Hi DM, yes - Silohwet and Brian have been working on their version of a bevin in SL...very nice, too - in Second Life you can replicate anything! It's a great URU community and just continues to grow there..

Thanks for the link Dudemom!

It's too bad that it's folding again though I must say I was disappointed in the content offered. They never offered us any new puzzles or exploration really. The fact that we could meet with friends and play the game together was fun but it was disappointing that there was no real content to the game other than eye candy. Did others feel that way too?

I wonder what the new online casual game discussed in the article might be? Maybe GameTap is one among the many companies Cyan is approaching with that game.

Until then, it would appear that the best way for fans to support Cyan is by purchasing Cosmic Osmo's Hex Isle.

Melanie -- No I didn't feel that way. I still haven't finished all the content offered, and I loved the ongoing story. I'd say my only disappointment was that I only saw the Bahro from a distance -- it would have been great to have seen one up close and personal, so to speak.

I signed up Dec. 29 only because of URU and because it was getting much more interesting. I signed up for a year, and here a month and a half later, it's all over.

I don't like Gametap's games, and in the fine print it clearly states "no refunds" so there you go. I wish I had had some warning, some indication that this wouldn't last and therefore could have saved some money. The only good thing is when I signed up they were offering a year at half price, if I had paid full price I would be very, very upset.

Flo

Flo, I would check with customer service. I thought I saw people posting on the MOUL forum that GameTap would do a refund but I think it would be from the time of the server shutdown on April 4. GameTap customer service can tell you if that is true or not. I plan on canceling at that time as I was there for MOUL only.

Becky, somewhere (I hate to say that but my mind has been so distracted from all this...) that Cosmic Osmo is coming to GameTap. I think Cyan's relationship with them also extends to making casual games that can play on GameTap (and as the article indicates, pay the bills) Possibly they will make other games to add on to the casual gaming list. I would hate to see Cyan go under but like all of us, they have to pay the bills..... so hard decisions had to be made.

One thread on the MOUL forum said that if they could have released the tools for fan created ages and had the main public city with the ablity to branch out into those fan made ages, than this might have taken off mightly. I have to agree there and an additional year of Until Uru would have been acceptable while they readied that material, but obviously that didn't happen.

I have to give a heartfelt thanks to all the Uru folk in Second Life who are adopting all of us refugees and showing us the way. They have made the transition less difficult and it is wonderful to be able to continue being with such extraordinary people. That was my biggest fear when this was announced, losing touch with all the great friends I have made.

I will cancel my membership (opened since the announcement of MOUL) for the same reasons. I haven't had much if any time to play this last year - but maintained a yearly subscription to support URU Live anyways.

I never got into any of the other games because I have hard copies or DL versions (or even both) of the ones I would play - the rest didn't interest me. Except for MOUL ... This is going through the whole death of URU all over again..

I wonder if one of the 'heads' of the 'boomer bevin' would maybe have some announced 'get together & say goodbye' days/evenings! Even some that are later for us in states but good for our members who are in other countries.....??? Is hard to know when 'boomer friends sometimes will be on and would be nice to acknowledge them and get a chance to say 'goodbye'.

I expect that there will be lots of parties as the time grows near for it to be shut down. Last time, when the Prologue shut down in 2004, as I recall, people spent the last several days hanging out together before the end.

It became a kind of marathon where people were going without sleep for two or three days.

Here's a link to gatorlaw's thoughts about the original Uru Live shut down mentioned above. Deja vu all over again?

When you log on to URU through Gametap, they announce that the game is shutting down April 4 but then they go on to say something about creating your own game etc.

What does that mean?

Thanks for the info Dudemom, I'll check it out.

Flo

Hi all,
Since Gametap had their own neighborhood in Uru Live, I wanted to come over and give you as much information as I had on the closing. If you want to follow the story, and have questions or comments, here is everything that was said officially, including announcements and interviews.

February 4, 2008 - announcement of Uru Live Closing, from the official Uru Live forums, copied over by the Uru community manager from the Gametap forum -
http://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14595

February 6, 2008 - Ten Ton Hammer (a site for MMO games) reports on the cancellation of Uru Live. This is an interview with Ricardo Sanchez, VP of Content and Creative Director for GameTap. I think it's a good read.
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/21747

February 6, 2008 - article in the Spokesman Review, the local paper in Cyan's (game developer) home town,
http://www.spokesman.com/business/story.asp?ID=230680

February 8, 2008 - article by a tech columnist writing for the Spokesman Review. This is much more informative about what is going on with Cyan, and whether Cyan can run some version of online Uru themselves - short answer - legal issues to work out.
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/txt/archive/?postID=3946#more

We are talking about this over at the Myst Online Uru Live forums, where I mod, in great, some might even say "excessive" detail (not me, I rather like the discussions). Come on over if you want to read or post. The threads in the General Discussion thread are the most lively, with every sort of an opinion it's possible to have. There are also annoucements of farewell parties.
http://www.mystonline.com/forums/

Thanks for the well organized links and thoughts.

