unforum

[Chewy]

Free Gametap!

[krystyn]

That's pretty freaking cool!

Please do take advantage of this with regards to UruLive, as Minkata is a new Age they've just released, and personally, I think it's brilliant and beautiful.

[Chewy]

If anyone needs any more ribbing to at least try out the free Gametap, look no further. Psychonauts is on the service now!

Best. Game. EVER! If I didn't already own 3 copies of this game (PS2, XBOX and PC... yes, I have OCD when it comes to Psychonauts) I'd literally get Gametap just to play.

And people who are playing Uru, put it down for a bit and download this one. It's hilarious, fun, and very, very addicting. Listen or I'll use my telekinesis on you.

Don't worry, I'll even link you to the site you lazy bastards.

[PMAvers]

Bumping to point out that Episode 6 ("A New Light") came out today.

[catherwood]

ack! spoilers! (if i were a mod in this forum, i would edit that post and hide a few bits, not all of it, but then I'd have to read it to know what to tag, and I haven't read beyond the first paragraph above, just in case)

I try to experience the updates as they are given to me by the game. I know what is new from the GameTap loading screen, and when I enter the game I have my KI mail from the DRC. Beyond that, I try to avoid knowing what I will find when I visit those areas. Last night, I tried getting into the one new city area from the Nexus, and let it try until 2am before deciding the server was hung. Maybe today... but not around 4pm during their live event!

For those not aware of it, www.uruobsession.com is a great resource with a great forum and their Cavern Today threads about daily updates, especially related to the ongoing story.

[krystyn]

I am torn about spoilerizing PMAvers' post, because while I can understand only wanting to get those sorts of updates from the game environment itself, they are still fairly general pieces of information. Makes me wonder if perhaps we should create a separate Uru Updates thread that contains unspoilered update/episodic content and discussion.

A separate update thread would mean you can choose to avoid that discussion until you've well and truly gotten what you wanted from your own trip to the Cavern after an event or Age release happens.

cather, you want to start that thread?

I also second the recommendation of UruObsession. It's a great resource for walkthroughs, and the Cavern Today posts can be invaluable when there's conversations with NPCs and confusion over changes in the City.

[catherwood]

[PMAvers]

No worries, I went ahead and just red-blocked the section anyway myself.

[krystyn]

Coolio. Works for me.

[Scott]

Spacebass mentioned earlier in this thread the subject of whether Uru is an ARG or not. I wanted to fFollow up with some spice of what the game is like, and how it behaves in relationship to the real world. Think ARG in a similar way as Perplex City.

[krystyn]

I still think it's staying (for the moment) within the bounds of MMO/RPG/LARP-style playing.

Having Cyan be in-game is interesting, and comes really close to just bustin' out all over with alternate reality elements blurring with real life, but it's still fairly self-contained in gameplay.

Unless you're in the Cavern actually playing the MMOG itself, there are (currently) *no* other game elements that someone can encounter unless they are in that specific Gametap-constrained environment. There are two "official" forums where discussion and backstory is fleshed out a bit, but again, they're tied directly to the game environment.

I could see the game heading that way, if they could just stop making the Explorers nervous about the DRC shutting everything down again.

[catherwood-offline]

[krystyn]

The DRC forums still acknowledge their game-ness in their OOC section, but yeah, that's about as close as it seems to get, in terms of there being Uru events outside of the Cavern.

I dunno. I'm torn. The DRC site is still pretty self-contained, and controlled by Cyan, ultimately.

I forgot to add: I mean that the "official" forums (at mystonline.com) have a banner that reflects its connection to Gametap, to a game entity. It is purely a game-world site, as is the DRC site, with varying degrees of OOC talk.

[Scott]

I believe it's shaky ground like this which Adrian Hon was referring to some while back when he said he didn't like the term, or even the idea, of ARGs. I was pretty shocked when he said it, because here is one of the lead developers of the longest running game in history, essentially saying he doesnt like what he does. But no, that's not it at all. I think he was saying it's so easy to get tied up in the meaning of what exactly an ARG is that you lose fFocus on the important points: the interactive telling of an enjoyable experience.

If it has a webpage but no phone calls, is it an ARG? If there are phone calls but no webpage is it an ARG? If it has phone calls, webpages, a paycheck, and people dropping by your house every other thursday, is it an ARG? If bandied about enough, the term can be a right tabernacle.

I see what you mean, krystyn, about Uru existing almost entirely in cavern. You're quite right, and this is a very good point. I'll steer clear of labels and simply go with "yes, it's interactive." Actually...

[krystyn]

I guess the distinction, for me, in this particular instance, is that I have to actively seek out a specific gamespace that only deals *with that* gamespace, in order to play or experience the reality of that universe.

But yeah, I am totally hopeful that someone will take the reins on player-created content, which obviously has some nice RL possibilities.