Bedtime Approaches .. Again

Recently .. February 4 as a matter of fact .. the truth was finally revealed that Myst Online: Uru Live was going to be dropped by GameTap and shut down. In effect .. it's dying .. being put to bed .. whatever you prefer to call it .. again.

I saw this coming for MONTHS .. and based on a post by a fellow on the greeters forum .. it's been a done deal since a very chatty intern at the GameTap headquarters blurted it out to him way back in the fall during a trip he had made there .. and that he had kept to himself all this time until the announcement was finally made.

Anytime a discussion came up about the coming new season I ALWAYS expressed my doubts that it would ever happen .. and always stating my reasons as to how I had logically arrived at that conclusion. Things weren't making sense .. the switch to episodes sort of made sense as an option to delivering the (pitifully sorry) story elements .. but the sudden end to the season .. with no clear time frame for the hiatus or the debut of the second season .. I don't know .. just didn't make sense. Couple that with the echoingly empty silence from both GameTap and Cyan about ANYTHING related to it's future .. with them seeming to prefer hiding behind the protectively adoring fans who were always touting the 'wait and see it's gonna be grand' line .. ever giving Cyan a place to hide while speaking with some authority for them. ( where's a good rolling eye emote when you need one .. lol )

If I were the ranting sort THAT would be one of the things I would have a run at. Those people make me nuts .. and it's not so much that they are such devoted fans .. it's that their devotion blinds them to ANYTHING but the perfection that is Cyan and all that Cyan blesses with their touch .. to the point where dissension must be silenced .. along with the dissenters .. and ANY hint of a whisper of daring to express doubts .. or concerns .. or question .. or .. God forbid .. outright challenging *whatever* as 'less than perfect'. They can be rude to outright vicious in their attempts to excuse and defend all things Cyan. It's more than a little offputting. :\

I got lightly toasted by one of them on the MOUL forum .. when I DARED to suggest that the hiatus time would be the optimum time when Cyan would be creating content for the new season .. based on how things are done for TV shows by information passed on to me by a friend who actually does that for a living. It only makes sense. You have this time when you can produce wonderful things and stay ahead of demand by getting them done during the off time. Naturally my post gets singled out of ALL the other ones .. spoken to as if I were a simple child with limited intelligence that needed things spelled out to me. That Cyan was getting a much needed break .. and that these episodes were not like a TV show. Tell me .. how are they going to release new content .. on time .. that .. according to the faithful take upwards of 6 months !! to produce .. if they sit on their collective butts for x number of months BEFORE the second season should be starting and the release of NEW .. COMPLETED ages would be a requirement ?!?! Funny .. how the song changed from how 'poor' underfunded Cyan was working so hard to release ages that take MONTHS to produce and that was why they were so slow/scant .. to how 'poor' underfunded Cyan had worked so hard and now needed a rest .. in effect squandering those very precious months when they could be producing great things .. on .. nothing. I resisted the urge to re-address such a simply idiotic response .. as I know there's no dealing with people who already know it all .. and NO amount of facts is EVER going to open their eyes.

For the supposed next season .. the entire feel was completely different from the expectantly charged air when it was announced that MO:UL was coming back. Even with the constantly waved banner of 'cautious optimisim' .. you KNEW it was going to happen. D'mala was opened .. GameTap and Cyan employees were often visiting the shard .. a forum was opened .. the fires were stoked .. and everyone was excited with all of these things. For the second season .. nothing but silence .. not a word regarding hints for the coming season .. nothing to get people wondering .. tiny tidbits to keep the interest there during the hiatus .. the newsletter was pulled .. it just didn't ring true that anything was coming .. more like downplaying it in an attempt to dull any sort of anticipation from building .. the better to lessen the impact when the announcement was finally made.

What's most appalling is that Cyan/GameTap said nothing for months and let people pay good money during the off-time .. for basically an Uru chatroom and hangout .. with NO story and NO new content .. in the belief that the second season was coming by allowing the devoted fans to rave on .. belittling anyone who questioned .. yet raving on about it being a done deal .. making the tired blanket excuse that all parties were in nebulous contractual 'talks' that were shrouded in a blanket of NDA. Funnily enough .. touted conclusions drawn by the faithful .. but never actually confirmed by either of the actual parties .. who fed out mostly vagaries about nothing of any substance .. which only made me MORE sure that they were fudging things along until they could avoid the announcement no longer. My feeling is that they had a contract until that time and couldn't make the official announcment on what had already been decided in the fall .. as that poster on GoG had stated .. until that contracted time had passed .. rather than they were in ANY sort of talks.

It's done and announced now .. and of course .. the ensuing ugliness from the angry .. the disappointed .. the disillusioned .. the defenders .. on those forums has died down now.

As for me I miss Uru .. I've missed it for a long time .. not the Live disjointed .. puzzle for the sake of a puzzle .. age for the sake of an age .. story thin MOUL .. but the Uru that was painted for us .. the wonderful magic of discovery of new worlds .. intricate story and substories .. and wonderful characters that you grow to know and love .. or hate .. but that invoke something within .. along with a need to know more .. find more .. discover more .. to be fully a part of. THAT'S the Uru I long for .. got a tiny glimpse of .. and .. I'm still waiting for. :)