As We Move Along

Well .. it's been over a month since I last posted about Uru's progress .. so .. let's see where we are Uru-wise.

We have 2 new sparklie thingy's added to the sun/moon symbol on our small relto island. One for March and now one for April.

We have 3 .. yes that's right 3!! new visitable pods that are located in various regions of the same age .. with the potential for something really interesting .. I think .. I guess .. I suppose .. gosh I HOPE so. :D

They really are quite cool .. but so far I've seen none of the critters alleged to be in tropical Negilahn. I have seen the fishies swimming around outside the frigid Dereno .. and seen a HUGE duck-like bird stomping about in the desert outside of Payiferen.

A portal forms in the shape of a shimmering image at certain times in each pod .. relatively close to the other times .. that transports you to yet one more Bahro cave to collect yet one more "donut quarter" for over the new well structure on our Relto. Yet .. still .. with no reason or rhyme as to why we would even want to. People just sort of happened to be in the pods when the portals were opened .. and figured out the schedules for them. The portal images look VERY much like the sun/moon design on the stone on the island that the sparklies go on, too.

I really am hoping we get something resembling a backstory on these ages .. what were they for .. and why are we there .. what do they matter in the grand plan. Mostly we have a sorta, kinda' mystery that there have been dead animals found outside the pods. Sharper has returned and led an expedition to explore in that age. But .. really .. not much else has been done with any of it. Which is really disappointing.

The closest thing to a story is some ridiculous stuff with one of the NPC characters love of the ladies and spending time with various actual player females, in this characters relto and private ages. I say WHAT?!?! O_O

Certain female players have latched onto that stuff with both hands .. with the resultant IC forum catfight over this guy. Good grief .. IF I wanted to watch an adolescent soap opera .. I'd hover around my daughters friends more often. LOL

And .. something for consideration .. some of those "women" running around the cavern are teens or even kids .. and some of them .. driving those female avvies .. are MEN for crying out loud. Seems an ill thought out move to be doing that with a "sanctioned" story character. Unseemly and in poor taste are the words that come to mind regarding the behaviors. Not to mention that the blurring between the "IC" and "OOC" lines is so pervasive with so many of the "explorers" .. I don't know .. it just seems like an idea that could take a horrible wrong turn really fast.

Some people have left .. or are leaving .. or are just curtailing their incavern time to once a week or two .. which is pretty much what I've been doing .. and .. surprisingly .. some of them are long time members. It's just so disappointing that there is so little to engage us .. as previously we have come to expect and love with anything Myst-centric. I was looking forward to Uru Online .. SO much too !! :\

I have begun to think that they really needed at least another year to pull all of this together .. with a great big jump off with ages .. old and new .. especially new to keep those who have done Uru more times then they can remember something new to keep them going .. and a storyline that took off from the second you set foot in your relto.

I keep hoping it will come together .. but it seems .. I don't know 'ruined' somehow .. this fractured beginning .. with no discernible anything to hold it together .. get us moving through a story that captures the mind and keeps drawing you ever further into it. Mysteries .. ever finding new clues .. further drawing us onward .. in search of more .. finding more .. yet never quite getting the full picture .. an intricately woven tapestry of a story .. and something they are more then able to create.

I know they're capable of it .. it's what they've done for me since I first discovered Myst .. in any of it's chapters .. drawn me in .. making me spend long hours trying to figure it all out .. earning that next bit of story .. and keeping me looking for more. Uru has that .. it really does .. and you get it if you play the core game .. taking the Yeesha journeys. Somehow though .. it's gotten lost with the addition of the new stuff .. and the whole DRC thing .. there is potential there for a good co-story with the rest of it .. that is being neglected for want of what .. I've no idea.

I hope that they get it sorted soon .. I'm giving them a year since I joined .. so they have until the end of December to implement their fully fleshed out plan .. otherwise I'll move on .. supporting Uru is one thing .. and I'm happy to do it .. BLINDLY supporting Uru .. or ANYTHING .. is a whole 'nuther box o' crackers .. and I know better. :)

In The Meantime

While waiting for Myst Online : Uru Live to get itself pulled together .. I've been keeping myself busy with other games. Besides "There Online" .. I've actually become an avid fan of Guild Wars .. but .. as stunningly beautiful as that game is and as much fun as I am having with MC and the GoG folks I know .. I NEED to keep my mind engaged in things that keep my grey matter working.

So .. I grabbed with both hands the latest installment of the Aura game .. The Sacred Rings. Gosh .. I really LOVE Aura .. I've played it a few times .. alone a few .. and also .. 'with' a friend .. he in his game .. me in mine .. and voice chatting while we explored 'together'. It was a lot of fun and a neat way to play the game. :)

I have been waiting for a year and a half for this second chapter of Aura. The release dates kept getting moved back .. and back .. and back .. till finally one that stuck. :D

I'm loving it too !! The game is beautiful in the same art style as the first .. lush plants .. and gorgeous environments .. buildings have an organic look and feel to them. Music that is beautiful whether it is an eerie graveyard or a spectacular vista. The Sacred Rings is everything I loved about Aura .. and everything I crave in an adventure game. :)

There is a story .. yes .. that's right .. an actual plot that has carried over from the first game .. yet stands on it own .. keeping me rooting for Umang in his quest. And the puzzles .. oh .. my .. gosh .. the puzzles !! It wasn't until the fifth battery that I figured out exactly what I was doing that made the whole thing work. :D

I am enjoying it so much .. all of it .. and taking my time with it as I want it to last. No spoilers for me .. no hints .. no walkthroughs or forums where spoilers are posted as a matter of course. It's just me puttin' my brain through it's paces on a treadmill of puzzles and clues. I'm even writing things down .. making notes and crude (in my case VERY crude .. O_o ) drawings of things I've seen that I feel will be important. And I'm enjoying every second of it !! :)

There is .. has always been for me .. this great satisfaction in figuring things out. Before I discovered there was such a thing as adventure/puzzle games with finding Myst III Exile .. I played word puzzles and logic problems .. not crosswords .. but things that make you work the brain cells .. and I was very good at them. Must just be the way my mind works. I love these sorts of games .. and thank God they're out there for me to find.

I've followed threads where others love Aura as much as I do. Or couldn't get into it .. those people usually being of the group that behaves as if ALL other adventure games shrivel when the light known as Myst is shone on them. Some folks are very protective of the pedestal that they've placed Myst upon. Seems a good way of dismissing any competition by labeling it as NOT Myst .. ergo .. NOT important. Well of course they aren't Myst .. nor should they be !! There is a good number of really good .. outright great .. adventure games that are .. thankfully .. NOT Myst.. that stand solidly on their own .. and I've played a lot of them too. :D

In my NOT so humble opinion on this .. Aura .. and it's sequel .. are darned fine adventure games .. keeping me busy .. drawing me along as the story unfolds .. and giving me that wonderful sense of "Ah-ha" .. when I "get" what's going on .. or an "I DID it !!" when I figure it out and get to see the cutscene reward for all my hard work. Like I said .. I'm REALLY LOVING it !! :D

Alright .. 'nuff o' this .. I'm headed back in .. Umang has a problem that needs my help. ;)