Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 28 minutes
In the mid-2000’s, Cyan Worlds, creators of the massively popular adventure game Myst, released an ambitious online sequel that never caught on the way they'd hoped. Myst Online: Uru Live sought to translate the single-player puzzle-solving experience of the Myst series into a collaborative, massively multiplayer online game.
The game had a rocky reception and its online component was compromised from the beginning. It underwent a series of cancellations and relaunches, but in the end it only survived thanks to its dedicated player base. Players carried the game on their backs for years, hacking together fan servers to reimplement much of the online experience the way it was always meant to be. They even formed their own in-game governance structures to improve the player experience. These efforts were so successful that they eventually drew the support of the developers themselves.
We spoke with an ardent member of this player community about his time spent in Uru during its heyday and today.
Up Next in Season 1
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Preserving Worlds S1 Ep4: Doom
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 25 minutes
The first person shooter Doom launched in 1993 and quickly secured its place in popular culture. The game’s creators were unusually mod-friendly, and they set the game up so it was easy and legal for fans to create the...
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Preserving Worlds S1 Ep5: NeoHabitat
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 28 minutes
Habitat, the first ever graphical massively multiplayer online game, emerged on the Commodore 64 home micro computer in 1986. Because the game was the first of its kind, its developers tried a number of odd experiments...
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Preserving Worlds S1 Ep6: Second Life
Directed by Derek Murphy and Mitchell Zemil • Documentary • 2021 • 30 minutes
Arguably the most well known social virtual world, Second Life started in 2003 and it’s still online today. The software is extremely flexible, and users are able to customize almost every aspect of the experience. The...
