A serious proposal to Cyan. Can WE get MORE up and running?

[Nalates]

There are some copyright issues whether one charges money or not. If Cyan allows their IP into the public domain they lose rights to it. So, while charging money is a certain violation, it is not the only consideration.

And Dachannien's point about client side is valid... if we serve only to those with Uru/CC/PoTS CD's... that limits the audience. Seems to me there would be no way to get anyone MOUL content without serious copyright problems.

Has anyone looked at RealXtend as an alternative? Or OpenSIM? I see a few comments from T_S_Kimball on OpenSIM. Nothing on RealXtend. OpenSIM would allow fans to run their own servers and connect them together via a shared grid. I think with both of these the land surface mesh is the complex import. But RealXtend and OpenSIM claim Blender compatibility... so it is likely possible.

If one is too move away from Cyan... add in world build, permissions, better AV's etc., why not completely move away to to a system that appears to be where the tech is moving toward? One with things many would like to add?

[J'Kla]

I am not sure building from scratch is viable Nalates but I am prepared to be corrected on that.

I went for a dig in my memory and I seem to remember in the early days that when you installed Alcugs you had to have an install of Uru and needed your install CD.

There is going to be a way to limit access to those that have say CC/TpotS but any limitations are only temporary till somebody hacks a way past that.

Ok there's ways of using Drizzle to get other ages like those MO:UL ones so if some hack can do it why can't Cyan millions of programmers out there self publish and make a living from it.

I am not that bothered about the MO:UL ages my main field of interest is multi player puzzles and a UU shard that would allow some form of ULM attachment would solve that. For the most part if you could share an age with three others it would solve my needs, I know there are other concerns and If Cyan were to suddenly find the cash and launch MORE as an online game I would be queueing up to throw my money in the hat.

But I would still persist with ULM CC and building my own ages and puzzles even if this meant building a separate PC to do that. There's a lot to be said about what you do in the privacy of your own home and as long as it doesn't harm others in any way shape or form then what's the problem.

If and it's a big if we manage to get an Alcugs shard that will tie in with ULM or some form of data server and we are running fan built ages can anybody see how this could harm Cyan?

Just because I can go see a local team play football doesn't mean I don't support a big team as well. Fan development and supporting Cyan are not mutually exclusive.

[Trylon]

Ok, chiming in here:

To access an Alcugs shard, you need:
- Original CC or TPOTS install
- To copy a couple of UU files IIRC (someone should still have them around )

Things that are certainly possible (if you have your own dataserver):
- Integrate ULM, and make it so that the server sets what should be on the bookshelf (server support is already in there )
- Add in static linking panels to user books on the bookshelf easily.
- Serve User Ages
- Upgrade/replace any existing files in the folders
- Add in an addition to relto to act as another hub to user ages (Fun to make - and can be a treat to newcomers) (you should see my relto (even though it isn't finished))
- Create a whole new age to act as a hub (would be fun too - if you make a whole new age and call it "Personal" that one would load instead of Relto )

Personally I'd love to see a public Alcugs shard started - there are so much fun things we could do....
And I don't really see how it could possibly hurt Cyan, especially now that all hope for MORE is going down the drain. If and when they start up MORE after all, we can always stop the service if they request it.

[J'Kla]

Given what you have said could we make it limited for development use baring in mind we need to soak test ages before we hand them over to Cyan. Is there any way to make it only work for authorized IP or even MAC addresses that way we could keep things sweet with Cyan by guaranteeing controlled access.

I hold out the hope that some day my work will appear on a Cyan product and that's not going to happen if we cheese them off. (Took some digging to come up with cheese there other words kept springing to mind).

[Trylon]

Well, you will need an account to login, so basically, if you limit the accounts given out, you limit the users.

We could simply start with a shard that formally is just for GoW (and GoMa) members to testdrive ages in a multiplayer environment./

EDIT:
You'll also need an original TPOTS or CC cdrom/dvd in order to access an alcugs shard

[JWPlatt]

And I don't really see how it could possibly hurt Cyan, especially now that all hope for MORE is going down the drain.

This is a free-for-all mentality of a mob making huge assumptions on behalf of Cyan. Until Cyan says Uru is completely canceled and not just on hold, MORE has hope and will happen. In all cases, whether it is to cancel or continue, Cyan will speak when Cyan is ready. It is well known that they are not ready.

Honestly, this morose mindset is devolving into a mob action attempting to take control and using the silence to justify their actions.

[Chacal]

Well it worked well the first time.

[Trylon]

Ok, on reading it back I admit my phrasing was a bit stronger than I intended (I didn't mean all was lost)
But I'd still say we could just try out a "development" alcugs server, and see how Cyan reacts. IF they ask us to shut it down again, we always can.

The very ability to write custom ages began with bold endeavors like that, and look where it brought us until now....

[J'Kla]

If all else fails I have another story that I believe would work on an Alcugs server this is a non Myst universe story I was working on as an idea for a TV show but I could not get a handle on it for a start. I e-mailed Tony over at Cyan about licensing the Plasma engine (I did not reveal the story) and was told no they wanted to keep that for themselves.

So the project went onto the back burner.

The only commonality with Uru would be the avatar.

It would need a new device with KI like functionality but would be completely new.
It would need teleport booths in place of linking books.

[JWPlatt]

I keep finding questions, thanks to J'Kla. Although my question about Alcugs remains unanswered, I'll ask more. Actually they are old questions of mine finding a new home here in this thread.

Qa: What does Plasma have over any really good contemporary engine which is done better with new technologies?

Qb: What competitive edge does Cyan lose by making Plasma available if there are better things anyway?

Qc: Why shouldn't Cyan release Plasma as an SDK?

Qd: Why should they?

Qe: Wouldn't selling a Plasma SDK simultaneously generate revenue and protect their source and rights to the technology while offering development, testing and support services for it, thereby getting greater leverage out of their Headspin investment?