A big and important thing happened some time ago. I didn’t say anything about it at the time, because of circumstances I’ll get back to, but I’m saying it now.

Cyan Worlds, Inc. opened an official Untìl Uru shard.

Are you familiar with Uru? Or with Cyan? They’re the people who made MYST, one of the most popular and successful games ever. A few years ago they made Uru, which was something so rare as a MMOAG, a Massive Multiplayer Online Adventure Game. Or at least, it was intended to be. If you know nothing of this, allow me to briefly recount the sad history of Uru.

Uru was originally made to be an online game, an adventure/puzzle game for multiple players. The idea was that players had to cooperate and interact in order to advance in the game, and to keep it going, new content would constantly be added, and storylines would constantly run. The intention was to make it a pure multiplayer game. Sadly, their publisher wanted an offline portion, one that could be played without access to the online part. Cyan made the necessary changes, and you can still buy and play that offline bit as “Uru - Ages Beyond Myst”.

To differentiate between this offline bit and the main part, they called the online bit Uru Live. Or would have. Uru Live never even got started.

There was an online bit, briefly. It was called the Prologue, and was intended as a period of bugs solving and testing before the launch of the actual Uru Live. They gradually increased the number of players allowed in, to test their capabilities and fix any problems encountered. I was fortunate enough to be amongst those allowed to play online in this Prologue. There was little new content in the Prologue, all the good stuff was saved for Live. Sadly, we never got so far.

Supposedly due to low interest and few signups, Uru Live was cancelled before it even got started. The Prologue ended, the servers were shut down, and everybody were left with nothing but the offline game.

Two expansions packs were made, with the content that was planned for Live. “Uru: To D’ni”, and “Uru: Path of the Shell”. These were then republished with the original game as “Uru: Complete Chronicles”. And that seemed to be that.

Then, Cyan released their server code, and allowed fans to set up their own servers, or shards as they are called. These recreated what was available in the Prologue, and allowed players to play together again. It was not Uru Live, there was no new content or official support, no bug fixes, nothing more than what was already there. It was called Untìl Uru, intended to keep the community and the game alive until… until something happened. And we loved it. This was in 2004.

Now something has happened. In February, Cyan opened an official Untìl Uru shard, D’mala. Recently, the released an update, an update, with bug fixes. They have, apparently, received limited funding for a trial run, to see if there is still interest in the game. I couldn’t play then, because I was at school with only my small laptop,but now I’m home again with my old, rickety and buggy but Uru-capable computer, and I’m loving every moment I get to spend in the cavern.

And that’s where we’re at now. In need of interest for the game. I have heard some numbers, though none of them official. There are already nearly two thousand registered players, if I am correctly informed. I’m one of them. Had I my way, every one of you who read this post would be one too.

That’s the story. Sad, but with a hopeful ending. For now. But that probably matters little to you if you’ve never played the game. I highly recommend getting hold of a copy, even without Live, the offline game is very verygood.

Have you ever played MYST? Uru is slightly similar, but very different. Have you played realMYST or “Myst V: End of Ages”? They are more similar, but still not quite the same. Uru is a 3d world, unlike most of the Myst games, and it is a third person game, you have an avatar on the screen. It involves more physical puzzles than the other games. It is set in a number of worlds, but begins in the desert in New Mexico, and ends in a cavern beneath it.

The story is complicated, and I fear I would do it injustice to try and explain it here. You should play it and see for yourself. If you are at all familiar with the Myst mythos, you’ll recognize some places and people and names, and be amazed. If you’re not at all familiar with the Myst mythos, everything will be new and exciting, and you’ll still be amazed.

“Uru - Ages Beyond Myst” is dirt cheap now. The Untìl Uru patch and the account registration is free. Get a copy. Then go to the Untìl Uru website and download a patch and get an invitation for registration. Log on to D’mala. Only then should you begin to play the game, because then you will have a cavern full of friendly people eager to play it with you.

And when you’re converted, tell a friend, tell all your friends, post it on you blog, like I’m doing. If you’ve ever tried Uru, but not Uru Live, or if you were in the Prologue but didn’t bother with Untìl Uru, or if you’ve ever thought that a MMOAG sounds like a cool idea, here’s the chance.

Hope to see you in the cavern.