Getting canned the first time should have been a bit of a warning.

Tale

I actually played the game when it came out. I played it for about 2 months, and then just quit when none of the promises came true.

They promised that the players would take control of the game's internal storyline, and that it would shape the different game worlds in it depending on how things went. I mean more puzzle worlds and little side worlds came out once in a while, but those were the only real updates. Once you found everything hidden inside the different worlds, it became quite boring. The only interesting thing to do was help the noobs complete puzzles, or just talk and walk around the worlds (which you could also get easily lost in).

What kept me going was the community. Everybody I met and talked to was super nice, and was happy to solve puzzles with me or just do whatever for fun. It's a shame that it's closing down, but to tell the truth I haven't even given the game a single thought since I quit.

MrSmiley4

Bad idea for an MMO. Really ... who was this marketed too?

I got a better idea ... make it free and give everyone a bat and a gun and rename it "The Gangs of Myst".

TDunne

Want some rye?
'Course ya do.

JeffPaine

@FellTheDabus: Ahh, Zork. I do miss that series. "Your sword is blowing glue!"

As for Myst, I enjoyed the first 2, then discovered the graphical Zork series and Journeyman games. Eventually played and beat Myst 3, but never got around to anything beyond that. While I enjoy the puzzle solving aspect, humor was also a good thing to have in such a game, and thats something the Myst series never really had.

drakino

@impetuousstyle: I dunno, I think the first couple games sold like mad with the casual crowd.

Sabre_Justice: Look, I have a long name too! Yay! I'm such a trend whore!

@impetuousstyle: The Myst series was ever genuinely good? Don't get me wrong, I actually upgraded to a (massive) 8 megs of RAM for the first game, but the series never really felt like anything more than pretty, clickable paintings and irritatingly illogical puzzles.

The Zork series, however...there's an adventure game that would make a killer MMO, particularly if they could pull off the high camp style found in Return to Zork

FellTheDabus

@JeffPaine:
Whoa, I don't remember that part.

Must have blocked it out. I do remember gay acrobat jokes though...

impetuousstyle

Thank God. Making Myst a MMO was a terrible idea. Some games (and books) are just not cut out to be turned into MMOs. That said, the single-player games were pretty fun, especially the first one.

Tuor

@impetuousstyle: I remember the Dazzeloids, only because of that one scene where the baby lamb comes out of his mom's pussy which struck me as rather graphic for a children's game.

JeffPaine

about time. it was the dullest MMO i've played.

TinyLightning

@crazyscreenwriter:
*golf clap*

impetuousstyle

@mind in rewind:
Wow, thats news to me. I thought myst was one of those niche games that nobody played but me and that kid at my highschool who smelled like syrup and burnt bacon.

Like Dazzeloids. There's one I bet nobody knows.

impetuousstyle

So is anyone Pyst about this?

crazyscreenwriter

I demand more Myst games now! I will go to the marketplace and rabble-rouse everyone! And then we're going to Cyan Worlds, to take back the Myst Series! Yeaararh!!!

NitrousO

@Cole: It existed before GameTap took control and was generally bashed everywhere. It's as simple as what you first said: A Myst game shouldn't be an MMO.

bangbangblah

Dammit, I just started playing this 3 days ago D:

Crippl3

@Detre: indeed =\

katorok

Edit: I ment Myst

gamecrazychris

Mabe we can all go get a life now. Just kidding

Even for a non MMO-er Myth did look pretty good though

gamecrazychris

@JeffPaine: It could have been interesting if executed well. However I agree for the most part. The "Myst" feel is achieved through being alone and little NPC involvement.

However, the game could have survived much longer if any company other than Gametap managed the game. That application/service is just total bloat/junkware.

Cole

@impetuousstyle: Um, what? Along with The 7th Guest, Myst was the reason that people bought CD-ROM drives.

JeffPaine

I played the orignal myst, as well as the third one. Riven was far too difficult for me. Good times.

shadydentist

@impetuousstyle: Not enough people played? It was the highest-selling PC game ever, until The Sims came along.

mind in rewind

I have a solution for them. Make it free but with ads and your subscriber base will triple.

Ollivander

[www.mystonline.com]
;_;

impetuousstyle

looks like home, but in a swamp ;)

DigiMish

I remember playing the first Myst back when it came out, but I never played any of the sequels. I did read the books, though, and I remember thinking they were pretty cool.

kylenalepa

oohh :(... burn! That's gotta suck. You can't just put out an MMO these days it seems. People need to star shooting for more attainable goals: A community that is sustainable at like 50000 players and then work from there.

okenny :)

i feel bad for the two guys and the monkey who still play that

mossberg

I've always wanted to try Myst, I have the CD, even tho I never bought it, but it would never install.

