URU Live has been cancelled

[BacardiJim]

Minutes ago, Cyan and UbiSoft announced that they were pulling the plug on URU Live. See the announcement at http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=400102&f=7441034&m=140109481

[Skinny Minnie]

Oh, brother!

It makes me wonder if this whole thing was "bootstrap financed" (aka they counted on subscribers coughing up the online money *first* before they'd be able to create the online content). I can't help but see this as Cyan and Ubi putting the cart before the horse. Oy!

Well, at least all of the gamers who paid $50 for Uru and believed the box when it promised online content will be getting one expansion pack for free now. Still, though... Oy!

[SamandMax]

Wow. The game was pretty much created to be played online. That's like Battlefield 1942 only having a single player.

[D.C.]

That's screwed up. Uru isn't my type of game but I've seen a really expensive and really cool looking game box that is designed to look like a book at Electronic Boutique. Now the only thing that's in that cool box is a pretty much incomplete game. :)

[remixor]

Well, that's pretty shitty. I'm not much of a Myst gamer, so I wasn't planning on picking up Uru, but I did hope it was going to do some innovative things in terms of collaborative adventuring (or something, I don't know), even if it took a while. I get the feeling this is going to be just another incentive for publishers to steer clear of adventure games.

[Marek]

Tycho talks about Uru:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/

[remixor]

I remember reading several news posts in which Tycho waxed eloquent about Uru. I was sort of hoping that, despite my relative lack of interest in the game, his enthusiasm would somehow inspire other more hardcore gamers to pick up Uru, or perhaps some other adventure game. Ah well, it looks like it wasn't to be.

[Kingzjester]

Hahhah... Chris, I find your disclaimers oh so very deliciously ironic.

[Kode]

Again, Remixor spake for me. I was thinking about getting URU, hoping perhaps that it had something new to offer. Apparently not :(

[Jake]

How long until denizens of other sites forums brilliantly (cough) point the finger at Jim's review for the cause? :P Has that already happened?

[Fairygdmther]

As brilliant and outspoken as BJ is, I doubt even he would have that much clout!

FGM

[Bard09]

Here's the IC explanation from drcsite.org:

As you know, I am not a man of many words and so I will be both direct and brief today. The restoration effort is canceled. While the DRC came to this conclusion some time ago, we have held off on a public announcement, in hope that our early conclusions were not necessarily true and alternatives could be found. They were not. Dr. Watson has still not returned, funding has dried up, and we are left with no choice.

As a result, the cavern will be closed to all visitors within a week. The DRC will continue to maintain a small presence while we close the restoration site down and remove what equipment we can. We never intended on making such an announcement and all of us at the DRC are as disappointed as we assume you are. I am not going to make an attempt to counter such news with spin or contrived good news, but I will say this, though I never thought I would: many of you have already met the woman who calls herself Yeesha. You have seen her powers - abilities that are far beyond our own. Perhaps, there is more that she has for us. Perhaps there are still ways some of you may be able to see D'ni. Perhaps she can do what we could not. Perhaps there is hope. Thank you all for your patience and support. We are extremely saddened that we could not reward such faith with a restored and prosperous D'ni.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ikuro Kodama

According to GameSpot, UbiSoft plans to release some of the unreleased Live content in a free age for players now and will probably pack the rest into an expansion pack down the road. As much as I liked Uru single-player, I think I will wait for a few good reviews this time before I purchase it.

[Bard09]

There's another letter from Rand Miller on the cyanworlds.com (http://www.cyanworlds.com/letter.htm) site that is a bit too long to post here. It's rather informative, though.

The idea of ongoing content was dramatic and forward-looking, but it required a substantial continuing effort to sustain. We were just not able to sign up the number of subscribers (even for free) necessary to pay for that effort.
So it seems that the pulling of Uru: Live was strictly a matter of numbers?

