Editing Myst Online: Uru Live (section)

== GameTap ==
{{Main|Third Restoration of D'ni}}
===Nuru===
Starting in late spring 2006, fans were able to sign up for an invite-only beta test of Myst Online: Uru Live. Testing began on July 31<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.urulive.com/faq.php?do=article&articleid=35|title=Page on the Uru Live website|website=|access-date=[not archived]}}</ref> and had been dubbed '''Nuru''', not to be confused with the fan term '''N'uru''', which instead referred to ''Myst Online: Uru Live'' as a whole. Due to the NDA, few details are known, although the FAQ section<ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.urulive.com:80/faq.php|title=Questions and Answers|website=Myst Online: Uru Live website|access-date=November 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428063041/http://support.urulive.com:80/faq.php|archive-date=April 28, 2007}}</ref> gave some information—including the release notes for several of the released updates:

* [http://support.urulive.com/faq.php?do=article&articleid=35 July 31] [unavailable]
* [http://support.urulive.com/faq.php?do=article&articleid=65 August 10] [un.]
* [http://support.urulive.com/faq.php?do=article&articleid=67 August 24] [un.]
* [http://support.urulive.com/faq.php?do=article&articleid=76 September 7] [un.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061220223843/http://support.urulive.com:80/faq.php?do=article&articleid=80 September 21]
* [http://support.urulive.com/faq.php?do=article&articleid=92 October 24] [un.]
** Labelled as the 8th; presumably there were two updates in between with unpublicized release notes.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061220223854/http://support.urulive.com:80/faq.php?do=article&articleid=95 November 6]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061220223907/http://support.urulive.com:80/faq.php?do=article&articleid=105 November 17]
** Labelled as build "Live 1" (instead of "10"). Of note, starting with this build, the Uru Live website no longer features a publicly accessible download link. The release notes state that "we have [..] integrated the game into the GameTap universe", and that "Servers have been upgraded.", which along with the build's version indicate a major milestone.

There have been occasional comments that the test was going well or even exceeding expectations{{citation needed}}.

On November 8, Ryan Warzecha announced<ref>{{cite forum post|url=http://www.urulive.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=40117#40117|author=greydragon|title=Post|forum=Myst Online forums|date=[unavailable]}}</ref> that "a major amount of invites" would be sent on the 9th.

On November 28, '''Nuru''' was superseded by '''Uru Live Preview'''.

===Uru Live Preview===
Launched on November 28, ''Uru Live Preview'' was a closed beta. Like its predecessor Nuru, it was invite-only, but unlike it, it lacked an NDA: that is, anything seen in-game by an invited person could be openly, publicly discussed.

A post on the Uru Live Forums<ref>{{cite forum post|url=http://www.urulive.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3351|author=Cyan|title=Post|forum=Myst Online forums|date=[unavailable]}}</ref> detailed what could be talked about, and what was still covered by Nuru's NDA.

The test was roughly analogous to ''Uru Live (2003) Prologue'', but lacked a multi-player storyline. Another notable difference is the lack of multiple [[shard]]s, suggesting that player interaction will be a smoother experience now.

The '''Open beta''', which launched on December 12, superseded ''Preview''.

Uru Live Preview is not to be confused with the '''Preview of Uru Live''', which was launched on December 20, and introduced a storyline.

===Open beta===
Open beta was also frequently referred to as '''sneak peek'''. Unlike its predecessor Uru Live Preview, the open beta removed the requirement of invitations: anyone could take part immediately.

Open beta launched on December 12<ref>{{cite forum post|url=http://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3701|author=essjay|title=Latest News from GameTap about UruLive!|forum=Myst Online forums|date=December 7, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.urulive.com/blog/?p=26|title=Page|website=Uru Live website|access-date=[unavailable]}}</ref>, and was scheduled to close again on December 18<ref>{{cite forum post|url=https://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=67410#p67410|author=darkstar|title=Latest News from GameTap about UruLive!|forum=Myst Online forums|date=December 7, 2006}}</ref>. Following a [[Vault wipe]], it was scheduled to be superseded by the '''Preview of Uru Live''' on December 20.

