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Myst Online: Uru Live
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===GameTap=== On May 9, 2006, Cyan Worlds and [[GameTap]] announced at the [[Electronic Entertainment Expo]] that ''Myst Online: Uru Live'' would be returning in the holiday season of 2006. The GameTap version did not require any physical purchase: all the game content was downloaded through GameTap, which was subscribed to for a monthly fee. A major reason for the resurrection of the game was the fan support. According to GameTap's vice president of content Ricardo Sanchez, "One of the reasons [GameTap was] so attracted to ''Uru Live'' is that it had this persistent group that kept it alive during the dark days of it not being a product."<ref>{{cite news|last=Terdiman|first=Daniel|date=2006-05-18|url=http://news.cnet.com/Online-game-rising-from-the-dead/2100-1043_3-6073611.html?tag=nefd.top|title=Online game rising from the dead|publisher=[[CNET Networks]]|accessdate=2008-11-17}}</ref> Closed public [[software testing|beta testing]] of ''Myst Online: Uru Live'' began in August 2006. A period of semi-open beta testing lasted from December 12 to December 18, 2006, with an open beta beginning on December 20. On January 18, 2007, it was announced that a [[Apple Macintosh]] port of the game was being developed by [[TransGaming Technologies|TransGaming]]; a beta became available soon after. This coincided with the release of the first new Age, Eder Delin. GameTap brought ''Myst Online: Uru Live'' online in February 2007. On May 19, 2007, ''Myst Online'' made the move to episodic content releases,<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=155030#155030|title= The Future of Myst Online: Uru Live|accessdate= 2008-07-03|first=Ryan|last=Warzecha|date= 2007-05-04|publisher=Myst Online.com}}</ref> with each episode adding new Ages, puzzles, and a plot continuation. It was also released for [[Mac OS X]], the first GameTap game for the platform.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cohen|first=Peter|date=2007-03-20|url=http://www.macworld.com/article/56880/2007/03/gametap.html|title=GameTap releases Myst Online for Mac|work=[[Macworld]]|accessdate=2008-11-17}}</ref> In February 2008, GameTap announced that ''Myst Online'' was canceled. Sanchez released a statement that "The decision was a very difficult one and was made for business reasons rather than due to any issues regarding the design and vision of the amazing world that Cyan Worlds and Rand Miller have brought to us. Despite the great ''Myst Online'' experience coming to a close, Cyan is still a very valued partner of GameTap, we are on excellent terms, and we look forward to continuing our relationship in the future."<ref>{{cite web|last=Oynett|first=Charles|date=2008-02-04|url=http://pc.ign.com/articles/849/849518p1.html|title=Myst Online is discontinued|publisher=[[IGN]]|accessdate=2008-05-12}}</ref> Various explanations for ''Uru Live''{{'}}s continuing troubles were given. Game designer Ernest Adams stated that "An important part of ''Myst''{{'}}s atmosphere came from being alone in a very strange place." Adams stated that the realities of online play distracted from the fantasy setting.<ref>{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=David|date=2004-02-17|title='Uru' updates video game classic 'Myst' with full-featured 3-D version|work=[[The Denver Post]]|page=F1}}</ref> When asked about the game's commercial failure, Miller responded: <blockquote>I'm always going to fall back on 'we were ahead of our time,' because it's easy. The biggest thing we did was an all or nothing proposal from an entertainment point of view. It's not like you can start up a new TV network and give one show a month and expect it to be successful... We couldn't quite pull that off with the money we had."<ref name="gamesindustry-postmortem">{{cite web|last=Boyer|first=Brandon|date=2008-09-18|url=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/myst-creator-warns-of-over-ambition-in-mmo-space|title=Myst creator warns of over ambition in MMO space|publisher=GamesIndustry.biz|accessdate=2008-11-19}}</ref></blockquote> GameTap parent [[Turner Broadcasting System|Turner Broadcasting]]'s product development vice president Blake Lewin added that he did not believe any budget would have worked, due to the difficult content production pipeline. Lewin compared the game's production to the television series ''[[Lost (TV series)|Lost]]'', which had difficulties producing a full season.<ref name="gamesindustry-postmortem"/> In an article discussing the current state of the adventure game genre, [[IGN]] writers Steve Butts and Charles Onyett considered the major issues with ''Myst Online'' that while a different kind of adventure game, ''Myst Online'' was not accessible to players other than the "hardcore faithful". The authors suggested that the franchise needed "to try something more dramatic than slapping an online architecture onto a game that already released, then periodically putting out small content updates."<ref>{{cite web|author=Butts, Steve; Onyett, Charles|date=2008-02-14|url= http://pc.ign.com/articles/852/852494p1.html|title=State of the Genre: Adventure Gaming -- The Response|publisher=[[IGN]]|accessdate=2008-11-18}}</ref>
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