And the content - what can I say? We have it, large amounts of it, ready to expand the world of Uru. In the past weeks we've been hard at work packaging that content in a different, more inclusive form - expansion packs - the first of which will be available in a month or two.
I guess this is what bugged me. "In the past weeks?" So all of the floozy social-oriented events in Uru: Live the last few weeks have been mere distractions for something they knew was going to happen a long time ago! This means they started working on content for Uru: the Expansion in December! This was before I was even invited to Live!

If Ubisoft was a hen, I think it's turning its offspring into an omelet if you ask me. Perhaps a tasty omelet, but isn't it still filicide?

[remixor]

Hahhah... Chris, I find your disclaimers oh so very deliciously ironic.

Well, I'm just trying to keep the record straight. Glad I could inadvertently provide some enjoyment, though.

[Estibel]

Bard, I think you hit the nail on the head. The fact that The Powers That Be knew about the plug *weeks* in advance of the announcement and yet continued to dangle the online carrot for all of us who were painfully enduring the lag and crashes has left us all POed, to say the least.

Interestingly, the forum itself now appears to be down. The link BJ posted is still visible (as of this writing anyway) but if you try to click on the main forum link you get a dead end display instead. Might just be a server problem (how ironic!) but I suspect they couldn't stand the heated posts.

[Bumstead]

I was extremely curious as to how a multiplayer adventure experience would play and what its public acceptance would be like. It love online games, and playing an adventure game online intrigues me. I really wish Cyan would release a regular (non-massive) multiplayer component to Uru.
But I think this is better then Cyan actually going ahead with the MMOG and going bankrupt or something.


Time, money, resources, code, people, sweat, and heart! When your powers combine, I am Captain Planet!!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

*sigh* :frown: So much for over-reaching ambitions. Mr. Miller and staff can now feel free to join the company of Core Design, whom I'm sure would welcome them after the Tomb Raider fans coldly turned their backs. Thank god I got my copy of Uru for only $29.95. But that's deeply tragic, one major step forward for the adventure game experience has been crushed. Damn.

I should take one last trip to Uru Live before it vanishes forever.

I really wish Cyan would release a regular (non-massive) multiplayer component to Uru.

Do you mean a LAN version of it, or online? Because I thought part of the problem was that they couldn't iron out many of the bugs of that portion with their netcode. They at least should compensate us Uru loyalists (who purchased the game thinking we'd get Uru Live alongside Uru Prime) with free downloadable extras like a new Age every several months, and maybe some new clothes for our avatars and new decorations for our Reltos. I mean, it's the least they can do http://smilies.jeeptalk.org/otn/other/greyblink.gif.

EDIT:

...In the past weeks we've been hard at work packaging that content in a different, more inclusive form - expansion packs - the first of which will be available in a month or two. Even better, the first expansion pack, To D'ni, is free. And there's more good news on inclusivity.

Cyanworlds.com (http://www.cyanworlds.com/letter.htm)

Well, that's at least a start.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I just realized, Rand must be the saddest, most hearbroken man on the planet at this moment...http://mindscraps.com/s/otn/sad/smily77.gif

[AFGNCAAP]

Well...

[mystmum]

How long until denizens of other sites forums brilliantly (cough) point the finger at Jim's review for the cause? :P Has that already happened?

Well he did predict the demise, so it can't be long now before the torches and pitchforks arrive in force.

BTW Jim, I couldn't really say it over there, but I find the actions of the Uru mods embarrassing (particularly as I mod the other myst related forums over there) and their constant inability to be impartial rather sad.
As far as I saw, you have never been unfair, negative or (to quote one mod) a jerk.
I just wanted you to know, not all ubi forums are like those ones.

[BacardiJim]

Thank you, mystmum. I appreciate it. I don't know if you ever went to the UO forums, but you should see the hate-fest against me that was going on over there. And I never even posted there! :rolleyes:

Of course, the lovely tkwiggins was running over there stirring things up....

