Myst Online is Online Again

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
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Myst Online is Online Again


Cyan Worlds [http://cyanworlds.com/] has made the unexpected announcement that Myst Online: Uru Live is alive once again.

It's the videogame that would not die. In 2003, Cyan Worlds and Uru: Ages Beyond Myst [http://www.ubi.com], a Myst with a twist: It was set in the modern era and intended to feature a cooperative multiplayer component that would allow gamers to explore the various ages of Myst together. Ultimately, however, the online component didn't ship with the game and while it was planned to be launched separately as Myst Online: Uru Live, Ubisoft killed the whole thing at the last minute. Uru sold poorly as a stand-alone game and that, by all appearances, was that.

But dreams die hard and both Cyan and a small core of dedicated fans were determined to make Uru Live a reality. An unofficial, player-maintained version of the online game called public domain [http://en.mystlore.com/wiki/Unt%C3%ACl_Uru], which sounded very much like it was finally washing its hands of the entire mess.

But once again, the game has defied the odds: Cyan announced today that Myst Online: Uru Live is back for another try. "Everything takes longer than expected these days," the company said. "Cyan Worlds' plans are to move MO:UL to open source, and we finally have some good news. We've taken a first step and started a MO:UL server, so the Ages of Uru are available again. We've opened all the Ages, and added most of the goodies in MO:UL. We're referring to it as MO:ULagain - feel free to explore and enjoy."

The new Myst Online is free to play, but Cyan is accepting donations to help offset the cost of keeping the game alive. "Five or ten bucks would go a long way toward helping pay the server and people bills. (No promises, but we're trying to figure out a way to show our appreciation to supporters by giving you a little something extra in MO:ULagain.)," the studio said. "But don't feel obligated - we're just glad to have the cavern open once again."

I thoroughly enjoyed Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and I've always felt a bit of regret that I was never able to try the online component; hopefully the game will be able to make a real go of it this time around. More information about the remarkably durable world of Myst Online and how to jump in and start playing yourself is available at mystonline.com [http://mystonline.com/en/].


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The Shade

New member
Mar 20, 2008
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Awesome! Uru had some of the most amazing Ages in it. I wasn't such a fan of the third-person interface, but I'm willing to look past that for a free Uru Live again!

Hopefully it's Mac-compatible. To the interwebz!!!

EDIT: According to their forums, it is NOT currently Mac-compatible. Curses, foiled again!
 

viciouspen

New member
Dec 23, 2007
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Myst games have always been iffy for me. I've tried some, and enjoyed them at times, other times, just been bored to tears.

I may poke at it and give it a shot since it's free.
 

Trivun

Stabat mater dolorosa
Dec 13, 2008
9,831
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I'm starting up my account right this minute. I've been planning to get all of the single-player Myst games, along with Uru and all the expansion stuff (books and whatnot) recently. I used to own the first four Myst games, then like an idiot sold three of them on eBay (Riven isn't compatible with my PC so that's stuck in a drawer under my bed, though there was a glitch on my copy anyway where half the time the underwater carts would stop and the game freze in the middle of Jungle Island...).

EDIT: Can't create an account right now, it seems the server's too busy... damn.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
5,630
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viciouspen said:
Myst games have always been iffy for me. I've tried some, and enjoyed them at times, other times, just been bored to tears.

I may poke at it and give it a shot since it's free.
Same. It will depend if it will just make me want to cry in frustration...
 

tetron

New member
Dec 9, 2009
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I never played this game before it got shut down but now that it's been brought back online I'm looking forward to trying this game out. Definitely a good bit of news that needs to be spread around.
 

DaxStrife

Late Reviewer
Nov 29, 2007
657
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Wow, nostalgia trip; I was in the beta for that. Nice to see it come back, but don't think I'll be returning to it. The big reason I was interested was for the promise of constant updates and new features*; as it is now I think it's going to be a bit stagnant.

*Same reason I stopped playing City of Heroes: nothing new has been added for a long time.
 

TheLoneSeeker

Your Towel
Feb 8, 2010
48
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I've bought 3 Myst games (including this one) and none of them has ever even worked lol. I really hope this does well and stays around. There aren't enough devs these days who'd keep working for so long on a project like this.
 

Fearzone

Boyz! Boyz! Boyz!
Dec 3, 2008
1,241
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I loved Myst, one of the all time greats of computer gaming. Riven was great too, not as good as Myst, but still held it's own. After that... meh, pretty unmemorable.

Still, thanks for the heads up on this one and the price is right so I'll be sure to check it out.
 

Richard Hannay

New member
Nov 30, 2009
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My Gametap account began the day before Myst Online kicked off and ended the day after it shut down. It was not a coincidence. I am so thrilled about this.
 

lacktheknack

Je suis joined jewels.
Jan 19, 2009
19,316
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WHAT?! I... I... uhm...


YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Now that that's out of my system, I have to go rejoin. See you all later.
 

JEBWrench

New member
Apr 23, 2009
2,572
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Sweet zombie Jesus! This month just keeps getting better!

Whee! *off to install Uru on his shiny brand-spanking new computer*.

Merry Taxmas everybody. ;)
 

JEBWrench

New member
Apr 23, 2009
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Probably.

In all seriousness, the main game was kinda meh, but the expansions really added a lot to the story of the Myst universe.

But exploring the Cavern and various Ages with others was a lot of fun. And hopefully they'll still keep up with their intention of allowing for fan-made Ages.
 

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
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I really liked Uru, even though the controls were garbage and I used GameFAQs for probably half the puzzles. But it was such an immersive setting that it was easy to overlook the shortcomings. I'm definitely getting into it this time around, it's not often you get a third shot at a game like this so I'm not going to let it slip away.
 

JEBWrench

New member
Apr 23, 2009
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Let's just hope they can get the servers back online. The sudden flood of Mysties has apparently caused them to explode. :'(