Second Life with a point?

Comments

• Jenuviel Member Posts: 960

  February 2007

  Well, you're basically playing Myst. If you've played the offline version of URU, you've more or less played the online version, with a few key differences. In exchange for your $9.95 to Gametap, you'll be getting added puzzles, added Ages (though there's some debate about how frequently complete ages will be brought in), added perks (Relto pages, clothing, etcetera), a storyline that actually evolves, and puzzles/Ages that require teamwork to solve. That stuff, plus the other Gametap services and games. The Ages in URU Live are mostly the Ages in the offline version of the game, though a multiplayer Age has been added, and more will be coming in. Basically, think of the game as Myst with regular content downloads and more people.
  
  
  
  Not all of the new puzzles will be multiplayer, however. If you're looking to solve all the content on your own, or solve it all with other people, you're going to be disappointed. The content is going to be fairly mixed. That's a pretty big issue for some of the more vocal posters, but it's really just something to consider. The logic puzzles, interesting storyline and otherworldly environments are all there.
  
  
  
  EDIT: After re-reading your post, I realized you said you played Myst "back in the day," so you probably haven't played URU. It's 3D now, and actually quite pretty. The graphics aren't high-polygon (or don't seem to be), but the style is very attractive. There's no mechanism like experience points, hit points, or anything like that. The whole game is about solving puzzles and logic problems. Apparently the game's going to change slightly based on player activities, but I'm not too sure what or how that's going to happen (event staff, maybe?). If you enjoyed the original Myst, I'd say it's definitely worth a look. If you're more interested in the more typical MMO experience, however, it probably won't be what you're after.
• SUMB44 Member Posts: 182

  February 2007

  To what extent will the player be able to interact with the world around them other than solving puzzles?  Will there be unique forms of transportation, will there be territorial exploration?  Will there be NPC's to interact with/quest?  How do the players interact with the evolving storyline outside of puzzles? 
  
  
  
  Thanks for your other post, it was really quite helpful!
• Jenuviel Member Posts: 960

  February 2007

  I apologize in advance, since my Myst experience tends to be pretty limited. I'm new to the vocabulary, so I'm sure I'll mess some of this up. That said, you basically travel by linking through books. Ages are places that were "written," and when you find a book, you can link to the location written inside. You start off with your own little Age (called a "Relto"), and that Age has a bookshelf. As you find more books, that bookshelf fills up. Each book also has a number of pages inside, giving you a number of locations within each book you can access. Once you go to an Age, there are pages (of a different sort) hidden "inside" it that you can link to. They look like palm prints. Each time you find one and touch it, a bit of it lights up. You can link directly to the last page you touched from that Age's book in your Relto. It basically functions like a bookmark, though there's a lot more lore to it than that.
  
  
  
  As far as territorial exploration goes, not really. There's a city, but there's not really an "overland." You basically are exploring different Ages. There aren't really NPCs, either, at least not in the typical sense. Other than the first tutorial area (The Cleft), pretty much every person you see will be another player.
• GepardenK Member Posts: 5

  February 2007

  Hi all
  
  URU live is actually very different from URU offline. Even tough it dosent seem like it from pictures.
  
  I recently wrote an article for another forum to "breifly" exsplain what URU live is all about. This should bring you up to date, if  you dare read along:
  
  
  
  GENERAL:
  
  In Myst online you have a private instance. It’s a place where only you can enter, unless you invite someone to come along. This place can be customized to your own liking as you find items to put in it (same goes for you character, new clothes and accessories can be found)
  
  
  
  “Outside” of your private place is your neighbourhood (or hood) where you can hang out with neighbours. Some hoods are public (meaning that anyone can enter), while other hoods are private (meaning that visitors must get an invitation from a member of the hood)
  
  You can either create a new hood or join an existing one, but you must be invited by a member if you want to join an existing one.
  
  
  
  Then there is the public city, where everyone can hang out. The City is made out of numerous areas (and more are on the way).
  
  
  
  Newbie’s are advised to go to the "guild of greeters" hood for advice. They can also go to their local hoods classroom, where a cyan staff member will teach lessons every hour from 5pm to 11pm (about how to play the game, tips, general advise, a tour ect ect)
  
  Your hood also contains a library where you will find numerous ages (read quests) Quests can also be obtained by other means.
  
  
  
  
  
  STORY AND ACTORS:
  
  The real beauty of the game is of course the STORY and the CONFLICT. No mmo has ever handled this as Myst online has:
  
  there are no computer controlled npc`s (well, there are some few, but they don’t really count).
  