Like you, I was, well, shocked at the treatment I got from maztec and some others. Near as I can figure, what made me such a "jerk" to them was that, unlike many others, I didn't just make one incoherent flaming post and leave, but actually made thoughtful, intelligent posts about some of the real problems with URU and how it was being implemented that couldn't be just dismissed out of hand as the ravings of a moron.

The fact that there was (obviously) some validity to what I said and that I actually made people think about it made me "inflammatory" and a "jerk."

At least, that's the story I choose to believe. ;)

Thanks again for the nice words.

[Tanukitsune]

Sigh, just when I was going to start playing it....
Oh, well... At least I didn't suscribe to it... :sad:
I haven't even played it enough to say if its mediocre or not... :shifty:
Just enough to see if it worked on my PC....

[Crunchy in milk]

Wow who'd have thought it would fail, wait a minute I DID!!!!

Its still a shame, but its was an evolutionary step forward. Creating a non rpg/stat focused online environment for people is a must (have a read of Gibson's 'Idoru' for a good description of one). The 'website' focused internet can't die soon enough for me. Uru was before its time
:\

That this game in particular allows you to create trusted neighborhoods of friends and explore puzzle ages together is another intangible I don't imagine would be important to most people.

I find it shame that almost breathing environments for people to meet and express themselves online have to tack on mindless repetitive 'gameplay' in order to attract a paying audience.

[Royal Fool]

It's certainly disappointing to hear this from Cyan, but it's also something that I eventually expected would happen. I'm not yelling "Told you!" here, just saying that Uru Live was a very ambitious project and I'm not too surprised to see Ubi putting it to sleep.

I decided to go to UruObsession and check some of the threads that might have popped up there after the cancellation - but now I am wondering why I even bothered. People there are in denial, some have started petitions hoping that they will somehow save Uru Live and have written long letters to Cyan and Ubi. It's all for a good cause, certainly, but I can't help but shake my head at it all. It's over, Uru Live is gone for good. :sad:

And then there's the community attacking anyone with negative comments about Uru. Here's one thread (http://www.uruobsession.com/forum/index.php?act=ST&f=35&t=6409&) where some posters attack BacardiJim, and here's one over at the official forums (http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/6/ubb.x?q=Y&a=tpc&s=400102&f=6571034&m=165107481&p=1) where both posters and moderators attack him and call out things like 'jerk', 'get lost' and 'a**hole'. Sad, really.

Honesty gets you nowhere, it seems. :rolleyes:

[mystmum]

Yes it seems the Myst community is a very nasty place sometimes.

This depresses me totally, as you may have guessed from my name, I am a member of that community. I moderate the Myst forums (NOT the Uru forums) at Ubisoft. The crowd there are nice, friendly and very silly. We are obviously not "serious" Myst fans.

I think I'm very glad of that.

[BacardiJim]

How long until denizens of other sites forums brilliantly (cough) point the finger at Jim's review for the cause? :P Has that already happened?
As brilliant and outspoken as BJ is, I doubt even he would have that much clout!
Actually, one or two people have done exactly that, despite the fact that what posts I have made on that forum pretty much all came after the decision to pull the plug had been made. :rolleyes:

[i1u2smile]

Actually, one or two people have done exactly that, despite the fact that what posts I have made on that forum pretty much all came after the decision to pull the plug had been made. :rolleyes:Yeah, I am (was?) a participant on that forum so I read most of your posts. Actually I never understood why they treated you the way they did... somehow it was always you who got the blame for everything.

Anyway I said it before and I'll repeat it here: I enjoyed your posts (well, let's stay honest, the majority of them). They were definitely not bad at all. So... forget the jerks and stalkers. A lot of us didn't agree with these people, but some were shy to speak up in public (even I got mildly corrected by a mod once when I spoke my mind).

[i1u2smile]

That's why I decided to speak my mind here, rather than at the Ubi forum :rolleyes:

[BacardiJim]

Hi hi, i1. :D


I guess now I have one good stalker to counteract my evil stalker. hehehe Thanks for the kind words. Trust me, you aren't the only person in that predicament. I have received a LOT of e-mails and private messages from people (and even from some Mods) who wanted to say supportive things but didn't feel they dared do so publicly with maztec and some of the other Mods acting the way they were.

