The Future of Uru Live

Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. Back in 2011 I had a lot of ideas for how Cyan could improve Uru. To that end, I traveled to Cyan Worlds headquarters in February of this year to cut a deal. I am happy to announce that, after long negotiations, I have been given the rights to Uru Live. Let me take a moment to go over the changes which will be going in effect in the coming weeks and months as my team and I work to convert Uru Live into the bustling economic powerhouse it was meant to be.

The first change is to the name. We are rebranding the game “Whil’s Quest™” to fit with the content updates we have planned. Those updates include a complete reboot of the Uru storyline and a shift in the game’s core mechanics. The game will now be a primarily single-player experience with optional multiplayer servers. The player will take on the role of Whiller McWhillington Esq. III Jr.™ who finds the ancient city of D’ni following the trail of his father, Whiller McWhillington Esq. III Sr.™. Players will enjoy hours of repeatable gameplay and unique custom content on a large-scale sustainable recycling program complete with reticulating splines, updated localization files, and 20% less Herobrine than Minecraft.

Speaking of Minecraft, fans of the popular sandbox game will be pleased to know that Whil’s Quest™ will be rendered entirely out of cubes and will come with a fully-featured crafting and resource-gathering system.

On the topic of resources, this new version of Uru Live will launch with a much-asked for feature: player currency. Single and multi-player experiences will reward players with currency for completing activities such as: quick-time events, block stacking, D’ni tax filing (it’s all in base 5!), mowing your Relto’s lawn, in-game drug-smuggling missions, playing a game of Bastion, listening to old D’ni YouTube fads, quick-time events, posting to the official forums, making a sammich, and quick-time events. Players can use these “Whilbucks™” to purchase additional costumes and hats for their character, purchase season passes to additional levels, purchase the solution to any puzzle in the game, unlock better weapons and armor, purchase hats for their character, trade for useful items such as health, mana, and stamina potions with other players, and unlock the ability to actually play the new SimCity.

As for the online component, the game will be available on a wide range of platforms and will feature mini-games which players can use to accrue currency. The game will be primarily web-based with the new flash-based game engine. New ports will be coming out for Android phones, the PSP, the original GameBoy, and Java.

Now, with all that good news there must come some bad. First off, obviously the plans for open source are cancelled for the foreseeable future. We will try and get a modding API out sometime in the next decade, depending on whether or not I feel like it. Another piece of bad news is that I am afraid in the corporate streamlining that many of Cyan’s employees had to be let go. Rand Miller, who of course started the company, has been given a very nice severance package including free parking in the lot next door, an early beta of Whil’s Quest™, as well as 1500 Whilbucks™. RAWA was let go, but we have yet to be able to find him. If you’re out there, Richard, we’ve got some nice parting gifts to give you, buddy, come on out. We’re pretty sure that’s you in the ducts. We’re honestly surprised you got up there.

So I hope this has given you a window into the plans my team and I have for the future development of Uru Live aka Whil’s Quest™. I look forward to working with some of you and I look forward to playing with all of you. Remember: Where there’s a Whil, there’s a way.™

Filed under: Uncategorized

The Impact of Let’s Plays

This topic has been on my mind for a long time now. Dinnerbone wrote about it and reddit’s been discussing it. So I’m finally finishing the post I started nearly a year ago. Mother of God. Anyhow, what is the role of a fan’s Let’s Play (LP) series and what makes a series beneficial to a game? Let’s start with the results of the poll I did all-too-long-ago:

• 40% said their interest in a game increased by watching LPs.
• 40% said they didn’t watch LPs.
• 15% said LPs did not increase their interest and they already knew what game they wanted.
• 5% said they did watch and LPs showed best practices for the game
• No one said a LP decreased their interest in a game.

I would argue that all the responses are, in practice, true. LPs have a value in showcasing the game for both new and existing players. Depending on the player’s exposure to the game, they may or may not watch a LP (for example, if you already know what game you’re buying, you may not be curious in a LP about that game).