This beta was "open" only to GameTap subscribers. Previous Uru Live Preview invitees would continue to be able to participate. In countries where GameTap itself was not yet available, no additional people compared to the Preview were able to join, and in GameTap-supported countries peopleed need to pay a subscription fee to GameTap if they didn't already, even if they only intended to play the pre-release of Uru Live—however, due to a "99 cents for the first month" deal, and due to the short length of this beta phase, this essentially amounted to a very small price.

Because of these limitations, [[RAWA]] referred to this beta as '''ajar''':

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="overflow:auto; float:left;">
{{Quote
| quote = [...] the "beta plan" became more complicated with the "Preview" and the "GameTap sneak peek", neither of which are "closed" because they don't require a signed NDA, but they aren't fully "open" either, so I guess they're best described as "ajar".
| author = RAWA
| source = [http://www.drcsite.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=25592#25592 ''DRC forums'']. [unavailable]
}}
</div>



===Preview of Uru Live===
Not to be confused with the ''Uru Live Preview,'' it was the final phase of ''Myst Online: Uru Live'' pre-release testing.

Most notably, it differed from the ''open beta'' in that, much like ''Prologue'' from ''Uru Live (2003),'' a multi-player storyline arc was being built up<ref>{{cite web|url=http://games.yahoo.com/gametap|title=Myst Online: Uru Live|website=page on Yahoo! Games|access-date=November 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018193500/http://games.yahoo.com/gametap|archive-date=October 18, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite forum post|url=http://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4034|author=Cyan|title=Post|forum=Myst Online forums|date=[unavailable]}}</ref>. It involves the [[DRC]], the [[bahro]], and the expansion of opened areas in [[Ae'gura]].

Contrary to previous rumors, non-subscription testers from previous pre-release tests who had been invited up until (and including) ''Uru Live Preview'' could continue to play without any subscription fee, including invitees both from countries where the GameTap subscription service would be available (the United States and Canada) as well as countries where it is not (Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom). Further, for the latter set of countries, a sign-up page was provided for others to join for free and without invitation.

===Rehearsal (2006)===
Like its original variant in ''Uru Live (2003),'' Rehearsal was a test of new content. Testers had to sign an NDA, and were selected based on their prior involvement in the community, as well as the amount of bug tickets filed during earlier tests.

Invitations to rehearsal were sent on December 27, 2006.

===Uru Live===
'''Myst Online: Uru Live''' launched on February 15, 2007.<ref>{{cite forum post|url=http://www.urulive.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=98719#98719|author=greydragon|title=Launch Date Announced|forum=Myst Online forums|date=January 25, 2007}}</ref>

While the GameTap service itself was limited to the US and Canada, Uru Live was available in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States.

Uru Live featured many of the same aspects as the previous Ubisoft-published project of the same name.

====Intro====
Compared to the [[Reference:Atrus, opening voiceover (Uru: Ages Beyond Myst)|original Uru intro]], this one has a [[Reference:Yeesha, introduction (Myst Online: Uru Live)|voiceover]] by present-day [[Yeesha]], rather than [[Atrus]]. Arguably sounding bitter, she briefly and figuratively recaps events around 2003–2005 (i.e., from [[Uru: Ages Beyond Myst|Uru Prime]], [[Uru: To D'ni|To D'ni]], [[Uru: The Path of the Shell|The Path of the Shell]] and [[Myst V: End of Ages|End of Ages]]), but warns that trouble isn't over, though she remains vague over its nature.

She introduces the two beginning options: "alone", replaying a slightly altered ''Uru Prime'', or "together", joining other explorers ("friends, and enemies"), and mentions that "finding a way" and "making a home" are crucial in dealing with the unavoidable fact that "destruction is coming".