I hope you liked the review.

[i1u2smile]

Hi hi, i1. :D
I hope you liked the review.I LOVED the review. But I aint gonna be no stalker, no sir, even if you'd have liked to ;)

[Intrepid Homoludens]

To: Cyan Worlds, Inc.
As many people have heard - Cyan and Ubi have decided to pull the plug on URU Live. There are a great many fans out there that are both sad, and disapointed, nevermind confused as to what has happened. We loved Live, despite the quirks - and but for a few people with little in mind but themselves, the majority of the fans were loyal to the point that no matter how slow, small, or frustrating, we would stand by Cyan while they worked on finishing Live.

However, today, many of us are upset - Shocked, in fact that Cyan couldn't stand by URU. Is there no other way? Closing Live like this changes a great many things. Expansion packs may deliver the content, but they do community no justice.

What will it take, Cyan? Give us terms - Give us ideas - Give us, and URU Live a chance - Because we now firmly believe that Atrus' words still echo to this day -

Perhaps the ending has not yet been written.

Please reconsider your decision, Cyan - We will do all that we can to help.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Save Uru Live (http://www.petitiononline.com/savelive/petition.html)

They don't get it, do they? Uru Live was shut down because there was not enough money to fund it, not enough people signed up for subscription to further facilitate it. Cyan couldn't afford it anymore. Perhaps it was bad marketing and Ubisoft's impatience to release the game in time for the holidays among other reasons, but the fact is that only way they can forge ahead now is if they had more money:

The fictional world of Uru was five years and $12 million in the making.

USA Today preview (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-11-23-uru-debut_x.htm)

[redhotray]

It seems redundant to say, but this is a hell of a blow. I bought URU on the strength of it's multiplayer facilities (that and obviously to see how well the single player fared in comparison to the original Myst series).

There's a lot of signatures of that petition Trep which suggests to me, that interest wasn't terrible at all in the idea, especially considering it was an evolutionary step into the World of online gaming. Consider then, that everytime someone PAID to go online with the facility, that would be more money in Cyan's pocket. Potentially, it could have really taken off, especially when you look at the popularity the Myst franchise has Worldwide (more than any other puzzle solving game on the market right now).

How you can advertise on a box that a game is going online, only to announce a few months later that they're going to retract that, I don't know!? Personally, I look at that as false advertising, since the online portion of the game never really existed. It was just free roaming movement around a precreated World with little of anything to do!

I was going to sign up myself next month when broadband was finally available to me (you can't play online with a 56k modem anymore, it's not worth your time!). I'm sure I wouldn't have been the only one either!

This just seems like an absolute waste to me! Cyan and Ubi have upset the community a lot by announcing this! I guess it just proves there's no room for creativity in this World anymore, because unless you've got f***ing money, you may as well forget it!

Here's a real petition for people. Let's refuse to buy cheap cash in after cash in, until the publishers provide AMPLE funding and time to the game developers to create a unique experience!! Anyone with me!?

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Well, I weep with you, redhot, but I'll elaborate on my first post in this thread, Cyan promised us way too much. Combine that with Ubisoft's possible nagging to release the game, no matter how incomplete (i.e. its multiplayer still in beta stage), on a specified date. Also, don't be fooled by that petition, most of the those who signed it represent the small niche market of hardcore Myst fans, and how many of them are there to sustain such a huge, ambitious undermining as an online multiplayer game that's supposed to rival the scale of other games like Everquest or Star Wars Galaxies? On that note, how many casual and mainstream gamers who know next to nothing about the Myst universe would be willing to fork over $15 a month to at least make up for the $12+ million dollars already spent to develop the game?

I guess it just proves there's no room for creativity in this World anymore, because unless you've got f***ing money, you may as well forget it!