Before we get into the responses, it’s important to discuss what a good LP involves. Here are the core traits all good LPs seem to share:

• Engaging presenter
• Interest in game
• Humor
• Dedication to game

The presenter is key. In fact, you’ll notice the traits listed are purely presenter traits. I would argue that most people watch LPs for the presenter, not the game. While viewers may watch for information on the game, they can get that information anywhere. What people look for in LPs is watching someone else playing the game. To that end, an engaging presenter is important. LP presenters like Kurtjmac and Etho keep people interested because of their engaging personality. Often, the person can be totally disconnected from the series they are known for and still garner attention because the game is not what people come for.

Notice that seriousness is not on that list. That’s important because often LPs that do not take the game so seriously are often more enjoyable to watch (compare a LP where the presenter yells and vents about his in-game death versus a LP where the presenter falls to his death laughing because he was pushed off a cliff by a chicken). Chinchilla Dave, and Star are examples of entertaining LP presenters that do not take themselves or the games they play too seriously.

Now let’s look at the effects a LP can have:

• Increase Interest
• Show Best Practices
• Decrease Interest

Let’s Plays increase interest: Overall, this is how my experience has gone with Let’s Plays. Watching Coe’s Quest was a big factor in my purchase of Minecraft. The fact that it was cheap was also important, but seeing another person go through the game’s world made it a lot easier to see myself in that world too and thus become more engaged and more willing to purchase the game. Similarly, I’ve recently started watching Chinchilla Dave’s Skyrim videos. While these are not full “start to finish” Let’s Plays and more “funny videos of gameplay” it shows the game world, some of its quirks, and general mechanics (combat, puzzles, inventory space… and how cheese can fill said inventory space…). Skyrim is an interesting game when it comes to the impact of Let’s Plays and I’ll come back to it later.

Let’s Plays show best practices: Most Let’s Plays will have spoilers of some kind since a “start to finish” Let’s Play will go from the beginning to the end linearly, the viewer is expected to keep up with the story or be watching after they have completed that section of the game. Again, Coe’s Let’s Plays are a good example of this. Early videos (and later videos after important updates) served as a way to educate new players on Minecraft’s game elements, crafting recipes, and combat. Similarly, Let’s Plays of RPGs may help showcase alternate quest lines, hidden easter eggs, or tactics in combat that are useful for newer players.

Let’s Plays decrease interest: No one responded that they were actually put off from a game thanks to a Let’s Play and I wouldn’t have spent much time on this response but for one Let’s Play in particular. When Skyrim first came out, I was interested in looking up some Let’s Plays to check out the game and see if it lived up to the hype. I found a Let’s Play (whose name has been blessedly lost to me, else I’d be ranting about it all day) which seemed good enough. After several episodes, however, it devolved into this whiny kid complaining about dying to enemies clearly too strong to take on. A few more and the main quest is done and he’s complaining about how short the game is (Skyrim. Short. Mother of God.). Had I continued with that Let’s Play, there’s a good chance it would have put me off the game.

Let’s Plays are interesting things and they come in many flavors. I believe more creative games such as Minecraft are more conducive to Lets Plays because there is more than just the storyline to spend time on (when you’ve seen someone complete Skyrim’s main quest once you’ve pretty much seen them all). Still, it would be a mistake to say that Let’s Plays have to follow the same pattern. Far Lands or Bust is what I would consider a Let’s Play, but it’s not the traditional style like Etho’s Lab or Coe’s Quest. Let’s Plays are an evolving creative medium and people are always coming up with new ways to entertain.

But those are just my thoughts. What do you think of Let’s Plays?

Filed under: Gaming, charity, FLoB, game, letsplays, minecraft, skyrim

Prominence: A Word on the Fan Age Proposals

Hello again. It’s been a long time. How have you been?