  There are many npc`s, but these are controlled by hired actors. They interact and talk with the players for real.
  
  
  
  Sometimes one of the head people at DRC (Dni restoration council) will just come walking into the city and say: ”I have some bad news, announcement in five minutes, spread the word". Other times, these actor played npc`s can be found wandering through different parts of the game, minding their own buissnes.
  
  What players do and say to these npcs can actually change the story, as Cyan is developing the story day by day based on the actor’s actions vs. the player’s actions and behaviours.
  
  
  
  The story and conflict in the game is made out by notes and messages obtained from different ages (quests), but maybe mostly from the npc`s played by actors
  
  What are the agendas of these peoples?
  
  Who can be trusted?
  
  Who is that new investor everybody is talking about?
  
  What did happen to that npc who went missing in that accident?
  
  
  
  Of course, this means you will miss a lot of the story all the time, since the story is played out live in the game by real people. But that’s the beauty of it all. You can just logg into the game, walk around the city and ask if anything big has happened. Check the newspaper and check your mail. And within ten minutes you are filled in. it’s like in real life
  
  
  
  PVP (player vs player):
  
  There is actually a lot of pvp options (despite what most people would think). More is being developed, but now we have:
  
  
  
  - You can play Heek(a kind of board game) against other people
  
  
  
  - “Capture the marker” and “Hold the marker” are games that any player can set up and invite others to participate in. Any area can be used to play in, and the markers can be set out anywhere you can reach. So you basically make your own levels. There is also a third type of marker game, but I haven’t played it.
  
  
  
  -A kind of 2 player vertical version of minesweeper is also possible to play against each other. Here the two players will try to climb a gigantic wall, but before the game starts, players have set out invisible traps on the opponent’s wall. If you hit a trap you will fall to the ground. The first player to reach the top of the wall wins
  
  
  
  All these "games" are of course neatly designed into the game world (its a part of the atmosphere), and more of them is being developed.
  
  
  
  QUESTS:
  
  Quests are played out in traditional Myst fashion, with places to explore and puzzles to solve. The gameplay is very different from quest to quest (or age as it is called in Myst), as is the graphics. These places can be solved alone or with as many friends as you like. You can go with a friend, join the rest of your hood for a giant sweep of the ages or gather a group in the city.
  
  There are a few npc`s not played by actors in some of the quests.
  
  New quests are added all the time as regular updates, as they are added by the day by day story progression provided by the live actors.
  
  So you never run out of puzzles. When you have completed all the quests, another one is just around the corner. Just ask that “engineer npc” played by a live actor how long it is until that city bridge is repaired (meaning new area unlocked).
  
  
  
  Contrary to what you might think: Myst puzzles has nothing to do with crosswords and Tetris, they are much cooler
  
  
  
  There is also a lot of Items, sparks, tablets ect ect (read interesting things to pick up) scattered all over the game. So exploration really pays of (even in the public city)
  
  
  
  COMUNNITY:
  
  Its really great, people are nice and parties and tournaments (with prizes) are thrown all the time. Upcoming events are often announced on the games website (even if they are hosted by private persons).
  
  The “guild of greeters” is an unofficial guild bend on helping newcomers, and you can subscribe (free of charge, of course) at the "cavern today" for a nice daily newspaper.
  
  
  
  That was my "short" introduction, based on my sightings of the Myst online: URU live open beta
  
  
  
  Hope it was of some sort of help
• meadmoon Member UncommonPosts: 1,344

  February 2007

  Originally posted by SUMB44
  
  So, this is kinda like Second Life, but with a more focused plot and, well, point?

  
  
  Well, since Second Life is not a game, there really is not supposed to be a plot -- SL is an online environment/metaverse or more appropriately, Web 3.0 (if you drank the koolaid).

  I'm sure to the people who log in to SL, there is a point -- I'm also sure there are people who will say that Uru Live has no point. It's all opinion.
• SUMB44 Member Posts: 182

  February 2007

  URU Live is quite fun.  I've been exploring quite a bit since the 15th.  You can find me ingame as either "Waldorf" or "Gordon".  It's a game that can certainly appeal to the "casual gamer" as I often log on and play for about a half hour while my fiancee finishes getting ready in the morning before we start our commute to work.  It can get pretty laggy at high pop times in the public areas, but I think it's quite fun.   I've done one group exploration and it was surprisingly fun, yet also seemed like a case study in project management...  the frustration of planning and execution but the thrill of success when it works! 
  
  
  
  The environment is really immersive and there's lots of "lore" around you in the ages and public areas to really immerse you in the story and aid you in your explorations.
  
  
  
  I love it!