSoK project especially - an expansion of sorts that is a self contained story with self contained ages and puzzles that will offer something new for people. If MORE happens, then we can move what we've done to the multiplayer/online aspect and that'll be great. But in the meantime, we have the tools, and the people with the expertise to develop them further. If we continue making good stuff, if MORE happens then we can populate it with something worth playing. But if that doesn't happen, there is no reason why we shouldn't continue making ages anyway. If we keep fretting and debating about MORE and shards etc., we'll never get anything done.
These are just my thoughts on the matter
by Grogyan » Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:34 pm 