I’ve seen all the proposals tossed about and had some thoughts. People will debate this and Cyan will be the final arbiter. I have little faith these days in the latter, so I talk to you; the former. This is not just a debate about python coding or storyline. This is also a debate of prominence. The prominence of fan Ages in the world. I believe foremost that fan Ages deserve high prominence in the game for they are the examples with which we draw people in. But let’s back up and examine the other concepts debated: coding and storyline.
In the realm of coding, I feel it is obvious that an addition to the existing Nexus or placing books around the Ages makes the most sense. Duplicating the Nexus is a tricky proposition and creating all that coding busywork when there are other viable paths is folly. This community and potential content creators do not need additional hurdles to jump. They need simple code, they need stable worlds, they need a firm hand, not a shaky “Fan Nexus.”

People will defend this Fan Nexus by citing storyline consistency. As my grandfather once said, that’s a load a whooey. Uru has the least consistent storyline of any game I have played so far. Minecraft has a more consistent storyline and you make that story up as you go along! If the old Mysteriacs are right, Cyan was willing to sacrifice story integrity for a cushy retirement just a few months ago. Have they really rediscovered their philosophy so quickly?

No, what this really comes down to is fan Age prominence. Cyan insists on pandering to the old guard who want to keep fan Ages away from Cyan’s Ages. Fan Ages must have prominence in the game world or we will never see the benefit. No one other than a liar or a hermit cares these days about how a fan Age meshes with Cyan’s storyline. People want content and this should be made as easy as possible. Storyline should be considered, but not in this draconian fashion.

This brings me to the point of all this. Ages should be placed where they make the most sense. An Age’s placement should be dictated by its lore. If the “Age” is a City location, it should be placed in the Nexus. If the Age is D’ni written, it should be placed in a public book room. If the Age is like my Toroolbah or Fens, it should be place in a location fit for it (either a fan hub Age or a private spot).

Those are my thoughts. Now tell me yours. Leave a comment below and vote in the poll for which of the options you would choose for future fan Ages.

Filed under: Uru Community, community, cyan, myst, open source, poll, uru

Question for a future post

I’m curious about the influence of Let’s Plays on someone’s decision whether or not to buy a game. If you have the time, please answer the following poll.

Filed under: Gaming, game, poll

Ending the Nonsense Part Two

When lunanne was effectively banned from the MOULa forums (by way of removing her from the group that allows people to post on the forum) I was immediately asked to make an Ending the Nonsense Part Two. I was initially hesitant because I didn’t really care about that forum’s drama and I doubted I could be effective. In reflection, however, I realize that this doubt is what has caused these problems to persist for so long and why I must at least try to make a difference.

Let’s start with the obvious: the moderator responsible for this (veralun) should be removed from his moderating privileges. This is the most recent of a long history of veralun and other MOUL forum moderators abusing their powers. This is an abuse of the moderator’s powers to silence individuals because of their views. This is furthermore an abuse without a warning or a notice. This kind of abuse does not reflect well on Cyan and Cyan should, for its own sake, end this nonsense. If Cyan continues to allow this kind of behavior, however infrequent or isolated, it will tarnish Cyan’s reputation in the gaming community. No matter if this is just one “bad apple” the effects will be enormous. This must end now.

Furthermore, this abuseable power should be removed. Hoikas suggested a better anti-spam solution: When you register in the forum, your name could be checked against the spammer database. This system has been used successfully by the GoW and should be used on the MOULa forums. It is time that Cyan joins this noble and comprehensive program.

Finally, and most importantly, Cyan must expend some energy to collaborate with its community. What we have at present is moderators and others picked by Cyan to act in their stead. I still remember Rand’s reaction to “hacks” that opened the door to the “grey hats” keeping the cavern alive. If the good people at Cyan were able to see what good has come from this hacking, perhaps we would see more collaboration and shared growth. Instead we have a new D’ni word… and everyone who cares has either lost interest or has been “banned” in the most shameful, hurtful, and cowardly way possible.

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