:) Hey, don't be so bitter. Be realistic. It is the truth that you need capital to make your dreams happen. But you could still sustain a level of creativity and originality and still make a living off it. I could give you a shitload of examples, believe me. It's just that Cyan and Ubisoft fucked up in how they did it, plus that they may have overestimated the amount of people who are interested enough to subscribe to an online multiplayer adventure game.

[redhotray]

Well, I weep with you, redhot, but I'll elaborate on my first post in this thread, Cyan promised us way too much. Combine that with Ubisoft's possible nagging to release the game, no matter how incomplete (i.e. its multiplayer still in beta stage), on a specified date. Also, don't be fooled by that petition, most of the those who signed it represent the small niche market of hardcore Myst fans, and how many of them are there to sustain such a huge, ambitious undermining as an online multiplayer game that's supposed to rival the scale of other games like Everquest or Star Wars Galaxies? On that note, how many casual and mainstream gamers who know next to nothing about the Myst universe would be willing to fork over $15 a month to at least make up for the $12+ million dollars already spent to develop the game?

Hey, don't be so bitter. Be realistic. It is the truth that you need capital to make your dreams happen. But you could still sustain a level of creativity and originality and still make a living off it. I could give you a shitload of examples, believe me. It's just that Cyan and Ubisoft fucked up in how they did it, plus that they may have overestimated the amount of people who are interested enough to subscribe to an online multiplayer adventure game.

I see where you're coming from. I realize that the game's online counterpart was unlikely to rival Everquest or Galaxies (or just about every FPS and RTS game out at the moment) but it certainly could have survived and made a profit, that much I'm sure of. Not many people knew about Warcraft when it was first introduced, but it later became a phenomenon on the net, and the same goes for Everquest. Galaxies was always going to be successful due to name value!

The very idea of solving puzzles together, and exploring a new World together is including the best of both worlds! On the one hand, you have all this exploration open to you, and on the other, you're incorporating puzzles to stimulate the thinking person's gamer. These puzzles can also be solved as a team, and the unit can then experiment with different combinations and contribute unique ideas! The whole Counterstrike thing is so popular online because of the team ethic, and that is an encouraging thought for a game that is partially promoted on unity.

I just live in hope that if an idea is ever considered on this scale again, that someone can actually get it together, and make something truly spectacular! I've always thought that Lucasarts should be leading the way on this front, after all, they have had a lot of success on the multiplayer market, just in different field areas.

Arr, tis an angering subject indeed this one.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Aside from being over-reaching, over-estimating, and rushed, Uru's marketing was underdeveloped. Does anyone remember seing commercials on t.v. or trailers in the cinema? If so, how pervasive were they? Why not advertise in popular magazines like Time? And why not have creative ways of getting a game out there? For example, Ubisoft could have worked with major natural history museums across the country by way of contests and kiosks that allow you to sample a LAN version of the multiplayer game within a museum setting. Imagine visitors being entranced with exploration and team based puzzle solving, and realizing that those other in-game characters helping them are actual players, total strangers right next to them. Campaigns like this would surely bring Uru deep into one of its potential target markets - the mainstreamer who would otherwise be ignorant of such a great computer game.

Also, it would act as a salve and counterpoint to the stigma of video games being violent by offering an interactive family entertainment that doesn't make you kill people or compete with them, stressing instead brainwork and teamwork in a social atmosphere. After all, many families visit museums.

[redhotray]

Amen Trep!!! The best way to advertise the online portion of something as unique as URU was intended to be, is to see it being played, or to play it.

Because of the unique interaction it provided, it would have also probably got good coverage in several magazines, who would try to encourage it, as you said, since it doesn't involve hack n slash!

Makes you wonder about these publishers sometimes...

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Many game publishers are morons whose modus operandi feed into perpetuating the current hermetic structure of the gaming world as removed from the rest of the world.

As I stated, imagine the soccer mom and her kids coming across the Uru kiosk during their visit to the natural history museum:

Kids: "Mom, look! It's a videogame. Can we play it?"

