Hi Gang......

My pleasure to pass along what I am allowed of a conversation this morning, with a good friend of mine who is a very active insider on CYAN's URU project. To quote: ...."the game is awesome!" It is highly addictive and worth getting DSL. It is a multi-player in that you can wander around and you can visit other players/people, take tours...etc. Being is the game is online, you can get the current ages, updated graphics and community new/stuff. "The exploration aspect is absolutely unbelievable."

This insider, who has virtually unequalled adventure gaming experience says, ...."To date, I haven't seen anything that resembles this game. This new online world will not only get MYST fans pumped, but introduce a lot of new people to a gaming experience unlike any other. It is the future of interactive gaming."

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Are you ready? URU: Ages Beyond MYST official site.

WELL, I FOR ONE AM REALLY TICKED OFF. LOVE THE MYST SERIES AND CONCEPT, BUT SINCE UBI SAYS 'WORLDS TO SHARE' THEY'RE NOT SHARING! WHY LIMIT THE ACCESS TO ONLY BROADBAND USERS? THIS IS NO ACTION CAPTURE THE FLAG TYPE OF GAME. IMHOP THIS STINKS.

Thanks for the update Witchie, I can hardly wait until they release this one !! I think this game might breathe new life into our beloved Adventure Game genre.

Of course, "worth getting DSL" assumes that DSL is available. DSL has been "coming within 18 months" every place I've lived in the last 6 years (California, Virginia, Connecticut). Oddly, though, DSL never seems to arrive. And with the telcos once again in charge of DSL, I doubt I'll ever see it. Ah, well.

Alright, my stupidity is showing, but will this work if you have cable, not DSL?

I think the only requirement is a connection faster than dial-up. That is, a connection faster than mine.

My understanding of the requirements were "broadband." Broadband includes cable, DSL, T1-3, any fast connection. In other words....NOT 56K dial up.

Cable can vary tremendously in speed. In peak use hours it can be as slow as dialup.

DSL isn't perfect either. My Dad gets DSL and connections sometimes stall out due to packet loss or something.

I can't afford either one. Especially not Cable, since I don't currently get Cable TV.

Would it be so unthinkable for Cyan to have subscriptions where they'd send you a CD or DVD every month which includes the new areas?

Hi there, Jenny.................I don't know if its "unthinkable" but its sure worth looking into, huh? Love, Witchen

Shorah

I live in a semi-rural location and am doing my level best to persuade the cable people (and whoever else I can get to listen to me) to send broadband my way. They say its getting to be most places now. They say it should be here in the next few months *hopes fervently*

Satellite is an option for some who are especially far from civilization but not for me (tall trees in the way).

And yes, some broadband is pricey but other charge around 50/month US. Since we dont subscribe to cable tv either, we should be able to afford it.

Most cities are getting broadband now. Hopefully you will find a place soon, MrLipid. This site identifies a few possible options:
http://www.orderdsl.net/index.htm

If they say you could get it, you may be able to get something even cheaper locally

>Would it be so unthinkable for Cyan to have >subscriptions where they'd send you a CD or DVD >every month which includes the new areas?

Even the "hub" area (D'ni cavern) is really huge and incredibly detailed. I dont think just D'ni city by itself would fit on a dvd, let alone process all the effects and let you move in good time. (How I wish!)

Maybe when pcs get even faster, they will let us swap dvds *chuckles*

Salar

I think that Witchen's right - Not everyone has even the access to high speed internet service. Maybe they will have or would consider a CDRom version for others to access.

Laura

Broadband service for me has always been the best. Never has there been any problems or it slowing down at all. Its Road Runner service. I am looking forward to this game. I do not think they would consider the CD option since it would be more expensive in the long run and as there would be so many updates there is no way they could keep up.

I recently tested my cable connection at www.bandwidthplace.com. I got 2.2 megabits per sec. I was told this will be plenty fast enough to run the game. Hope so.

Hi all,
I've followed every single thing about this game, and I tried to understand why you needed broadband. I found this quote on the Ubi Uru website ( http://uru.ubi.com/ - how's that for a tongue twister), in the latest press release.

..."Uru will take advantage of broadband to deliver a continually updated, immersive environment and storyline, with content that grows, changes and evolves constantly. It will also be the first persistent world to support real-time voice communication."

So, it looks like it needs broadband for two things, the "continually updated" content, which was mentioned before, as well as voice communication. Having tried some of those "long distance over the internet" phone calls, back when I had dial-up, I can attest that voice communication over dial-up is awful.

I'll also push my favorite Uru site here, Uru Obsession. Originally, the site was called "Mudpie Obsession", from the previous code name, but they have changed it to reflect the new name. If there is anything abut Uru out, anywhere, this site has it - http://www.uruobsession.com/ . The left link is for the site. They have screenshots that came out, over the years, that aren't on the "official" site. If you look around on the site, you'll see a little something I wrote for another board (some time ago), analyzing where I thought Cyan was in the development process, based on their job postings.

Thanks mszv! I think there's no way to escape that broadband is the coming standard. I guess the best way to approach the dilemma of wanting it and not being able to get it, is to complain in our own areas to the local telecommunications companies, urging them to install broadband facilities. Perhaps (and that's a big perhaps) when enough complaints are registered they'll get moving, get it installed as system standard, and give us a reasonable price! Its happened before and no matter what, I think standard broadband transmission is inevitable in the strategic view. In deference to URU: Ages Beyond MYST.....CYAN has never been behind the eight-ball when it comes to progress. Love, Witchen