It was just a sense of waste and loss to me (and I never expected that game to affect me that way in the beginning) when after all that testing - prep - the 1st incarnation of URU live ended. Now to see it build up and then happen again - well it is an adjustment.

I do think that Game Tap tried to give it a good run, but I really only supported Game Tap because of MOUL. I thoroughly enjoy the Sam n Max re birth - but have gotten it straight from their site and then as a CD collection when the year end release was available - so otherwise nothing for me there. Rand Miller is one of the nicest people in the biz, he is enthusiastic, creative and has a firm grasp on the importance of a healthy child in our internal Psyche. Though I have never been a deep fan of the Myst series, I respect his creative drive and do adore what he envisioned and realized with URU Live - MOUL.

Game Tap - well I am sure they will be fine regardless of this game or that. Anything that supports Cyan - I will on the other hand - be there.

Spent a few hours today partying in the City and then in the karaoke Bevin. Lots of fun to be had all over the Cavern.

The choir has decided to pull together a song or two to sing goodbye, probably at the St. Paddy's Day festivities. We weren't planning on starting rehearsals again until the end of February due to the crazy schedule of our director, Dom, so we members have kind of been on our own the past few days, trying to figure out what we want to do. It looks like we have a song in D'ni that someone was already working on and perhaps an Irish song as well. Nothing is set in stone yet. But I thought I'd share the info in case it makes a difference in people canceling their subscriptions later rather than earlier.

I, too, have a persona in Second Life. I created it months ago but wasn't overly impressed with the game or the people I met so I never went back after my first attempt. However, knowing that so many of my MOUL friends will be heading there makes me willing to give it another shot. My SL name is Lark McGinnis.

Macnbc is a Moderator over at GameTap, and as a fan and member of the MO:UL forums as well, has been especially helpful during these sad times. If anyone has questions about a refund, I would try as he suggests and contact customer service. Hopefully, you'll be one of the exceptions.

I just tried SL again and I am so lost. I'm hoping one of you will be there at some point tomorrow to show me the ropes. I added the Myst groups I wanted to join but I can't figure out how to actually get to the physical locations where the MOUL refugees are. I'm trapped in a Celtic jewelry shop. Not a bad place to be, granted, except a vampire showed up tonight and I was a bit weirded out.

Maybe I need to start a SL thread...

I originally joined gametap just for Uru also but luckily have enjoyed their rpg's. They have no adventure games that I want to play since any I'm interested in, I own. Their selection of adventures really stinks. I may try Sam and Max though I really don't care for cartoons usually.

Like I said though, I really was happy to see several rpg's I don't own there that I like. It's very disappointing for those who don't play anything but adventures though and I certainly hope they will give refunds.

Mszv -- thanks for all those links!

Thanks mszv for the links making a new tidy summary. Seeing the "old timers" mszv,gatorlaw and which2 on this thread underlines how important Uru has been to the gaming community. I am glad that I have been a part of it and still have hopes that somehow the idea of Uru will live on in some way.

gamenut-we are all "heads" of the Boomer Bevin, so just name a time. We still have St Paddy's Day and now a choir concert to look forward to. I guarantee that as April approaches you will see many online.

Of course we will have a final farewell party. So many old and new friends, such a helpful and caring group-how can we not gather to celebrate the hours we have all spent together!

Kate

I will sure miss my friends made in MOUL!!! wah-wah..... I too joined GameTap just for Moul. BUT am so glad Gameboomers is here!!!

Interesting footnote from Ricardo Sanchez at Gametap:
Gamasutra Interview



Well...

Kate

Hmph. Is he suggesting that it isn't already fabulous? Okay, I may be biased...

I guess it's not just you Celtic, I thought it was a fabulous game for an MMO too!!

I don't know if they assessed their audience correctly. It isn't simply "everyone who liked Myst" because many of those who liked Myst enjoy a solitary game experience. Uru Live and its puzzles that had to be solved by groups of people did not supply that. In fact I get the impression that most of Uru Live's fans enjoyed the social aspect more than they did the adventure game part.

And since it was a new concept, they really had to give it more than a year or two to find its audience. In fact, aside from people I communicate with online, I don't think anyone I know has even heard of Uru Live.

I think you are absolutely right, Jenny. I have quite a few URU friends who don't have all the ages solved. They played the games years ago and are now enjoying helping others and being social. For me, while I enjoyed the gaming aspect, I also loved the "extra" stuff like the Cavern Choir and the karaoke nights.

I agree that more time to work out the kinks and get the word out would have been very helpful.

I'm not really very knowledgeable here because I never could get UL to work for me, but I've wondered if maybe the idea of having to have a bunch of people working together on a puzzle was a mistake. I know with UU, it was the social aspect that drew so many people, and it was fun to help someone with a problem, but trying to get a bunch of people (I read something about one puzzle taking eight people, surely that's not correct?) together at one time might be a problem. I know that some of the rpg games do that--my older son was really involved in one of them about four or five years ago, and had a whole group that played together, but they just came and went in the game, there didn't have to be any specific number present at one time.

If I misunderstood what I read about groups of people to solve puzzles, please excuse my ignorance. It still breaks my heart that I wasn't able to join in the fun...