Mom: "No. Games are violent. Let's go see the Egypt exhibit."

[kids start sampling Uru Live]

Kids: "Hey, we need a third person to solve this puzzle. Mom, help us out."

[Mom begins playing, discovers that there is absolutely no violence in game]

Kids: "See, Mom, I told you not all games are violent! You're a lamer!"

Mom: "This is great! What a beautiful looking game. That puzzle was really hard, but it's great we solved it together. Do they sell this at the museum shop?"

Kids: "Okay, now can we see the Egypt exhibit?"

Mom: "Sure, but I need to get the game first."

Kids [to each other]: o/\o

[Kingzjester]

o/\ohttp://www.classicgaming.com/cc314/encyclopedia/images/enemykd-broccoli.gifKingzjester

What the hell, Trep, what the hell??

[Intrepid Homoludens]

http://mysmilies.rgforums.com/s/contrib/duckman/bigeyes.gif Hey, it's the kids at the museum who did that, not I!!

[Skinny Minnie]

The whole excuse of not enough people signing up for the multiplayer seems quite ridiculous to me, because many of the people who signed up never got "called up" to begin with (except during that false call up/clerical error), and most that managed to get called upon all along couldn't log on or do anything anyway. So it seems that they couldn't even remotely handle the signups they already had, but instead they have the audacity to blame gamers for their failure. :shifty: This whole thing is weird and unprofessional to say the least.

[Bard09]

I agree with much of the recent comments. Uru Live would have done well had it been better advertised. But, of course, there was a problem:

How can you advertise an online game with no CONTENT?

I think that UbiSoft spread themselves a little too thin with the development of Uru. They focused so much on creating the online EXPERIENCE that they neglected the reason people would want to go online: new game content. What's the point in having neighborhoods and a chat interface if you don't have anywhere new to use it?

Most people I know were really hyped about Uru Live and could have cared less about the socialization aspect as long as they got to continue their Uru experience online. What ended up happening was people logging in, exhilarated to continue their Uru adventure, and then finding the illustrious D'ni to be a cramped little chat room.

If there was a taste of gameplay on Uru Live, even if it was one halfway complete puzzle world, I believe that would have enticed players to stay on.

Advanced social paradigms can improve the online experience, but for a game like Uru, they shouldn't be defining it.

I think that Cyan/Ubisoft realized that they were executing their own game right away. I'm guessing late December. But instead of tiding the masses over with some content that would eventually justify the Uru: Live experience, they chose to stagnate, focusing all available resources on "cone-kicking events" and a few sparse character appearances.

Why? It's beyond me. I would have appreciated a nice "Sorry, we're going to can the game next month" instead of a protracted period where absolutely NOTHING improved in Uru Live.

Ugh, this is making me frustrated. I hate seeing wasted potential, especially for an excellent development company like Cyan.

And I agree with Trep; Rand must be feeling really crummy right now.

[i1u2smile]

How can you advertise an online game with no CONTENT?I signed up on adventuregamers to post just one message but I might as well put in my two cents worth now that I'm here...
I agree with you Bard, what surprized me the most during these Prologue weeks was the lack of puzzles. They should at least have put in a few trial ones, for us to sniff at and for them to test out.

But pretty as it was, there was absolutely nothing to do but chat. It almost seems as if Ubi/Cyan didn't have a clue as how to proceed; they were opening new areas all the time but there was nothing to do but say "ah" and "oh" in awe and leave again.

Still, I'm disappointed, because there was so much potential in the idea. I did enjoy my time there and even made some friends (if I were the kind of person who tends to think the glass is half empty I might not consider this a good thing, as it shows how much chatting went on in lack of gameplay).

I am out of my depth in the game's biz, but if things were run differently they might have had the right amount of customers to continue. But then again, it's easy enough for ME to talk.

