Empty Foundations
Uru Live has been canceled again, yes, sigh, read that again, Uru Live has been cancelled again, and I think it’s really gone this time. I don’t exactly have warm fuzzy feelings for gametap, especially after having them keep posting about how we should stay around for the hundreds of other games they have to offer. :P However, while I won’t be returning to them, they gave Uru a chance it didn’t get before. Almost a full year of service. Still, it was all foundation, and no building. It left one sitting out in the cold in between, while the workers had left for the night.
I don’t expect Uru to continue like it did last time, as it won’t be “Until” Uru anymore, even though the hacking community has much more of a head start than it did at the time of the last cancellation. Two cancellations is not something a game can survive, one would think. There is still another problem though.
This time, the game has left behind more empty foundations than before. The push for guilds in the future has left in it’s wake a number of separate explorer organizations, in various stages of development. What they are, and whether they will continue in some form is a big question. Will they dissolve, or continue to work towards different goals? The Guild of Writers is, at this point, entirely self-sufficient, the only question is whether the motivation to create will remain. Other groups such as the messengers and greeters were entirely dependent on the game, and their future is much more uncertain
On the same note, this site has recently acquired it’s own domain, just days before the announcement of the end. There are a lot of people who put a lot of work and some of their life into this world.
Finally, there is the community as a whole. I have my doubts about how cohesive it will remain without a central meeting place like Uru, but it we will see. For now… I don’t know. The aftermath will now begin.
http://www.gametap.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=13953
I may yet show up in the cavern for the last goodbyes. :(