The end of D'ni

Tonight, at 00:01, is the shutdown of Myst Online: Uru Live. 

My goal for the next few hours is to spend time in the game with the rest of the community that have stuck it out till now.  It is hard to avoid the cliché from the Myst games.  Within the games, and the community, everyone wants to say that "the end has not yet been written." 

With the game shutting down, for the second time, with the second publisher, it is hard to see how MOUL will ever be anything more than a curious oddity in the history of online games.

For the last five weeks, there have been a number of forum posts, blog posts and articles by members of the Myst community and the gaming industry, that have talked about the end of Myst.  There have been passing remarks on yet another game being canceled or closing.  There have people wishing for, demanding and begging for a restart of UntilUru.  There have been wild, impossible plans for continuing the game without GameTap and even without Cyan.  Like I said: impossible.

There have been discussion about how the game could have been run.  How the very essence of the game was changed by Ubi's insistence that at least part of the game (the Prime ages) be available as a standalone game.  There were arguments and debates about how the Cleft, the hoods, even the city and ages should have been organized, instanced and delivered.  The value of Yeesha, the DRC, various community organizations, role playing & playing Uru in character (cavern) and playing Myst out of character (cavern) all have been debated. 

The community has talked about what happens next.  What we can do. Where we will go after the sound of the last link fades in our ears and the stark reality that it was merely just another game, and now it is over.

And through most of this, I have been somewhat quiet.  Unless, of course, one was listening on CyanChat.

What is left of the community has started gathering together in the places we hold dear.  The last in cavern meetings are being organized and everyone is saying their good-byes. 

Not really good-bye.

This community has been together in one form or another since shortly after the release of the first Myst game in 1993.  Here we are, fifteen years later, gathering together both in and out of the game, celebrating what we all hope is not really the end.