[zarathustrian]

Wow. The game was pretty much created to be played online.Pretty much? The game was supposed to be nothing *but* multiplayer through most of its production. :)

[BacardiJim]

The following post appeard on the UruObsession forum and then was repeated on the Ubi URU forum. I cannot vouch for its veracity. However, the person who posted it does vouch (to a degree) for the veracity of the "unnamed source" within the post. If the content is factual, it goes a long way toward explaining the demise of URU Live. By being forced to hedge their bets by UbiSoft, Cyan was essentially already operating according to a blueprint for failure.

Okay, here is what I know. This is from and UBI 'insider' I won't reveal EVER her/his name, to do so would probably mean the axe. Let's call this person, The informant.

Cyan, started this project way back when and put almost every bit of financing into it. They realized they needed to open it up to other sources. One of the tech team leads at CYAN used to work for UbiSoft. So after some nice hand holding, Cyan pitched the idea. UbiSoft, not really having a 'Killer' online game that could stand up against the likes of EverQuest or Anarchy Online, decided to join the project and become the 'production/distribution' house for the game. But before they did, UbiSoft put together a 'merger' agreement that would make most CEO's blush.

This agreement would be the blueprint for the URU Live downfall. Cyan was hesitant, but realized this was their only chance, they needed funding and they needed it now. The agreement included a *2* phase Beta test. One for the online portion, and one for the offline single player game. Ubi insisted on a backup plan in case URU failed to make it online. This is where the Single Player game came in. They also needed some stream of revenue while determining if the online world was feasible.

They gave a time frame for each beta to occur, talking about the now infamous 'Prologue'. And believe it or not, an expansion pack for the contingency if the online portion failed.

Now it took a lot of capital to make sure all was in place. UbiSoft gave up their profits for 2 years to make the Uru Dream happen. They gave a timeline, and made announcements : Public == UruLive will launch on February 4th AND Private == Or UruLive will cease to exist by that date.

The "small # of subscriptions" theory is true, and that is what finally nailed it shut for Uru. When Ubi told Cyan it 'just wasn't going to work', Cyan knew it was time to end it, or risk a breech of contract with Ubi. Once the decision was made, there were mixed feelings about keeping it quiet until early Feb.

You know the rest, it was spelled out for you today. But know you know that the wheels were set in motion a long time ago.

Cyan still has the option in the future of an Online Venture, but it would be without the funding of UbiSoft. I don't think either party expected this to FAIL, but they didn't kid themselves that it was a Guaranteed Success.

The informant I feel is reliable. But this could be a 'disgruntled' employee wanting to take a shot at their employer too. I leave it up to you.

[crabapple]

I still don't see how they expected to get subscriptions for an online
game that was still in beta and essentially unplayable as a game.

Did they even bother to ask how many people would subscribe
if the tech problems were cleared up and they actually added
a few puzzles?

[mystmum]

I still don't see how they expected to get subscriptions for an online
game that was still in beta and essentially unplayable as a game.

Did they even bother to ask how many people would subscribe
if the tech problems were cleared up and they actually added
a few puzzles?

I really don't think they gave it a chance. How the heck can a game be a failure before it is even released? It never left beta, regardless of what they want to call it.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

I really don't think they gave it a chance. How the heck can a game be a failure before it is even released? It never left beta, regardless of what they want to call it.

After spending five years and more than $12 million to make the virtual world of Uru, the creator of Myst last week finally was able to grasp a box of the new game.

Creator of 'Myst' launches new game (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-11-23-uru-debut_x.htm), USA Today
Posted 11/23/2003 7:59 PM, Updated 11/26/2003 2:21 PM

Oh, they gave it a chance, alright.

[i1u2smile]

He estimated Cyan needed 100,000 subscribers willing to pay somewhere between $10 to $15 per month (the price hasn't been set) to make a profit on the new content.This quote is from the same article you mentioned. Just curious, does anybody know how many subscribers did sign up in the past few months?

