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Mysterium calls the Myst Online faithful
Shorah, Myst faithful! It's time once again to make your plans to attend this year's Mysterium, the gathering for devoted D'ni scholars and fans of Cyan Worlds' Myst -- including, of course, Myst Online: URU Live. This year's event will be held August 5th through the 8th in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with tickets currently going for the low price of $20. As with previous years, the team behind Mysterium are soliciting designs for a convention logo as well as submissions of stories and other original works based on the worlds of Myst for inclusion in the convention book. (Mind you, all submissions must fit Cyan Worlds' guidelines for fan-created content.) The events are still in the early stages of planning, but they currently show live quests, puzzle challenges, and we'd bet there will be some bevin meetups for Myst Online: URU Live cavern-dwellers in the mix. Considering CAVCON (or "cavern condition" for those unfamiliar) is currently standing at 4 (read: good) in regards to the current funding for Myst Online: URU Live, perhaps we'll see some official representatives from Cyan sign up to host a panel or two this year as well. Either way, it should be fun for all the D'ni devotees!
Myst Online roars back to life with a Welcome Back block party
This is the Myst that doesn't end, yes it goes on and on my friends... All jokes about the amazing resilience of Myst Online: URU Live aside, it appears that things are going well since Cyan Worlds brought the game back online. In a post on the official forums, it appears that the CAVCON (or Cavern Condition) is standing at 4, which -- unlike DEFCON -- is a good thing. CAVCON 4 indicates that they've gotten enough donations to cover the current operating expenses and are able to put a little to the side for the future. There have also been 13,997 accounts created, and 46,881 logins during the week ending Feb. 24th -- very good news! To celebrate the resurrection of MO:UL, the Guild of Messengers is reporting that there is going to be an enormous "Return to URU Block Party" held this upcoming weekend: March 5-7. The party is being thrown by the Guild of Maintainers, and is open for everyone to attend -- from the old-school cavern-crawling D'ni scholars to brand new seekers fresh from the desert! If you've ever wanted to try out Myst Online: URU Live but didn't know anyone in the game, this is a great way to meet some new friends and fellow adventurers. So check out Sera's great new player guide, strap on your Ki, and we'll see you in the caverns!
The Daily Grind: Should players be rewarded for creating content?
American McGee, during a recent Geek.com interview, made a comment about user-generated content in games that made us stop and think. The snip in question was: "...I think if game products or publishers are relying on "outside the box" content created by users to drive interest in their titles – then they should find ways of compensating those users for developing added value." While he may have been talking about Little Big Planet at the time, we thought immediately of City of Heroes Issue 14, and other systems like Myst Online: URU Live, which will be depending on player-created content for future growth when it comes back up.You could argue that at this point players who create and run Mission Architect content are largely already rewarded; there are several badges available that way, and it's a nice break from the regular missions when you've already run them eleventy-billion times since launch. Of course, as anyone who has actually built a mission arc can tell you, writing one can suck away some serious time from you very easily. So this morning, we thought we'd take it to you, the Massively community - do you think players should be rewarded in some fashion for creating content in MMOs? Should it be something simple like badges, or should it be more involved? Should Paragon Studios and NCsoft look at giving players who create quality arcs more space to create in? Free game time? Or is the ability to create fun content and get recognized by the community for writing good arcs enough reward in itself?
Mysterium registration open for URU Live fans
Shorah, followers of Myst Online: URU Live! We know you're waiting patiently to return to the cavern, and to add your own special contributions as part of the open-source Myst Online: URU Live project as promised back in December. However, if you're looking for something to keep your dreams alive in the meantime, there's some good news for you from the Guild of Messengers. News has come down that registration is now open for this year's Mysterium! This year's event celebrating all things Myst will be held in Spokane, WA from July 30th to August 2nd. Tickets are all very reasonably priced, with some special pricing options available for day-passes, families, and groups. Admittedly, there's not a lot up on the site as of yet, but we're sure there will be all manner of Myst and Cyan Worlds goodness dreamed up by the community in no time. So if you love all things Myst and Myst Online, consider popping in to Mysterium this year for a good time with your fellow faithful Myst friends, both old and new.
Under The Hood: Going Live
Live events. Where developer interacts with players. Traditionally, this has been a pretty contested battlefield, ranging from forums, to chat rooms, to game masters. Where it really comes together, however, is in the classic legacy of live events, where developers and game masters interact with the players in-game. But not only that, they assist in furthering the story, or fleshing out the game world. But where did live events come from?
