Where is everyone?

[calroger]

It seems that since OPA left, the activity in the cave and in the forums has virtually halted! Where is everyone and what is happening?

Cal

[RockArdemar]

Ha! Well that's a good question.
I can only refer to my previous post:

Well, maybe Coding isn't needed at all. Look at the brilliant example of the Contes de la Caverne. It's a thrilling role-playing adventure in the same City where others come to chat innocently, totally oblivious of the breathtaking action that takes place while they party, practically behind their very backs.

Unfortunatelly, the Author of the CC took a break from the Uru worlds and she is not reachable any more. But maybe something even remotely similar can be our objective.

I know some of the participants' main motivation is to socialise, and meet people and chat with them. Others prefer to go behind the limits and explore the areas behind, underneath and above the usual paths. But there are also a few of us (I think we are a clear minority) who are in the game mainly because of the Game in itself, and once we've explored everything and been everywhere, we need new Adventures and Quests to solve. Of course, we've befriended a lot of people on our way in the meantime, but we can chat with them even out of the game - through Skype, e-mails or Facebook - it is not necessary to come to the Game to chat with friends. The Game is for exploration, adventure, and new discoveries. Basically, and generally, - for fun.

And that's precisely where TOC is different from the main shard. We always have fun here. There in the official MOULa, I have the feeling one half of the "players" hates the other half and there are harassers, and griefers, feuds, and block lists. People we consider friends suddenly stop talking to each other, and we stay foolishly in the middle, not understanding why something fun like a game can cause such kinds of big dramas. And we have to take a very good care not to mention somebody "undesirable" if we don't want to spoil the good mood of somebody we like.

Of course, we will not be able even to approach the high level of Deelena's Contes, but we might try and concoct a rudimentary adventure for all those who would like to have fun with us in the City of Dimensions

Adventure Games start and end, because the Real Life has necessarily and inevitably its importance, and sooner or later it calls our Masters or Mistresses of the Game back to it.
So, those of us who come to Uru to play adventure games, we get "orphaned" every now and then and left in the middle of a storyline, the End of which is never revealed.
This made me think of a possibility to gather a few friends and fellow explorers and make a story and play it ourselves. I already started to put markers in the City of Dimensions for a mystery quest.
And then, suddenly, the RL hit me too, and I had to leave. My country (Catalonia) seems to be facing some major socio-economical and political changes right now and it seems possible that we could finally get rid of the 300yrs long Spanish colonial rule shortly, as so many other countries have rightfully done before (cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMCxUD0omYo ). So I got involved into these very exciting RL adventures and they displaced my Uru actions for a few weeks or so.

I still am a keen TOC fan and gamer, of course, and I prefere very much The Open Cave to the classical Moula.
But since at present there are no Adventures here, and the RL offers quite a lot of them, I will remain in reserve and play elsewhere, until there is a new Quest to accomplish and new Puzzles to solve

In the meanwhile, Greetings to all the fellow Explorers, and big Thanks to the TOC Team for the best Shard around

[gabriml]

Rock,

Thanks for your reply. I guess I have been blaming the absence on summer diversions--I mean sunny weather in the PNW is hard to resist as it is elsewhere. But OPA's departure does seem coincide with an apparent stand-down at TOC which leads to concern and speculation.

So what I think most people would like to know specifically: what is the status of TOC and are there any future plans.

I too really like COD because there is nothing like it anywhere in the MYST universe. I really like COD's explorability--puzzles are OK but exploring is what I like best.

Best wishes to you and your country,
Mark

[gabriml]

Hmm. Tried to edit my previous post but it is somehow locked. Please excuse my grammar.

[Annabelle]

I wouldn't be too much afraid. It seems to be a general thing not only affecting TOC MOUL.

Let's compare TOC MOUL to other shards...

Deep Island I never heard of any fresh news since months, still the number of explorers is always growing, I keep records and now it's stand at 582, it was 480 in February. I'm on DI since the very beginning and I never saw a so long period without any age addition than this present time. You can look for yourself in Drizzle 30, the last addition was The Hallway as a new age in February 2012 and some touch ups to Somewhere & Walking Maze in April 2012, since then...nothing!

UAM is dead but maintain (<---talking about the shard not the application) still we are 510 on that shard, we were 430 in February ...and that shard is officially "dead".

TOC TPoTS is growing... I was the 23rd to enter, we were topped at nearly 46-47 for months then it began to grow, we are 137 now.

Minkata is depleting 3 months in a row... See the last statistics. 27 explorers online during July!!! Thing is that without new content to test, explorers won't go to Minkata.

Gehn 10 is online, it will boost the numbers for August because I suspect the enormous lap of time between Gehn 9 and Gehn 10 made the shard a desertic land.

MOULa is in a summer halt as well. I don't go a lot online, I keep my WhoM online open almost every days, Annabelle's buddies list is very short. Apart from few weekend days, I never saw more than 5 buddies online at same time and I have more than 100 buddies on it.

...

So for TOC MOUL, I think the explanations of the other shards can explain a bit the situation here. No update has been ported to the server since a month and a half, no new age. Summer time as well.

[calroger]

Well, I suspected it might be seasonal. Many online activities decrease this time of year. I am the senior moderator on a photography forum and we see seasonal lulls there as well. In the fall (autumn) when school is back in session, things pick up.

I have never visited DI. I have been considering installing it but TOC-MOULa, Gehn, and MOULa keep me busy.

I am not leaving. I love COD and the ability to "peek behind the walls".

Have a good summer if you live in the temperate zone and endure the winter if you live in the cooler parts of the world.
Cal

[RockArdemar]

Best wishes to you and your country,
Mark

Thank you Mark

[Nyx]

I haven't been in the Cave much at all in the past several months. Real-life has pretty much sucked my fun-time away
By the time everything's squared away at the end of the day, all I want to do is go to bed more than hang out in CoD. I'd LOVE to spend a whole day in there sooner or later, I could use that break from reality.