[BacardiJim]

I don't know the exact number, but I DO know that it was only about 10% of those who purchased the game. BTW, i1, you might want to check out my post at DPWR.net. ;)

[i1u2smile]

Thanks BJ for the link, I'll make sure your evil stalker gets to know you posted there, I'm sure he'll be delighted to respond. :P

For the rest, yuch, company politics... :crazy:

[mystmum]

I don't know the exact number, but I DO know that it was only about 10% of those who purchased the game. BTW, i1, you might want to check out my post at DPWR.net. ;)

Nicely put together post over at DPWR, Jim. With a bit of luck it won't raise the hysteria it would elsewhere ;)

[BacardiJim]

Thanks, mystmum. Zardoz may have torn what I had to say to pieces, but he was at least polite about it. And I thought it was quite nice of asa160 to ask me to write something for DPWR and even ask me to link to the review.
Seems (so far) to be a bit calmer group than the UBI or UO forums.

[jannar85]

Hah! I could see this coming from the begining!


Too bad all you who got it... :devil:

[Royal Fool]

Hah! I could see this coming from the begining!


Too bad all you who got it... :devil:
I don't feel too bad; I enjoyed it a lot considering what I paid for it.

[Mata Hari]

I didn't get it thinking I would ever play Uru Live cause I don't have broadband. Considering that there must be others out there like me, it probably wasn't such a bad idea for them to invest in a single player back-up plan. And for a back-up plan, I personally think it's a pretty darn good one. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm liking it a lot. The insanely detailed and constantly moving environments are puuuuuuuuurdy.

I can see how those people who were hoping for Uru Live to be something new and unique would be disappointed. Who knows, maybe this is a necessary step to the greater success for online adventure gaming (future developers have to learn from somebody's past experiences, right?).

In the meantime I'll be quite happy beating my brain against some of these complex puzzles and I'll continue to do so when our free expansion pack comes out!

[PolloDiablo]

According to this forum on the Ubisoft site (http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=400102&f=1981034&m=533105372)
the first expansion pack is due out next Monday. It'll be about 180 MB.

[Garyos]

According to this forum on the Ubisoft site (http://ubbxforums.ubi.com/6/ubb.x?a=tpc&s=400102&f=1981034&m=533105372)
the first expansion pack is due out next Monday. It'll be about 180 MB.

Wow. Wee. I haven't kept up to date with the game at all since the cancellation. Thanks for the heads-up.

Will this be free to people who've allready bought the game, btw?

[PolloDiablo]

Wow. Wee. I haven't kept up to date with the game at all since the cancellation. Thanks for the heads-up.

Will this be free to people who've allready bought the game, btw?

Yes, this first one should be free. Not sure how they're going to distribute future expansions...

[Ninth]

Wow, that's great. I, for one, liked uru very much, and I'm really looking forward for an expansion, when I really didn't care much about Live, for some reasons.
That said, congratulation for BJ's review. It strkes me as remarkaly objective, and those guys at ubi ans such forum sound like total morons.

BTW: Are you gone, BJ?
No more Tamara, no more BJ... :\

[BacardiJim]

Wow, that's great. I, for one, liked uru very much, and I'm really looking forward for an expansion, when I really didn't care much about Live, for some reasons.
That said, congratulation for BJ's review. It strkes me as remarkaly objective, and those guys at ubi ans such forum sound like total morons.

BTW: Are you gone, BJ?
No more Tamara, no more BJ... :\Sorry, Ninth. Marek told me he didn't want me here anymore. His exact words.

[Ninth]

Sorry, Ninth. Marek told me he didn't want me here anymore. His exact words.

Oh. Man, I wish I could ask why and not induce one more conflict... :o
That's kind of sad. :sad:

[Glenn Epic]

That's screwed up. Uru isn't my type of game but I've seen a really expensive and really cool looking game box that is designed to look like a book at Electronic Boutique. Now the only thing that's in that cool box is a pretty much incomplete game. :)

Carindale EB?

[D.C.]

Nah, I'm on the north side of Brisbane. Strathpine EB. :)

[Glenn Epic]

Nah, I'm on the north side of Brisbane. Strathpine EB. :)

You know your suburbs. :)