XFiraga001

@Maniclysane: Yes. That's confusing? I'm genuinely asking.

McWhertor

Not enough people played the Myst series when it was actually good, so this doesn't really come off as a surprise.

impetuousstyle

always sad to see a mmo go even if you didnt play it. Someone somewhere spent alot of there time on it.

Detre

That's too bad, but Myst Online was really never a good idea from the start. The whole idea of Myst is that you're supposed to be alone and have to figure everything out for yourself, with minimal help from what little NPCs there may be. A community game kind of destroys that atmosphere.

JeffPaine

I'm confused... They're just shutting down the MMO?

Maniclysane

Uru never could decide whether it was fish or fowl. As a single-player adventure, it wasn't too bad - though there were twitchy elements that gave a lot of players fits who had grown up on the original point-and-click games of the series, as well as some elements that made no damn sense - like being able to survive 200-foot jumps in some parts of the game, while in other places you would panic-link back to your home base if you fell 10 feet.

The concept of an ever-expanding, player-influenced game world is pure genius as an idea, and Rand Miller is to be congratulated for the bold attempt to make it all happen. But the world of Myst and the world of MMOs truly don't work as a "game".

Uru was a fascinating, charming, wonderful place to live - but life isn't a game.

hogarth1

The sad part is I started to play that game a couple weeks ago... and I was all alone it was pretty creepy.

Tzero7

I beta tested Uru way back, and I thought it had some awesome parts to it.. but it never felt like an MMO. Interactions seemed forced. Major bummer overall.

KFowler (fmr startingaces)

Sigh.

At least I'm thankful for GameTap to at least have given it a shot to live, unlike the original publisher.

Guess I'm going to have to have a marathon or two of playing, to try to figure out some of the ages I havn't cleared yet. I *could* just use a walkthrough, but what fun is that? :D

It's funny, but it was actually *working* for me. While some people may say that it goes against the "spirit" of the series, it was actually interesting to be able to explore the caverns and ages with friends.

PMAvers

Cyan has done some incredible world building over the years, and Uru was no exception. However I think they jumped on the MMO bandwagon too early. They should have at least attempted co-op puzzle solving and exploring before jumping into persistent environments. People were playing Diablo on the Battlenet Servers long before Blizzard jumped into the MMO Sphere, and Cyan would have benefited from the same experience here.

Lokno

MYLK = the best game evahr.
[www.worldvillage.com]

fanatism

@Detre: So true, I still loose sleep over my 2 jedi chars taking 2+years to get in SWG that went crap and useless over a night :(

I feel sympathy for the community.

Irenicus-the one and only

"Myst Online Evaporates" would have been a much more fitting pun!

ManekiNeko

@Karlott: That's what happened the first time. Many expect it to happen again.

WorldMaker

Open source the server, and the game can live on? It's what happened to PSO Blue Burst, the SCHTHACK servers run the game now. Free to play, even, running totally on donations. If they're not selling/making money on it anymore why not open source the server code?

Karlott

@darthmole12: Thats apples to oranges really. Myst games were unique in that they were like nothing else, so much so they spawned their own mini genre of "Myst clones".

NitrousO

Myst was never a massively-multiplayer anything. This project was doomed to fail from day one.

unmarkedone

Uru is dying again? That's a shock.

redgopher

I don't understand how this got off the ground in the first place. The online portion of Uru never really materialized, the company practically went out of business because of it, and then they came back with Myst Online. Didn't make a whole lot of sense.

I like the series though... I've played the first three games, part of the fourth, and have the fifth still in shrinkwrap. Too many other games keep getting in the way from me finishing the series.

Mezodon

@JeffPaine:

All good Adventure game topics need the obligatory Zork quote.

n/a

I never liked Myst personally. LucasArts/Sierra adventure games >>>> Myst.

darthmole12

muwahahahaa...tears...river...ocean.

RRoD

I hope that Cyan sticks around after this. Really, I kind of grew up on them.

I still have my Manhole CD somewhere around here. I should totally pop that in for the nostalgia. Seriously, that objectiveless adventure thing was some great fun. And then when I first played Myst years later and I saw the Cyan logo I was like "hey wait a second, that looks familiar...

So yeah. Uru may not have been the best but the original Myst series was top notch. And Manhole was great too.

rubiximus

The little of it I played was kind of interesting.... but then I realized that I was going to be paying for an MMO on a service I already payed for. That, and I was never a giant fan of the series.

Xeneizes

I would love to have a patch/option to play this game cooperatively with friends (in a non-mmo fashion). Uru had a great feeling of exploration, and it would be a blast to be able to run around the game with friends.

Also, it would be nice to be able to either continue playing it, or purchase it on Mac since it was playable via GameTap.

Klaymen