Finally, she mentions a group ("they"; perhaps the "friends", the "enemies", the [[bahro]], or simply the [[DRC]]), a male person ("he"; perhaps [[Esher]] or [[Dr. Watson]]) and herself coming to join in the quest.

At about one minute into the intro, an unknown building (possibly the [[Guild Hall]]) in the D'ni cavern can be seen with Ae'gura in the background. However, another image of the building was released earlier, during the time of DIRT and Mudpie.

====Plans====
Non-free plans required a credit card, or a GameTap gift card.
* A perpetual ''[[visitor]]'' account could be obtained for free. All beta accounts that hadn't previously been converted into a subscription or merged into another (subscription) account were turned into visitor accounts. While visitors had limited access, the additional process wasn't lost, but merely unavailable, and could at any time be retrieved back by buying a subscription plan.
* A limited-time offer was to subscribe for 99 cents for the first month. Afterwards, this would automatically become a regular subscription.
* In North America, the "normal" path was to subscribe for $9.99 per month, ''not'' including taxes, but discounts could be had by pre-purchasing multiple months; at one time, an entire year could be bought at 50% off.
* In EU countries, the "normal" path is to subscribe for $12.95 per month, including taxes, so the actual subscription was roughly the same as in North America. There were, however, ''no'' multi-month discount options.

====Technical differences====
The physics engine has been changed from ''Havok'' to Ageia's ''PhysX'', which also features an optional hardware extension card for additional acceleration, though it is unknown if, and to what extent, Uru Live will benefit from such hardware. Havok's then-lack of Mac compatibility (later added<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/09/14/havok/index.php|title=Havok physics engine comes to Mac, thanks to Blizzard|website=MacWorld website|access-date=November 29, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031064548/http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/09/14/havok/index.php|archive-date=October 31, 2007}}</ref>) was one of the main reasons for the move. By contrast, [[Myst V: End of Ages|End of Ages]] uses the ''ODE'' open-source physics engine, which was apparently too limited for the complexity Uru Live required.

Changes to the [[Plasma]] graphics and networking engine are apparently major enough to prompt a new version, "205" (right between Uru's original "20" and End of Ages's "21"), and to make old data incompatible.

On March 22nd, 2007, Cyan informed existing Uru Live testers and customers of the Mac client's availability. TransGaming Inc. had been working to develop a Mac OS X on Intel version of Uru Live. This port was based on the ''Cider'' wrapper, a specialized, self-contained version of [[w:Wine (software)|Wine]].

Even without the Mac version, users of Intel Macs can also participate by dual-booting into Windows through Apple's [[w:Boot Camp (software)|Boot Camp]]. The main benefit of the Mac version, in addition to not requiring a Windows license, is therefore in not having to reboot back and forth.

====New Ages====
While originally Myst Online only provided contents from ''Uru Prime'' and ''To D'ni'' (and later ''Path of the Shell''), over the first season, several never-before-seen ages were released:
* [[Eder Delin]]
* [[Eder Tsogal]]
* [[Negilahn]], [[Dereno]], [[Payiferen]], and [[Tetsonot]] (different locations on the same age)
* [[Minkata]]
* [[Jalak]]
* [[Guild Pub]]s

===Cancellation===
On February 4, [[2008 CE|2008]], GreyDragon posted<ref>{{cite forum post|url=http://www.mystonline.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=241946|author=greydragon|title=Myst Online: Uru Live Season 2 Status|forum=Myst Online forums|date=February 4, 2008}}</ref> an announcement from Ricardo Sanchez of GameTap that said that GameTap was discontinuing Myst Online.

On April 10, [[2008 CE|2008]], hundreds of fans gathered in the game to await the cancellation with friends and fellow players. Several [[ResEng]]s as well as GreyDragon visited with explorers in A Beginner's Bevin. At 12:01 AM Eastern Standard Time, Rand Miller's avatar logged into the game, and Myst Online was shut down. It was removed from the games in GameTap's library, being replaced by [[Uru: Complete Chronicles]] the next day.